Page 71

Soren

“ D o you think someone could actually die by coffee?”

Soren rolled his eyes, pulling Jay forward into the café.

He was keeping one eye on the gym across the street and one ear on his phone.

There had been no more signs of Hendrick—no threatening texts, no scent of him in the streets—and Soren had agreed to let Gabe work out at his usual spot before his shift at the hospital.

Soren knew he hadn’t done any real damage to Hendrick, so he had to assume it was the act of rebelling in itself that had him backing off.

He tried not to get lost in self-loathing at the thought.

Was this all it would have taken for him not to be stalked and harassed for centuries?

Just a single instance of fighting back properly?

A familiar voice sounded in his head. Pathetic. Weak. Cowardly.

It lacked the usual sting though. Because Soren had other words running through his mind now. A different voice, full of affection. Strong. Fierce. Perfect.

It was a strange thing, having someone see him— all of him—and insist they liked every bit of it.

Soren didn’t know what to do with himself. He’d successfully seduced Gabe, he supposed. More than seduced. They were…together? And now Soren had fought off Hendrick. So where did that leave him? What was next? He’d never let himself fully consider it.

Gabe was his mate. Soren knew it. Had known it.

But…what did that mean?

Soren didn’t have the same fear of going feral as Roman once had.

Soren and his inner vamp vibed together very well, all things considered.

He’d never had to fight it for control. He knew it was inevitable, that eventually he’d go down the same road as all the others, but it could be centuries more before that became an issue.

Everything came to an end at some point, right?

And Gabe wanted normal . He wanted a normal human life. Could Soren give that to him? He could, couldn’t he? He didn’t have to ask Gabe to turn for him.

Soren could love him as he was, for however long he was allowed.

If Gabe stayed in this town, Soren would have to leave sooner rather than later, with the whole never aging thing. But Danny and Roman would eventually have to leave for the same reason, right? Maybe Gabe would want to go with them, and Soren could stay close.

Gabe would be a hot silver fox; that was for sure.

And once Gabe hit the end of his mortal life… Soren felt a sharp stabbing pain in his chest at the thought. For the first time since the early days of his vampire existence, he felt his inner vamp rebel—a twisting, itchy sensation under his skin.

His inner vamp really, really did not like the thought of Gabe dying.

Well, what do you want us to do? Scare him away? He finally thinks of us as something other than a monster. You want to ask to take his humanity away and reverse all that progress?

Ugh. This was terrible. Soren had been reduced to a poor man’s Roman, actually talking to his “demon” like it was a separate entity.

“Soren, we’re up!”

Soren was pulled out of his maudlin thoughts by Jay’s enthusiastic warning. Alicia was at the counter again, and Soren nodded his greeting before opening his mouth to order—he was graciously inducting Jay to the world of overly sweet coffee drinks—but Jay spoke first. “You guys are hiring?”

Soren looked to where the other vampire was pointing. There was indeed a “Hiring Now!” sign propped up on the counter.

Alicia smiled warmly at Jay. “We are. You interested?”

“No,” Soren answered for the other vampire. “He’s not.”

Jay turned to him, his gray eyes full of dismay. “Why not?”

“Jaybird,” Soren explained, the very picture of patience. “You’ve never had a job in your life.”

“Ohh.” Jay’s eyes widened in realization. He turned to Alicia. “I’ve never worked before.”

The redheaded barista cocked an eyebrow at him. “Good for you, man.”

“My friend here has lived a very…sheltered life,” Soren offered.

“Hm.” Alicia looked Jay over—Jay who was currently staring at the café menu like it was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. “It’s really not all that hard to learn. And being that adorable does half the work for you when it comes to customer service.”

She turned to the back, where there was a door leading to what Soren could only assume was the staff lounge or office or whatever. “Colin!” she shouted, making Jay jump. “Colin!”

After a few seconds, the door opened, and a tall, lanky guy with purple hair and an eyebrow piercing stepped out. “Damn, Alicia. Don’t yell like that in front of customers.”

Alicia seemed unfazed by the rebuke. “We have an applicant.” She pointed to Jay, who smiled broadly.

When Soren smiled like that, it unnerved people.

When Jay did it, people thought he’d fallen straight from heaven.

Colin looked the little vampire up and down. “Got any barista experience?”

“Nope,” Jay answered sweetly.

“Food service experience?”

“Nope.”

