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The meeting would not be as far away from his mate as Roman would have liked.

He would have preferred to have as much distance as possible between any Luc outbursts and his lovely human.

Days away, even. But if this meeting went poorly, Roman would just continue heading south, pulling Luc along with him.

Further and further away.

Roman’s chest ached at the thought.

South had been his original plan. Hyde Park had only been meant to be a stopping point. Of course, that had been before Roman had met Danny. It felt like a lifetime ago. Bizarre how much Roman’s goals had changed since meeting the boy.

He had been aimless, hopeless, on the run—both from Luc and from the inevitable crumbling of Roman’s hold on his own humanity. He and his demon had been at war with their urges. Now they had goals in common.

Protecting Danny. Possessing Danny. Loving Danny.

And Roman had faith, for the first time in forever, that he would not die alone, a monster.

“Your control is improving, Rome. Not enough for them to truly enjoy it yet, I don’t think, but you’ll get there.”

Lucien was licking the blood off his own lips, looking pleased at his protégé.

They were in plush armchairs by the fire in his bedroom, across from Roman’s own in their shared apartment.

It was grander than anywhere Roman had lived before.

Their human guests, if one could call them that, had just left, compelled into confusion, a trick the older vampire had been teaching Roman over the past few weeks.

The weeks since Roman’s family had driven him away, their faces full of fear and confusion and hatred.

Lucien had told Roman not to return to his home, but he hadn’t been able to listen. Had been convinced his family would be able to see he was still the man from before. Convinced he could play the part of human.

He’d been very wrong.

But the other vampire hadn’t chastised Roman when he’d returned, crushed and defeated.

He had sat by Roman’s side while he sobbed out his despair, had stood by his side while Roman broke furniture in his rage, and when Roman was spent and exhausted, had taken him by the hand and told him it was time to learn the ways of his new existence.

They had settled in Paris, with plenty of dark alleys and dubious neighborhoods to find their victims—or “partners,” as Lucien called them—for the night.

Roman had been stunned when, tonight, Lucien had chosen a man to feed on, and had done more than just bite him.

Luc had touched him, kissed him, crooned sweetly at him.

Roman had seen him do the same with his female partners, it came with the territory of the pleasure they could give humans during a bite, but never a man before.

At his shocked face, Lucien had just smirked at him. “Our old rules do not apply anymore, mon ami. We take what we want now. Men. Women. Either or both. If you like them, have them. We can’t be damned more than we are already.”

The thought never seemed to be far from Lucien’s mind. Their damnation.

Roman had never heard the term bisexual —wouldn’t hear it until many years later—but it was the first time he’d been given permission to give in to cravings he’d known his whole life.

Cravings he’d pushed into the back of his mind and locked away.

Cravings that had only gotten stronger with this new demon inside him, this voice that called for him to give in to every temptation.

It took time for Roman to adjust, but it wouldn’t be long until he followed Luc’s example and chose whoever appealed to him most to be his partner for the night, regardless of gender.

“Who taught you all this?” he asked Lucien now, his hunger sated and that voice that called for blood pleasantly quiet. “Compulsions and control?” He knew Lucien had been turned a decade before he had found Roman, but the other vampire never spoke of any other of their kind.

“The one who turned me taught me,” Luc replied, the pleased look falling off his face.

“Where is he now?”

Lucien shrugged in that careless way he had, but something pained passed over his face. “He left,” he answered shortly.

“Why?” Roman knew he was prying, but his desire to know more overrode any thoughts of propriety.

Lucien sighed, leaning his head against the back of his chair.

“I don’t think he was ever looking for a long-term companion.

He was…strange. Monstrous.” A small smirk.

“More monstrous even than us, I mean. He barely seemed human sometimes. I think he turned me for the fun of it. He had eaten his fill already, saw me there dying, thought it would be fun, maybe? He stuck around long enough to teach me the basics, but that was it.”

Roman felt a surge of disquiet run through him. “And that is what you plan to do? Leave me after I have mastered…all this?” He gestured vaguely.

Lucien lifted his head and smiled at him then, and there was still hints of blood at the corners of his mouth.

“No. I’m not leaving.” He stretched forward in his chair, leaning over toward Roman.

