Page 66

And now here they all were, already on the sequel.

Gabe was trying to keep his focus on the shark on the screen, and the foolish beachgoers’ imminent demises, but he was a bit distracted. The little vampire in the armchair was making a lot of…noise. Gasps and squeals and the occasional, “Oh no.”

Jay caught Gabe watching him a moment later, and gave him a wide-eyed look. “The ocean is really scary, huh?”

Gabe couldn’t help it. He laughed. “You’re a vampire . You’ve got your spiffy supernatural speed. Couldn’t you just…outswim a shark?”

The little dark-haired vampire bit his lip, turning back to the screen. “Oh…no. I don’t know how to swim.”

Gabe raised a brow. “You don’t know how to swim… How old are you again?”

He yelped when Soren’s elbow jabbed him in the side. “Hush,” Soren scolded. “It’s not his fault. Jaybird’s been…sheltered.”

Gabe decided not to comment on Soren’s adorable nickname for his friend. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at you.”

Putting his foot in his mouth wasn’t new for him, but he still felt pretty bad.

Soren had filled him in earlier while Jay was getting settled upstairs.

The particular den of vampires they had both come from was fairly old-fashioned.

They tended to settle on the outskirts of human communities, keeping mostly to themselves unless they were going on a hunt.

Modern pursuits weren’t really their thing.

Apparently neither were beach days.

“It’s okay,” Jay reassured him sweetly. “It’s pretty silly, I guess. Over two hundred years old and I can’t even swim. Soren, maybe you could teach me sometime?”

“Uh…sure thing.” Soren shifted awkwardly against Gabe.

This was an interesting side of Soren to see.

He was clearly fond of his little friend.

Protective of him, even. But he seemed to have trouble knowing how to show it.

Gabe felt a rush of warmth for his prickly, bratty vampire.

He planted a kiss on the side of his blond head, laughing when Soren scowled at him.

“I can help,” Gabe volunteered, turning to Jay. “I’m a great swimmer.”

Gabe wasn’t sure exactly why his offer had Soren scowling harder.

He was just trying to be helpful. He could see why Soren was so protective of his friend.

The younger vampire—fuck, was Gabe really considering over two hundred years old as younger ?

—came off as pretty naive. And, at least on the surface, he seemed sweet as pie.

Gabe couldn’t really imagine anyone being mean to the guy.

Even if he had shown up a little bit out of the blue.

Soren had told Gabe he’d called his old friend for information, offering up a place to stay—“So sweet of you.” “Shut up.”—without really expecting him to take Soren up on the offer. Apparently the poor guy had lost his partner recently.

Or at least, Gabe supposed ten years counted as “recently” from a vampire’s point of view.

The trio finished the movie, complete with Jay’s added soundtrack. As the credits rolled, Jay stood from the armchair with a big stretch. “I’m heading to bed. If…that’s okay?”

“You don’t have to ask permission,” Soren told him gently.

Jay flushed. “Oh. Right. Sorry, bad habits.” He yawned. Vampires could apparently yawn. Gabe took note.

“I’ve been up for days,” Jay explained at Gabe’s look. “I didn’t want to miss anything. Flying on a plane and everything!”

Soren huffed. “You’ve been on a plane before, Jaybird.”

“Yeah, but never by myself .”

Gabe held in his laugh, waving good night as Jay headed upstairs. They’d given him Gabe’s old room, since Gabe had been sleeping in Soren’s bed these past few nights anyway.

“I’m going to make sure he’s got everything he needs.” Soren rose from the couch and hurried up the stairs after the other vampire. He’d been completely horrified earlier to see Jay had shown up with one measly backpack.

“Didn’t you get Vee’s funds when she passed?” he’d asked.

“Oh, sure. I’ve got money,” Jay had reassured him. “I just don’t need much.”

Soren had eyed the other vampire’s outfit skeptically—a ratty, oversize sweatshirt over a pair of fleece pants—but hadn’t said anything.

It was another sign he was genuinely fond of the other vampire.

Gabe was pretty sure any other living creature wearing that outfit would have received a withering takedown of their nonexistent fashion sense, then been forced to change on the spot.

Gabe chuckled to himself thinking about it, heading into the kitchen to look for a beer.

Voices carried from upstairs. “He’s so nice, your human.”

Gabe smiled to himself at Jay’s comment, but the grin left his face quickly at Soren’s reply. “He’s not my human.”

Before the bite of that could sink in, Jay protested. “But he is! I’ve never seen you like that. You were all…snuggled up with him. Do you think he’s your ma—”

Soren cut him off. “Hush. Enough of that. Don’t throw nonsense words around.”

But Gabe knew the word Jay had been about to say.

Mate.

Gabe had thought about it. Quite a lot, actually, in these recent weeks.

He could be a little oblivious sometimes, sure, but he wasn’t dumb .

He’d heard enough from Danny about the pull between mates.

The way Danny had felt safe and secure with Roman from the start.

It could be hard to tell what Soren was thinking, what with all the walls he put up, but Gabe had felt the care and consideration from him.

And Soren had stayed here, in Hyde Park, all this time, in spite of the motherfucker who was chasing him from place to place.

And then there were Gabe’s own feelings. The soothing contentment he felt when touching Soren. The way he’d been drawn in and fascinated even before he’d seen all the good underneath Soren’s bratty exterior.

Mate.

The idea didn’t seem all that ridiculous.

Gabe looked up as Soren entered the kitchen. “So are we starting our own vampire den, then?”

Soren gave him a strange look. “ We ?”

Gabe didn’t know what to say to that. He wanted to ask about mates, about where this thing between them was going, but he was afraid to disrupt this new, fragile bond between them. Afraid his heart might split in half if Soren laughed him off, or just flat-out told him no.

Soren eyed him from the doorway. “You like him,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. It sounded like an accusation.

“Sure,” Gabe answered easily. “He’s sweet.”

“Sweet,” Soren repeated frostily.

Gabe suddenly felt like he was walking on very thin ice, and he wasn’t quite sure how he’d gotten there. “Is he…not?”

“No.” Soren pursed his lips. “He is.” He walked over to Gabe, stealing a sip of his beer.

Gabe watched him warily.

“I’m not,” Soren finally said.

“You’re not what?” Gabe asked.

“Sweet.” He said it like a curse.

“You are to me.” It was a rare occurrence, to see Soren blush. Gabe was fascinated by the faint pink stealing over his vampire’s cheeks, the tips of his ears.

His vampire. His mate , if he wanted to go there.

Did Gabe want to go there?

Soren stepped closer and tucked his face into Gabe’s chest. Most likely to hide his blush, but Gabe welcomed the contact anyway, rubbing his hands soothingly over Soren’s back.

“He used to call me ‘angel.’” The statement came out muffled. “He’d get upset when I wasn’t.”

Hendrick. That evil motherfucker.

Gabe hugged Soren tighter. “I’m not looking for an angel though.”

Soren leaned his head back, peering up at Gabe. “What are you looking for, then?”

Gabe smiled. “I’m not looking for anything. I’m just—I just like having you around. You’re better than any hypothetical angel, brat.”

Soren scowled at him. “Cheesy,” he accused. “Way too cheesy for words. You should be ashamed.”

But he didn’t step out of Gabe’s arms.