Chapter Forty-seven

After calling Millie and straightening out the feeding, he had to call Gavin to make the immediate wire transfers for him. He had clearly not been sleeping. “Oh, Sir... I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. What can I do for you?”

Bram looked back toward his room. “I have an emergency. I need you to wire funds to three different accounts please. One is Millie’s.”

“Of course, Sir.” Bram read off the information Millie gave him. “I will have it done in five minutes. I’ve already started the first one. If… I may Sir. Have you heard from Tyler this evening?” The worry hitched his voice, and Bram looked at his phone in confusion. Had he ever heard any kind of emotion in Gavin’s voice before? He didn’t think so.

“Why do you ask?” He asked.

Gavin hesitated, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have. But, Tyler and I had plans. He hasn’t called, and now you’re calling in the middle of the night looking for emergency funds. I just…” His voice trailed off, and Bram got up from his chair. The silence hung there, as he walked into his room.

“Tyler?” He said softly.

“Yeah?” A weak reply came.

“Did you have plans with Gavin tonight?” Bram sat on the bed, pushing the golden locks, stained with blood, off his forehead. He didn’t have a fever. That was good.

When Tyler’s eyes popped open, he looked worried. “Shit.” Was the only reply he had the energy for.

“I just wanted to make sure. I had to call him for assistance. He sounds like he’d like to make sure you’re okay. I can hold the phone for you or put it on speaker.” Bram wiggled the phone in the air. He’d hear the conversation no matter what.

“I would like to talk to him.” Tyler relaxed against the pillows. Bram put the phone on speaker and set it on Tyler’s chest. He walked out to the dining room table and sat in front of his computer. He wasn’t quite done with Millie. But he couldn’t help over hearing Tyler.

“Sorry I didn’t call.” He chuckled. One arm he didn’t want to move. He didn’t know where one pain started and the other began.

“What happened?” Gavin’s voice was much more relaxed without Bram on the phone.

“I told you I was meeting one of the Bloods. Remember how I told you it could be a trap?”

“Yeah.”

“Well. I was right. It just wasn’t the kind I was expecting.” Tyler looked at the phone. He couldn’t even hold it. A number of young vampires would have been one thing. But he knew better than to go after ancients and elders. He could easily pass for an ancient, he was old enough. Though he was only a half blood. Still viewed as inferior. And he knew the only reason he was still alive was because of Bram. Funny. He always talked about the one-time Tyler saved his life. And yet he’d rescued him from innumerable deaths.

“You’re okay though?”

“Heh. I guess. There was an Elder there. And six Ancients. I didn’t stand a chance. Angela Sether was there too.” Tyler was too tired to remember any of this conversation, but he knew Bram was listening.

“I was with her until about seven. We were at dinner, and she said she had a prior meeting she couldn’t miss and left in a hurry.” Gavin was quiet on the other end. “That’s not all. I was offered a child for that million I asked for earlier. I said everything you told me to. But I don’t know if I can hunt a kid. Not even to get them out. The draw would be too much, and I’m afraid I couldn’t stop.”

Tyler frowned at the phone. “They’re selling kids?”

“They are. Kids like Devon. That’s what Bram walked up on. I know you know what happened that night.” There was a pause. “It’s a corporation run by vampires. They’re catering to vampires. A sweet little buffet.”

Tyler hurt too much, just talking about it, his stomach flip flopped, his muscles tightened. Soon his body was screaming for him. As he squirmed uncomfortably, trying to pull himself up. His shoulder was now swollen and when he tried to move his lower body, his leg felt like it was on fire. “No… when? How? I can’t—”

Bram walked in the room, taking the phone from Tyler. “Gavin. I’m going to call you in the morning. I’m hoping Tyler will feel better then, but he needs to rest now. Use the company card if you need it.”

“Yes, of course Sir.”

Bram looked at Tyler, clicking the phone off. “This is reaching far beyond what we’re prepared for, and we’ll figure it out.” He poured himself and Tyler a drink, settling back against the headboard. “But we can’t let you get too worked up. Close your eyes. Food won’t be here for a while, so try to get a little sleep while you can.” Pulling him to his chest, Tyler molded himself against Bram. Everything still hurt, but he’d missed this.

“You heard him though, right? We’re selling fucking kids.” His body started to shaking in rage. “I don’t know how you can be so calm about this. It would also appear the Elder’s likely have a hand in it.”

“Calm isn’t the word I would use.” He was raging inside too. “However, there’s nothing we can do tonight. Let’s worry about getting you healed up. We’ll need all our strength to figure this out. Let’s be thankful you’re okay now, and that we’re finally figuring out what is going on.” As Bram rubbed Tyler’s hair he started to relax against him.

“Do you ever miss us?” Tyler asked quietly.

“I don’t have anything to miss. There will always be an us, Tyler.” He rubbed his back, reaching for his whiskey. “Do you want a drink?”

“No.” He held Bram closer. “But I miss us all the time.”

“We were toxic when we tried to add sex to our relationship, Tyler. Neither one of us was happy. This is better. You’re my closest friend. We’ve been each other’s only family for so long. I love you. And the best part is, that we’ve learned our limits. We can be so much to each other, but we can’t be everything. We’ll both be happier if we find our own mates. That doesn’t mean that what we have will diminish or end. It just means we’ll finally be adding to the family we’ve both always craved.” Tyler sighed, closing his eyes. “Besides, Gavin actually sounded like he cared. You had a date tonight, huh?”

Tyler chuckled, his hand curling on Bram’s naked chest. “I had a booty-call set up. Though the sex is amazing. And I do think he has a lot to offer.”

“Well, he clearly made his resources work for him. It’ll be good to have someone else we can count on around.” Bram soothed his back, leaning over to kiss the top of his head. “You do seem to like him a lot. Your heart is pounding in your chest as we talk about him.”

“Like yours does when Izabella is around, right?” Tyler pinched him.

Bram jumped a little but chuckled. “Yeah. There’s a whole slew of new emotions that I’ve felt these last few days. I’m really happy to have her around, and she was very calm when we came in tonight. Thank you for bringing her here. How did you know?”

“When I saw her, I felt the sparks, but I knew it wasn’t for me. When I was talking to her there was no doubt. And she clearly needed help. You felt it the moment I let her through the door.” The room fell into silence for a long time. First they fell into thought, and soon sleep started to creep over them. A quiet knock on the door brought Bram to.

“Hey, food’s here.”