Chapter 7 Preview: Dan and Rowe

From side to side he checked for guards, before running down the service hall to the back door. A phone call was all he had to make and he was in the clear for the night. He couldn’t believe they hadn’t swiped his memory like Grant had said. He hadn’t needed the text message alarm on his phone, reminding him of what he was doing. He remembered everything. The Guardian’s practiced fingers through his hair, the smell of his golden skin, that rumble of a voice with the most beautiful accent he had ever heard.

When Ghost’s fangs had pierced his neck, he thought his skin would burst with pleasure. He was still hard from the Guardian’s feeding, but he didn’t have time to deal with it now. Grant was waiting for him to call in. His orders were clear. He had to call in or Grant would come looking for him. Gabriel did not want to be the reason Grant and his little band of followers came around with guns blazing.

He was Grant’s dirty little secret that not even Nigel knew about. Grant was Gabriel’s uncle, but they weren’t exactly on close, affectionate terms. His uncle gave him a room to live in, food, a little allowance. But he had to work for every penny of it by doing these dirty intelligence jobs. He was good at what he did—fitting in anywhere he had to. Doing what the others couldn’t because he was young, pretty, and more importantly he hadn’t become a vampire yet.

That’s why he had been walking the street tonight. More like he had walked the block slowly for an hour or so before one of the guards had pulled him inside to feed someone. That was the plan, what Grant had wanted all along. So luckily, before the Cartel vamps could look him in the eye, he’d faked high like the rest of the street kids always were, and they’d let it slide.  They would always wipe him later right? Wrong, he sighed thankfully. He didn’t like the idea of losing parts of himself. He may be a street kid for the most part, but he never did drugs or drank.

It’s why he was smart, alive since the years after Nigel had offed his mother. Not that he really was upset about it. From what he’d gathered, she was just as crazy as the rest of them. Gotten pregnant by some overseas vamp and then moved to the states with Nigel’s former boss.  Who the fuck knew what was happening with that assassin asylum they had going on anymore? He stayed out of it and Grant never pulled him into the spotlight, they had an understanding—which was why he pulled out his phone and slipped out the service door to the back of the kitchen.

Lighting up a cigarette so no one would question him if he was found, Gabriel listened to his cell ring back at him.

The phone answered, but no one said anything. Screams over the line made Gabriel freeze, his heart race and not from the nicotine.  Someone was walking—the quick militant strut could be heard for a few seconds.

“Gabe?” His uncle whispered into the phone.

“Yeah,” he breathed. Somewhere in the background, the screams were non-stop. He wanted to vomit just from the sound, but he put the shaky cig to his lips and inhaled instead.

“Find a way out and run. Whatever you do, just run.” Grant’s voice cracked with emotion.

“Uncle?” Gabe slid down the wall, his chest tight.

“I promised your mother, as fucked as she was, that I would do right by you. I can’t get out of this, Gabe. But you can, and after what I’ve seen in the last twenty four hours, you will run. Do you understand me?”

“What is that noise?” He would not cry. He didn’t think he had it in him, but damn if his lashes weren’t already wet.

“A new boss is in town. You remember the name Thierry. You hear it and you pack your shit up and move. I don’t have a lot of time, but if you go now, there’s some money in the vent of the bathroom. There’s a gun in the case under my bed. Don’t drink anything, don’t smoke or snort nothing. That’s all I got kid. I…”

“Grant! Boss wants you now!” Someone yelled in the background.

“Yeah, I’m coming!” Grant yelled back before pulling the phone back to his mouth. “Forget about me. Forget about all of this and go.”

The line went dead and Gabriel realized the tears that fell down his face. What was he going to do now? He didn’t have any other family or friends. Where would he go? What would happen to him if he turned alone?

Someone pushed open the door a few feet down and Gabriel scattered like an alley cat. He had to get out of here. He had to run. He was scared shitless, but he would survive. That was what he did best, getting by. So quick on his feet, he took a sharp turn and ran into the night.

Ghost stepped out into the alley, inhaling the sweet scent he had smelled on his skin since the last time he fed. He couldn’t seem to get rid of it, no matter how hard he’d scrubbed in the shower. The smell made his cock hard and his hands itch, so like a fool he’d followed the trail.

With a breeze blowing through the alley, all saw he was…nothing. In the air though, the sweet smell lingered. A gentle goodbye from someone he had never really known...