Page 71 of Soren

Gabe was…notunharmedbut alive. There was blood, yes, but most of it seemed to be coming from his nose. Broken, maybe.

Soren scanned his human quickly. No obvious bite marks, no severed arteries. But his right leg was twisted at an odd angle, and his eyes were open at half-mast, the glazed look in them suggesting he was in a high level of pain.

Soren struggled to keep himself calm. He hated seeing Gabe looking so helpless. Hated it with a passion that had his blood boiling.

His human wasstrong. He was brave, no matter what his insecurities said to the contrary. Hendrick didn’t have the right to even look in Gabe’s direction, let alone harm a single hair on his head.

The vampire in Soren wanted to tear, wanted to maim, wanted to rip Hendrick’s head off for hurting his mate.

But he couldn’t. Not yet. Gabe was alive. He was more or less whole. But he wasn’t anywhere near out of danger yet.

Hendrick himself barely looked rumpled. No surprise there. One human wouldn’t be enough to slow him down, not with Jay out of the way. And judging from his position, Jay hadn’t been able to put up much of a fight before going down.

Soren turned his focus to the enemy. Hendrick’s broad face held a smile, but his dark eyes were flat. Cold. A snake’s eyes. He was dressed out of character, in flannel and denim. Clearly an effort to blend in.

It shouldn’t have been enough. Soren should have been able to track his scent, if Hendrick had stayed in town. He should have been able to find him before now.

“Apologies,” Hendrick said, not sounding sorry at all. “I roughed up your friend a bit here. He doesn’t seem to like me very much.” He gave Gabe a little shake in emphasis, his body swaying in Hendrick’s hold.

“Fucking asshole,” Gabe mumbled, his speech coming out slurred. Soren wondered if his mate had a concussion. Heat flushed through his body at the thought.

Soren watched closely as Hendrick’s knuckles whitened, the larger vampire’s grip tightening on Gabe’s neck. Hendrick could snap that neck with just that one hand, if he wanted to. Humans were fragile. So fucking fragile.

And Soren’s human was being held by a monster.

Soren made a choice. “Gabe,” he said sharply. “Shut up.”

Soren ignored the hurt in Gabe’s eyes at his words, focusing on Hendrick instead. Hurt feelings could heal. A broken neck could not.

Not for a human, at least.

Soren could feel his body trembling and could only hope it was subtle enough Hendrick wouldn’t notice.

Soren should haveknownbetter.

He’d been going out every night Gabe was at work, allowing himself to be seen about town, hoping to draw Hendrick out again. He’d thought the lack of response meant Hendrick had moved on. Figured out Soren was more trouble than he was worth.

Clearly Soren had been wrong. Hendrick had instead found Soren’s weakness, his onefuckingweakness, and he was holding it in one palm, ready to crush it at a moment’s notice.

Soren took a deep breath, pushing his vampire back. Brute force wouldn’t help him now, not with Hendrick so much stronger than he was. Soren needed to think. To plan.

He felt his fangs recede, knew his eyes were returning to their natural pale blue. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but Hendrick’s smile widened anyway, the cretin clearly pleased at whatever he saw in Soren’s face.

“I’ve been thinking,” Hendrick said slyly. “I don’t like how our last little talk went. Clearly, I’ve been keeping you on too long a leash. You’ve gotten…confused. Forgotten who you belong to.”

I don’t belong to anyone. The words were on the tip of Soren’s tongue. But he took one look at Gabe’s golden eyes, wide now with fear and frustration, and he held them back. To anger Hendrick would be to risk the one thing Soren cared about more than his own sorry hide.

“What do you want, Hendrick?” Soren asked instead. “You want to hurt me? Pay it back? I’m right here.”

Hendrick shook his head, tutting softly. “No, angel. I simply want to…reconnect. I’ve missed you, you know.”

Soren’s stomach turned as a million different memories fought to push to the front of his mind. Memories of Hendrick’s hands on him. Memories of pain and humiliation and his choice being taken away from him.

Soren wanted to tell Hendrick he’d rather die than have those slimy paws touch him ever again, but he needed to get out of this situation. Soren needed Gabe to be safe. He’d worry about the consequences after.

“Shall we go inside?” Hendrick suggested, moving to push Gabe forward, into the house.

“No.” Soren crossed his arms, not budging from his position in the doorway. “No need. I’m bored of this town. Drop the human. Let’s go.”

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