Chapter Eleven

"I was thinking we could go out today, if you felt up to it?"

Landyn looked across the table at his mate of three whole days. Three whole days of being offered food every time Landyn's stomach rumbled, long hours spent talking about nothing serious at all, and making out on the couch with a movie playing in the background. On the second day packages started arriving with Landyn's name on them that contained piles of clothes, shoes, underwear, and all those little things Hephaestus seemed to think he needed - like toiletries.

"I wanted you to feel special, getting the parcels," Hephaestus had explained when Landyn asked why he didn't just zap up anything he thought Landyn needed. Landyn was more than happy to work for the things he'd been given, but he sensed that Hephaestus had genuinely thought about the least possible way of offending him (a person who had nothing) by offering him gifts instead. Which was so much fun unboxing – Landyn had to be honest about that.

A particular favorite of Landyn's was a huge cat gym which Hephaestus set up for his ferret in one corner of the living room. "You can shift out in the garden any time you like." Hephaestus had been so serious as he followed the instructions with a lot of muttering and cursing, screwing poles and stands together. "This is just for when it's cold, wet, or dark outside, and your furry half still wants to play." Such a sweet thing to do and yet another way Hephaestus was spoiling him.

The perfect eggs Hephaestus had cooked for him that morning while Landyn was taking another bath was another example, as much appreciated as the cat gym. Landyn was still coming to terms with the fact he could eat more than once a day. "I'm sure it will be fun, going out with you. Are you taking me to see your studio?"

"If you think you'd like to go. I need to check my website and the details for that are on my studio computer, and I thought you might like to see some of the smaller things I've made." Hephaestus pushed his plate aside and reached for his coffee mug. "You should know, I'm not sure, but it's possible the cyclops might be there. I don't think they will be, but we have all shared the workshop space for the longest time. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

Landyn shrugged and smiled. "If you recall, I didn't have a problem with them in the first place. They were the ones who had a problem with me. Remember what I said about being happy?" He pointed his fork in Hephaestus's direction. "I can't make people happy who have no intention of being happy, and neither can you. I'm more concerned about you, and if you'll be all right if they're there. They're your friends. You know them better than I do."

"I thought I did." Hephaestus sighed.

"I'm sure they regret the way they acted, especially Bronte." Actually, Landyn didn't think that at all. He was just trying to be diplomatic. He understood that change was scary, especially if a person was used to having things their own way for such a long time. Landyn imagined even giants would worry about things like that. "It'll be fine." He widened his smile deliberately. "I'm excited to see what you do in this studio of yours."

"I'm really keen to show you." Hephaestus nodded, but then those worried lines appeared on his forehead again. "There was one other thing. Do you remember, back when we met…"

"Absolutely, I remember every second of that night." Scraping his plate clean, Landyn licked his fork and then set his knife and fork and plate to one side. Hephaestus had zapped him chocolate again and he just had to have a sip.

"You mentioned you were on the run from a vampire who wanted to cage you. Do we need to take any extra security precautions or be on the look out for anyone in particular while we're out and about?"

Landyn froze for a moment, and then quickly licked his lips in case he had chocolate froth on the top one. "You should take it as a compliment that I haven't thought about that little matter at all since you scooped me up and changed my life. Do you know any vampires? Like, are there any you're familiar with in town? I probably should've asked this that first night we met."

"There is a local coven, maybe a half a dozen vampires I believe, but they tend to keep to themselves." Hephaestus got a cute furrow in between his eyes when he was thinking. "I've seen them, in passing, if I've been out at night at a club or bar, but I haven't had anything to do with any of them specifically. They tend to stay away from paranormals they perceive as more powerful than they are. Gods and cyclops both fall under the more powerful category."

"That's handy." Landyn took another quick swig of his drink. "With luck, no one will notice me with you and things will be fine."

Yep. His bright smile wasn't going to cut the mustard this time. Hephaestus shook his head. "Landyn, don't you realize how stunning you are? You're noticeable no matter where you go. Why don't you tell me what actually happened that had you on the streets in the first place? Perhaps I can help."

"I think your opinion about my looks is biased, but, oh…I feel so stupid about it." Landyn groaned putting his head on the table, barely missing his mug.

"It can't have been that stupid if whatever this guy did meant you were living on the streets for two years." Hephaestus's hand was heavy on Landyn's head in a comforting way.

"But it was my fault." Landyn lifted his head, pouting. "Well, I didn't ask to be put in a cage, and I don't remember agreeing to a collar any day of the week, either. Most shifters don't like that sort of thing unless it's part of what they and their partner are into."

"So this was a date gone wrong? A relationship breakdown?"

"I don't know what it was." Sitting in Hephaestus's lovely bright kitchen, thinking about HIM was the last thing Landyn wanted to do, but his mate deserved his honest story. "I was working. You already know I hadn't had much schooling, and my home life was crap, and let's leave the home side of things at that, all right?" Landyn waited until Hephaestus nodded before he continued.

"So I was working, stocking shelves, doing odd jobs for a huge department store. Nothing special, but the hours were plentiful, people were friendly, and I made enough money to have a small apartment to call my own. I was happy."

"Okay, so did this vampire approach you in the store?"

"No, but I did have a couple of friends – they were human, so it's not like they knew I turned furry once in a while, but we would go out drinking together on Friday nights. It was our payday and the bar down the road from where we worked had cheap drinks from six until ten at night, so it was a regular thing we did."

"Sounds like you built a nice little life for yourself."

Landyn basked under Hephaestus's approval. "It wasn't much, but I could afford to eat, and I had a roof over my head. I thought I was doing okay. I've worked almost my whole life, so to see a real benefit come from that…" He trailed off. "Anyhow, we were out – me and a few friends - playing pool and just talking about the week. Then I felt this presence. It was like…like a storm was coming, but no one else seemed to notice it.

