Boris and the Vampire (Legends of Pinewood 2)

He Will Hunt More Than Only Deer

"Hello!" he called out jovially. "How lovely to meet you, despite the late hour. As I already said: I'm Etienne. A pleasure."

Etienne didn't offer his hand for a handshake, and to my relief, neither did either of the Davies as they introduced themselves. It seemed like the situation was odd enough to startle them into not minding their manners as much.

"Oh! It's kind of dark here, isn't it?" Mr. Davis said. "No matter! Nice to meet you. I'm Tom Davis,"

"And I'm Melinda Davis," Mrs. Davis introduced herself next, smoothing her raven hair and subtly pulling a leaf out. "A pleasure."

"So, what brings you here, Etienne?" Mr. Davis asked, "We rarely get newcomers. Especially not with no one knowing they're here." He darted a questioning glance at me.

Etienne kept his charming, close-lipped smile plastered on his face. "I'm here to visit Boris, of course."

"Oh?" Mrs. Davis asked. "Are you friends, or...?"

Mrs. Davis practically bounced with enthusiasm, and I could almost see the gears in her head turning. She loved love and always wanted to find people partners. Her son Xavier used to be her focus, but now that he had a mate, her reach had started extending to other people. It was bound to be my turn at some point since she constantly made remarks about me living alone.

Unfortunately, Etienne seemed to catch onto Mrs. Davis' unfortunate matchmaking trait as well. A sense of dread filled my stomach at that spark of recognition in his eyes.

"I live with Boris now," Etienne replied. "I I needed a place to stay, and Boris kindly offered me to live with him."

"Is that so? Where are you from?" Mr. Davis asked.

"I'm from the greater Logoria area," he replied, being surprisingly truthful.

"A discussion better saved for a less ungodly hour," I tried to cut in. "It's very late and you must be tired from your long trip, Etienne."

"Nonsense, I don't mind, Boris." Etienne waved away my concerns. Then he leaned closer to me, knowing exactly what it'd look like, and turned back to Mr. and Mrs. Davis. "I'm very happy to get to know more people in this town. I want to meet all your friends."

"You're a long way from home," Mr. Davis said. "What brought you here, Etienne?"

"Right here?" Etienne shot me a meaningful look. "I guess I'm here because of Boris."

Shit. He didn't explicitly say anything to keep his plausible deniability, but he certainly implied and the Davises ate it up like cake.

I crossed my arms. "Aren't you here to study, Etienne?" I asked sharply.

Etienne nodded and winked at me. "Of course. That's what I tell everyone at home, at least."

Mr. and Mrs. Davis both chuckled at his 'joke' and it seemed Etienne was going to do whatever he could to make them believe we were a couple.

I opened my mouth again to protest, but Mrs. Davis beat me to it. "Oh, Boris. Don't be shy. You know we're super excited to meet your... special friend."

"No," I sputtered, but I was clearly fighting a losing battle. 

The Davises had already decided I was simply being shy about having a brand new partner. It didn't help my case that I'd never had any lovers in all the years I'd been living in Pinewood. There had been casual encounters with other werewolves outside of town, sure. But they were discreet, short, and over the moment we'd reached our mutual satisfaction. But for as far as Mr. and Mrs. Davis knew, I had dated nobody in years.