Once Bitten, No Longer Shy by Julie Steimle (chrome ebook reader txt) 📕

“But I thought you said you were looking for work. Rick offered you a job.”

Art went pale, blinking. “I… I thought you were joking about that.”

Rick shook his head. “I never joke about job offers.”

“Howie needs someone he can trust out here in this city,” Andy said, as if Rick were merely offering candy.

“What’s this?” Troy asked, wondering what conversation he had missed while he was asleep. He had suppressed a moan. He had to. Here was Rick, playing CEO and it was annoying.

Art’s cheeks colored even redder from embarrassment. “Uh… but an apartment, a fancy suit, and a company car? It… it just sounded… sounded a little over-the-top, especially for what you said I’d be doing.”

Hanz raised his eyebrows. But his expression said it did not sound over-the-top at all to him.

“Well, you would be representing Deacon Enterprises where I can’t tread, and you need to look the part,” Rick explained. “And I need somebody who knows the family secret whom I can trust working in this department. Henry is getting weary with the burden we have been putting on him. It has been getting bigger every year and it is too much sometimes. He needs an assistant.”

“But…” Art peeked to Troy. “Will this work?”

“Will what work?” Troy asked, realizing they had plotted something involving him while he was asleep.

“Art is going to, hopefully, temporarily help you as a personal assistant, under Henry’s direction,” Rick said. “As training.”

Troy looked back at Art, whom he now realized why the guy was so nervous about his vampiric appetites. They were going to live together. Or their friends wanted them to. They were just trying to arrange it.

“Unless you intend to move in with Randon,” Rick said to Troy with a knowing look to remind him of their previous conversation in the car, “This is the best plan for all of us.”

“What exactly will Art do for me?” Troy asked, wondering if they also intended to keep him indoors. He was starting to feel a little captive.

Nodding, Rick said, “What Henry does for me—until you have fully adjusted to your condition. Besides, Art’s degree is in computer technology, and he’d make a great personal assistant as a tech hand.”

Troy rolled his eyes.

“You need to finish your research,” Rick said. “And you need an assistant.

Troy and Art exchanged looks. Both were uncomfortable with the arrangement. But then Troy pointed to Hanz. “What about him?”

Hanz lifted a hand. “I’m only here temporarily. Um, I’ll be going abroad to keep looking for Eve.”

“…While working as a doctor,” Rick added, rolling his hand.

Nodding, Hanz sighed. “Yes. We are looking into my options.”

“What? You mean like joining the military?” Troy stared at him. “I’d hate to be rude, but your fiancée is an angel of death. If she has been taken from New York City to keep her away from you, I can only imagine them depositing her in some far flung hell-hole where there is a lot of death, just for spite. You saw how that angel was.”

Andy and Rick quickly exchanged looks. Apparently they had been thinking the same thing.

And Hanz nodded. “I know. Which is where I have to go.”

“But in the meantime,” Rick said, stepping between them, pointing to Hanz, “You need to take him to where William is working. Help Troy get this sorted out.”

 “I have an address,” Hanz said, holding up a cell phone. “But I don’t know this city.”

“I’ll order a car for you for later,” Rick said. “And I’ll go with you. But I can’t stay long.”

Hanz nodded.

And that was it.

Rick pointed to Troy and Art. “I’ll get you the key to the apartment I have in mind, and the address.”

Everything moved from there. Rick went about making calls and organizing for the lease of apartment to be put in the name of Arthur Condie. Art looked to Troy uncomfortably as Troy again felt like he was being steered around by Rick rather than let to live free. But after the calls were made and Troy was once more handed clothes to wear until his own clothes were delivered to him, Rick explained to him that vampires would not be looking for an Arthur Condie, but a Troy Meecham. Troy needed to stay off legal papers and digital media sites for a while. It would even do them good if they convinced all the vampires that he was dead. Troy did not like the idea of playing invisible, but he also knew that if he were going to continue his PhD work, the Order of Blood would eventually figure out he was alive, and he needed to stall.

“We’re not talking about forever,” Rick said to Troy as they all rode the elevator back down to the parking garage with the group. “We’re just giving you breathing room until you can handle the vampires on your own. I know you are so damn independent that you don’t like help, but Troy, you’ve gotta let us do this.”

Troy’s cheeks would have colored had his heart been pumping. Most of him was covered. He was in long sleeves and a hoodie to protect him from the sunlight. They also gave him sunglasses to wear.

When they reached the bottom floor, Troy detected several heartbeats down below. The elevator doors slid open. But Andy pushed through and stepped out first, hand on sword hilt.

Rick sniffed the air. He breathed out and shook his head. “It’s ok.”

He started to exit, but Andy held him back, drawing his sword.

Someone outside yelped and scurried off. Two heartbeats were gone—which Troy found odd as he was sure only one person was leaving. Perhaps it as someone like Tom, with a Macarena heartbeat.

“What was it?” Rick asked, putting his hand out to stop the elevator doors from shutting on them.

“Demon,” Andy muttered, waving for them to come out. “I don’t know who it was following, but it was lying in wait for us.”