"Then I saw him – this tall man with clothes that were more expensive than all the booze in the bar. He locked onto me, and I barely had time to notice his eyes were strange and then bam he was beside me. Introduced himself as Michael, bought me a drink, chatted with me and my friends, and yet I couldn't shake this feeling that he'd put me in some kind of trance…"

"Vampires can do that – it's not considered a polite thing to do to another paranormal, but they do that have ability."

"That would explain why I just followed him out of the bar like a puppy dog, then." Landyn was still disgusted with himself for doing that. "There wasn't a question of consent because he never asked, and you know, when I think back about it now, I'm not sure I talked at all from the moment he introduced himself, and you know that's weird because I barely shut up around you."

"I enjoy that you are happy to talk to me about things. The thing is not all vampires are evil predators," Hephaestus said softly. "Having to hide who they are, especially with their unique feeding needs, especially in the modern world, it isn't easy. They learn, over very long lives, to adapt and modify their behavior so they seem to fit in. Your Michael probably tranced you silent so if any of your friends thought about the interaction later, they would just think you were shy around a new prospective beau."

"I get that, I really do." Landyn did not want his mate to think he was speciest. "And, if I'd been asked , I wouldn't have objected to the sex and feed that came afterward. Don't growl. You're not a shifter," he added with a quick grin, because Hephaestus was doing an amazing impersonation of a grumpy bear. "The thing is, it was a hookup – it's not like we exchanged phone numbers or anything. Done and done. He asked if…no wait." Landyn held up his hand, thinking about that night.

"Micheal told me to be at the bar again the following week, and I just wobbled down the road on my shaky legs heading for home. He took far too much blood. It took me the weekend to recover. Anyway, I distinctly remember thinking, distinctly , and that was probably the first distinct thought I'd had since seeing Michael for the first time, but I thought that was it. There was no way I was going to do that again. I did not go to the bar the following Friday, or for two weeks after that, either."

"That was a good idea, keeping yourself safe, and increasing the time apart so any temptation the vampire might have for your blood would dissipate as he took blood from other donors."

"Right. Right." Excited, Landyn shook his finger at his mate. "See, that's what I thought. Well, not with all those fancy words, but I figured if he wanted to see me a week after the first feed, then all I had to do was stay away from him for about a month, and he'd feed from someone else and forget I ever existed."

"Considering you turned up in Chicago as a rough sleeper, I'm guessing that's not what happened."

"He broke into my apartment Saturday morning two weeks later." Landyn slumped in his chair with a sigh. "Huffing and puffing about how my place just would not do, annoyed with me because he had to trance one of the people I worked with to find out where I lived. I'm struck mute, unable to even order him out.

"He took me to another house. Just picked me up and walked me out of my own house, took me to another one. He locked me in a cage, telling me that would be my home from then on. I still couldn't say anything as he took more blood from my neck. I just watched like a statue as he stripped me of all my clothes, took everything I had like my phone, wallet, and keys. He left me in that cage, too weak from blood loss to do anything." Landyn sniffed. Not his finest moment, but Hephaestus wanted to know the risk, and as a mate it was up to Landyn to protect him with knowledge if nothing else.

"I got out, obviously. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't. It took about a week for him to leave me alone long enough for the trance to wear off and for me to have enough strength to move. I shifted into my ferret. He never knew what type of shifter I was. He didn't care.

"So I shifted and squeezed through the gaps in the bars. I got out and ran for almost an hour with bare feet on the concrete to get back to my apartment only to find someone else was living there.

"The guy there loaned me a shirt and pants and a pair of sneakers, but hey, it was his apartment. He showed me his lease and everything. He'd moved in three days after I was taken. He swore the place was empty when he was shown it. He had no idea what happened to my stuff. It's not like I could go to the landlord, because clearly Michael had gotten to him, too."

"Oh, sweetling, that's so unfair."

"I didn't dare go back to work, or ask for help from any of my friends. They weren't paranormal and they could've been hurt. I didn't have a clue how to get in touch with anyone to get new paperwork. My ID and license were the last things my dad gave me before he kicked me out, but without it the bank wouldn't let me have access to my account. I didn't think it would be so hard. I'd just go to the next town over and start over. I'd done it once. I could do it again."

"You shouldn't have had to."

"Anything to stay out of that cage, you know." Landyn looked into Hephaestus's eyes. "I just wanted to be safe. So I went to the next town over, but it's hard getting work with no ID. And then, when I was doing a cash delivery some guy jumps out at me from an alley one night and snarls "Michael's looking for you' and I freaked as he ran away."

"That's…"

"Obsessive? Weird? Psycho behavior on the part of a vampire? You'd better believe it was." Landyn rested his head on the table again. It was easier than facing anything in that moment. "Two years, fifteen towns, twenty-six…or it could be twenty-seven, I lost count, but there were far too many random vamps just jumping at me out of nowhere, whispering or snarling Michael's name, hounding me so I can never feel safe. I don't even know how they kept finding me."

"You will be safe with me."

Landyn was cradled in Hephaestus's magic even as his mate was speaking, swung over until he was cradled against his mate's chest. When Hephaestus said something like that, Landyn believed him. In that moment Landyn truly wanted to believe that his days of having to avoid jumpy vampires had come to an end. Hephaestus was solid, he cared. Landyn could feel that through their bond. I must've done something right to end up with you as my mate.

It was lovely, sitting in a cozy kitchen, sun gleaming on the countertops and the smell of hot chocolate still tickling his nose. As much as Landyn could've sat there all day, he remembered his mate wanted to do something and he wanted to be supportive of that, too. "So," he said, kissing Hephaestus's chest. "Shall we go to your workshop now?"