Page 32 of Deck the Skulls
When she rounded the bed, she wasn’t surprised to find his eyes were slitted open. Kneeling next to the bed, she put her chin on the mattress near his face. She wasn’t sure he was focused on her, but she acted as if he was fully awake. That was what Zan did, so she would do the same.
“Good morning, handsome,” she whispered, running her hands through his hair and massaging his scalp. He felt cold to her, so she reached down and tugged the blankets up over his shoulders. Zan moved from the closet to the bathroom with a bundle of clothes in his arms.
“Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be ready to go,” he promised with a wink.
Giving him a smile and a nod, she returned to her earlier position and resumed petting Anatoly. “Today is my volunteer day. I’ve already missed last week; I won’t miss this one. Zan insists on coming with me, so don’t be surprised if he comes back grumpy because he had to spend a bunch of time stuck in a crowded room.”
As she spoke, she could’ve sworn Anatoly relaxed a little, even though he hadn’t moved at all. Not even his eyes. It had to be horrible to be stuck like this, unable to even blink. He must feel so left out when she and Zan left during the day.
“When we get back, we’ll spend some time together,” she promised.
“What are you whispering over here?” Zan asked, walking up behind her and leaning over to give Anatoly a kiss on the cheek. “Are you gossiping about my perfect ass?”
Rissa smirked up at him. “I was mentioning to Anatoly that you might have a slightly receding hairline.”
Zan straightened up, clutched his imaginary pearls, and gasped. “How dare you say such a thing to me!” He shook his shoulder length hair dramatically. “I’ll have you know I come from a long line of men and women with perfect hair!”
Chuckling, she gave Anatoly a last pet and stood up. “See you soon,” she murmured.
“We’ll be back before you know it,” Zan said cheerfully, then led Rissa out of the apartment while listing all the reasons his hair, and hairline, were above reproach!
***
Zan
Equal Under the Law was located in a southern San Diego county strip mall. Nestled between a smoke shop and a liquor store, it looked like the most popular place in the mall. There was a small gathering of people standing outside, presumably waiting to get in.
The other open businesses were a laundromat, fast-food restaurant, and a nail salon. The parking lot had a small grouping of unhoused people set up at a far end in an overgrown divider between the strip mall and the empty big box store next door. It wasn’t the worst neighborhood in San Diego County, but it was bad enough that Zan was cautious.
“You don’t come here at night, do you?” he asked, glancing across the street at the cheap motel. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like it rented rooms by the hour.
“There aren’t enough funds to stay open late,” Rissa said with a regretful note to her voice. “Samatha works hard, but money can be hard to come by when you’re funded mostly by grants and donations.”
Zan made a mental note to talk to Anatoly about donating money. The vampire had a ton of it and if Rissa insisted on volunteering here, maybe they could figure out how to get the place enough money to move to a better area.
Following her in, Zan realized moving to a better area was second on the list to getting them more space! The place was so crowded, there were only paths between desks, tables, filing cabinets, and the chairs lined up against walls. There weren’t separate offices, just desks and tables with people in every available space.
“This can’t be legal,” he muttered.
“I promise, it is,” Rissa said with a laugh.
“Rissa!” a short, round dark-skinned woman rushed up, a broad smile on her cherubic face. She skirted around cabinets, desks, and a few chairs with impressive speed to finally grab Rissa in a hug. “I was so worried about you!”
“Why were you worried? I texted you,” Rissa said, returning the hug, before pulling away and looking around the room. “I’m back. Where do you want me to set up today?”
“I need more than an ‘I’m fine’ text to keep from worrying,” the woman said, trying to glare up at Rissa. Really, it wasn’t much of a glare because a smile kept trying to force the corners of her mouth up. Then she noticed Zan standing behind Rissa. “Is this fine-looking gentleman with you, or do I need to tell him to take a number and wait for assistance?”
“I’m Zan,” he said, holding out a hand. “I’m Rissa’s boyfriend.”
The woman blinked and looked over at his other hand with the wedding ring. “Boyfriend?”
“Well, me and my husband are both her boyfriends,” Zan explained cheerfully. Rissa hissed out a breath and gave him a little shake of her head over the woman’s head. He ignored her. He wasn’t going to pretend Anatoly didn’t exist. Rissa needed to learn to be part of a throuple and it might as well start here.
“Your, um, husband?” the woman asked.
“He’s joking, Samatha,” Rissa said and tried to laugh it off.
Zan frowned at her. “I’m not joking. Anatoly is my husband. We’ve been together about six years. We met Rissa a week ago and both of us lo—uh, adore her. We can’t imagine life without her.”