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He eyed the full waiting room and surreptitiously sniffed at his arm. Did he smell sweeter?
Possibly.
Was it the ton of cake he’d eaten this last week with Kodi having some family stuff that meant he’d canceled their plans? Jonny had made the comment after that. It had unsettled him, so Lennon had been the one to cancel with a family emergency. He was the emergency, he just hadn’t told Kodi that.
Kodi never usually kept his thoughts to himself. The fact he was made it a noticeable change and Lennon was floundering in trying to figure out if it was him that was the issue or Kodi. They’d spent hardly any time together out of work this week, and it wasn’t all because Lennon was avoiding it. Whatever personal stuff Kodi was dealing with was connected to his family. He’d overheard Frey and Ziggy whispering in the corridor just that morning about Laken.
It didn’t sound good. He’d heard the word blackmail, and both men looked upset. Lurking inside a doorway meant he couldn’t come out and ask.
Lennon was worse off than a blind bat flying around with its senses on the blink. To fix the one thing he could control, he’d rung the doctor’s office for advice. They had given him some spiel about diseases that could change a vampire bat’s scent, which wasn’t helpful, and sent blood forms through to the clinic to get his bloods done. How could dumping all this information on someone be helpful when they just ended up googling the crap out of things the doctor had mentioned and frightened them into believing they could be dying.
I told you, it’s nothing like that!
If you know so damn much, then just tell me what’s wrong with us.
His vampire started singing, and Lennon rolled his eyes. At the same time, he saw his number appear. He followed the arrows down the corridor to the blood clinic, his nose wrinkling at an odd desire at all the smells assailing him to… taste.
He stumbled over his own feet, his eyes widening in horror at such a notion. He never had any urges for blood, and on rare occasions he was out in the countryside and allowed his animal free, it would hunt, but often without seeking to bite and suck.
I’m sick!
Give me strength.
“Come in,” a female voice encouraged when he’d come to a stop in the open doorway.
Seeing no way out, he did as he was bid and took a seat in the empty padded chair, not looking at the other two people sitting in purple padded chairs, like him, having their blood taken. His nose twitched and his mouth watered.
“Full name and date of birth?” the cheery nurse asked.
Lennon plastered a fake smile to his lips and replied, rolling up his sleeve as the nurse sat on his right side, rifling through a stack of forms.
“Here we are, sweetie.” She picked up a plastic band and tied it around his arm, eyeing his chalky white cheeks. “You’re not a fainter, are you?”
He shook his head, looking away, because suddenly he considered he might.
She was fast, he’d give her that, and he hardly felt the sting, but the seven vials of blood they took made him sweat with thoughts of all the things that could be wrong with him.
He was out the door of the clinic and back in his car in a flash, grabbing the bottle of Dr. Pepper he’d bought earlier. He took a deep gulp to rid himself of the desire for…
He shook off the bizarre need and let the caffeine do its thing. It had the immediate effect of giving him a case of the jitters. Or it could have been thoughts of what they’d find. He wasn’t sure, and he took another drink and played, ‘let’s pretend it’s the caffeine’. It was easy enough to distract himself on the way home with a list of things he needed at the store. As it was the end of the day, he headed straight there to buy what he’d need for his evening at home.
For the first time that day, he smiled, enjoying a growing feeling of excitement for Monty’s mating party. He’d mated with Rue and Kendrick. Two mates. How that worked, Lennon didn’t think too hard on. It was difficult enough dating one person.
They had suggested in the group chat about a cocktail evening via Facetime. With Monty being in Bayfield, they’d no chance of getting together to celebrate. Kodi hadn’t asked what he was doing tonight, but then Lennon hadn’t offered to say what his plans were, either.
Think about Monty, he told himself, seeing he was taking a leaf out of Kodi’s book and getting hyper focused on one thing.
He managed to shop, eat, shower and get himself set up in front of his computer without dwelling on the blood results or trying to assess what ailed him. A total result. Now he just had to get through the evening without letting on something could be wrong with him. A big ask when alcohol was involved.
A minute into the call and Lennon was glad he’d made a jug of cocktails when he’d spotted Kari sitting behind Bowie. His heart did a happy dance at his friend deciding to fess up about his relationship with Kari.
Go Bowie!
You should fess up too.
Why? We don’t know what we’d be fessing up to!
Keeping Bowie’s secret had been easy when there was so much else going on with his friends. Isley met his gaze and grinned at Lennon. He gave Isley a sly wink and waited to see the reactions of the others. He sat back, sipping at his drink, and mentally placed bets on who would notice first. Frey was always the most observant.
