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Jay, on the other hand, was wandering around the room, examining Jamie’s and Monique’s various knickknacks on the living room shelves. Excessive machismo didn’t seem to be an issue for the little guy, at least.

Luc broke the silence first. “Where is Soren?” he asked, voice deceptively mild considering all the growling he’d been doing just two minutes ago. “As I said, it was him I asked for assistance.”

“He declined the journey,” Roman answered gruffly. “He did not want to leave his mate’s side.”

“My brother is still pretty pissed about the whole vicious attack and you ending my life thing,” Danny chimed in.

“He said he’d rather rip off your limbs than be in the same room as you.

” He shot Jamie a quick, apologetic glance.

“I honestly think turning into a vampire has made him a bit of a drama queen.”

Jamie nodded as if he had any idea who any of them were even talking about.

Luc let out a grunt, one that seemed to indicate an understanding of the fairness of all that.

“And why come down at all?” he asked, his fingers digging into the couch arm hard enough that Jamie was pretty sure he would leave holes.

“This could have been a quick phone call. I only wanted to know how the former humans are doing with their new adjustments.”

Roman’s answering glower—a deeper glower than his standard one—was truly impressive. “Guilty conscience?” he asked, danger lurking in the question.

“Research,” Luc answered coolly.

Jamie’s lip twitched, and he fought to keep a smirk off his face. Because damn, Luc really could be a dick when he wanted to be. Jamie was kind of into it, to be honest.

“We were, um, a little concerned you’d maybe snapped and just dragged some innocent human into your evil lair, so to speak,” Danny explained. “We felt we needed to assess the situation.”

“My mate has his own guilty conscience for letting you live,” Roman said, shooting his companion a surprisingly tender look.

“ Roman ,” Danny scolded. “I never said that.”

“They actually said this was part reconnaissance, part rescue mission,” Jay supplied helpfully from where he was now studying Jamie’s bookshelf.

“And what did we say about keeping our mouths shut in mixed company?” Roman snapped. Jay flushed and turned back to the books, and Roman hissed as Danny slapped his arm in admonishment.

Good , Jamie thought smugly. He didn’t know the little guy well, obviously, but he seemed too sweet to be all surly and mean to, just because Roman didn’t like being around his ex-friend (and like, wasn’t Roman the one to blame for that anyway, seeing as how he’d decided to come all the way here?).

“Making friends left and right, aren’t you, Roman?” Luc drawled.

“Yes,” Roman answered without irony. “It is astonishing what friends one can make when one is not a vengeful, psychopathic lunatic.”

Jay turned around again. “Roman tried to strangle me when we first met.”

“Jay, sweetie, let’s go into the kitchen.” Danny held out a hand to the little vampire, looking to Jamie as he did so, so Jamie shrugged and rose from the couch, patting Luc’s shoulder in solidarity before following to the kitchen.

He was a little shocked Luc allowed it. But clearly his vampire didn’t consider Danny and Jay the threats in the room.

Not that Jamie wasn’t fascinated by this cozy reunion going on, but he was also curious about Roman’s mate.

Danny had been human less than two years ago.

How had he handled the transition? That was what Luc wanted to know, after all.

Jamie figured he’d get a better answer from the source than from whatever little dance of grudges was going on behind him.

Danny smiled warmly at him as he entered the kitchen. He certainly seemed calm and collected enough for anyone, let alone a newer vampire. “Ah, that’s better. Now we can get away from all that growly testosterone overload.”

“We can hear you, Daniel,” Luc called out from the living room.

“Like I caaaare,” Danny answered in a singsong voice.

“We can go out to the backyard,” Jamie offered. “Through the back door here.”

They exited the kitchen, Jamie leading the way. Jay started wandering immediately, studying the different desert plants in the yard.

Danny sat down on the back steps, tipping his head back and sighing happily, his eyes closed. “Oh, this is nice. I like the warm nights thing you have going on.”

Jamie took the opportunity to study him surreptitiously. He really was lovely. “Luc said cold and heat don’t really bother you.”

“They don’t, but I can still process the sensations. Coolness and warmth and the like. I find myself enjoying the sun and heat more now that I’ve turned. I enjoy just, like, basking in it. Like a lizard. As long as I protect my eyes, that is.”

Jamie remained standing, his hands firmly in his pockets so he wouldn’t drum them against his leg, watching Danny take in the warmth and feeling unaccountably shy for maybe for the first time in his life.

Here was someone who had exactly what he wanted.

A permanent bond with the person he loved. A promise of forever.

But it had happened in such a traumatic way. Did Danny regret it?

The vampire below him smiled wider, opening his eyes and meeting Jamie’s gaze. “You can ask me, you know. About turning.”

Jamie felt his face heat at being caught staring. “How— How was it for you? How is it for you? You don’t seem out of control or anything.”

Danny shook his head. “It’s different when you’ve already found your tether, we think.

I didn’t have any of the crazed bloodlust Roman and Luc remember.

Neither did Gabe, for that matter. It still means we’ll have to leave our hometown someday, with the never aging thing.

