Page 86 of Soren

“Soren…” Roman growled out a warning.

“Mates!” Gabe blurted out to his brother. “We’re mates. I’m his mate. We’re…together.” He reached for Soren’s hand, possibly wanting to demonstrate their togetherness, possibly just looking for comfort. “You can chill, Danny,” he continued. “IaskedJay to turn me.”

“Chill?” Danny asked, staring at their joined hands in disbelief. “Gabe ‘vampires are gross’ Kingman, what the fuck happened while I was gone?”

Gabe glanced apologetically at Soren. “I never said vampires are gross.”

Danny threw his hands into the air. “You most certainly fucking did!”

Roman, who’d once again released Jay, sighed deeply, clearly done with all of them. “Perhaps we should all sit down for a proper discussion,” he suggested. “We have apparently missed much while we were away.” He turned soft eyes to Danny. “Perhaps some tea, mon amour.”

“You and your fucking tea,” Danny grumbled, but he turned and walked toward the kitchen. Roman followed, giving Soren a vicious glare on his way out.

Okay, so maybe “taking care of things while Roman was away” wasn’t supposed to include letting strange vampires into the house and allowing Gabe to give away his humanity without his brother’s knowledge.

Lesson learned.

The three remaining vampires stood in silence, until Jay cleared his throat once more. “So,” he said sincerely, his voice already coming out clearer, “your friends are super nice.”

They clustered in the kitchen, a cooled mug of mostly untouched tea in front of each of them. Soren started from the beginning. Theverybeginning. How he’d been turned. His time at the den. His many years running, being caught, running again. His pull to Gabe. Their…courtship.

Skipping over the juicier details of that particular chapter, of course.

It was strange, after so many decades of keeping secrets. Letting it all out. Trusting the people he cared about with his past. His present. His hopeful future.

Gabe held his hand through it all.

“I never knew,” Roman said softly, his bright-blue eyes trained on Soren. “I guessed you had…trauma in your past. But I never knew the extent.”

“I’m sorry, Rome.” It was true. He wished he’d had the chance to place his trust in his friend sooner. To tell him on his own terms, rather than in the aftermath.

Danny cleared his throat. “And, Gabe, you’re…um…”

Gabe seemed to know what his brother was trying to say. “I’m happy with my decision,” he said, squeezing Soren’s hand. “I love Soren. I want to be with him.” Warmth bloomed in Soren’s chest at Gabe’s easy declaration.

Danny smiled wide. “Well that’s…that’sawesome,” he said, seemingly genuine. “We’re both vampires now. I won’t lose you. We could even all live together.” His eyes widened. “Ohhh! We’ll be ourownden. A not-shitty one. We’ll live and work when we want, and when it’s too obvious we’re not aging, we’ll find somewhere new to call home.”

Oh, Danny. He was a fucking treasure, embracing this major change with the same ease and enthusiasm with which he’d accepted the existence of vampires in the first place. Soren could feel Gabe’s pleasure at Danny’s words, but his mate stayed silent. Soren sensed he was a little overwhelmed by his brother’s acceptance.

Danny’s smile dropped, a thoughtful frown taking over. “Um, that is…if you want to? Or maybe you two want to go off on your own?” He looked over to Roman for reassurance, clearly no longer sure of himself.

Soren glanced at Gabe, who was looking back at him. Soren squeezed his mate’s hand, a wordless message. “We’ll stay,” Gabe said firmly. “I want to stay. We’re a family. Right?”

“Right.” Danny nodded sharply, then smiled happily, first at his brother, then at Roman, surreptitiously brushing tears from his eyes that everyone pretended not to notice.

The joy Danny clearly felt at having his brother for an eternity seemed to do wonders to soften Roman’s anger at Soren. His friend relaxed for the first time since their return, running a hand along his mate’s back.

Gabe coughed. “Um. I’m kind of…kind of hungry?”

Oh. Duh. It was astonishing actually, that Gabe hadn’t fed yet, hadn’t been driven mindless with the need for blood. But Soren remembered something like this with Danny. It seemed like vampires who turned with a mate bond already forming were a different breed—less ruled by a thirst for blood, more driven by the bond itself. It lent them a…stabilitynew vampires usually lacked.

Danny sighed ruefully. “I guess it’s time for some more hospital theft.”

Danny had started with blood bags when he turned, to ensure he didn’t go overboard drinking too much from any human victim in his newbie-vampire zeal. It may have been an unnecessary precaution, but clearly he wasn’t willing to take the risk with Gabe either.

Danny looked to Gabe. “We could go to the hospital together? I can help with any compulsion we might need.”

Gabe nodded, but his hand tightened around Soren’s. His mate was feeling a little nervous to be alone with his brother. Soren understood. Their relationship was a complicated one, both strong and fragile at the same time. Their love for each other was undeniable, but past hurts and misunderstandings left them occasionally ill at ease with each other.

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