Bloodsworn (MxM)

Chapter 14

A/N: Enjoy <3

Without sex, blood, and his trusty guard to bother, Julien was left again to his own boring devices. He wondered if picking up a hobby like his siblings was too late. Valentino was a successful painter, Virion a wine connoisseur, and Laurent was a voracious reader and academic before he took on more duties. While being an asshole wasn't a hobby, even Solomon had his own interests and quirks.

The only hobbies Julien did enjoy were flirting with an unavailable guard and engaging in sexual acts that would've got him sent to a mental hospital if it had been a few centuries ago. Without that, Julien wasn't sure what else there was to him. Was he really a boring prince underneath it all? He groaned into a pillow at the thought.

He forced himself up from the disheveled sheets and headed toward the fridge of blood bags. He ripped open the top and took a long swig before remembering the previous day. Looking down to see that it was a blood bag from the Capillary, Julien scowled and nearly emptied the contents of it on the floor. He didn't, but the temptation was still there, so he begrudgingly downed the rest of the horrid B+ blood and stepped out of the room. Maybe walking broodily through the estate could be his new hobby.

Rowan would scold him for leaving his room without a guard present, but Julien couldn't bother to care. He needed a break from his room and from what he discovered about his guard last night. Surely, the topic of fire would've come up after two decades of knowing him, yet the betrayal of Rowan not trusting him with that information stung more than any cane or riding crop he owned.

Julien's servant, Maggie, would've been knocked to the ground if Julien hadn't stopped to crush the empty blood bag in his hand. She made a squeamish sound before bowing lowly, holding a folder above her head. "My apologies, your highness. I was told to deliver this to you as early as possible."

Julien blinked before slowly picking it up and glancing it over. "Maggie, what is this?"

Her voice shook. "It's from a man named Anton Bartholomew."

Julien guessed it from the initials on the folder, but it still didn't ease his frustrations from earlier. "Lovely," he managed to say, attempting to sound as pleased as possible so as not to give the poor girl a heart attack. "Thank you, Maggie."

"Yes, sir."

"Any word from my father?"

"No, sir. He is meeting with your siblings." She sucked in a breath. "Just a rumor, sir. I do not know for what."

Julien gave her a questionably comforting pat on her shoulder. She flinched from his touch, but he tried not to feel offended. "Thanks. I'll be on a stroll in case anyone asks."

Maggie bowed lower as Julien walked down the hall with the report in hand. He couldn't remember the last time he was excited to look over a stack of papers. Maybe this could be his new hobby, he wondered: stopping shady blood donor places. At least then, it would be a good cause and maybe his father and siblings would stop treating him like an immature vampire.

Julien turned down a corner, nearly dropping the report as he ran into someone. He resisted the urge to snap at the servant when the shoes and garb were clearly not from a servant. He gulped when he met his second oldest brother, Laurent's eyes. They looked sunken in, darker and more tired than he remembered.

"Laurent."

"Julien." His tone was as cold as his personality, or what Julien was used to. "Apologies."

"You're here."

"Business trip." Laurent always spoke bluntly, straight to the point. "If you'll excuse me—"