Truce and Lies

Grant: ruse over

I strolled in just as the sun peaked around the buildings. It was cutting it a bit close, but I made it without blowing my daywalker status. My father sleepily was in a chair in the lobby and looked up at me with a relieved smile.

"Aidan's in apartment twelve," he told me. "Probably still sleeping. Don't worry about today; I'll handle the hunters."

"Thanks, Dad," I said. "I didn't find much, I'm afraid."

"You came up with more information than we did," he pointed out. "Would seeing the bodies be of any help to you? I could arrange that."

"Probably," I admitted. "Some time this evening?"

"Will do."

I moved past him to the elevator, exiting on the apartment level and finding room twelve. When I tried the handle, it was locked. I knocked a couple of times.

"Aidan," I called.

I heard someone get off the bed and head to the door. There was a screeching sound as if a chair was kicked aside and then the handle turned. I let myself in and was very surprised to see Aidan in his wolf form padded back to the bed. He was a beautiful silver with darker markings along his back, too large to be mistaken for a regular wolf. I locked the door again; it would not be good for someone like Tish to walk in on him like this.

"What happened?" I wondered aloud.

Aidan didn't shift back. I sat on the bed and he curled up in my lap. We had never really interacted like this. I hesitantly petted his head and he leaned into my touch.

"Go back to sleep then," I told him. "I'll keep watch."

It didn't take him long to fall back asleep. He shivered in his sleep, and left me to worry about both him and me. I had wanted someone to talk to about this new dilemma, but I hadn't ever seen Aidan like this. Hopefully he had just missed me and we would be fine when he had gotten some sleep.

Someone rapped on the door hours later. I had been methodically stroking Aidan's fur and I jerked a little at the sudden noise.

"Who is it?" I called, waking Aidan in my lap. He whined, once.

"You two decent?" my father asked. "I brought some blood bags before we go down to the morgue."

"Give us a second," I called. "Kitten, come on."

He grumbled, making adorable sleepy wolf complaints but I pushed him off my lap and onto the floor. He shifted back into a man, looking around for our bags for a new set of clothes.

"What happened to your clothes from before?" I questioned.

"They're in the shower," he said, stretching his shoulders before pulling on a shirt.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I questioned, feeling like I was missing something obvious.

"No, your dad's here."

Aidan crossed the small room and opened the door for my father, who held up several bags of blood.

"Dad, I don't need that much," I complained.

"You do if you're not drinking Aidan's blood," he countered, handing me the bags. "And we're about to be around a lot of humans and even more dead humans. I'm not taking chances."

"Is it still daylight outside?" Aidan inquired. He moved to the window, peering out. I could only see dark storm clouds beyond. "Hardly. Do you need my blood anyway? We might get into a bind."

"I'd rather he not," my father objected. "People will react poorly from you drinking from a person."

Aidan didn't respond to my father, but looked at me instead. He seemed different today.