Page 32 of Lucien

Luc grimaced slightly, his gaze still on the ceiling. “Not long, probably. I have much less control over my monster than I used to. I try to…mitigate the damage, you could say. I choose my victims carefully. I don’t give in to killing innocents. But Ihavekilled. Many times. And I never used to before.”

The bodies Luc had mentioned. Jamie would process that later. “And how do mates fit in?”

“They’re a cure, in a way. A fated soul that tethers one’s humanity and prevents the descent into madness. Theoretically, all vampires have one, though certainly not all find them in time.”

Okay, this Jamie liked. Especially after all the doom and gloom, insanity-to-grave-pipeline talk. “And how do you know you’ve found one?”

Luc grunted noncommittally. “There’s no handbook, unfortunately. It’s instinctual.” He waved a hand in the air. “An intoxicating scent. An abnormal draw to another. Like I’ve said, I thought I found mine before and I was very wrong.”

“You were wrong becauseI’myour mate,” Jamie asserted with full conviction.

It all made sense. The frequent visions of Luc through the years. The certainty Jamie had felt since the first time he’d seen his vampire in his mind. The fact that he couldn’t seem to bring himself to care that Luc murdered people he deemed deserving of it.

“Most likely,” Luc agreed casually.

Most likely?Whatever. Jamie wasn’t going to be fooled by Luc’s standoffishness. They were totally mates. Destined, fated, meant-for-each-other mates. “And that’s it? We found each other and now you’re A-OK?”

Luc shifted on the bed. “Not quite,” he admitted. “Both parties must be vampires for the bond to solidify.”

“Okay. Dang. Cool. Vampire Jamie.”

Luc glared fiercely at the ceiling. “If I turn you, it will destroy your entire life. Your humanity will be taken away. Newly turned vampires are….impulsive.Hungry.You’ll have to leave this town, for fear of revealing yourself.”

Jamie reached out a hand to turn Luc’s face to his. He was tired of this staring at the ceiling crap. He wanted those black pools centered on him.

Luc gave in to his touch easily, but when he turned to Jamie, there was a pained expression on his face.

Poor, broody boy.

Jamie tutted. “You know why I stayed in Tucson for so long?” he asked. “Why I went to college here, and not the numerous other institutions across the country I was accepted into? Why I busted my ass making a career for myself in freelance programming instead of just joining an established tech company on one of the coasts?”

“Because the desert is so captivating?” Luc suggested dryly.

Jamie kicked him in the shin. “The desertiscaptivating, dick. But I stayed because I knew I’d be leaving someday. Really leaving. I wanted to soak in as much of it as I could, because I knew something was coming for me. I knewyouwere coming for me.”

“You’d have to leave your family, Jamie,” Luc said, more gently than he usually spoke.

Jamie felt a sharp tug in his chest at the thought. To say goodbye to his mom for—what? Forforever?

Luc rearranged himself on the bed until he was mirroring Jamie’s position, facing him with one hand propping up his head. “Roman tried to go back to his family, in the beginning,” Luc explained. “I warned him against it, and I was right. It was an unmitigated disaster. And it almost broke him, that loss of control. Their reactions to him.”

“That’s one instance,” Jamie argued. “You said he has a mate now. The one you turned when you were being a vengeful dick. Didhehave to leave his family?”

Luc frowned thoughtfully at that. “I—I don’t know.”

“Well, can youask?”

Luc narrowed his eyes at the clear exasperation in Jamie’s tone. “What exactly about the story I told you makes you think we have the kind of relationship where I can just—just call them up for a chat? They’d rather be dead than forced to speak with me.”

“Maybe you should remedy that,” Jamie suggested easily.

Luc’s lips twisted. “As if they would forgive me.”

Jamie held in his eye roll but just barely. Because really, were all vampires just a bunch of drama queens? Didn’t they ever justtalkto each other? “You all are immortal,” he pointed out. “Can you really hold grudges for all eternity?”

“You’d be surprised,” Luc grumbled. He rubbed a hand along his jaw. “You’ve never seen me truly angry. You don’t know what I was like.”

Jamie hummed. “Maybe one day I’ll be so lucky.”

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