Page 4

Roman

R oman sucked on his pilfered blood bag— cold, tasteless, garbage —and tried to keep himself and his demon from spiraling.

What in God’s name had just happened?

He hadn’t even meant to stop in this charmless mountain town. He’d meant to keep driving south for hours longer, possibly days longer, before pausing even for blood. But he’d passed by that tiny little hospital and felt suddenly that he had to stop.

His demon had practically put his foot on the brakes for him.

Roman normally stuck to larger hospitals when he went the blood bag route for his feedings.

More people coming in and out, fewer people stopping to notice a new face, fewer to have to compel to forgetfulness.

But apparently his rules were out the window.

And he’d felt it as soon as he’d stepped inside.

A presence. A scent. Like warm milk with honey.

And, following that scent, he’d found the boy.

A young man somewhere in his early twenties. Practically an infant compared to Roman.

Big brown eyes, messy brown hair, a smattering of freckles across his nose.

Lovely.

Even with the dark shadows under his eyes and his skin a shade or two paler than natural.

The pull Roman had felt had been so strong he’d assumed the boy must be other . Not like him, clearly, but surely not just human. He’d been so nonplussed he hadn’t even put on his normal, charming human act.

He’d acted like a creep.

But young Danny wasn’t anything other , was he? He was just a boy. A simple human man. One with a smart mouth and a smile that could take someone’s breath away.

Not just boy , his demon snarled at him. Not just anything. Special. Perfect. Ours.

Right.

There was another word for what this boy could be—for what he could be to Roman, to his demon. But it was a word Roman hadn’t believed in for decades.

One he refused to believe in any longer.

This obsession must be just another symptom of his demon becoming more and more unhinged. It had been a trying few years. Every feeding becoming more fraught, his demon constantly restless and demanding more . More violence, more fear, more sex. More anything to keep it entertained, keep it sated.

Each time, it was harder to stop a feeding from going too far. Harder to keep from killing.

So he’d been sticking to blood bags. But the lack of a hunt just made the demon angrier.

And now Roman was afraid to switch back to live bodies.

Afraid he’d been depriving his demon for so long that the first taste of fresh blood would lead to a massacre.

Afraid that this time, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

And, most of all, afraid he wouldn’t even care.

It was what happened to their kind in the end, after all. Complete disconnection from their humanity. A feral state. Lord knew how Soren had evaded it all this time. Luc certainly hadn’t been so lucky.

Fucking Lucien.

The reason Roman needed to be moving on in the first place. Luc and his trail of bodies had been getting too close. One would think that after seventy goddamn years, he’d have moved on, found someone else to torment. But the miserable bastard was still fixated on Roman.

And for good reason.

Roman pushed aside the familiar guilty thoughts.

They didn’t help anything. He tossed the finished blood bag onto the passenger seat floor and started his car.

He needed to get moving. To leave this town.

He didn’t have time for lovely boys with smooth skin and freckled noses and big brown puppy-dog eyes.

Who knew what his demon would do to little Danny if Roman let himself get his hands on him?

And yet, somehow, he found himself pulling in front of a hotel he’d marked on his way into town.

Merde.

The woman at the front desk was beautiful in a plastic sort of way.

Subtle makeup, smooth blonde hair, a perfectly fitted suit hugging her impressive curves.

She smiled at Roman’s approach in a way that told him he could easily have the whole package—a hot meal, sexual release—on a platter, no compulsion required.

But for once, his demon wasn’t interested.

His damn demon was still angry at him for walking out of that hospital without the boy in his arms.

“How can I help you, sir?” the receptionist inquired, voice sultry.

“I find myself in need of a room.”

“We have a few vacancies available. Just one guest? Traveling alone?” She gave him an unsubtle perusal, and Roman had to fight to keep his lip from curling. Apparently it wasn’t just his demon that didn’t have any patience for non-Danny humans right now.

“Just myself. Just for the night,” he bit out. Where was his usual cool, his usual charm?

