A blur flashed down the stairs, only to stop in the middle of the room, right in front of Raven.
“M-Maxim?”
The hunter smiled.“Vampire speed.You’ll get used to it.”
“Do not let Raven see you in those fucking pants, old bat!”Heath leaned over the banister of the upper level and frowned when he saw Raven.“Too fucking late.There goes the quiet movie night.”
“Raven?”
They all turned to look at Jason, who stood frozen in front of the large couch, a big bag of books in his arms.
Maxim brightened, putting his hands on his hips.
Raven looked at Maxim’s back.Are those cats on his shirt?
“Jason, you brought my books!That’s so intrepid of you,” the hunter said.
Jason’s mouth pinched in an expression Raven recognized as peak annoyance for his roomie.
“You left.”
Maxim nodded.“I left a note.”
“No, Mr.Vallois, you left with Raven.I appreciate everything you’ve done to find him, but seriously, what the fuck?”
A blond man with shorter hair and curls, his expression somewhere between bored and pissed off, walked in behind Jason.
“I brought the guest.Now there’s no one downstairs to greet guests.”
Bryan jumped up from where he’d been sitting on the couch and hissed, literallyhissedat the blond man.Jason clutched the books tighter to his chest and took a few steps away from the two of them.
“You good, man?”
Maxim clapped his hands.“Well, I say.Jason, since you’re here and you took such pains shopping for me, you must stay and join us.Clement, you should stay as well.It must get ever so boring downstairs in the foyer.”He turned to Raven, and those bottle green eyes made the world fall quiet and stop its too-fast movement.“Raven?Come join us.”
Raven curled his toes against the sun-warmed floor.“Okay,” he said, not sure what they were asking of him, but thinking that maybe it really would be okay so long as Maxim was there too.
Maxim looked pleased.“Wonderful.Come on, let’s sit.”
“What are we doing?”Jason asked.
The blond man, Clement, crossed his arms.“Staying.Go sit on that couch.Spread out a little, be a good guest.”
Jason’s brows crept up his forehead.“Okay?”
He sounded about as certain about all of this as Raven was feeling.
Maybe I’m not alone in that, then.Maybe it’s going to be okay.
He followed Maxim to the couch and sat next to him.There was a quiet point between them, even when the others were still moving and talking.When Maxim looked at him, Raven relaxed, if only a fraction, if only for a moment.For the time being, that was easier than being alone.
Chapter 10
“Thatwas…amovie,”Heathsaid when the credits started rolling.
Jason hummed and pushed his light brown hair off his forehead.“I think it was about killing the patriarchy more than killing the love interest.I think…I think maybe perhaps I liked it?”
Bryan stretched.“Clearly, the love interest was the house.It was very romantic.”
