Page 77 of Lucien

Lucien

Lucwasn’tsurewhy,in the splitting of the groups, he’d been stuck with the identical, obnoxious assholes. He was sure it had something to do with their lack of trust in him. Keep your enemies closer and all that. Or maybe they sensed the tension and didn’t quite trust him and Roman not to come to blows when left together.

Either way, he was now studying a surprisingly decrepit little house in the neighborhood where he’d first had to abort his hunt for the elderly human murderer. He wrinkled his nose at the peeled ocher paint, the porch swing with its ratty, dusty cushion. The twins hadn’t invited him in, so he had no idea—perhaps the inside was shockingly modern and pristine. Luc somehow doubted it.

He was standing on wood he was 90 percent certain was suffering from a termite infestation, a nefarious dark stain in the center, directly opposite the front door. “So they dropped the body on your literal front porch, did they?”

Fox and Dane were sitting together on the porch swing, sprawled in identical positions on either side, like burly ginger bookends. “Sure did. We’re lucky none of our neighbors saw it.”

“When they were coming over to borrow a cup of sugar, perhaps?”

“It’s been known to happen,” Dane said. “The little old lady across the street loves us.”

Fox sneered. “Pretty sure she has a twin fetish.” He yelped as his brother gave him a swat across the chest.

Luc decided to ignore both that little disturbing tidbit as well as the roughhousing. “Are you sure this isn’t a vengeance issue?” he asked, crouching down to sniff at the bloodstain. It had a strange tinge to it, a rotting element that didn’t sit well with Luc’s monster. “Another vampire trying to cause trouble for you, perhaps run you out of town?” Luc didn’t share the fact that he wasveryfamiliar with that tactic, seeing as how it was the way in which he’d played with Roman for decades: drain his victims, leave them in Roman’s path, force him to abandon whatever temporary home he’d set up.

Luc smirked a little at the thought of it. He knew he should feel bad about it, but it had been an awfully fun way to pass the time.

Ah well. Now he had Jamie and didn’t need to play silly little games, not even if they made Roman so delectably furious.

Except he was being forced into this current game of cat and mouse, of course. It would have been just fantastic if the twins were willing to pull up their big boy pants and hunt this rogue vampire on their own, but they seemed determined to have Luc’s unwilling help. He could tell them to fuck off for eternity and try to fight his way out of it, but that had its own risks. A truce seemed a necessary evil to bring them all a little peace.

And for the first time in a very, very long time, Luc wanted that peace. He wanted time and space to focus on his mate, to bring him into the vampire fold in a way that wouldn’t be horribly traumatic for his bright, playful human.

Unconditional love doesn’t exist.

Luc mulled Jamie’s words over while he circled the house, trying to suss out any scents that didn’t belong. He wasn’t so sure of the truth of it. Perhaps Jamie had his limits where love was concerned—as he should, being a human with connections and love and other things worth keeping in his life—but there was nothing in this world Jamie could do to stop Luc’s own adoration for his human.

Jamie could leave, yes. He could abandon Luc like Roman once had. And that would hurt like a blade to the chest, no doubt. But Luc knew his monster wouldn’t turn on Jamie, even for that. Luc and his monster would only follow eagerly behind him, like some tragic, lost two-headed puppy. They would find Jamie, wherever he tried to hide, and they would still love him. Beyond reason. Beyond hope.

Until the day they left this world for good.

But Jamie had promisednotto leave. Even if Jamie’s love turned to hatred, even if Luc ruined it all with his anger and his viciousness, Jamie had promised to stay. He would torment Luc with his hatred. Perhaps even kill him.

How wonderful. How delicious.

How twisted was Luc’s soul that the thought of it was like a balm?

Jamie would never, ever leave.

Luc returned to the front of the house, no closer to any answers on the feral vampire front, and tried to pull himself out of his obsessive thoughts and focus. “I simply don’t see the point in dropping a body at your door if it isn’t personal.”

Dane swung his legs to start the porch swing rocking, drawing a scowl from his brother. “It’s a feral vamp thing. If they smell another vampire in what they’ve decided is their territory, they’ll try to push them out with these little…gifts. It’s like a dominance display. Very animal kingdom, if you think about it.”

Luc hummed in thought. “What about the body in the pool house? Who was that for? I hadn’t been there before that night. Had you?”

Dane and Fox shrugged in unison. “Maybe he hadn’t scented us yet. Maybe that was just his sorry attempt to hide his kill,” Dane supplied.

“Enough questions,” Fox scolded. “Just fucking focus. We need a fresh nose on the place, and we don’t want to have to spend any more time with you than necessary.”

Luc’s fists clenched, but he bit back the growl that threatened to come out. He agreed with the basic sentiment. He’d rather get this over with than pick a fight. He closed his eyes and focused again on the scents around him.

There was Jamie’s cinnamon essence clinging to his clothes, leftover from when they’d last embraced. The twins, with their oddly similar but subtly different earthy scents.

And….there. Again. A scent that wasoff. Rancid, in a way. Luc crouched over the bloodstain again, starting from the center and moving outward, along the edges. There were the usual metallic notes, layered over with an unpleasant tinge, one that didn’t seem localized to the darkened wood. Luc realized that the bloodstain itself wasn’t the source. It was a scent leftonthe blood.

Interesting. Luc hadn’t known you couldsmellthe feral on someone.

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