Rick sniffed the air again. “I can smell the difference now. But…”

“How did you know it was a demon?” Troy stepped out, looking around at the sources of the other heartbeats. There was one woman getting into her car. He saw the security guard pacing the parking garage not far off. There was a man in a suit driving off in his car.

Andy held up his right hand, showing Troy a glowing mark in the shape of a sun on his palm. Troy flinched back, as the white light in Andy’s palm nearly blinded him.

Rick covered Troy’s eyes, pulling him further away. “Abey! You keep forgetting he is kind of a vampire.”

“Oh.” Andy blushed, ducking his hand out of sight again. “Sorry.”

“Holy crap,” Art stared, following where Andy hid his hand. “What was that?”

Hanz’s eyes were also wide on Andy and his glowing hand.

Andy showed them his palm.

What Troy had seen was pure light, which of course a vampire cannot endure. And he overheard Andy say to Hanz and Art, “This mark burns whenever anything supernatural is nearby. If the supernatural being is friendly, the burn is gentle. But if it is hostile, the burn is severe. It’s an alert system all the Seven have.”

“Including Jessica?” Hanz asked.

“All of us,” Andy said again. He then picked up his red crystal. “And we can use this to amplify it to create fire at need. It’s rather helpful.”

And dangerous, Troy thought. It explained Daniel’s flaming sword and Peter’s burning yet not burnt up hand the night before.

They went to the cars. Andy, however, gestured for all of them to ride with Rick, as he needed to return home. Andy had to get back to the hospital where he worked, and his wife would be worried, he explained. Troy sat in backseat of Rick’s car with Art while Hanz was given the front seat, mostly because Rick wanted to talk to him more.

The ride to the hospital was awkward. With Andy gone, a degree of cheerfulness had left. Art was tense. Hanz was clearly in mourning for losing Eve again. And Troy was still rattled at becoming a vampire. Rick was the only one who seemed to be taking it in stride, and that was so irritating.

Troy finally voiced the feeling after Rick had finished giving some personal advice to Hanz in whispers. “How can you be so mellow?”

“What’s that?” Rick asked, merging with traffic on the right.

Art glanced anxiously at Troy, clearly wishing he was not stuck so close to a vampire.

“I mean, maybe your life has not been turned upside down today and I am being unfair, but, how can you be so mellow about all this,” Troy said, trying to keep down the resentment.

Rick chuckled. He shook his head, turning onto another road. “Come on, Troy. You nailed it in your question. I mean, I sympathize, but I’ve already had my freak-out moment. I’m just trying to keep my head above water these days.”

“And what was your freak-out moment?” Art murmured.

“When I discovered I was a werewolf,” Rick said, continuing toward the hospital where William McAllister worked. He peeked back to Troy. “Come on, you met me right after. You remember how I was.”

Troy sighed, nodding. He sure had. Rick was sulky, bitter, and downright angry at his father for not telling him he was a werewolf. Back then, Rick was only thirteen years old. His parents had divorced as a result of Rick’s first transformation. At the time, Rick had heavy depression and continued to be bitter toward his father. He had hated everything connected to being a werewolf—especially the monthly full moon hunt. A lot of trouble had happened since, much of it more traumatizing than just discovering his supernatural situation: deaths of people he loved, attacks on him and on others, cruel cravings, and heaps of persecution. But then Rick had become so blasted mellow after all of it. Troy kind of wanted to see Rick stress out, just to feel better.

They pulled into the hospital’s parking structure and promptly climbed out once the brake was set. Rick led the way.

“Do you come here often?” Hanz asked Rick, following close behind as Art and Troy kept up. Rick had a long stride in his walk, and he was clearly in a hurry.

Rick chuckled and shook his head. “No. But I’ve been here before. I was first taken here when I had a case of anaphylactic shock after some jerk tried to poison me with honey and silver.”

Art’s eyebrows raised.

Hanz looked once to Troy who shrugged, not remembering it.

“But that was ages ago,” Rick said.

They went into the main lobby area where Rick glanced around at the signs for possibly William’s name.

“Of course….” Rick murmured, not finding it. “He’s not a big doctor. He’s a small doctor still in training.” He then walked to the nurses’ station.

“Hanz,” a young Italian-looking nurse with a wholesome face spotted them. Her eyes then flickered to Rick. “Rick Deacon. What brings you both here?”

Rick grinned at her, reaching out for a handshake. “Jane. I’m glad to see you. I’m sure you’ve heard about Eve’s situation by now.”

Hanz smiled with relief, nodding to her while Troy and Art both stood there with overwhelm at how many people Rick knew.  

Tears formed in her eyes. Jane nodded. “Yes. And Hanz, I am so sorry. If there is anything I can do—”

“Do you know where Will is?” Hanz asked.

Jane nodded. “I’ll take you to him. He should be in the clinic. If not, they probably grabbed him for surgery.”

Art peeked at Troy as he hissed to Rick while Jane led the way towards the hospital clinic. “What is with your friends and working in the medical field?”

With a glance back, Rick chuckled. It was true. Andy, Hanz, William and even Troy were connected to the medical profession in some way. Randon could even be counted as he was a veterinarian. Rick said, “I dunno. Good people want to heal people?”

Troy shook his head with a smirk. It was possibly true. He had suspicions that William’s interest as a doctor had to be