The thought of Wolfe and Eric perusing Instagram to find the best local restaurants was too weird and domestic to fathom. Riley pushed it out of his mind immediately.
“Um. Not much of one?” Seth said.
“Riley can help with that,” Mama Sybil offered, pulling a large mug from one of the cabinets and setting it by the stove. “He should make himself useful with all the space he takes up skulking at your tables.”
Rude. Accurate but rude.
Seth chewed on his lower lip, seemingly lost in thought. He was very pointedly not looking at the stove. Was he disgusted by the thought of human blood? But no, Riley didn’t feel that through the bond. Seth was only nervous, just like anyone would be, taking a big step toward an entirely new existence.
“Maybe you and Violet can coordinate,” Seth finally said, giving Riley a little grin. “She knows how to grab someone’s attention.”
That snapped Riley out of his musings. He scowled. “Maybe we should discuss the evil institute we just disbanded instead.”
Seth smirked at him, like he knew exactly why Riley was changing the subject. Ugh. One cooperative mission with the localgoth grump and now she and Riley were going to be inextricably tied forever, weren’t they? Like a female mini-Wolfe, sneaking her way into Riley’s family without his permission.
“There’s nothing to discuss,” Wolfe said coolly. “Cooper pulled all the personnel files already. Between your mothers and Eric and myself, we’ll have no trouble keeping an eye on the employees who remain.”
“Cooper?” Seth asked with a frown. “Cooper is your hacker? Is that…Cooper Zaitsev?”
“I don’t know his surname,” Wolfe told him. “Cooper with a bloodthirsty chaos demon for a mate.”
“Bracchus,” Seth mused. “I know them. And Sascha and Kai? Ivan and Nix? Matty and Night?” Seth rattled off names speedily, his eyes bright with enthusiasm. They were names Riley was vaguely familiar with, via Jay and Alexei, two other members of the Colorado den.
How entwinedwerehis and Seth’s far-reaching social connections?
“You know all of them?” Seth asked, looking from Wolfe to Riley.
“We’re acquainted.” Wolfe’s eyes gleamed as he smirked at Seth. “Demons as well as fae, hm? How interesting.”
Once again, Seth seemed to be either immune to Wolfe’s creepiness or determined to ignore it. “I can keep an ear out at the bakery,” he offered, although he gave Riley a sidelong look that promised they’d be discussing all this later. “I’ll let you know if I hear about anything that might be related to the…captured that escaped.” He blinked as Mama Sybil wordlessly handed him the mug, now filled with heated human blood. “Um, thank you.”
The whole kitchen held its breath. Or maybe that was just Riley.
Seth raised his eyebrows at them all. “Seriously? With an audience?”
Mama Sybil smiled her meanest smile. “Perhaps we elders will retire to the living room.”
Seth took morecare looking at Riley’s room this time around. He spotted Colin’s comics quickly. “It’s you,” he said, grabbing one from the top of the pile.
Riley eyed the vampire on the cover, younger and braver and more vicious-looking than reality. “A version of me.”
“Someone from your den draws these,” Seth guessed.
It was a reasonable theory, considering no one else would have known Riley well enough to create a fictional version of him.
“Colin,” Riley told him. “And then, um, Jay and I read them together.”
Seth’s brow furrowed as he stared down at the comic. “I know Jay,” he said slowly. “Don’t I? He and his husband, Alexei, would come to the bakery every day when they were visiting Sascha.”
Riley almost laughed. Of course Jay had been getting pastries from Riley’s fated mate for literal years with none of them being the wiser. Of fucking course.
“My moms have talked about joining them,” Riley said. “When we all age out of our current homes. Live off the grid for a while as a group. It’s a small community, but never boring. And they’re loyal.”
For some reason, that made Seth smile.
Maybe it was part of what had fated Riley and Seth together, these connections between them. Or maybe it was the reverse, and their mutual friends were just a step along the road, pushing them toward each other without their knowing.
There were more important things to focus on now though.
