“Okay, so, I hope you’re not pissed. This is the only thing I could think of.”

They carried the vampire back to Judas’ home and placed his unconscious body in the coffin. Truthfully, it wasn’t that bad of an idea, except for the fact that the vampire could wake up at any time and be even more pissed. Strange how it only took a rock in the noggin’ to knock him out in the first place.

“Fuck!” Judas spouted. “Now what do I do? I can’t just leave a vampire here in my coffin. I’ll need that in the morning, you know.”

“We have a few hours left till dawn. Let’s go to Dregan’s—“

The doorknob jiggled, making them both jump back in fear. Now what the hell was going on?

“Damn, you’re noisy tonight,” Cal said as he came inside.

Judas’ breath caught in his throat. Shit! Of all people that could’ve showed up tonight, Cal was the last one he wanted to see.

“What’s going on?” Cal asked with a smile.

“Hey, uh, Cal...”

Demetrius stepped forward. “We have a problem. Judas, you explain,” he said, and Judas gave him a side-long glare. “Come on, man, don’t be scared.”

“Yes, Judas, don’t be scared. I’m your maker. Surely, I can help with all your troubles.”

“W-well...” If there was ever a moment to pray, this would be it. “I have two problems, I guess.”

“Oh, baby! Are you back?” Angel’s voice called out from upstairs.

Cal’s eyes moved to stare at the ceiling. “What’s that?”

“Th-that is my first problem.” Judas held his face in his hand, mostly embarrassed by the squeaky tone of Angel’s voice shouting out for him.

“Let’s go take a look.” Cal motioned toward the stairs.

Judas took a hesitant step forward, but Cal brushed past him to lead the way.

“What the hell do we have here?” Cal mused.

When they stepped inside, Angel was knelt on the bed with pants unzipped. He gazed at them both with a seductive smile.

“Uh, w-well you see, he’s...”

“Drunk?”

“Not exactly.” Judas dug in his pocket, pulling out the bottle. “I sorta gave him some of this.”

Cal’s amusement turned to concern. He swiped the vile from Judas’ hand and examined the worn label. “Where did you get this?”

“I-I... went to Central City. To a plot of land. An old mansion...” Judas couldn’t stop from shaking. “Just was curious, you know, so I took this guy with me. He’s a medium, so he told me where the grave was.”

“Grave?” Cal wondered, then popped off the cork. “Blood?”

The scent foul enough that it filled the entire room. Cal furrowed his nose at the disgusting odor, then set the cork back. “This... I’ve never seen nor smelled anything like this!”

“Yeah.”

“And you gave him this shit?” Cal asked.

Judas was feeling more and more like an idiot every moment that passed. “Yeah.”

“You also bit him?”

“No... I…”

“Good.” Cal’s chest heaved a seemingly relieved breath. “At least we shouldn’t need to worry about him changing. But we need to report this to Dregan. He’ll definitely know what this stuff is.”

Judas nodded. “I was heading over there, when I ran into another problem.”

“Oh?”

“Downstairs in my coffin is... a vampire.”

“A vampire?” Cal tipped his head. “You’re letting a strange vampire sleep in your coffin?”

Judas couldn’t believe he fucked up this much. “He was—“

“We found him by the lakeside. Rude fucker he was, so we knocked him out and brought him back here,” Demetrius cut in.

“I’ll do it. I’ll stay here while you two go talk to Dregan.” Demetrius stepped between them. “You can trust me, I’ll take real good care of him... Both of them.”

“Absolutely not!” Judas insisted.

Knowing Demetrius, he’d take advantage of the situation with Angel.

“Actually, it’s a good idea,” Cal said. “We need to keep that vampire secure while we fetch Dregan. And the human here, well I’m sure you’ll keep him company.”

“Sure will!” Demetrius plopped down on the bed just as Angel scooted away. “I won’t hurt him, I promise.”

“No!” Judas grumbled. “You’ll... I know you too well.”

“Sir, please believe me.” Demetrius crossed his hands together and bowed his head to Cal. “I won’t touch the human while you’re gone. There’s no need for your subordinate to worry.”

Judas’ face drew red. Subordinate? When did Demetrius get on Cal’s side?

“Very well. I trust you to do the right thing. Best you lock the door and leave the human be.” Cal nodded. “Come, Judas. Let’s see what Dregan has to say about this.”

Judas fumed with anger, but now felt completely helpless. No, he knew Demetrius way too well. He’d use this opportunity to take advantage of Angel, that was for certain. But Judas couldn’t go against his master’s orders. Damn it all!