“You know, I wasn’t planning to turn anyone.

I felt like I would be…dooming…whoever I chose.

But then I saw you dying, and you looked so hopeful at the offer of a second chance.

And you reminded me of me. I hadn’t wanted to die either.

And I’m glad to still be alive, even as a monster. But I never wanted to be alone.”

“A monster,” Roman mused. “So you really think we are both damned, then?”

Lucien shook his head. “I don’t know. My maker told me we won’t age and that we are very hard to kill.” He grinned slyly. “Let’s just live forever, never die, and never have to find out one way or another.”

He was such a conundrum, this man. One part doom and gloom, the other part sly mischief. Roman wondered which part was real and which was the front.

And forever was such a long, long time to consider. Roman didn’t know what to do with the thought of it, the weight of it.

Lucien reached out a hand and placed it on top of Roman’s. “I mean it. I don’t want to be alone forever. I wanted a family before. We can’t have children, and we can’t go back to our old families now that we’re monsters. So we’ll be each other’s family, yes? Brothers.”

Roman felt some of the weight of that “forever” ease in his chest. It wasn’t the life he’d thought he’d have, but Lucien was right—Roman hadn’t wanted to die on that battlefield. And he didn’t want to be alone either.

Roman nodded at his friend, his maker. “Brothers, then.”

Roman swallowed against the lump in his throat as he pulled into the parking lot on the corner of First and Ash. Luc had never wanted to be alone, and now he had been, for decades. And it hadn’t been serving the older vampire well at all.

Roman spotted the man of the hour leaning against the hood of a black car, arms crossed but posture otherwise relaxed. He was wearing a leather jacket and dark jeans, sunglasses protecting his demon’s eyes from the sunlight.

Roman parked in the lot, keeping a healthy amount of space between Luc’s car and his own. There was a large building, one that had clearly seen better days, with a For Lease sign in the window, behind them. The neighborhood was noticeably quiet for so early in the morning.

Roman stepped out of his car, making his way over to the front to lean against it as well, imitating Luc’s stance. Luc eyed him all the while, any thoughts hidden behind his dark shades.

“You wanted to see me?” Luc’s voice was mild, but Roman wasn’t fooled into any false sense of comfort.

“I did.” Roman kept his voice equally calm. “Our last conversation ended a bit…abruptly.”

Luc smirked at him then.

Roman continued, “You’ve been trying to get my attention for an awfully long time, Luc. What do you want from me, really? Do you even know?”

Luc tilted his head. “And you felt you had to lure me out to the middle of bumfuck nowhere to have this conversation why?”

“You know why.” Roman tried his best to keep the growl out of his voice. “I don’t want you anywhere near my mate.”

“Ah, yes.” Luc’s smirk grew, fangs glinting from between his lips. “Your precious little mate. What a lovely choice you’ve made. He’s so…cute. So breakable.”

It took all Roman’s self-control to keep his muscles from tensing and his demon from growling. He knew Luc was trying to rile him up, set him off. For someone who’d been trying to get Roman’s attention for decades, the man couldn’t seem to resist antagonizing him once he got it.

“I know you aren’t really feral,” Roman bit out, trying to move the subject off Danny. “Your actions have always been too deliberate, too calculated. So are you really just a run-of-the-mill violent psychopath now or is there actually something you want from me?”

Luc straightened from his slouch, uncrossing his arms and sliding his hands into his pockets.

Roman did tense then, preparing himself to be rushed, possibly with a hidden weapon, but the other vampire didn’t make any move toward him.

“You know,” Luc mused, “for the longest time, after the dust settled and my rage died down a little, I wanted you back. My friend. My brother. But you kept running away. Wouldn’t let me get close. ”

Familiar guilt tugged at Roman. Past failures, past cowardice. He wished suddenly that he could see Luc’s eyes.

Luc carried on, “I figured I was too wild for you now. Too aggressive, too violent. You were clinging with both hands to your own humanity, and I was a risk to that.” He began stepping closer, but Roman held his ground.

“So I started thinking. If you were just a little more like me, we could be brothers again. If you weren’t so caught up in your own control. So focused on your own sanity.”

Roman tried to make sense of what he was hearing. “You were, what, trying to push me into becoming feral?”