Page 13 of Colin

Fox shot him a glare, and Dane immediately knew what he was thinking:As if you’re not disappointed too.

Whatever.

They followed Colin back down the stairs, and Dane was too aware how much they resembled puppies following at their master’s heels. They watched in silence as Colin took one lastlook at the downstairs bathroom, then faced them, tapping at his chin. “You’ve got air-conditioning?”

Did they? Temperature extremes didn’t really affect them, so Dane had no idea. But Colin asked the question as if it might be a deal-breaker if they said no, for all that he’d shown up at their house out of nowhere asking for a place to live.

Dane didn’t know what to make of his relief when Fox said they did.

Colin gave a sharp nod. “All right. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. That’ll give me time to pack what I’ve got and stop at the store for some cleaning supplies.”

He moved as if to slide past them once again, probably to waltz out the front door without a care in the world, and without even a glance toward each other, Dane and Fox moved forward at the same time, blocking his way, both on the same page.

Not this time.

Colin stopped in his tracks, eyeing each of them in turn, not an ounce of fear radiating off him. Was he brave or broken? Dane couldn’t figure it out. “Can I help you?”

“What if we want to feed now?” Fox asked, leaning in, his voice low. “Tonight?”

Colin shook his head. “Tomorrow, after I’ve settled in. Can’t have you backing out after you’ve had a taste.”

Dane highly doubted just one taste was going to be enough. Not with the way this kid had grabbed their attention. His devil shifted restlessly inside him, wordlessly agreeing.

Fox pushed just the slightest bit closer to Colin, and Dane followed in turn. He couldn’t help it. It was like there was a magnetic pull. “But what if weneedit?” Fox crooned.

Dane hid his smirk as Colin stared Fox down. They didn’t actually need to feed—they could definitely hold out a few more days—but their new plaything didn’t need to know that.

Instead of shying away, Colin moved forward and placed a hand first to Fox’s forehead, then to Dane’s, like a mother checking her child’s temperature. “You don’t feel cold, and you’re not trembling. You’ll be fine.”

“You do know other vamps, huh?” Dane asked, trying to stop himself from grabbing at Colin’s hand and placing it back on his head. His touch had been soft and cool, and Dane wanted more of it. But then realization set in, and a hot bolt of…something…spiked through him. It was clear Colin wasn’t lying about being fed on before.

Which meant some other asshole had gotten a taste.

Colin glowered at them both. “Of course I do. I’m not a liar. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

He continued to stare them down, clearly expecting them to step back away from the door.

Fucking fearless.

But Dane couldn’t help it—he couldn’t let him leave just yet. He leaned in closer, breathing deeply, inhaling more of that amazing scent. He was gratified by the slight catch in Colin’s breath. So the human wasn’t entirely unaffected by them, then. “Do you know how good you smell?” he asked him, his voice coming out barely more than a whisper.

Colin sucked in a deep breath of his own but gave no other sign of being affected. “I’ll smell just as good tomorrow,” he said quietly.

And then he pushed past them and slipped out the door.

Dane and Fox were left looking at each other, the absence of the human an almost tangible thing between them.

“What did you just let into our house?” Dane found himself asking.

Fox’s smile was slow to start, but it grew steadily into a wide, manic grin. “I don’t know. But I fucking like it.”

five

Colin

Colin hesitated on the dilapidated front porch of the house, reluctant to take the next steps even with the suffocating afternoon heat pushing him to rush inside.

He wasn’t nervous exactly, just…he couldn’t believe he’d made it happen, in all his impulsive, tipsy glory. He wasn’t even quite surewhyhe’d made it happen. A combination of boredom, curiosity, and stubbornness, he supposed. And frustration—all this supernatural activity had been taunting him, the way he wasalmosta part of it but not quite there. He wanted to be in the middle of it. Wanted to be more than just a side character in someone else’s story.

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