“Customer service experience in any way, shape, or form?”

“Nope.”

“Big fan of coffee?”

“I’ve never had it,” Jay said sincerely, smile still firmly in place.

Colin stared at Jay, who stared right back at him. Finally, the tall man ducked beneath the counter before coming back up with a form. “Fill out this application. Come back Tuesday for a real interview.”

He turned back, returning through the back door.

Alicia was doing her best to hold back laughter. “Oh my God, you actually charmed him. I didn’t think it was possible.”

Jay nodded, smiling brightly at her. “I’m very charming.”

Christ. Soren pushed Jay toward his table by the window. “Go. Sit. I’ll order. Can’t have you going to your interview without ever having tasted coffee.”

Alicia frowned at him. “You do know what you drink can’t be considered real coffee, right?”

See? Bitchy. Soren was becoming fond of this human barista. “Where’s Cammie?” he asked snidely.

Alicia shrugged a shoulder. “Oh, she was fired. That’s why we’re hiring.”

Soren tipped extra. This really was a great place for coffee.

He and Jay enjoyed their “not real” coffees together, Jay making appropriate ooh s and aah s over his drink.

Soren found that, when he wasn’t using Jay as a comparison for everything he himself was lacking, he was able to actually enjoy the other vampire’s company.

Soren could see the appeal in all that adorable openness.

And there was strength there—that was for sure—more than Soren had given him credit for.

How else could Jay have survived that hellhole and still come out chock-full of sweetness?

Alicia stopped by their table a few times, dropping off free treats and filling Jay in on his potential future coworkers.

It was all…nice.

Was this what it would be like? To stay in one place long-term? To have more than one person Soren could call a friend?

It was an almost an hour before Soren spotted his human exiting the gym.

It was a familiar enough sight at this point: a tank-topped Gabe, his muscles lightly shining with sweat.

This time, though, Gabe didn’t head to his car—he made a beeline for the coffeeshop, where Soren had told him they’d be waiting.

Soren turned to the door to watch his human enter.

He liked to ogle; so what?

Gabe walked in, a slight swagger to his walk.

He was the picture of golden-boy confidence.

Soren delighted in watching his human in public for this very reason.

The rest of the world got to see this confident front, but only Soren got to see the real deal.

The insecurities, the anxieties, the emotional depths.

It turned out knowing someone else’s flaws was a gift, in its own way.

Soren opened his mouth to greet him but was frozen in place when his human bent over, planting a firm, slightly dirty kiss on Soren’s lips. “Hi, brat.”

Soren was…stunned. Sure, they’d danced together in that club, and Gabe didn’t shy away from affection in front of Jay. But this was Gabe’s town. People here knew him. They were down the street from his work, for Christ’s sake.

Gabe frowned down at him, noting Soren’s stillness. “Am I not allowed to do that?” he asked.

Really, he shouldn’t be. If Hendrick was still lurking in town and saw that display, they could be inviting a world of trouble. But Soren was having a hard time caring about that. Especially when he saw Alicia staring at them out of the corner of her eye, a shocked smirk on her face.

A feeling of immense satisfaction washed over Soren. That’s right , he thought smugly. This one’s mine. My human. My mate.

He relaxed into his seat, giving Gabe a haughty look. “You’re allowed, I suppose.”

Gabe rolled his eyes, sitting in the chair next to him and greeting Jay with a smile. He threw a casual arm around Soren’s shoulder. Soren wasn’t preening at all at this public display of affection.

He absolutely wasn’t.

He cleared his throat, trying to will away the blush he could feel on his cheeks by force of will. “I heard Cammie got fired.”

“Who?” Gabe asked absently, toying with the hair on the back of Soren’s neck.

Soren tried not to shiver. He was determined to be petty. “Cammie,” he said again. “That blonde barista.”

Gabe frowned in thought. “Was she— Am I supposed to know her?” He stole a sip of Soren’s drink, wincing at the taste.

Boring human.

Soren felt like he might burst from an overabundance of affection for the idiot.

“No,” he said, grinning widely. “You’re not.”

The next morning, Soren was dealing with a very different version of Gabe.

He wasn’t exactly sure what had happened during his human’s shift at the hospital—Jay had accompanied him again while Soren searched the town for Hendrick—but the swagger in his human’s step was gone, and he wasn’t saying much.

A sullen, “I’m fine,” was the only response Soren had received when he’d asked about it.