42. A Fellow Menace

H arlow stared out at the road having regrets… Well, really just one—that the bullet he fired hadn't gone through Maverick's thick fucking skull. All of this could have been avoided if he had just killed the fucker.

While Harlow didn't feel guilty for the deaths, or even for what was happening… He was…irritated…angry even. Just really fucking annoyed. Maverick, that motherfucking bastard.

"Would he really choose to attack someone with such a loose connection to you?" Foxx asked.

He frowned. "Probably…" He rubbed his face and huffed. "I don't know, maybe? It would be in the files that they helped. If Maverick has access, which…we can't be sure that he doesn't… He has a lot of connections with old time hunters. I doubt all the ones who joined us are happy about paranormals getting rights." His frown deepened. "He may not know about your connection to me, besides you being my partner…but…he does… Fuck."

Harlow reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. It took him a moment to get to his contacts and to find the name he was looking for… Someone he'd been meaning to call for weeks… Wait…no, over a month now actually.

As it rang, Foxx asked, "Who are you calling? Doc?"

"No. Now, shh."

Foxx glared, his lips pursing into a pout when Harlow shushed him.

He rolled his eyes and waited, the phone ringing on and on… Watch the fucker for once not answer when he called…

Harlow was about to hang up when the call connected. "HARLOW! Hey! Long time, no talk! It's been what, months, a year? How are you? What you calling for? Need something? Do you have someone for me to take care of? Or just miss me?"

Had…Harlow really forgotten how similarly chatty the fucker was compared to Foxx. Oh…fucking hell. This was a mistake…

His eye twitched as the bastard kept going. "Shut the fuck up, Gavin!"

Foxx gasped! "The Gavin ?!" The vampire blinked. "Wait…who's Gavin?"

Had he really never mentioned the man's name? Oops.

"Ohhh, whose that?!" Gavin chimed. "He sounds cute!"

Harlow sighed. "It's my partner."

"Oh, I heard about that! The whole paranormal partner thing with hunters. Oh, that means he's a vampire! Hi, cutie vampire! I bet you are cute, you sounded cute!"

Foxx giggled. "I am cute."

"Are you?" the man asked, sounding as if he was trying to flirt.

"Gavin, shut up!" he growled dangerously.

Gavin chuckled. "Shutting up!"

He took a deep breath in and out. "I'm calling to tell you to watch your ass. There's something else I need to talk to you about, but it can wait. You've…seen the news?"

"News? News, where?"

"Where are you?"

"Can't say!"

He rolled his eyes, of course he couldn't.

Foxx cleared his throat, and Harlow frowned at the spark of excitement he noted in the vampire's eyes. "Gavin, hi! I don't know who you are, but I'm Foxx Honeywell."

"Foxx…not now!" Harlow snapped.

"Oh, you're British! I thought I detected a British accent when you first spoke!"

"Gavin," he hissed.

"Shutting up."

Calm…he needed to remain calm. Taking a deep breath, he said slowly, "News from the States."

"News…from the States? Why are you… OH! Right, we were talking about if I saw the news. You're talking about that weird murdery-sounding hate group, right?"

"Yeah, well…is the line secure?"

"Always is. No one is hearing anything but me, you, and your cutie, Foxx."

Foxx giggled.

Harlow rolled his eyes once again. "Okay… Well, we know who is running it. And the bastard has a huge ass grudge against me."

"He blew up Harlow's house," Foxx added, un-fucking-helpfully.

"He what?!" Gavin barked sharply, the friendly puppy-like tone gone, replaced by the cold, hard killer that Harlow knew laid underneath the kid's fa?ade.

"Foxx…you really…had to tell him that?!"

"Well, I mean, just telling him that he has a grudge is a bit of an understatement, don't you think?" Foxx drawled.

" You should have told me!" Gavin said stiffly.

"I'm fine," he ground out. "Both of you stop talking to each other and let me finish! I believe he went after someone because they helped me with a case. The connection was barely there, but you… I'm pretty sure he knows about you. I just called to tell you to watch your ass."

