Page 60 of Roman

“I need to see him, Roman.” Danny’s eyes were dry, but his voice broke at the words. He was clearly distressed at the thought of his brother hurt.

Roman hesitated. He was reluctant to let his mate out of his sight, but he trusted that Soren would have scouted for Luc’s presence in the hospital, and they wouldn’t be long outside. He had questions for Soren. And…perhaps it was better if Danny didn’t hear any gruesome details of Gabe’s attack.

“All right. I will be right behind you,” Roman acquiesced, releasing Danny’s hand.

Danny nodded at him and then at Soren in greeting before turning his back on them both and rushing inside the hospital entrance.

Roman turned to his friend. “No sign of him?”

“No.” Soren looked terrible. His golden hair, usually perfectly coiffed, was standing in every direction, as if he’d been running his hands through it. His ridiculous fur coat had spatters of blood on the collar. Forced to stand still to talk to Roman, he was now biting at his nails, a nervous tic Roman had only seen him indulge in on a few occasions over the decades.

“He was out for breakfast with a woman. Some morning-after brunch affair with his latest bar hussy, I presume.” Soren looked away as he said it, with a studied casualness that almost took the bite out of his words. Almost. “He was putting the lady in her car when Luc attacked. Broad daylight. Fucking bold.”

Roman ignored the comments on Gabe’s dating life, having no idea what to say to something so beside the point. “And you had picked up Luc’s trail and followed him there?”

That hesitation again. “Yes.”

“Soren, look at me.”

Soren met Roman’s eyes, a forced smile on his face. “Yes, Roman?”

“Were you following Gabe tonight?Haveyou been following Gabe?”

Soren said nothing. That was answer enough.

“Fuck,” Roman swore. “Merde. I told you to leave him alone.”

Soren huffed. “My being there might have saved his life.”

“Your being there might bewhyLuc attacked him in the first place. You drew attention to him.”

Soren’s eyes narrowed. “I think Gabe being your presumed mate’sbrotheris what drew Luc’s attention, you cretin,” he hissed. “You can’t play house with your little human, ignoring the fact that an immortal psychopath is fixated on you and your love life, and not expect him and everyone else around him to be in danger!”

“I’m notignoringit. I did not think Gabe would be a target. I do not know why I did not think that.” Roman had been careless, too focused on Danny’s person and not on the people his mate cared for, those Luc would see as weak spots.

“Because you’renotthinking,” Soren accused. “Being in love has made you stupid. It makes everyone so fucking stupid.” He sounded so truly miserable, so defeated, that Roman’s budding anger at his friend deflated in an instant.

He sighed, looking Soren over more closely. “Were you hurt? Fighting Luc off.”

“What fighting?” Soren snorted bitterly. “I didn’t have time. I was…lurking, I guess you could say, trying to keep my distance from the human, and then suddenly Luc was there. Biting. Tearing. Breaking.” Soren’s voice cracked a bit at the last word. He cleared his throat. “And then he left just as suddenly. A fucking hurricane of destruction. He could have killed him if he wanted to. Snapped his neck in an instant. He’s just toying with us. It has to stop, Rome.”

“And you think killing him is the only way.” It wasn’t a question. Soren had made his feelings on the matter clear before.

“Were the ties of your friendship really so strong that you’re still reluctant to, even after all he’s done?” Soren sounded more curious than angry.

Roman didn’t know how to answer that. Were they? He didn’t feel like he had any love left for Luc. Too much had happened between them since their days spent as brothers. But Luc had been there, in some form or another, since the moment of Roman’s transformation. He was a part of Roman, whether he liked it or not, and carving that part out would be painful.

“I am not fond of killing,” was what Roman landed on. It sounded feeble even to him.

Soren scoffed. “You’re a vampire. We’re all fans of killing.”

Roman shook his head. “You know that isn’t true. You are being deliberately obtuse. I like violence; I will admit that much. Blood and fear and rage, like any other demon of our kind. But I have never really liked killing. Such a waste. Life is…precious.”

“Depends on whose life you’re talking about, if you ask me.”

Roman shrugged but didn’t argue. Maybe Soren had a point. Roman would protect Danny’s life at the cost of his own without hesitation, but there wasn’t really another person he could say the same for, except maybe Soren.

Roman didn’t have his mate’s love for all humanity, that need to heal and protect all those around him.

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