The doorbell rang, and Jay bounded off to answer it, returning promptly with a blue-haired Colin in tow, who was carrying, of all things, a box of assorted bottles of red and pink sprinkles, some of which were definitely heart-shaped.
When Soren cocked a brow at him, he shrugged a thin shoulder. “Jay sent me on an errand. Not like I had these at home.”
Jay grabbed the box from him, clearly delighted. “And you did sowell! Look how many!”
The kitchen timer went off then, alerting them to the fact that the cookies were ready for icing, and Jay promptly shoved the box back into Colin’s hands, bouncing away to join Alexei in the kitchen.
Which left Soren alone with Colin. Colin, who knew some, but not all, of their secrets. Who knew Jay and Alexei for what they were but hadn’t been explicitly told about any of the others in Hyde Park.
Although, Soren wasn’t so sure they were fooling anybody. It wasn’t exactly in his nature to play at being human, was it?
But he’d keep up the ruse for now, if that was what the group wanted. He caught Colin’s eye. “Didn’t figure you for the Valentine’s type.”
Colin shrugged again. “Jay begged me.”
And of course Colin had caved in an instant, unable to resist sweet little Jay’s pleading. Soren crossed his legs, grinning wide. “Don’t mind the smell of sex,” he mock-whispered. “That was just the lovebirds preparing for our arrival.”
Colin arched a pierced brow, arranging his sprinkles on the coffee table. “All I smell is cookies.”
Right. Dull human senses. How tedious.
Still, there were other games to play. Soren cocked his head, humming lightly. “So. Are you still in love with our Jaybird?”
Colin’s gaze flew to his, but his eyes were unreadable. “I was never in love with Jay,” he told Soren, cool as a cucumber.
“But you look at them so longingly.”
It wasn’t a lie. And for a minute, Colin only stared at him, expression blank as ever. He was weirdly fun to tease, considering he never seemed to break. Maybe that waswhyit was so fun. So many people were predictably reactive, puffing up at the slightest provocation. But Colin was always unruffled, always blasé.
Soren could almost respect it.
Eventually Colin went back to his organizing, placing the bottles in order according to color gradient. “I just wonder what it would be like…a bond like that.”
Soren rested his head in his hand, watching the human arrange his offerings so diligently. “You want a mobster of your own, maybe?”
Colin’s brow furrowed just the slightest bit, the only sign of his distaste. “No, that’s— What I want is a v—” He stopped himself, but Soren could have sworn the human was about to say “vampire.”
So Colin had gotten hooked, then, when Jay had been feeding on him. It was known to happen. In some other time or place, maybe Colin would have been found in one of those seedy clubs, letting some desperate vampire feed on him for free drinks.
Or maybe for nothing at all.
Soren grinned. That would be kind of hot, actually. Colin was a good-enough-looking kid, with a surprisingly pretty face hidden under those savage scowls he liked to toss at annoying customers. Soren himself might’ve given him a nibble, once upon a time.
His teasing was cut short as Jay and Alexei came back in, a plate of heart-shaped sugar cookies in Jay’s hand and the tray of red and pink icings in Alexei’s. Jay set his tray down and dragged Colin by the elbow until he was seated next to him on the rug, placing cookies on a plate for him to decorate.
Soren watched them carefully, the way Colin came close to smiling as he watched Jay arrange his station. A human being brought into the fold, hm? The last time they’d had a human join them, it had been Alexei.
And he hadn’t stayed human long, had he?
Then again, there was no one to turn Colin, or at least no one to mate with him. All the vampires in Hyde Park were taken. It was almost a pity. Colin was less insufferable than most—Soren wouldn’t have begrudged him eternal life.
But then again, not everyone got what they wanted in this world.
Most days Soren still didn’t know how he himself had managed it. It wasn’t anything hedeserved; that was for sure. It had just happened—everything he’d ever wanted falling magically into his lap. Or, more accurately,Sorenfalling magically into everything he’d ever wanted’s lap.
Speaking of…
All of Jay’s giddiness at this Valentine’s Day nonsense must have been contagious, making him unbearably sentimental, because suddenly he was missing Gabe. Why hadn’t he brought him along? Just because the idiot had plans to run in the forest like a loon with Monroe? Gabe shouldn’t have made those plansat all. It was Valentine’s Day, and Gabe was Soren’s goddamn valentine, wasn’t he?
