Stan was bored. The clinic had been quiet all night, almost too quiet. They'd had one patient at the beginning of the night, and that guy had come in for a gnarly looking hangnail. He was basically in and out of the clinic in like thirty minutes, and that had been hours ago.

Stan had cleaned all the exam rooms, restocked the shelves, filled out and filed all the patient paperwork, and straightened up the waiting room. He had even taken out the trash, which was a really gross job. Now, he was just fiddling his thumbs and contemplating his bellybutton lint.

He really needed to consider taking some sort of online classes that he could fit in between patients. Or at least bring a book with him. He almost always left those at home because he felt bad for reading while on duty. Dr. Nero Webster paid him well to take the nightshift so he could spend his evenings with his rajaaka.

Stan couldn't blame him for that. He'd knock off work too if he had a rajaaka that looked like Dietrich. The tribe enforcer was six and half feet of muscular yumminess with a side of sexy growling.

Stan sighed and rested his chin on his hands. He wouldn't mind having a rajaaka like that. Hell, he wouldn't mind having a rajaaka full stop. He'd take him even if he was two feet tall and pimply. He just wanted someone to call his own.

He had briefly thought he might have found someone, but that had turned out to be wishful thinking on his part. Yuri, who was an enforcer for Prince Nikolas Vaile's tribe, had been a good bodyguard, but as soon as Stan was safe, he had left and gone back to his sentry duties. He probably hadn't given Stan a second thought.

Which was really too bad. Stan would have liked to climb that sexy vampire like a monkey on a very large tree. He might be a little on the chubby side, but he could do it. A sexy vampire was a wonderful motivator.

Stan doubted Yuri even remembered what he looked like. Most people didn't. Stan wasn't an idiot. He knew he wasn't horrible looking or anything like that, but he wasn't one of the "beautiful people" either.

He liked to think of himself as a fall person. Caramel colored eyes and dark brown hair all wrapped up in a snuggle hugger. If he could find cologne that smelled like pumpkin spice, he'd have it made.

Who wouldn't want that?

Stan got up and strolled into the waiting room. If he continued to sit in his chair, his butt was going to go flat, and he really didn't need that. He was already cursed with a little extra padding on his back end. He didn't need for it to be flat, too.

He walked over to the window and glanced out to the street. Street light illuminated several areas on the block, but again, nothing was happening. There weren't even any people out tonight. No people walking, no cars going up and down the street. Nothing.

Huh.

There really was nothing.

Stan leaned a little closer to the glass. He couldn't even hear any dogs barking. It was like no one existed on this street except him. He didn't even see any of the usual thugs standing around the corner down the street. They were always there, day and night. Now, no one stood on their corner.

That wasn't right.

Stan walked over to the main doors. He grabbed the door handle and started to pull one of the double doors open just as the back door swung open and slammed again the wall. Stan let out a very unmanly "Eeep" sound and spun around.

"Don't open that door!" Yuri shouted as he ran into the building.

Stan would have dismissed what he was saying, but Yuri was a sentry on Prince Nikolas Vaile's security force. Stan was a low level member of the tribe, but even he knew when to obey a sentry.

He let go of the door handle and turned to fully face the vampire. "Yuri, wha—"

The rest of his words were lost in a scream as a wave of heat blasted into him from behind, sending him flying into the waiting room. Glass, metal, and wood went everywhere. Several pieces sliced into his back, sending shards of agony through his body.

Stan landed on the coffee table with a painful thud and then rolled off onto the floor. He gasped for breath as he stared up at the ceiling.

Huh.

Next time he was bored, he should really consider cleaning the ceiling lights.

Yuri's face appeared over the top of him. Stan could see the man's lips moving, and he was pretty sure Yuri was talking, but all Stan could hear was a loud ringing in his ears.

"What?" he asked.

Stan's eyes fell to the man's lips. As they moved, he started to make out words.

"Stan, can you hear me?"

Stan slowly nodded.

"Good." Yuri grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him to his feet, and then shoved him toward the back of the clinic. "Come on. We need to get you out of here."

"What?" he asked again.

"We need to go." Yuri grabbed his shirt again, this time dragging him down the hallway toward the back door. "It's not safe here."

"Dr. Webster." Stan rolled his head and glanced toward the stairs as they passed them. "Need to get Dr. Webster."

"Nero is safe. I promise. Dietrich will have already gotten him out of the building."

"But..."

"We have to get out of here, Stan."