Boris and the Vampire (Legends of Pinewood 2)

If You Take a Vampire Hunting

As he'd said, Etienne waited until midnight in Aquila's old bedroom. I had no idea what he was doing in there, but as long as it didn't involve the destruction of Aquila's plants, I didn't care. I found that the less I worried about my many houseguests, the easier my life became. Of course, the vampire wasn't my average, mostly harmless puppy or obstinate nephew-guest.

But he didn't make a single sound, so I assumed nothing was being demolished or tortured. If he tried to escape, I would've noticed because I'd purposely left both the window and door squeaky to avoid such antics. The previous tenant of the room also had the tendency to roam, and with him, I'd at least wanted to know when he left and when he came back.

So far, so good. I kept my ears open while I cooked my own dinner, two big steaks gifted to me by Mrs. Davis from the butchery, and ate.

When the clock struck midnight, I was ready at the door to go hunting. Etienne, on the other hand, seemed to believe in the concept of 'fashionably late.'

Emphasis on fashionable.

When Etienne strutted down the stairs ten minutes past midnight, he'd switched into the most ridiculous hunting outfit.

Sure, I understood he couldn't wear his tight, slim fit stuff because especially those pants had looked like they'd tear at the ass the moment he tried to crouch. But this wasn't much better.

He sparkled. Not like the vampires in the young adult series that human wrote. In Etienne's case it was an active choice.

Those had to be the shiniest running pants I'd ever seen. They looked like a starry galaxy, with purple fading to black closer to his feet and an abundance of glitter sprinkled all over the fabric. His black shirt showed off his lean muscles.

To think little of the lithe guy during a hunt was a mistake people frequently made, but I wouldn't. I'd seen the speed and tirelessness of the little werewolves firsthand. Etienne seemed like he had those qualities too, but without the clumsiness of the youngsters. I had the muscle mass and size to take a prey down easily, but he had the agility to catch anything.

I wouldn't underestimate the vampire's hunting ability, but still, I snorted as Etienne grabbed a pair of even more glittery sneakers to go with the running pants.

"That's the outfit of a killer, Etienne?" I asked dryly.

Etienne smiled mock-pleasantly, teeth glinting in the hallway light. "We can't all pull off the 'lumberjack in old rags' look, can we? Or the fur pelt. And yes, I'm a huge Twilight fan."

I raised a brow. "You are?"

"You have no idea how pleasant of an image boost that was."

I raised both my eyebrows. "You live in the middle of nowhere. Why do you need an image boost?"

"Why not? It's always nice to be seen and wanted, isn't it?" Etienne said with a wink.

Yeah, right. I was pretty sure I'd just made him indirectly admit to kidnapping and seducing humans into giving him blood. People being fans of vampires and vampire series would make that job a hell of a lot easier.

"Sure," I said. "You'll get seen, alright. It's close to the full moon so all the animals will see you coming from miles away, too."

Etienne looked down at his glittery pants, then up at me. "I like it better if they see me coming, wolf. The fear enhances the taste, and I am faster and stronger than them, anyway."

Big talk, but likely true. I didn't respond aside from a derisive snort. 

While Etienne tied his shoelaces, I undid mine. I stepped out of my shoes and socks, but waited with undressing until we'd walked a little further into the forest, away from prying eyes.