Blood Betrayal

Chapter Nineteen

In the living room, he saw that all of his brothers were gathered having breakfast/supper. There was never a bad time to have eggs and bacon. The smell of it made his stomach grumble.

"Zi you're alive!" Liam exclaimed from the table.

He grinned running a hand over the neat brown hair he kept at near military length. "Didn't even see you at the party." The plate in front of him was full of bacon eggs and hash browns which meant that he must have been hungover. His pastime of lifting weights kept him on a strict diet.

"I live. And I passed on the party," Zion answered walking toward the bustle of his brothers in the kitchen gathering food off pans and baking sheets. He took a plate for himself.

"Haven't seen you scuzzing up the couch today." Tommy poked at him while his brown eyes sparkled with the joy of razzing his little brother.

"Maybe you didn't look hard enough. All that black he wears he blends right in," Liam retorted. Even Nicholas snorted while stabbing at his eggs with a fork. Nick was usually quiet but he wasn't above laughing at a burn. He was all blonds tanned skin with a round soft body. Pretty much the opposite of Zion's black hair and pale skin.

Tommy shook his head. "Looking too pale tonight to blend into that couch, you partying without us again Zi?"

"Ha-ha hilarious guys." Zion was too tired and hungry to come up with a decent come back so he settled with a dry laugh. He sat at the table with the others and tried to eat quickly. He needed to sleep.

"You are looking a bit pale, sure you're feeling okay?" Benji asked with genuine concern. Only a year apart he and Ben had always been close. Ben had a point, he did feel poorly.

"Maybe little Zi is just a bit worn out. If I didn't know better I'd say we haven't seen him because he's been holed up with someone," Tommy said in a smarmy sing-song tone.

Zion stopped chewing for a moment then shrugged and continued eating. They always bugged him about that. There was no reason to be alarmed.

The problem was that they knew every time he hooked up and regularly teased him with details that they shouldn't know. He wasn't sure if their knowledge was all gleaned from smell or if their exceptional hearing helped.

"Maybe I don't know better. You stink like sweat disappointment and shame, if that isn't a one night stand I don't know what is." Tom waved a hand under his nose.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Deny-deny-deny.

It sucked living with so many people that could smell emotion. He wondered what emotions smelled like. Was fear bitter? What was it like to live in a world where smell was like a second sight? Surely they could smell Ghanny, she had touched him.

"Hey, Liam what's that other smell you were saying he smelled like? Oh yeah, I remember... vampire." Tommy paused for dramatic effect, his eyes alight with mirth before he continued. "You got a vampire in there Zi?" His eyebrows moved in a comical up and down motion.

Zion put his fork down. They burst out in ruckus laughter. Tommy clapped him over the back hard enough that Zion had to grab the table to steady himself from the force of it.

"Seriously man your face. It is just fucking priceless. Shit man lighten up. Pops literally just told us about the off-limits vamp you're gonna be babysitting. Guess we're chopped liver. Don't know why you're being all hush-hush about it."

Going to be? That got his attention. Forcing himself not to look too excited he toyed with the eggs on his plate. "Freaking hilarious now you mind if I finish this and get some sleep?"