Burning Desire

31

"This is the most awkward dinner I've ever been invited to," Tristan groused.

Amari glanced at him. "Have you ever been invited to a dinner?"

"No, so at least my standards are really low for the future dinners I'll be invited to."

Winston chuckled at his attitude as he handed the plate of caprese salad to Tristan. "I'll make sure you get invited to a dinner at some point."

"You don't have to," Tristan said, piling the delicious mix of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, and balsamic vinegar on it. "I was invited to this one, and I am very happy about it."

Lexi was playing with his salad across the table, since the drugs hadn't completely worn off and he was still dazed and really happy.

"Give me your cheese, Amari," he said, taking Amari's fork from him and shoving the mozzarella cheese into his mouth. "I fucking love cheese."

Amari gave him a soft smile and scooped all of his slices of cheese onto Lexi's place.

Renato came into the room with more bowls and plates of food, Paxton following behind him. The vampire looked like he was having the time of his life, and it made Tristan's heart melt knowing that he was finally getting company after years and years of being alone.

"Are you enjoying everything?" Renato asked after the plates had all been put down. "Do you need more wine?"

"No, I believe we're alright," Alastor said, still not pleased with the vampire who took the people he cared about.

Tristan frowned at Alastor, seeing how Renato's smile fell when Alastor spoke with him.

"This food is fucking amazing!" Tristan exclaimed, feeling relieved when Renato's bright expression came back.

Paxton tried to sit down as far away as he could from Renato, but since the chairs were all taken, he had to sit on the right side of the vampire.

"So, about Roman," Alastor said once everyone had been served, and Renato snapped to attention.

He set down wine glass and sighed. "I'm terribly sorry for what happened. He said he needed my help and he's a vampire so I trusted him and I've never had relations with demons so I took his word for it, but that will never happen again," he said, looking down the table at all of the ones who had been held in his dungeon earlier. "I'm feel horrible."

"It's alright, Roman is a manipulative prick," Alastor said, taking a bite of his own food. "I can tell you're feeling connected with one of my sins."

Paxton blushed and Renato nodded.

"Yes, I am," Renato said, smiling at Paxton, but the demon looked away with a red face. "I would like to form an alliance with you. It annoys me that demons and vampires are considered enemies when I've never had any issues with your kind. As an big influence in the vampire community, I think I will be able to convince them to end this grudge they hold against demons."

Alastor listened attentively. "That's an attractive idea," he said, lifting his glass of wine and taking a sip. "But, I do have a condition before we form an alliance."

"What would that be?"

"Roman comes back to our mansion with us," Alastor said, nodding to Kayden. "He needs his blood to stay healthy."

Renato nodded. "Of course. I'm going to assume you're the ones he escaped from, so I will have silver cuffs and braces made to limit his powers so he can't escape again," he said, lifting his phone from his pocket and dialing a number.