Page 78 of Soren

“Yeah, I know. I ‘belong’ to you. But why do youwantme. You don’t evenlikeme. Is it really worth all this? The stalking, the hiding out in this dusty cabin with a smelly dead body, for someone you don’t evenlike?”

Hendrick’s gaze finally met his, eyes cold and hard as ever. “Perhaps you’re all I have left.”

Soren pondered that. It was maybe true. Hendrick’s friends were gone, the den he’d been a part of for his whole vampire existence falling apart. Soren wondered how the other vampire hadn’t gone feral yet. He probably wasn’t far from it. Maybe that was why he was trying so hard to take Soren back again. Maybe he thought it would delay things—that a familiar face would tether him, even if Soren’s soul couldn’t officially do the job.

Soren wished he could find it in himself to feel sorry for Hendrick, but he just…couldn’t. This bastard had taken too much from him already. He didn’t deserve Soren’s pity too. Still, Soren wasn’t above trying to reason with him, if it meant not getting the shit kicked out of him in a fight.

“You should start over, Hendrick,” Soren said, keeping his voice soft, nonconfrontational. “This is a chance for you. Find someone you fit with. Someone whose very existence doesn’t make you want to beat the life out of them.”

Hendrick tilted his head, studying Soren with a strange smirk on his face. “You think I haven’t had other pets?”

Soren blinked, taken aback.

Hendrick laughed, poking again at the fire. “I’ve had others, angel. Other pretty treasures. How else do you think I wiled away the time all those years you ran from me? None managed to keep my interest for long.”

“Where are they now?” Soren was afraid he knew the answer already, but he had to ask.

Hendrick’s grin widened. “Where do you think? Disposed of properly. Like I should perhaps have done with you. You make me sentimental, I think. You were my first…possession. The first vampire I made just for me.” He ran his gaze over Soren, heavy as a physical touch. “And still the most beautiful.”

Soren tried to process the words he was hearing. How many people had Hendrick killed, in his long lifetime? Trying different partners out for size and murdering them when they didn’t match his needs.

Thiswas why Soren couldn’t find any pity for the other vampire. Because Hendrick was a cruel, vicious bully. One who treated other living creatures like nothing more than toys to play with and trash at will.

His very existence was a waste of space. A waste of Soren’s time.

Soren could feel the swirl of emotions he felt toward Hendrick…amplifying. His bitterness at everything Hendrick had subjected him to in the past. His fury in being taken away from the human he belonged with. His complete and utter rage that this sad-sack, poor excuse for a man could continue to cause him so much pain for no real reason other than selfish desire and boredom.

Okay, maybe Soren didn’t have a swirl of emotions. Maybe he was just fuckingpissed.

“You’re incapable of love, aren’t you?” Soren asked, his voice trembling with anger.

Hendrick finally dropped the stick he’d been using to stoke the fire, turning his full attention to Soren. “Love?” he asked, voice dripping with disdain. “Is that what you think you’ve found for yourself? With the little human?”

Soren didn’t know why he was taken aback by the question, but he was. He flinched, unable to school his reaction properly.

Hendrick started laughing again. “You think you’ve found a kindred soul?” he taunted. “Who would want you, angel? You’re good for one thing. That pretty face. And you ruin even that with your mouth every. Fucking. Time.”

Soren’s temper flared. “At least I’ve never had to abuse or coerce others just to get someone to share my bed.” So much for reasoning with his captor. Hendrick’s smirk fell from his face in an instant, his features twisting with fury. His eyes darkened, his fangs dropped, and he rose from his crouch in one swift movement.

That was the thing about manipulative assholes. They really hated being called out on their own bullshit.

Without another word, Hendrick charged Soren, a blinding blur of muscle. Soren darted back easily. He may not have had the advantage over the other vampire when it came to brute force, but hedidhave speed. He was out the front door in a flash, reaching out a hand to grab the shotgun he’d stashed on the porch.

Turned out the shed had some useful tools in it after all.

Soren briefly gave thanks forDeliverance-core, backwoods cabin owners and the firearms they kept. It wouldn’t be enough to kill a vampire, but it would be enough to slow one down.

Soren aimed a blast at Hendrick, the charging vampire’s eyes widening in the split second he had to register the weapon.

One shot in the chest was enough to push Hendrick back a few feet, but not for long. He kept coming. The next shot did some nice damage to his left arm.

Okay, Soren’s aim was…not great. But Hendrick was doing him a major solid by continuing to run straight for him.

Not just a manipulative asshole. Astubbornmanipulative asshole.

Finally Soren hit Hendrick straight in the face with his third shot. The vampire’s charge stopped in an instant, his body slumping over onto the porch.

Soren’s triumph was quickly waylaid by disgust.

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