The Blood Boss by Davidson King
Epilogue
One Year Later
Cain
“Why are we inviting dragons here?” Jayce was throwing clothes all over the room, claiming he had nothing to wear even though he owned more clothes than I did.
“Because I’m trying to get them back in our good graces. They have strong blood, and if they’d agree to return as part of the ceremony to feed from them, it would sustain vampires longer.”
“And we have one week until they arrive?” Jayce held a light-blue shirt against his chest.
“I like that one, you should—”
“It’s crap.” And he tossed that too.
“Yes, a week.”
“What the hell do dragons even eat? Do we have food for them?” He tossed a scarf over his shoulder, huffed, and threw it on top of a little statue next to the bed.
“Small animals, things like that, but we don’t need to feed them. They’ll bring their own food.”
“Good, And also, eew, no goat murders in this house, Cain. I draw a line at that.”
“Fine. Now, why are you frantically looking for something to wear at ten at night?”
“You said I have a week; I need to make sure I have clothes for every day that look good on me…but not too good—I don’t want them eating me.”
Laughing, I grabbed the red tie in his hand and placed it on the bed, turning him to face me. “They won’t care what you’re wearing, and dragons don’t eat vampires.”
“That’s kind of rude.”
“You want them to want to eat you?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe.”
Pressing my lips to his, I kissed him until I was sure he was feeling better, then smiled. “Let’s clean this up and go to bed.”
“My parents are coming tomorrow for your like eight-billionth birthday.” He started folding his jeans and I helped.
“I’m not that old, and I don’t understand why I have to have a birthday party when I’ve never had one before.”
Fabric slapped me in the face. “That’s why. You must experience the full-on embarrassment a birthday is. People must ply you with gifts, you have to get hugs and face squishes, you have to make a wish and blow out the fire on top of the cakes, and seal the deal by stabbing it.”
“I don’t think that’s how the human tradition goes.”
“I thought I’d spice it up for you.”
Folding forgotten, I tackled him to the bed. “Thank you, Jayce. I can’t wait for this birthday party you have planned for me.”
He wrapped his arms around my neck, pulling me into a kiss. “You’re welcome.”
That night, with Jayce asleep on my chest, I thought about the year we’d had together. Jayce took to being a vampire a lot better than I had hoped. Aecor and Morningstar worked with us…I should say with Jayce, to guarantee safety of our nutrients. I couldn’t get a clear answer on the sentence cast down on Rogos, but not a peep had been heard from him.
There were so many questions we all still had about Jayce’s gifts, and every day we wondered if we’d learn something else. But it hadn’t consumed us. For the first time since I became a vampire, I was finding I enjoyed it. I lived it all through Jayce’s eyes and felt true emotion as it coursed through his body and into mine.
Forever wasn’t so bad when spent with someone I loved who loved me back.