Page 62 of Lucien

Jamie’shandswereshakingas he filled his water glass at the kitchen sink. How strange.

He really,reallywished it were a beer instead, but he had a feeling he should probably keep his wits about him. He may never have come across a dead body before, but he was pretty sure they were usually a stepping stone to a whole bunch of drama.

Luc had dropped him off at home and gone to “deal with the issue.” Jamie didn’t know exactly what that entailed, but seeing as how they weren’t in the fucking Mafia, more than likely that meant just tossing it into the desert? Luc himself hadn’t seemed very sure. Apparently he usually left his dead bodies out in the open, a flamboyant trail of carnage (he’d managed to look a little sheepish, sharing that information with Jamie). But then, Luc didn’t usually stay in one place this long. At least, not long enough for his corpses to haunt him.

Fuck. Corpses. Jamie had never seen one in real life before. It—or should he be saying “she”?—had looked like it had been mauled by some sort of wild animal, all torn clothes and ripped flesh. But Luc had been positive it’d been drained and that it had been a vampire’s doing. He’d claimed he knew the signs well.

Because duh, he had done the same thing to other…corpses.

Jamie knew he should be repulsed by the thought, but he just couldn’t find it in himself to care. Did that make him a horrible human being? Probably. But Luc killedbadpeople—despicable humans who hurt other humans for greed or pleasure. Jamie had a hard time mustering up the proper sympathy for their plight.

Jamie’s real worry at the moment was their creepy twin friends. If they found out a body had been drained…if they came for Luc. Jamie hadn’t seen any warning vision of them attacking, but he hadn’t seen a vision of this dead fucking body either. What was the point of his visions at all?

Frustration overtook him again over his useless gift. He couldn’t control what he saw. He couldn’t control the outcomes, couldn’t protect his friends, couldn’t prevent catastrophes.

What was the fuckingpoint?

He drained his water and slammed the glass down, wincing as it cracked in his hand. Oops. Maybe Luc wasn’t the only one with anger issues.

He was just tossing the ruined glass into the trash when the doorbell rang. Jamie paused, hand outstretched over the garbage. He considered not answering, but it wasn’t like the vampire twins would be ringing his doorbell before seeking justice. They’d certainly been comfortable enough waltzing into his house uninvited the first time.

Jamie opened the front door to find two incredibly good-looking men standing on his doorstep.

Like,damn.

The one nearest the door was handsome in an imposing way—tall, black hair, freakishly bright blue eyes. He was also wearing a goddamn suit in the heat of an Arizona September, so that was something. The smaller guy next to him was handsome in a softer way, almost pretty. Big brown doe eyes and a mess of dark-brown curls. He was smiling warmly at Jamie, and as the smile grew steadily wider, Jamie realized he was just standing there, like an idiot, staring at them with his mouth open.

He cleared his throat, trying to cover up his embarrassment. “Hey there. Um—can I help you?”

The suit said nothing, but Doe Eyes gave him a little wave. “Hello. We’re looking for someone we thought might be here. Lucien? Luc? Is he, um—is he here?”

Oh. Oh fuck. Luc would have told Jamie if he was expecting visitors, wouldn’t he? Also, Jamie was 90 percent sure his vampire didn’t actually have any friends. Could these be some weird, handsome goons sent by the vampire twins?

Maybe therewasa vampire Mafia…

Jamie forced himself to lean casually against the doorjamb, willing his fingers not to start tapping and betray his nervousness. “Never heard of him, sorry.”

“Do notlieto us,” the suit growled, those bright-blue eyes flashing with ice.

Doe Eyes shot his companion a scolding look. “Roman.” He turned back to Jamie, smiling apologetically. “Don’t mind him. It’s just…um, we know he’s here. We’ve been tracking his phone.”

Well, that didn’t make any sense. Luc and his phone were out in the desert, disposing of pesky corpses. Unless…

Jamie dug into his pocket, taking a look at his own phone. Well, fuck.Nothis phone. He and Luc must have somehow switched when they’d gotten dressed back at the pool. How fucking ridiculous. And incredibly inconvenient. Now these strange—Oh, wait just a fucking minute. Doe Eyes had called the suit Roman.

Jamie recognized that name.

He took another look at the guy’s stern, handsome face. “Roman?” he asked. “TheRoman?”

Doe Eyes cocked his head. “Luc told you about him?”

Jamie was too busy processing this turn of events to answer him. The legendary Mr. Drove-Luc-to-Insanity Roman was at his doorstep. Which must make this other guy Danny, Roman’s mate.

Maybe that should scare him a bit—two vampires with a bad history with Luc, probably not so inclined to be friendly with his newfound mate—but from everything Luc had said, these two weren’t the type to take retaliation out on the innocent.

And Jamie counted as innocent, right?

Jamie stepped back from the door. “Maybe you should come in. There are some other vamps in town who don’t like visitors very much.”

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