Page 2 of Vampire's Cupcake
Eli frowned."He called you on the phone?"
The hotel had the only working phone in the settlement.Elijah had worked hard to get it up and running.Not all settlements had a working phone.It was hard to repair wires, and it all depended on what the others in the area allowed.
In Last Hope the other's representative had always been Thano, the vampire leader from Moonlight Ranch.Eli shivered as he pictured him.Dark-haired, dark-eyed, danger in an immaculate suit.
About ten months ago, the sheriff and some locals had shot one of the vampires, and later that night, the others had swept through Last Hope, killing everyone who'd been on the town board.Everyone but Thano, of course.
Now half the board was made up by others and half by humans, but the humans kept switching their representatives, so Eli had no idea what was going on.He did not want to be on the board if it meant he'd be killed if someone acted irrationally.He shook his hand to rid it of the tension that had crept in.Nope, better to keep away from the others as best he could.He dealt with Ciar and Draven, most often through Romeo, Ciar's human mate, which suited him fine.He trusted Romeo to do what he could to keep him safe.
"Yes, called from New Town."
New Town was one of the bigger settlements, and he believed it was where Romeo was from.
Elijah looked around."Potatoes?"
"I have some, but not much, and they're not in the best shape."
"Any canned?"Elijah studied the sprouting potatoes.
Canned?"No, sorry.Do you can potatoes?"
Elijah grimaced."Mom used to.It changes the texture some, but at least they don't go bad."
But to do it, Eli would need jars.Containers of any kind were hard to come by, which was why he gave people a discount if they returned milk bottles and jars.Most people brought baskets or bags when they went shopping, but not everyone had something for flour or milk.
Elijah picked a handful of potatoes from the wicker basket Eli had put them in.Normally, he sewed potatoes into fabric bags, but with so many of them going bad, he couldn't.
A few more weeks, and he was sure someone in Fisherman's Lake would be able to sell him fresh ones.June was normally when the earliest came in.Hopefully, they would this year too.He relied on potatoes.
The door to the shop opened again, and both Eli and Elijah turned toward it.Danger dressed in a pristine black suit.Eli forgot how to breathe when Thano's piercing eyes met his.Ice shot through him, and he swallowed hard, barely registering how Elijah moved toward the dairy section, farthest away from the entrance.
"Mr.Moonlight."Eli dipped his head and noted a crow sitting on his shoulder.Shit."Is there a problem?"others didn't come in here, none other than Ciar and Draven.If the board forbade him to run his business, he'd die within a couple of months.He had his chickens and a few rabbits he kept for meat but with no income...
Thano rounded the counter and stood before him.He was shorter than Eli, reaching his chin, but it didn't take away from the powerful impression.He looked straight into Eli's eyes."Cupcakes."
Eli stared."Sorry?"Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Elijah walking straight for the door now when Thano wasn't blocking it and slipping out onto the sidewalk.Thano never looked away from Eli, and he nervously met his gaze.He'd met Thano before, but it was easier when Romeo was present.They respected Romeo despite him being human, but Eli was nothing more than living, breathing meat to them.Or he didn't think Thano ate meat.He drank blood.
Thano glanced at the crow, his face still unmoving."Romeo is reading us a book--" Eli did his best not to flinch.Books were forbidden.The human government had banned all pens and papers, banned all culture.There were no books, no music, no theatre--nothing to feed the soul or provoke thoughts.A thinking population was a dangerous population."--about a witch who owns a bakery, and she's making cupcakes.The crows want to give Romeo cupcakes as payment for the reading."
Eli couldn't find his voice.Romeo was reading to the crows?From a book?He'd be killed if someone found out.On the other hand, he was living together with a man, panther, whatever.He was with someone of the same sex as he was, which should've gotten him killed a long time ago.
Had Eli landed himself a boyfriend, he'd be dead the moment he stepped out of his house.Or maybe before.He held no illusions of the walls of his home keeping him safe.
The only reason Romeo was still alive was because no one dared to do anything for fear of what Ciar would do if someone touched his mate.Some days Eli envied Romeo.On other days--he met Thano's gaze--he was glad he didn't have to deal with the others more than he did.
"I'm sorry."His voice was nothing more than a whisper.
"What are you sorry for?"The softness in Thano's tone had him fighting a blush.What the fuck?
"I've never seen a cupcake in my entire life."
The crow hopped off Thano's shoulder and landed on the floor where it transformed into a naked woman with long tousled hair.Eli quickly looked away.Shit, he'd never seen a naked woman up close in his entire life, and he didn't want to now either.What if someone entered the shop?He looked through the window, but no one was moving on the sidewalk outside.
"Have you never seen a cupcake?"
He kept his eyes glued to the crow's eyes as he looked at her.She tilted her head as if she was still a bird, and he guessed she was.Only her form had changed.
"Not in reality.I've seen pictures."
