Chapter 20

Ren rushed through the front door and almost collided with his mom.

"Woah! Why are you in such a hurry?" Margret put her hand on his shoulder to steady him. She was holding her work bag and was still wearing her work clothes.

Ren furrowed his brows. "I didn't see the car."

Her face dropped a little. She turned away, sitting her bag on the couch. "I walked. The car went out on me this afternoon."

"Shit," Ren said, placing a hand on his forehead.

"Language." Margret looked too tired to reprimand him any more than that. She took off her jacket and hung it up by the door. "It's not a big deal. I need the exercise."

He marched into the kitchen. "It is a big deal. You can't be walking around in that neighborhood. It's going to take you forever to get there. Did you even think about how early you're going to have to leave?"

Shit. How much was this going to cost? He had money saved, but it wasn't that much. He still needed to leave some for her when he left. It would take a while before he got his first check and all that. There was no telling how much living there was going to cost and how much he was going to have to pay for synthetic blood.

He also had to think about paying the bills here. Though he made a bit from selling the synthetic blood for a higher profit, it wasn't a large amount.

And sneaking the money into her wallet without her noticing an extra twenty or fifty was going to take a long time before she had enough to pay for the car to be fixed.

Margret took down her hair. She rubbed her eyes and let out a harsh lengthy sigh. "I'm not going to argue with you about this. I'm a grown woman."

He made a loud racket as he shoved a large pot under the running faucet. "That's not the point."

The point was that she'd been taken advantage of before when she was young. Ren's father had left her barely alive on the side of the road when she was seventeen.

She was strong, but there were things out there that were stronger than she was.

"Then what's the point, Ren? Care to explain it in black and white for me?"

He slammed the pot on the stove. "All I'm saying is that all of this would be easier if you let me drop out and work! There's nothing for me here! While I'm wasting my time in that stupid fucking school, you're slaving away to pay for everything. I just want to help, but you're too fucking stubborn!"

The room was quiet except for Ren's harsh breathing. He stared down at Margret who was only an inch shorter than him, but at that moment, it felt like she was slipping through the floor. Yet, at the same time, she was taller than the house. She was this large looming figure who could squash him like a bug.

He regretted saying the words. They were true. They were his thoughts, the things that he'd been keeping down inside of him for too long. But he wished that he'd kept his mouth shut.

Margret stepped back. It was a small step, the tiniest little action, but it was a title wave crashing over him.

His fingers twitched. The tremor. He couldn't stop it. There was a blazing heat in his chest. He wanted to smash something. He wanted to get the anger, the fire, that was inside of him out. She didn't understand how much this was hurting him. She didn't get that he didn't want her help. He wanted to stop feeling like he was a burden—a parasite that was leaching from her.

But all she could see was that her son needed her protection. She wouldn't stop being so selfless and it was ruining their life.

And then he thought about what she'd been hiding from him.

She was keeping secrets, acting as if she was just some poor human woman that just had an unfortunate past. He didn't want to believe that she was lying to him. If she lied about what she was—what he was—what else would she be willing to lie to him about?

He curled his lip. He was disgusted by the feeling of rage inside of him, but then again, it was normal. His mom was the one person that he trusted the most in the world and she'd been betraying him since the beginning.

It was probably what he deserved. He should have died inside her womb. She should have killed him the moment she found out there was something growing inside of her.

"I said I'm not going to do this with you. Not again," she calmly said. Her voice was level.

"Get out of my kitchen. I don't want to hear or see you until dinner."

She coldly ignored him. She finished what he started—cooking dinner—and made a point to not even glance in his direction.

He opened his mouth. He wanted to call her names. He wanted to hit her. He wanted to beat some sense into her, to make her realize that the best thing for them was for him to work his ass off. He didn't need an education. He didn't need anything if she was the one that was going to end up dying.

Where would that put him? Did she think that he would be able to continue living if she was gone?

He didn't do any of the things that he thought about.

His gut clenched.

That was the side of him that his father had given him.

Both sides of him were disgustingly ugly. It didn't matter if he got some part from his mom, whatever was part of her inside of him had been tainted by the ugly seed of rot his father had given him.

He clamped his mouth shut. He'd done enough. This boiling shit inside of him was the thing that was ruining everything.

He actually thought about hurting her.

He was just like his father.

She didn't do anything as he left. For the first time, it felt like she actually didn't care about him. Ren thought it wouldn't feel this horrible. He thought he would be strong enough for it. Instead, he just felt like a piece of shit.

