Chapter Text
The morning after the party, Josh awoke to a pounding noise at his front door—and the pounding in his head. It would seem he had a pretty significant hangover.
He grumbled to himself, rolling over and burying his face deeper in the pillow. Distantly he heard the sound of one of his servants opening the door and greeting whoever was on the other side. Before Josh could wonder too long about who may be visiting him this early, there was a second, much gentler knocking at his bedroom door.
“Mr. Widdicombe, sir?” It was the voice of his valet.
Josh sighed and started to rise up out of bed, resigned to his fate. There would be no sleeping in today.
“Coming,” Josh called. He ran a hand across his face to wake himself up, fingers lingering on his mouth. His lips tingled at the memory of kissing the vampire. Alex. He shook his head and stood up, then quickly put on his clothes before opening the door.
“Good morning, Mr. Beckett.”
“Good morning, sir,” a cheerful voice replied. “You have a visitor.” Rob Beckett, a man with fine blond hair and eager, light blue eyes, had been Josh’s personal valet for several years; however, he had only recently learned of Josh’s supernatural alter ego. Josh had to be sure he could implicitly trust someone before revealing his biggest secret, and, with time, Rob had certainly earned that confidence.
“Yes, I heard,” Josh said. “Who is it?”
“Mr. Kumar.”
“Ah.” Of course, that made sense. Nish probably wanted to check up on Josh after he quite literally threw himself into the lion’s den. A kind gesture, but Josh would have appreciated it more if it had been later in the morning. Afternoon, even.
“He's waiting for you in the sitting room,” Rob continued.
“Thank you.”
Rob nodded and started to take his leave, but Josh stopped him before he could get too far. His headache was growing by the minute. “Could you bring some water and coffee along with our breakfast?” Josh needed something to combat his hangover.
“Of course, sir.” They went their separate ways, Rob to the kitchen and Josh to the sitting room down the hall.
On his way, Josh passed by the newest maid in his employ, a young woman named Charlotte Ritchie. Josh said hello and tried his best to plaster a smile on his face. Charlotte gave him a shy smile in return before proceeding to her morning duties. She didn’t yet know about slayers and vampires, and Josh hoped to keep her from that dark underworld for as long as possible.
Nish Kumar, on the other hand, knew all about the supernatural. The son of a wealthy Indian businessman, Nish was living in London to help his father with several business deals, while also assisting Josh with fighting evil. Truly a man of all trades.
Upon entering the sitting room, Josh spotted his friend looking out the large window to the garden, his back to Josh. His thick, dark curls appeared uncombed, as if he had just gotten out of bed. Josh’s hair probably looked in similar disarray.
“Nish.” The man turned around when he heard his name.
Nish put a hand to his chest in relief when he saw Josh. “Oh, thank the Lord,” he said. “I came ‘round to see you last night, and got worried when I was told you hadn't yet made it home.”
“Sorry. Didn't mean to worry you.” Josh took a few steps into the room. “Please, sit.” He indicated one of the couches before taking his own seat.
Nish sat down, but he still radiated nervous energy. “Listen, mate. I found out some more information about those vampires you were looking into.”
“Oh?” Josh raised an eyebrow. By the tone of his friend’s voice, it didn't sound like good information.
“When James first came to tell me about these parties, he indicated that they were just for low level type vamps. Well, that doesn't actually appear to be the case. Turns out there's this new vampire family in town that is actually from an old, powerful line. I was talking to one of my contacts—Roisin—and she told me she knows one of them.” Nish paused to take a breath, hand over his heart. He had been speaking at a rapid pace and needed a moment to calm down. “You must tread carefully,” he finished.
Josh gulped, but he tried his best to hide it. He always put on a brave face, even if Nish was the most likely to see through it.
“I see.” Josh swallowed, but his mouth was dry. Was Alex part of this powerful vampire family? Alex did say he was new to the area. Did Josh make a mistake in not killing him? In any case, Josh needed to tell Nish what had happened. If anyone would understand and be able to help, it was Nish.
Josh licked his lips, preparing himself for his next words. “There's something I need to tell you. Last night—”
“Your coffee, Mr. Widdicombe,” Rob interrupted as he stepped briskly into the room. “And water for you both.” He set the tray of drinks down on the buffet table, next to a large spread of food. “Anything else I can get you?”
Nish shook his head and Josh said, “That will be all. Thank you.”
The valet left again. Closing the door behind him, as Josh should have done, leaving them to their private meeting. Josh stood up and reached for a glass of water, downing it in one go before sitting back down.
“What were you going to tell me?” Nish prompted after a few more moments of silence.
