The Immortal Blood

Chapter 22

In the following couple days, Adam and Valentine had worked side by side to outline the plan to eliminate Vernon.
On paper it worked, all they needed was the surprise effect and speed of execution on their side: Todd would have taken care of Dimitri and Axel while Adam would have acted as bait for Vernon.
Once the Elder was drawn out of the house, Todd would set him on fire, and together they would make sure he didn't get any help until he turned into a pile of ashes.
Simple and concise, but there were still many unknown possibilities to consider.
"If we fail to calculate even the slightest risk, we're screwed."
"Were you always this paranoid before a game?" Adam made fun of him by opening his second beer of the night.
"Worse." Todd had given him an half smile, before going back to staring at the plan of the house that Adam had designed for him: the spirits were perhaps the most difficult factor in the whole matter (apart from Vernon, unpredictable and dangerous as he was), they could have been decisive in making their scheme fall apart.
"Are we really sure we want to do this in that place?" The younger man had expressed his same doubt, albeit amplified.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a choice. I don't like it either, Adam. . . it's hard enough to face Vernon alone, I don't like at all the idea of doing it with tables and furniture crashing around, however, as we have said, it is better to act and take that bastard on the run. If we wait for him to find us, we'll be in serious disadvantage."
"I know." The blond had shaken his head, exhausted: he felt emptied, it was only his determination that still kept him going. "It's just that. . . you've seen what it's like when I'm alone in there."
"Yeah, but believe me, ghosts are gonna be the least of our problems."
"If you say so. . . " Adam's phone started ringing again. "Great, I just needed another call from work. . . wait, what the...?" He noticed the number and took a quick running into his room.
Todd had stood bewildered on the couch, still holding the sheets of paper full of their notes in his hands. He had stretched his ears to catch a few fragments of the conversation, but the floors of stone and old reinforced concrete didn't help.
With a sigh of frustration, he had stood up to go and pour himself a glass of Scotch, he hadn't eaten for days, and he was beginning to feel the symptoms.
Adam had returned back down behind him, his face concerned and his eyes red.
"What happened?"
"Nothing. . . it was. . . my daughters." He answered him without looking at his face, also serving himself.
"Oh." Now everything was clear. "Wait, but how. . . ?"
"Yeah, I. . . I hadn't talked to them since. . . apparently, my wife came to know about the attack, and she tamped everyone in the office until they gave her this number. I convinced her to stay where she is, but. . . it was thought."
"Fuck. I'm sorry. . . " Todd bit his tongue, feeling like a liar since he actually felt sorry for ADAM and not for his wife. "Listen, it will soon be over. . . " he had placed his hands on his shoulders, trying to ignore both the scent and the proximity of the other.
"Yes, I know, it's just. . . I've never been apart from them for so long. And if I think I might not going to. . . I'm not gonna fuckin';. . ."
"Don't say that. Don't even think about it, you understand?" Todd had ironed his grip on him, refusing even to imagine that kind of ending.
Adam had barely nodded, then looked at him with that damn face and those damn eyes, and his canines had sprung out of their own will.
"Shit, I'm sorry." He covered his mouth with one hand, taking a step back. He hadn't noticed it before because the tension was hiding it, but he was literally starving.
"Todd. . . how long has it been since you last fed?" Obviously Adam was much more intuitive than he was.
"Too long." He admitted, cursing the lethal need of his body at a time like that. "I've been too busy to. . ."
"It's all right." The lawyer offered him his wrist with no objection.
"No. Vernon almost killed you! I can't. . . "
"Todd, there's just me within a mile radius, and I don't think you want to go hunting in the city in a moment like this."
"I should have thought of that sooner. Damn it! How did I. . ."
"Todd! It doesn't matter. I'll be fine. But" he had stopped him while the other one began to bend over him. "....only by the wrist." The last time they were alone he tore his pants off, God only knew what would happen if he offered him his neck.
Valentine had nodded, placing his lips on the tender part of his arm, where the blood vessels flow, then he had sunk his teeth firmly, but with little violence, making him only partly jolt in pain. Adam had watched him drinking, his mind running like a pinball machine from the events of the recent days to his family, to Vernon, to his old house, and so on, in a continuous stream.
When Todd had finally detached, sated, it was only because, as always happened to him with Adam, once he had silenced one need, another, more human and primitive, immediately arised. He had looked at him unequivocally, but that time he had not acted, if not only to touch the strong line of his chin, gently.
Adam had felt like an electric shock all over his body, and had separated from him, staring at the floor.
Todd had emitted all his frustration in a long exhale, passing a hand on his face. "I'm gonna take a shower." He said, shaking his head, going up the stairs.
The blond had silently clung to his glass of liquor, while his hand absently retraced the point where the other one had touched him.