Page 47 of Soren

“Oh.” There was a world of understanding in that one word. “I haven’t seen him around for a long time now. Years.”

Interesting.

In the past, Hendrick had always gone back to his old crew in the interims between messing with Soren. It was the main reason Soren had never had the guts to attempt to deal with his ex more permanently. Hendrick had…friends…of a sort, who could demand retribution, if they really wanted. It was far easier running from one unhinged vampire than trying to battle a whole damn trio.

“He hasn’t come by to see his vamp bros at all? Silas? Anton?”

There was a lengthy pause on the other end. Then, “That would be tough to do. They—they’re dead.”

“What?” Soren didn’t attempt to hide his shock. That was some fucking news. True, he didn’t exactly check in regularly, but still…

Jay sighed down the line. “Silas went feral about ten years back. Had to be put down. Anton ran off a little while after. Last I heard he was going feral himself. I figure he’s a goner by now too.” Jay’s voice remained soft, but he didn’t sound sorry at all.

Neither was Soren.

He still remembered the early days, when Hendrick had first shown his true colors, begging Silas, the de facto leader of the den, for help. Silas’s response had been to tell him it was all the natural order of things. That Soren belonged to Hendrick, and Hendrick could treat him as he saw fit. He had hauled Soren back to Hendrick’s house, telling the other vampire exactly what Soren had done.

It had taken weeks for Soren to heal from Hendrick’s…retribution.

“And Veronique?” Soren asked.

“She was killed,” Jay answered, his voice breaking a little. “Putting Silas down.”

“Oh, Jay. I’m sorry.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. Soren did feel a little bad about that one. Veronique had turned Jay, been his partner for centuries, and had been one of the more decent ones in the community. She’d let Soren stay with them more than once when Hendrick was on a tear.

But “one of the more decent ones” wasn’t saying much, in this instance. She’d never put a real stop to any of it, and Soren hadn’t truly forgiven her for being part of that shitty den anyway.

Or for taking advantage of Jay’s natural sweetness.

She’d at least treated Jay with relative kindness. Or, that was to say, not outright terribleness. But that was partly because it was impossible to be bad to Jay. He was the angel that Hendrick had wanted Soren to be.

A pure, kind soul. Not like Soren.

Gabe likes that you’re a brat, Soren reminded himself.

He sighed. He’d apparently reached a dead end, more or less. In the past, he might have hung up by now, but a twinge of guilty conscience had him staying on the line. “Are you still with the others?”

The den fluctuated in size and, by necessity, moved around every few decades, but the loss of Silas, Anton, and Veronique could have broken the whole thing up as far as Soren knew.

“For now.” Jay sounded tired. “I don’t really know where else to go. And everybody pretty much leaves me alone, even with Vee gone.”

“You could go anywhere, Jay.” Soren’s voice revealed his own frustration, but he couldn’t exactly blame the other vampire. He knew how that den was, the kind of brainwashing they did. They did everything they could to prevent their members from trying to leave. Soren had been told by Hendrick often enough that vampires trying to make it on their own went mad. Of course, he had conveniently left out the part that they’d all turn feral eventually anyway, if they didn’t find their mates.

Like going mad would have been any worse than the rest of it.

“You could come here, if you wanted. I’m in Colorado. Hyde Park. My friend Roman’s mated to a nurse here.” The words were out of Soren’s mouth before he even realized it. Christ, what was he saying? He didn’t even have his own place.

This town was making him soft.

“Thanks for the offer.” Jay sounded sincere enough, but Soren knew he wouldn’t come. Jay had never been the bravest soul.

“Be careful out there, Soren. With Hendrick.”

They said their goodbyes, and Soren sat, scratching Ferdy’s ears absently. How strange, to think of three of his past tormentors dead and gone. And Jay still there, still a part of that fucking den.

#

“Johann? Jay?” No answer, but Soren ducked his head into the barn anyway. He immediately spotted a pair of dirty bare feet dangling off the side of the hayloft. Keeping his steps light, Soren leaped softly onto the ladder resting there, reaching up to grab onto one of those ankles.

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