Page 27 of Colin

Fox shrugged, smirk still firmly in place. “Why wouldn’t we want you around? You’re nice to look at, and you smell good, and you don’t make too much noise.”

Was he talking about a person or a pet?

“He’s got questions for us,” Dane said from above Colin’s head, his hand once again brushing strands away from Colin’s temple.

“What kind of questions?” Fox asked, suspicion lacing his voice.

Oh, right. Colin tried to focus. “What does it feel like, the inner vampire?”

Jay called it his “inner beastie.” He’d described it once to Colin as having an imaginary friend in his head, one that stayed mostly quiet but got really hungry for blood about once a week.

It was a very Jay way of looking at things.

Fox began stroking Colin’s ankle in the same gentle rhythm Dane was stroking his hair, the two of them in sync at either ends of his body. “You know the whole thing with the angel and the devil on your shoulder, guiding you to good or naughty deeds?”

Colin smiled a little at the image. “Sure.”

“Well, it’s like that,” Fox said. “A devil on your shoulder, except it’s inside your very skin instead.”

“Which part is the angel, then?”

Fox grinned at him, white teeth flashing in the lamplight. “There is no angel, slayer. That’s the whole problem.”

Colin tapped his fingers on his wrist, considering. “You’re speaking too metaphorically,” he eventually said. “What does that mean, exactly?” He was looking for some goddamn specifics.

“It’s different for everyone,” Dane explained. “For some vampires, it’s like a literal voice inside their head. Ours rarely speak though. It’s usually just an…intensified push, leaning toward our baser instincts. They like when we feed, obviously. They like when we fuck.” He hesitated. “They like when we touch you.”

The harsh thump of Colin’s heart caught him off guard. “Me?”

Fox’s hand moved down from Colin’s ankle to his foot, kneading there. Colin fought back a moan, but from the way Fox looked at him, he knew Colin wanted to. “Yeah, you,” Fox purred. “Our devils like you, little lamb.”

Colin tilted his chin up to look at Dane for confirmation, who nodded, smiling down at him softly.

“Huh.” Colin’s cheeks heated. “Interesting.”

Fox’s thumb dug into Colin’s arch, and now Colindidmoan. Fox grinned. “Our turn.”

Colin did his best to gather his dignity. “Excuse me?”

“You think we’re just gonna do this little interview for free? You’ve got your questions, we’ve got ours. Like, why do you wanna know all these vampire details?”

Colin’s brow furrowed. Why wouldn’the want to know every vampire detail? “I’m curious,” he told them. “How could I not be? Plus…” It must have been the hair petting, or the foot massage, or maybe both combined, relaxing him enough to admit it. “I want to make my own comic. A vampire comic,” Colin clarified. “More like a graphic novel. I’m not interested in drawing heroes in spandex. I want to draw the monsters.” He caught Fox’s eye. “The devils. All the vampire stuff, it’s just…cool,” he finished, maybe a little pathetically.

“You think vampires are cool?” Fox teased, preening like Colin had been personally complimenting him and not just his species in general.

Colin scowled down at him, embarrassment over admitting his aspirations making him grouchy. “Mostvampires, yeah. I’m still adjusting to the fact that you two are just big, youthful-looking geriatrics.”

Fox shot a confused look at Dane, who only shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

“Okay.” Colin cleared his throat. “My turn again. This is sort of clarification. You two are bonded to each other?”

Dane’s thigh tensed underneath him. Colin glanced up, but Dane’s expression didn’t give anything away, other than a slight tightening of his jaw.

“Yes,” Fox answered tersely.

“Okay… What’s that like exactly? You can feel each other’s feelings, right?”

“The broad strokes,” Fox explained, his tone softening just the slightest. “Not every minute detail.”

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