To the receptionist’s credit, she immediately took the hint at his lack of interest, and her tone turned to strictly professional. “Certainly, sir. I can book you right now.”

“Perfect.” Roman reached for his wallet.

Except he found himself pausing as he took out his credit card.

He cleared his throat. “Apologies, I misspoke. Not just a night. A week. I’ll be staying a week.”

Goddamn it.

Roman couldn’t stop pacing.

His demon was driving him completely mad. He’d thought the last few years had been bad enough, but they were nothing compared to the intensity of this complete obsession.

Want Danny. Honey. Sweet. Ours. Ours, ours, ours.

Roman rarely resorted to actually talking to his demon—it felt like a step too far in the direction of madness, talking to himself within his own head, but he needed to calm the situation down somehow. He took a breath and focused inward.

Hush. We’ve barely talked to the boy. You’re losing it.

Not losing. Right there. Waiting. Honey sweet. Waiting for us.

Yes , Roman soothed. Waiting. Not going anywhere.

We can go back. But not now, not right this second.

We already frightened him, I think. Do you want to scare him off?

Have him run away? Never find him again?

His demon gave a loud growl at the thought.

Roman continued on, sensing victory. He’s human.

Delicate. We need to be careful. Let me handle it. We’re staying, okay? So hush.

His demon gave another growl in response but much softer this time. It was actually listening to reason, for the first time in a very long while.

Roman let out a loud, steady exhale. He was staying in Hyde Park, at least for now. That much was clear. He knew where the boy worked, where to find him. Hopefully lovely Danny would be working again the next night.

He wasn’t sure his demon would put up with any more wait than that. If it was impatient enough, it might even try to take over, take control of Roman’s consciousness without his permission, and that was the road to a feral state.

So. See Danny again. And then…

Roman was indeed sure they had frightened the boy. Not that one could tell from the sass the young nurse had been spitting out. But Roman had tasted it in the air—not overwhelming but enough to know he hadn’t given the best impression. He hadn’t exactly been at his most charming.

But he did know how to charm. Decades of experience luring willing victims, for food or for play. He just needed to get the boy alone for a minute. Maybe he could compel an answer out of him, some reason for Roman’s draw to him.

Roman had heard rumors before of humans with magical abilities: healing, the sight, telepathy, even shapeshifting. He’d never come across one himself, but their blood was supposed to be especially enticing to Roman’s kind.

As of now, the only other logical reason Roman could think of was one he didn’t want to consider. Not if he was hoping to move on from this town without sending his demon into a spiral.

And if he couldn’t get answers, maybe Roman could fuck the boy out of their system. The thought held more than just a little appeal.

He finally stopped his pacing, readjusting his hardening cock, and took a seat on the king-size hotel bed, ignoring his arousal for the moment.

He felt better now that he had a plan. Not exactly a thorough plan but better than the instinct-driven mindlessness of the past few hours.

See Danny, charm Danny, compel some answers from Danny.

Now he just had to worry about Luc. There was at least one person who could help a little with that.

Roman pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent out a text.

Can you keep an eye on Luc’s trail for me? I’m in Colorado. Let me know if he starts traveling south.

He received an immediate reply.

Colorado? Thought you’d be clearing out of the States. I was already planning our tropical reunion. The mountains are fucking boring, bad choice.

Roman rolled his eyes. Little shit. Something came up.

What came up?

Just tell me if Luc comes close.

Fine. Be mysterious. Knowing you, it’s not anything exciting, anyway.

Brat.

Bore.

He was just putting his phone away when it dinged one last time.

You know if your someTHING is a someONE , you can’t let Luc catch up to you. Hurry up with whatever you’re doing and move on.

Roman wasn’t sure how Soren did that. He always seemed to know what wasn’t being said. Roman couldn’t tell if it was something that came with his greater age, or a skill he’d just always naturally had.

But Soren wasn’t wrong. Roman really couldn’t linger.

Just a few days , he told himself. Just to get some answers, and then I’m gone.

His demon, mercifully quiet, let the lie pass.

Just a few days.