Page 48 of Soren

“Caught you,” he teased.

Giggling sounded from above him. It was such a sweet sound. The only laughter around these parts was usually mocking and unkind.Soren released his prey and climbed the rest of the way up the ladder, pausing at the top to eye the dirt-smudged vampire in front of him.

Slate-gray eyes peered back at him from under a dark head of hair.

“Soren.” Jay greeted him warmly enough, but there was a hint of concern in his eyes. “Have you come to stay for a while?” His eyes traveled over Soren, the younger vampire looking for signs of injury.

“Not to stay,” Soren answered, settling next to him. “Is Vee here?”

Jay giggled again. “Nope. You think I’d be this filthy if she were?”

It was a fair point. Veronique was incredibly picky about appearances. Jay was only able to indulge his love of nature when the other vampire was out and away. “She went to Silas’s for a party. Said I could stay here though. Isn’t that nice?”

Soren hummed noncommittally. That was Jay. Grateful for even the smallest scrap of kindness. Never mind the way that, underneath the surface consideration, Vee treated him like any other servant. Or the way she didn’t seem to care at all that Jay preferred men over women sexually.

Soren knew he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed how Jay eyed some of the male vampires in their community. The young vampire was too guileless to hide it.

“Hendrick’s over there too,” Soren told him. “They’re planning a hunting party in the city afterward.”

“Oh.” Jay pouted a little, pursing his Cupid’s-bow lips. “Do we have to go to that?”

Soren laughed, nudging the other vampire with his shoulder playfully. “No, they’re bringing the humans back with them. They want us to set up for some playtime though.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Jay leaned back into the hay pile. “That means I can loll about a bit longer.”

“Jay…” Soren had a hard time making the words come. “I won’t be here when they get back.”

Jay twirled a piece of hay between his fingers. “What do you mean?”

Soren cleared his throat. “I can’t stay here anymore. I just…can’t. I’m leaving.”

Jay sat up with a start, scattering hay every which way. “You can’t leave, Soren. I know—I know it’s bad. I know that. But you’ve heard what happens to vampires out there. You’ll go mad. Or be caught by humans.”

It’s what they’d always been told. Leave the den, face the horrific consequences.

That was, if the vampires in the den didn’t catch and kill them first.

Soren shook his head. “I don’t believe it anymore. Any of it. I just—I know it has to be better than this.”

“You don’t have to go. I can ask Vee to help more,” Jay offered, eyes pleading. “With Hendrick.”

Soren smiled sadly. “She’s his friend, Jaybird. She wouldn’t. And…eventually he’s going to get tired of this. Of fighting me. And they’ll put me down. I’m not waiting around for that to happen.”

“They wouldn’t!” Jay cried. “I wouldn’t let them.”

“And how would you stop them?” It wasn’t said with any meanness, and Soren didn’t intend to belittle the younger vampire. But Jay instantly deflated, as Soren knew he would.

The young vampire had been turned only a decade before. He was the weakest member of the den by far. He might truly want to help Soren, but he wouldn’t be able to. Not really.

“I’ll keep in touch,” Soren said gently. “I’ll write if I can. I just wanted to say goodbye.”

Soren didn’t ask Jay to go with him. He already knew the other vampire wouldn’t dare. Bravery wasn’t Jay’s strong suit. It wasn’t Soren’s either, for that matter.

But the time had come.

Soren would risk it all—loneliness, madness, death—if it meant a chance at a free life.

twelve

---