He went up to his bedroom. He checked how much synthetic blood he had, counted how much money he had—calculated how much he was going to slip to his mom—, and tried not to take his rage out on everything in his room.

He kicked the air, but that was it. He fell on the bed on his back with a loud thump. Staring at the ceiling, he watched a ladybug walk across the white little bumps. He almost got lost in the insignificant bug when he heard outside his window.

For a full minute, he didn't move. He listened closely. Margret was moving around in the kitchen downstairs. And that sound. It sounded like someone was by the side of the house. The sound was light. Like a mouse chewing away. He had to listen really hard to even hear it.

But when it came again, he moved from the bed as quietly as he could. He was by his window when he saw a figure move outside the corner.

The window flew up. He was about to scream when Ashton grabbed the front of his shirt and pressed his hand to Ren's mouth.

Ashton's red eyes stared into his own. "I'm here to talk business. Nothing else."

Ren shoved him off. "The fuck are you doing? Some kind of warning would have been great."

"I wasn't sure how to get a hold of you. I doubt walking through the front door would have been the smartest idea."

He climbed through the window. He was wearing ridiculous black slacks and another white button-down shirt. He looked like he was going to a music recital rather than having a secret meeting with someone.

Ren hated that Ashton was right about not coming through the front door. He was glad that Ashton hadn't. That would be the thing to set his mom off. Him hanging around a Mantel? After what he found out about her, he didn't know what she'd do if she did find out.

Ren narrowed his eyes. "How did you know this was my room?"

Ashton raised a brow. He looked around, smirking. "I mean, I doubted you had a vanity."

He walked around Ren's bed. Ren fought the urge to start straightening things up as he watched Ashton poke and prod with his invasive gaze. He could just see the shaming thoughts inside Ashton's head about how Ren's room was a dump. Anything was a dump compared to the mansion that Ashton lived in.

Ren crossed his arms. "So, are you here for a reason?"

Ashton gave him a curious look. "Is this a bad time?"

It was. Ren had just gotten into a fight with his mom and he was still reeling from that. But he doubted Ashton gave a shit about that. He was probably used to getting what he wanted right then and there. It didn't matter if Ren was dealing with other stuff. Ashton was the center of the universe.

"Never mind that," Ashton said, waving his hand as if that was enough to settle things. "Have you seen the news?"

He placed his hands into his pockets. He stood tall in front of Ren's dresser. Ren hadn't ever noticed how lean he was. His sides—his hips and waist—would feel so tiny in Ren's hands. Ren forced his eyes up to Ashton's face, ignoring the way his stomach was tightening.

It took a second for the question to hit him. The news. Ashton couldn't be talking about anything other than the missing teenagers and the fact that the Hunter Society was coming back. Ren felt sick just thinking about it.

"Yeah." His throat had become tight. He felt like he'd swallowed a whole bag of cotton balls.

He sat on his bed. He was very aware of where Ashton was, but he felt more at ease when they were in his bedroom and not Ashton's. And he was finally starting to feel like he didn't have to worry about Ashton killing him. They had a contract now. They had to work together and for that to happen, Ren had to be alive.

"You haven't told anyone, have you?"

Ren scoffed. "Who would I tell?"

He could hear Ashton moving about behind him. He felt on edge, always ready to run away if need be.

Ashton gave a low laugh. It didn't sound right coming from him. Not when he looked like that. An angel. An annoying angel at that.

"That's good. I'm glad I don't have to worry about that." He walked around, facing Ren again. Whatever look had been on his face was gone now, replaced with that serious face that made it quite obvious that he didn't like being around Ren at all.

"I came here because I think I know where to start." He pulled out his phone. It was silver and looked like it could cut through anything just like him. Typical. Ren wouldn't have expected anything less than the best for a Mantel.

He flicked through his phone for a bit. When he found what he was looking for, he turned it around to show Ren.

"There's a celebration at the town hall. Public. The reopening of the Hunter Society has everyone excited."

Ashton curled his upper lip in distaste. Ren completely agreed. There was just something foul about the way that everyone seemed to think this was the best thing to happen since the ending of the war. They couldn't wait for the vampire police to come back and irradicate all of them.

Ashton turned on his heels. He was wearing black dress shoes that looks like they could give blisters just by putting them on.

He looked out the window as if he was actually seeing something out there.

"My idea is to do a little observing. I want to know who exactly those guys we saw in the forest are. If they have any big connections to the HS."

He continued to look out the window without saying anything.

