Page 85 of Soren

Soren had a feeling his entire reputation for who-gives-a-fuck badassery was about to take a deep dive.

He got out of the car. Dealing with Danny’s and Roman’s anger would probably be easier than dealing with all this mushy love stuff. Gabe was two steps behind him as they walked through the front door. They didn’t have to search the house for anyone. Everyone was in the hall already.

“Fuck,” Gabe swore softly.

“Fuck,” Soren agreed.

Roman, fangs out, was holding Jay up against the wall by his neck. The little vampire’s gray eyes were wide, his face turning an interesting purple. Danny had a hand on Roman’s arm, as if in the middle of trying to calm his hotheaded mate.

Roman growled at their entrance but didn’t look over, keeping his eyes on the perceived threat—he was clearly in protector mode.

Danny, on the other hand, turned to them, still holding on to Roman’s arm and smiling sheepishly. “Oh, you’re home! Maybe you can explain, um… Do you know this guy? Roman’s feeling a little ‘grr’ about walking into a stranger here.”

Soren sighed, waving a hand airily. “Rome, meet Jay. Jay, the guy currently trying to crush your windpipe is Roman. He lives here. That’s Danny, his mate.”

Jay did his best to smile, garbling out something that sounded an awful lot like, “Nice to meet you,” because of course he did.

Roman finally turned his black eyes to Soren. “You know this one?”

Soren crossed his arms, arching a brow at his overprotective friend. “Duh. I just said that. Try to pay attention if you’re going to accost people. He’s my friend. He’s harmless.”

Soren would usually feel a little bad calling another vampire harmless—it would be a blow to any predator’s pride—but Jay just nodded as best he could in Roman’s tight grip. Roman growled again in warning before loosening his hold with obvious reluctance, allowing the smaller vampire to slide down the wall to his feet.

Jay cleared his throat, rubbing a hand on his neck, his normally soft voice coming out hoarse. “Sorry to surprise you. You have a lovely home.”

Danny smiled easily at the little vampire, stepping in between him and Roman. “Thank you. Any friend of Soren’s is welcome here.”

Such a sweetheart, that one. He and Jay would get along just fine.

Danny looked back to his mate, laughing ruefully. “Well! Glad we cleared—” He paused midsentence. Inhaled deeply. Turned his big brown eyes to Gabe. “You smell…different.”

Uh-oh. Gabe smiled nervously at his brother, running a hand through his hair. “Uh. Well. The thing is…”

Danny inhaled again, taking a step toward his brother. “You— You’re—”

Roman, unhelpful brute that he was, broke in. “He’s a vampire,” he said flatly.

It was a rare sight, to see pure rage take over Danny’s sweet features. Soren might have enjoyed witnessing it, if that anger weren’t 100 percent directed at himself.

“What. The fuck. Did you do. To mybrother?” Danny ground out, stalking closer.

“Who? Me?” Soren asked innocently, stepping backward, almost bumping into Gabe.

“Danny…,” Gabe started. He moved to Soren’s side.

“Actually, it was me who turned him,” Jay offered up.

Well, Christ. There was Roman holding Jay up by the neck again. This was an absolute clusterfuck. Would it be bad if Soren started laughing? Probably. No one here seemed to have a sense of humor at the moment.

He opened his mouth to explain. “We’re fucking.”

That…wasn’t what he’d intended to come out.

Next to him, Gabe sighed. “Jesus, Soren.”

“I don’t care what yourdicksare up to,” Danny growled. “Why did your little crony turn my brother?”

And…that was it. The thought of Jay as some sort of wicked “crony” of Soren’s was just too much. Soren finally did start laughing.

---