Josh had to work himself up again to make his admission. He twiddled nervously with his thumbs. “I… I met one of the vampires last night.”
“Okay…” Nish stretched out the word. “Well you seem to be in one piece, so, it couldn’t be all bad.” Nish’s eyes widened a fraction. “Did you stake them?”
“No. I… The vampire. He’s still alive. Undead, I mean. He didn’t know I was the slayer, at least not at first. And we—”
Nish continued to stare at him.
Josh blew out a breath.
“We, erm, sort of kissed.”
“You sort of kissed?” Nish’s voice went up an octave as he scrunched up his nose. “How do you sort of kiss someone? And a… a vampire?”
“I…” Josh blushed a deep shade of crimson. “Well, I dunno. We drank together and talked and then he invited me back to his place. I was going to stake him when I had an opportunity, but instead he kissed me. And, well, I kissed him back.”
Nish was not a prude by any means, which was why Josh felt mostly safe telling him all this. Still, he couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous waiting for his friend’s reaction. Josh had risked his life for the opportunity to make out with another man, after all. No matter how charmingly attractive the man—vampire—had been, it wasn’t Josh’s proudest moment. In fact, he felt like a dolt.
“My goodness,” Nish finally said. His brow momentarily furrowed in consternation. Then, he broke out in a grin. “Well, good on you, Josh!”
“What?” Josh blinked. His ears must be deceiving him.
Nish slapped his arm good-naturedly. “It’s about time you got some, my friend.”
Josh shook his head in disbelief. “Unbelieveable,” he said. “Here I am trying to confess my moment of idiocy, and your only concern is me getting laid.”
Nish shook with laughter. “You didn’t seem all that hard up about it. And even you must admit… it has certainly been a while.”
There was no arguing with that. Josh had been alone for years, much too focused on the mission to give any thought to courting anybody. The most action he saw was a bit of friendly banter at the occasional social gathering.
“Anyway,” Josh said, trying to get the conversation back on track. He couldn’t just pretend everything about this situation was fine and normal, even though he desperately wanted it to be. “What do I do now? Go after this vampire and his family? Pretend like I don’t know they exist?”
Nish frowned. “I don’t think you can exactly let them go on vampiring. They could be hurting people. Killing innocent humans.”
He had a point, but… “To be fair, this vampire—Alex. He didn’t hurt me. Even though he had ample opportunity.” Josh was thinking out loud at this point, trying to justify his own thought process. Admittedly, he was already contemplating leaving this group of vampires alone, at least until he had hard proof that they were actively harming people. Though it was rare, occasionally some vampires turned out to be vegan—preferring to only consume blood from willing donors, or even sticking to stale blood.
“Didn't he try to suck your blood, at least?” Nish asked in confusion.
The mouth on his neck… teeth dangerously close to fangs…
“Erm, not exactly.” Josh straightened his back, gaining confidence in his words. “He may have wanted to, but I think the kissing distracted him.” Attacking Alex with a stake probably also had something to do with it.
Nish teased, “Sure, sure. I always thought you’d be a good kisser.” He chuckled. “Must have really beguiled him.”
Unsure how to deal with compliments, Josh let out a nervous laugh. “Right, thanks. I think.”
Nish’s smile threatened to take over his whole face. “Welcome.” He got up to retrieve his own glass of water, but without taking a drink he continued. “So, lover boy. What do you want to do about your vamp? Kiss him or kill him?” Ever the supportive friend, Nish suddenly seemed on board with either option. Though he probably didn’t mean the kissing part literally.
“Well, I…” Josh stalled for time. He looked beyond Nish’s shoulder, picturing Alex in his mind’s eye. The depth of Alex’s attention, fully on Josh for the entirety of the previous evening. The intense look in his blue eyes, like he truly wanted to get to know Josh—not just fuck him or suck his blood. Alex had personally made him tea. Josh returned his gaze to Nish, who was looking back at him calmly, patiently waiting.
He couldn’t end the life of another being without good reason. He just couldn’t.
“I think I need more information,” Josh finally continued. “Who did you say knows of this vampire family?”
“Miss Roisin Conaty. I’ve only met her a few times, but I trust her.”
“Alright.” Josh let out a long sigh, relieved that things were getting sorted. If nothing else, Roisin would hopefully provide good intel. Better than James, at least. “Can we go see this informant of yours? Today?”
After finally taking a drink of water, Nish nodded in agreement. “I’ll send word that we would like to make a visit."
“Thank you, my friend.” Josh joined Nish at the buffet and reached for his coffee, head still pounding faintly, hoping for the hangover cure he so desperately needed. “Now, let’s eat. I’m famished.”