Page 66 of Starved Until Sunset

“You know what, forget it.” Demetrius walked into the living room area.

But Oliver followed. “I’m assuming this was something Cody said to you.”

“You assume correctly.”

“Okay, I never thought I’d say these words, but I kind of agree with him.”

“I just heard thousands of demons scream as Hell froze over,” Demetrius said in a dry tone.

“I’m serious, though. “I don’t think it’s a deliberate martyr complex behavior, but you always feel like you need to be the one to save people. I mean, you let an alpha werewolf turn you in order to save this whole town, for God’s sake.”

Demetrius sat on the surprisingly comfortable sofa. “I did that because I was the reason Nicolae even came to town in the first place. It was me he was focused on, and he was turning everyone around me for over a year.”

“Exactly. But you also had to do it because you were the one who killed the first werewolf that came into town, one of his children.”

“Because it was attacking Cody and then coming after me!”

“What are you two talking about?” Clarabell said, coming in from the hallway. She had changed to a tie-dyed caftan and rainbow colored socks.

“Demetrius’s savior complex.”

“For God’s sake.” Demetrius gulped his wine. It was still too sweet, but he dealt with it better.

“Oh, yeah?” Clarabell picked up her wine glass and joined them in the living room. “He finally admitting it?”

“Never mind,” Demetrius said with a groan. “How about we watch the video you shot of the vampire in the morgue?”

They all laughed about that, and Clarabell got busy finding the remotes she needed. While she was distracted, Oliver turned to Demetrius.

“I didn’t mean what I said as an insult. You’re the most empathetic guy I know. You have this endless capacity of feeling responsible for everyone else in the world.”

“Is that a good thing?”

Oliver shrugged. “It’s something you need to find a way to balance, apparently, if your husband is calling you out on it.”

“Here we go,” Clarabell said. “It was in the chair cushions.”

They were quiet as they watched. When Aldrik freed himself from the body bag, Demetrius shivered. He was handsome, with an old world air about him, his dark hair pulled back into a pony tail. Men and women would find him attractive, and men would want to be near him even if they weren’t gay.

And how many lives had Aldrik taken during his centuries prowling the night? How many people had died at the hand of the mysterious and frightening Xavier? And what about friendly and nervous Dr. Michael Graham? Could they really trust Michael had had a change of heart and menu and was now a vampire’s version of vegetarian?

“What did he say there?” Oliver asked, bringing Demetrius back to the video.

Clarabell paused and rewound it. When she started it again, Aldrik held Zenona in front of him as a shield, and Lucia had her gun out and trained on him.

“Let her go,” Lucia ordered. Watching it again after the fact, he could hear the slight tremor in her voice. He had grown much closer to Lucia the last few years, and he knew she had to be feeling responsible for Zenona being taken. Apparently he wasn’t the only one in town with a savior complex.

Aldrik talked back to her, smug and dangerous. His voice was smooth and deep, the English accent similar to Dr. Graham’s but also possibly a bit more refined. Or overdone.

“There, stop!” Oliver pointed at the screen. “What’s that he said right there?”

Clarabell rewound the video a few seconds and pressed play. Aldrik looked around their group with a wicked smile before saying, “You have no idea how many I have turned since I was invited to your idyllic small town. And now that⁠—.”

“Pause it,” Oliver said, and the image on the TV froze with Aldrik’s mouth open in the middle of speaking, just enough to show the tips of his fangs. Oliver looked between them. “Did you hear what he said?”

“He was invited,” Clarabell said. “I didn’t catch that when he said it last night.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Demetrius said. “Who the hell would have invited a creature like that to town?”