Gavin snorted. "Harlow, the organization wouldn't let anyone get near me, and if they did…" The man let out a deep, slightly devious chuckle as he trailed off. And when he spoke next, the hyper puppy-like energy had returned. "But how bad really is shit there, for you to call me? You know what? I'm going to come. Sit tight, I'll come and help!"

"No! No, Gavin, don't come! Stay wherever the fuck you are. Just watch your ass. Stay put…and if you hear anything about this group, tell me."

"Mmm, I'm gonna come."

The phone went dead.

"FUCK!" he roared.

Why…why did he call?! Why did he bother?! He should have let the bastard get offed!

Foxx giggled. "So…what organization was he talking about? And who is he again?"

"Don't know, can't say. He has always been vague about it, so don't bug me for information because I literally don't know."

"Oh, that's too bad… It sounded cool and spy-ish. So, who is he?"

Harlow sighed. "He's that kid I told you about. That's sort of my adopted family."

"AHH, him! You never gave me a name. Oh, that's so cool! I always wondered about him! OH, did you tell him we were dating?! Or, what about you being a dhampir?!"

"Foxx, I haven't fucking spoken to him in months. When the fuck would I have time to—" He cut off when his phone started to ring. The number was coming up as unknown, but even the numbers on the screen were a weird jumbled mess. He had a feeling he knew who it was.

Groaning, because apparently luck was against him, he managed to answer on the first attempt.

"Harlow," Gavin said, his voice serious. "Why does your file say you're no longer human?"

"Stay out of my files, you fuck!" Harlow hissed.

"Harlow, what else haven't you told me?"

He just growled in response, about to rip into the little bastard for going through his file when Foxx decided to crush his reputation.

"So, he threw his back out in the middle of sex. Well, it wasn't during sex, it was the start of round two, but?—"

"FOXX!"

"What?! He asked! It put you in the hospital. Like… I mean, you were hurt that one time too, and I had to carry you out because you couldn't move. You see, he had a?—"

"Foxx, for the love of all, SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Gavin let out a choking noise. "I see…you finally took that plunge into bisexuality… C-congrats…"

"Oh, yes, we are dating," Foxx chimed happily.

"I…I…" Gavin trailed off.

Never had the man ever been shocked speechless. Harlow just wished it hadn't been at his expense.

The man cleared his throat again. "I'll be there in…a month's time. Or sooner if I can be." Once again, Gavin hung up.

"Fuck!" He aimed a glare Foxx's way.

The vampire blinked almost too innocently at him.

"YOU!" Harlow growled.

"Me?" More blinking followed.

Foxx had to say, Gavin sounded young, but then Harlow had mentioned he was…what, twenty-seven? Or something like that. The ‘organization' bit did make him question some things.

Harlow groaned. "Oh, fuck my life."

Ignoring the man's obvious exasperation, he said, "Okay… Anyway… Gavin seems fun."

"He's a menace, just like you are," Harlow grumbled.

Foxx giggled. "So, my type of person? And he's coming here?! You need to tell me more about him before he gets here, because like, how can he stay with us if I don't even know his likes and dislikes?! What if I offend him?!"

"You aren't going to—what do you mean, stay with us?!"

Why ask such a pointless question?! Wasn't it obvious?! "Well, he's your family! Where else would he stay?!"

"In a fucking hotel!"

"Nonsense! We have room!"

"Foxx…fucking hell…"

Foxx frowned, he'd have to move some shit… The other bedrooms had kind of become his closet…but that was fine… He could always commandeer Alastair's apartment for his clothes. Like the man wasn't there all the time, and it would only be for a little while. The vampire only needed one room! He smiled. Yes…problem solved.

His smile dropped as his gaze was caught by the rearview mirror. He stared at the body bag. Speaking of family…now was not the time to get distracted when Santiago had just lost part of his… Thanks to fucking Maverick.

"Let's get to Doc's," Foxx said, cutting off whatever Harlow had been ranting about.

"Is he even open?"

"It's way before office hours, so no one else should be there. But Doc should be since he lives there."