“I’m joking. I’m not going to pressure you into a date with me. I want you to at least kind of want it. So instead, your dog will go to the park with me at some point. He already asked me, and I can’t say no.”
Marcus turns his head to the door. “Someone’s here.”
For a split second, there’s a moment of panic that touches me, even though I know it’s not him, of course it can’t be him. He wouldn’t come waltzing up to my house in broad daylight, right? Or would he even care?
The door handle jiggles and the door swings open as they let themselves in. Artie jumps off the couch and runs over to bark at the intruders like this is his place.
“I didn’t know werewolves were real,” Orin says as he stares down at the massive thing even though Orin is quite tall himself.
“That’s Artie,” I say, grinning at Marcus’s scowl at my insistence on using my much superior name for the dog.
Orin looks up at me and smiles. “My sweet child!” he shouts as he rushes over and grabs me before dragging me off the couch. “I heard what happened. I also heard you’ve been playing with nasty vampires again.”
“You’re a vampire too,” I remind him as he squeezes the daylights out of me.
Orin claims to be my father, even though I’m not related to him in any way. He is the father of my half-sister, though. The sister who is currently joining the group hug.
Orin hesitates as he notices Marcus, who stands up. “You have a vampire in your house.”
“I have two and a half, actually,” I say.
Orin pulls back as he straightens up and stares at Marcus with an unreadable expression. “Mr. Church. I know quite a bit about you, but I’m not sure we’ve ever truly met.”
“Likewise. Just call me Marcus.”
“Marcus, this is my stepdad Orin and my sister Aria,” I say as I motion to them.
Aria gives him a huge smile. “Nice to meet you, Marcus.”
Orin whirls on me, and now that he’s done expressing love about me being alive, he looks irritated. “What’s this I hear about you joining VRC?”
I pat Artie. “Did you guys see this dog? Wow, what a dog, right? Did you notice him?”
“How couldn’t we?” Aria asks. “He takes up the entire living room.”
“I know, right? Ha ha! So cute! Are you guys thirsty? I think I have some synthetic stuff left behind from when Aria was here. I didn’t know you guys were coming over or I’d have like caught a rabbit or something!” I joke.
Orin folds his arms over his chest. “VRC.”
“Yeah, yeah, Marcus is from VRC. Neat, right? Tell him how neat it is, Marcus!”
Orin’s not biting. “It’d be neater if you explained to me what you were doing involved with it. Does this have to do with—”
“How hot the vampires are? One hundred percent. I mean, look at him. I only had to break my arm off to coerce him into my house,” I say.
Orin reaches for me, but it’s not like he can do anything with my sleeve covering my arm. “Watson told me about your arm. Finnigan, you’re supposed to tell us what’s going on. We don’t like being left in the dark. I know you think you can’t depend on us, but we’re your family, and you need to share with us.”
I shift on my feet. “I know… I just knew you guys wouldn’t approve.”
“And we don’t,” Aria says. “Why don’t you just let me take care of you? You could just sit by the pool all day and read books and enjoy the sunshine.”
“I’m perfectly fine, thanks for your concern,” I say while trying not to sigh. I know they’re just wanting to be helpful, but there’s a reason I haven’t called them or asked them for help.
“Finnigan, I really do think you’re biting off more than you can chew. You should continue your work in homicide. You’re good at it and you’re a wonderful fit,” Orin says.
I glance over at Marcus, waiting for him to jump in and agree with the man, to tell me how I should listen to my father figure. Artie bumps my hand and I reach down and run my fingers over his wiry head.
“I have my doubts Finn would be very content sitting at home and reading books,” Marcus says, and I look back up at him. “He did an excellent job last night and was very helpful as my partner. Without his quick thinking, many more would have died.”
Orin opens his mouth. Knowing him, he’s planning on telling Marcus why he’s wrong and why I would be better in an impenetrable bubble, but Marcus gives him a look. To most, the look would go unnoticed, but I’ve spent years identifying the ways that vampires interact with each other, and I know that look meant one simple thing: “Enough.”
And Orin respected it. Does that mean Marcus is older than him? But that can’t be. Maybe Marcus just has more authority and Orin chose to respect it. Interesting.
“I was headed to work and just thought I’d stop to see how you were doing, so I can’t stay long,” Orin says. “Finnigan, please talk to me about things, alright? I don’t want you making a mistake and it costing your life.”
“I’ll keep a close eye on him, but he doesn’t seem to need my help,” Marcus says.
Orin watches Marcus for a moment and the two seem to have this telepathic staredown as I glance at my sister who holds up her phone. I pull my own out of my pocket.
Aria: Who is the hottie you somehow Stockholmed into coming into your house?
Me: Don’t be jealous that I can make men instantly love my personality and you scare them all away.
Aria: He’s even fighting Dad for you.
Me: I hope he takes his shirt off first.
Aria: Me too.
“What are you two grinning about?” Orin asks as he eyes us suspiciously.
“Nothing of importance,” Aria says. “Ready? I have that meeting at eight I need to prepare for. Finny, you be safe, or I’ll kick your ass myself.”
“I’m not concerned.”
“I’ll gnaw on you again,” she threatens.
I snort. “You need to work on your threats, baby sister.”
She grumbles but reaches forward and hugs me again. “Please, please, please be careful.”
“I will.”
Orin gives me the look like he could scare me into doing what he wants instead. He should know I’m not easily persuaded. But then he hugs me. “Are you doing okay?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
He kisses my forehead. “Please be careful. I almost lost you once, I couldn’t go through that again,” he says quietly.
“I know, and I am.”
They tell Marcus goodbye and then Aria tries to pet Artie who dodges her like the plague. She looks disappointed but gives me a wave and heads to the door.
“Yeah… so that’s my family. Um… Thanks for standing up for me when you clearly could have joined their side. I mean, isn’t that what you want?” I ask.
Marcus turns to me and seems to think about it for a moment. “Your sister wants you to be a househusband and your stepfather wants to keep you on a leash. You clearly would be very unhappy with both options.”
“I would. After the… accident they didn’t want me to ever leave the house again. I’m pretty sure Orin would have put me into one of those hamster balls if he could. But it’s not like he could have stopped the accident.”