Ren raised a brow. "And then?"

For a second, Ashton didn't say anything. Then, he glanced over at Ren.

His red eyes were unnerving.

"Are you hungry?"

Ashton's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Ren cleared his throat, only then realizing how his question could have been taken. "I mean...your eyes are red again."

Ashton cursed under his breath. He turned his face away. He slightly shielded his face with his hand. The gesture was delicate, almost, yet there was nothing less delicate than a vampire that was thirsty. The animal that was caged within them would tear anything apart to get what they craved.

Other vampires included.

"I was in a hurry. Don't worry about it." He was cowering away as if he thought Ren was going to do something.

He obviously wasn't going to. He was the one that should be worried. Vampires were fickle things. He knew first hand what it felt like to be hungry. He knew that it was going to be even worse for a full vampire that had to rely solely on blood to survive.

Ren had to bite back the words that were building up inside of him. Ashton was telling him to not worry about it when he should be. How much of a hurry did he have to be that he forgot to fucking eat?

Ashton wiped his face. "Anyway. Later this afternoon, I'll meet you outside the high school. We'll head over to the city hall together."

He started to climb out the window.

Ren was over there beside Ashton before he could even think. He grabbed Ashton's arm, not sure what he was going to do, but he wasn't able to do anything when Ashton whirled around on. He grabbed Ren by his upper arms and slammed him against the windowsill. The air was knocked out of Ren. He stared wide-eyed into Ashton's red eyes. His back screamed from where he was pinned, but the boiling heat in his stomach was screaming for an entirely different reason.

He tired to swallow down the lump in his throat and will the intensity of the flushing heat in his abdomen to go away. The thing he should have been the most concerned about was the red glowing of Ashton's eyes and the look of hunger on his face.

This was the one time that Ren had seen him so out of control. All the other times—except for maybe the first time they met—he'd been poised. He'd been like a rich aristocrat who couldn't be bothered to be roped into commoner problems. It didn't pass Ren that Ashton was rich, probably spoiled, and was hidden away from the problems of everyday people.

He wasn't like a poised rich snob. He was a poised rich snob.

The worst was that he knew that he was eloquent and all that shit. He wasn't trying to pretend to be anything.

There were many things that Ren hated about him. That was one of the things that he hated most about the Mantel. Pretending wasn't a word in Ashton's vocabulary.

Ashton stepped forward. Ren wasn't expecting it. He stiffened, waiting for either the sinking of teeth into his neck or a hit to the face. When neither of those things happened, his anxiety spiked even further.

He turned his head slightly to the side. His lips parted. He took a slow breath. They were walking a thin line. He felt like they were going back and forth between being enemies and something else that was scary to name.

Ashton flared his nostrils. His bright red eyes were burning into Ren's as if they were looking right through him to the center of his being. He was opening Ren up like he was a book, flaying him alive, and there was so much of him that he couldn't hide from that hard gaze.

Ashton dipped his head. His hands slipped down and then they were leaving Ren's arms. They grabbed onto the base of the windowsill. Ren was completely trapped in. There was nowhere to go.

"Are you tempting me?"

His voice had gone down to a lower whisper. There was more than hunger in that voice. It was a possibility, an offering almost, that went beyond anything that should be going on between them.

Nothing should be going on. They were trying to find a murderer and find out what Demon Hounds wanted with them. That was all that they were.

Ashton moved even closer, their faces almost touching. Ren could see Ashton's fangs. They were fully extended from his gums. Ren froze as Ashton ran his tongue over them.

"Don't." He wasn't even convinced by his own order. There was an edge of hesitance, like he was asking for Ashton to ignore everything he was saying.

The heat of Ashton's body pressed against his made his mind foggy. His own fangs extended, poking his bottom lip. He wanted another taste. The sweet flavor of Ashton's blood had been a hundred times better than the synthetic stuff. Ashton wanted it just as much as Ren wanted this.

It didn't have to be more than a mutual favor.

But just when Ashton's fangs brushed Ren's outstretched neck, he backed away. Ren's gut dropped as he was denied the pleasure of knowing what it would feel like to be on the other end of a bite. However, it was the loss of being able to drink real blood that was disappointing.

Ashton shoved Ren out of the way.

"The next time you do something stupid like that, I'll rip your throat out."

He was on the otherside of the window, dangling with his hands on the frame. He glared at Ren—red eyes even brighter now and fangs pressing into his bottom lip.

"Tomorrow. Remember."

And then he was gone.