And that was exactly why Brennan liked the place.
“I lived in Ohio for my sophomore year of high school,” Brennan said. His mom had gotten a job at the University of Cincinnati. “I had a study group that met at the Waffle House every week.” It was the closest he’d gotten to having real friends in high school. At the end of the year, when his mom’s contract was up, she had them up and move again.
“Sounds like me and Mari and Noah.” Cole smiled. “We used to wreak havoc on that poor Waffle House. I befriended the waitress. I wonder how she’s doing.”
They got a booth. The place was small and mostly quiet. A lone cook shuffled along, flipping things on the griddle behind the counter, while one punk-looking couple at a table, all leather and brightly colored hair, talked quietly.
A grouchy woman in her forties took their order, brought them coffee, and returned to a book of crossword puzzles. Finally, Brennan got Cole up to speed.
He told him about the meeting, the café, Sunny and Nellie, and the other new vampire, Dom, who had almost definitely killed someone. Which everyone except Brennan seemed to be fine with.
“How am I supposed to be cool with that?” Brennan finished.
Cole sipped delicately at his latte and eased it back on the table, tilting his head.
“Maybe it was self-defense,” Cole suggested.
Brennan’s own coffee—which he’d taken to drinking black since turning—had been quickly drained. He turned the mug back and forth in his hands.
“Maybe,” Brennan said. “But she could also be a ruthless murderer.” He brought his fingers to his mouth in a pantomime of a vampire’s fangs that probably looked more like a walrus.
“You said she was crying. It sounds like she’s a person who made a mistake.”
“Amistakeis like, ‘Oh no,I accidentally spilled coffee on the book you loaned me,’ not, ‘Oh no,I accidentally chomped down, drained your blood, and killed you.’”
“She clearly feels bad about it. I bet she’s just like you, trying to figure this thing out and be better.”
Something about the idea of that girl beinglike himsent a shiver down his spine. That was exactly what hedidn’twant. Even if they were both vampires, that didn’t mean they had anything else in common.
“What about that girl? The one who’s missing? What if she’s involved?” Brennan said.
“Well, there’s no reason to think vampires were responsible besides the timeline, right? So why take it out on Dom when you don’t know anything for sure?”
“How can you assume the best about a complete stranger?” Brennan accused.
Cole shrugged. “Hurt people hurt people.”
Brennan pushed his coffee mug to the side. “What?”
“Hurt people hurt people,” Cole said. “It’s something my teacher used to say. People don’t justdobad things out of nowhere. People hurt people because they’ve been hurt.”
Brennan frowned. “That doesn’t mean they didn’t stilldothe bad thing.”
“All I’m saying is, you could give her the benefit of the doubt.”
“It’s a miracle you haven’t been murdered in the streets,” Brennan said. “If someone told you they had puppies in their van, would you look? Do you have any email affairs with wealthy faraway princes you want to tell me about?”
“I don’t think it’snaiveto think well of people,” Cole said, and his voice had a steely edge that made Brennan bite his tongue.Naive,he’d spat out, and Brennan realized he’d hit a nerve.
“I don’t think it’s naive,” Brennan said quickly. “I just—don’t get it, I guess.”
“Get… being positive?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s fucking depressing.”
“Well, I’m fucking depressed!”
