Page 28 of Soren

That seemed to break something in Gabe, his eyes finally watering fully, tears spilling over onto his cheeks. Soren let go of his neck and leaned over the center console to cup Gabe’s face with both hands, wiping at those tears with his thumbs.

“Fuck,” Gabe swore. “I never cry.”

Soren huffed. “That’s not anything to be proud of.”

Gabe gave him a watery smile. “Guess not. Why are you being so nice, brat?”

Soren shrugged, not letting go of Gabe’s face. “I can be nice. When people deserve it.”

“You really think I deserve it?”

The vulnerability in Gabe’s voice was a knife to the heart. Who was this human, to affect Soren this way? It wasn’t even a unique story. Family expectations and resentments. Loss. Soren should have been immune to it, living as long as he had, seeing all that he had. But hearing the guilt and self-blame Gabe had been dealing with made Soren ache to protect his human, this man so much bigger than Soren but so much more fragile.

Instead of answering Gabe’s question, Soren kissed him, a gentle brush of lips. “So typical,” he murmured as he pulled away.

“What is?” Gabe asked thickly.

“One blow job and you’re admitting all your deepest, darkest secrets. It’s just such a classic guy move.”

Gabe looked stunned for a moment, and Soren worried that his big mouth had ruined things. It wouldn’t be the first time. But then Gabe laughed. It was a muffled sound, his nose still stuffy from crying, but it was genuine.

“Guess Iampretty typical, huh?”

Except the annoying thing was, to Soren, Gabe was anything but.

Gabe took another few minutes to compose himself, then they went to see his mother.

Their visit wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst either. Soren’s compulsion wasn’t enough to remind Gladys of who Gabe was this time; her dementia had progressed to the point where, even with supernatural aid, those memories weren’t always accessible. Instead, she’d called Gabe by her brother’s name.

Gabe had still managed to smile and greet her with a kiss on the cheek. Soren was immensely proud.

His compulsion may not have brought back her memories, but it had kept her calm and happy, enough to go for a walk and play a game of checkers after. Watching Gabe with his mother was fascinating but for no real reason Soren could discern. Gabe was just so…gentle with the woman. For all the anger and resentment he’d professed, he offered her nothing but soft smiles and calm reassurances. Almost like he was channeling Danny but with a certain charm that was all his own. He made her laugh and projected a confidence that had many of the other little old ladies staring after him.

Soren resisted the urge to hiss at them to stake his claim.

Golden boy.That was what Danny called his brother. And he was. It was easy to see why he’d been so popular in high school. Good looks and charm were enough on their own, but there was a genuine kindness and goodness underneath, even if Gabe wasn’t aware of it himself, and that was a rarity in this world.

Just another reason Soren should leave.

Soren wasn’t kind and good, not really. He was selfish and flighty. A monster, Gabe had called him. And it wasn’t far from the truth. Soren generally didn’t feel too bad about it. There were plenty of monsters in this world, and many were much, much worse than him.

But Gabe had apparently only ever wanted normalcy—to be a normal kid, a normal adult—and Soren had never evenlikedthe word. Normalcy wasn’t something Soren could provide a partner.

But on the drive home, Soren still found himself letting Gabe hold his hand again. Because hewasselfish. And he wanted this man with every fiber of his being. He’d had a taste now, and he could see it quickly becoming a true addiction.

Soren didn’t want to let this human go.

His phone dinged as they entered Danny’s house.

Coming for you, angel.

seven

Gabe

“Chill,littleguy.”Gaberemoved Ferdy’s leash, struggling to get ahold of his wiggling body. Apparently Gabe’s runs did nothing to tire the puppy out. Only Soren’s.

He watched as Ferdy ran back into the house, Gabe taking a minute to catch his breath before following. His run had done wonders to settle the jittery nerves left over from the care home.

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