But that’s a small sacrifice to make in exchange for everything I’ve gained, I think. ”

“And what have you gained?” Jamie asked, already guessing the answer. He didn’t think Danny was the type to be wooed by the special bonus powers: the speed, the strength, the rapid healing.

“Roman,” Danny answered simply, like it was the easiest choice in the world. And maybe it was. Jamie had long thought the exchange would be worth it, for the right person. For a chance at real love.

Except…

“But you didn’t get to make that sacrifice, did you?” Jamie asked. “It was made for you. Luc chose for you.”

“He did,” Danny agreed, not a hint of malice in his tone.

Jamie couldn’t help it—his hands left the confines of his pockets, and he began drumming his fingers against his leg.

He wished he’d remembered to carry a couple toothpicks.

“Is this where I apologize for him?” he asked.

“Luc gets…angry. He doesn’t always have control over himself—the monster takes over. ”

It felt like a lame excuse, but it was the only one he had to give.

“The monster…,” Danny murmured. He shot Jamie an assessing look. “I’m surprised he hasn’t turned you already, if I’m being honest. He was so obsessed with the idea of mates. I thought he’d turn his the moment he found them.”

Jamie’s stomach sank at Danny’s words, and Danny must have seen some sign of it in his face, because he rushed to amend his statement.

“No, I think it’s a good thing! He’s showing restraint.

He cares for you. Truly cares for you. It’s obvious just looking at the two of you together.

I wasn’t sure he’d ever get a chance to find that. I’m glad.”

Jamie laughed before he could help himself. “You’re awfully nice about someone who basically murdered you.”

“That’s what I said,” Jay chimed in, reaching a hand out to a small barrel cactus he’d found in the corner of Jamie’s yard.

“Jay, honey,” Danny called out. “Don’t touch the cactus.”

“Don’t worry, I know it’s sharp.” The little vampire reached out a finger anyway, touching one of the spines of the desert plant. “Ouch,” he said happily, holding up his finger to display the small drop of blood welling there. “See? Sharp.”

“That’s great, sweetie.” Danny rolled his eyes, somehow making the gesture look fond and indulgent rather than mocking, before he turned his attention back to Jamie. He patted the spot next to him on the stairs, and Jamie sat down warily beside him.

“I just can’t bring myself to hate Luc,” Danny said after a few more moments of watching Jay roam the yard.

“I honestly can’t imagine what those two have lived through.

Hundreds of years of existence, not knowing the first thing about the how or why of what they are.

If I’d been turned without Roman to ground me, abandoned by my family, led to believe I was a monster…

” He shrugged. “Would I have been any better?”

Jamie had a feeling he would have been. That Danny would never hurt another soul so callously as Jamie’s mate had over the years. But he didn’t really want to mess with this easy acceptance of Luc’s flaws Danny had going on, so he didn’t voice that suspicion out loud.

“Can I let you in on a little secret?” Danny leaned in, a conspiratorial look on his face.

“I don’t think Roman’s morals are really all that much better than Luc’s.

He didn’t care any more about humanity than Luc did when I met him, I think.

He was just so afraid of losing control that he forced himself to be a little less… unhinged about it.”

Again, Jamie wasn’t 100 percent sure of that assessment. But he figured Danny knew his own mate better than he did.

They sat for a while in the warm night air, content with a comfortable silence.

Jamie felt a new lightness—a release of tension he hadn’t even known he’d been holding—after Danny’s discussion of his change.

Luc could turn him, could solidify their bond, and Jamie could stay in Tucson.

He didn’t have to leave his family right away.

He didn’t have to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it.

“Should we go back in?” he asked after some more time had passed.

Danny shot an assessing glance back to the house. “Maybe give them a little more time to chat.”

“Why did you really come here?” Jamie asked, giving voice to a suspicion that had been growing inside him. “Did you really think there was a human in need of rescue, just because Luc was asking about your transition?”

Danny laughed softly before shooting him a mischievous look.

“Did you know the average adult friendship lasts seven years? Such a short amount of time. Those two were companions for hundreds of years.” He looked to the house again.

“I don’t think it’s as much of a lost cause as they like to pretend. ”

Jamie was starting to like this newbie vampire a whole hell of a lot. “You don’t think the multiple attempts at murder are an insurmountable obstacle?”

Danny shrugged. “We’re vampires, Jamie. We can pretend we’re still human to fit into society.

We can definitely hold on to our values and try to do as little damage to the world around us as possible.

But we’re different creatures, ruled by different instincts.

We’re not held to the same standards, in some ways. Isn’t that right, Jay?”

Jay turned to face them, crouched down in the dirt. “You can’t have eternal life—even the prospect of eternal life—without being forever changed by it. The concept of mortality is what gives life so much of its meaning. What are we when we take that away?”

Jamie was aware he was now staring at the little vampire, slack-jawed. But damn, that wasn’t what he’d been expecting to come out of his mouth. “You’ve got hidden depths, don’t you, little dude?”

“Yes, I do,” Jay answered seriously before turning back and poking his finger at yet another cactus.

Hidden depths indeed.