“Of course. You’d never let anybody in this close if you didn't love them. You’re a classic romantic, Lorien.”
Perhaps he was. Lorien didn’t know. What he did know is that he seemed to have found a happy ending, and as unlikely as that was, he was going to accept it for the moment.
Chapter Sixteen
He was loved. All was well.
Lorien stretched out in the dying rays of daylight after a day of delicious repose. This low light gave him a little tingle and not much more. He was getting stronger with age and time. He could feel it, new power surging through his dark core. In another four hundred years, he would be absolutely unstoppable.
“What are you smirking about?” Henry’s voice dipped into his consciousness. Lorien turned his head to look into the dark, stern eyes of his mate.
“I’m the king of New York. Maddox has basically abdicated. I’d be shocked if we see him back here in a lifetime. He’s run off into the sunset with Will and that leaves me and you in command.”
“You’re counting your chickens before they’ve been laid, let alone hatched,” Henry said. “You stirred up a lot of trouble the other night. You've made enemies. I don't think you should be looking to claim a throne. I think you should be running for cover.”
“Pfft!” Lorien laughed.
“I am serious. The more I think about that mess at the Library, the more convinced I am that you’re a liability to yourself and everybody around you.”
Lorien's face fell. “You didn’t say that when it was happening.”
“I had your back. I’ll always have your back. But you have to remember, my kind have been slaughtered by your kind for centuries. I can’t have my guys here in harm’s way because you’re reckless. We painted targets on our backs by standing up for you.”
Lorien’s gut instinct was to tell Henry to fuck off then, but the problem was he really didn’t want Henry to fuck off. Life was so much harder to navigate when he didn’t actually hate everyone.
“You’re really killing my vibe here,” he complained.
“Yes. Sorry to get in the way of your arrogant self-congratulation.”
“Fuck!” Lorien cursed, his mood now thoroughly ruined.
Henry, on the other hand, was barely affected. He said what he had to say and then he was done. He was so much more simple than most.
“You're cute when you pout. I’m going to make some dinner for the boys. Think about what I said.”
But Lorien did not want to think about what Henry said. Lorien wanted to think his own thoughts, the rather more comfortable ones that made him feel good about himself and how generally excellent he was. Henry’s thoughts made him feel ashamed and a little stupid. He still had no idea how to orient himself inside a relationship. So he did what millions of men have done over thousands of years. He walked out.
“I’m going hunting. Don’t wait up.”
Lorien was gone before Henry could reply. Vampire speed really did have its advantages from time to time. It meant there was no way for Henry to follow him, or find him. He was vampire, and he was not subject to the petty restrictions of humans and human adjacent creatures.
The city was throbbing with life and blood and people making worse decisions than him, all of which made him feel better about himself. He found a nice corner to stand near, a place where the steady stream of people flowing by gave him all the entertainment he needed. It was like a human sushi train moving by, some local cuisine, and some interesting little dishes from further afield too. He wasn’t that hungry, but he was pleasantly distracted, at least until…
A big hand came down on the back of his neck. Lorien found himself scruffed like a kitten, his shoulders heading skyward as a non-existent tail curled itself up between his legs.
A deep, dominant, and annoyed voice growled in his ear.
“Don’t run from me.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Lorien’s question was near squeaked with shock. He would not have thought anybody capable of trailing him so far, certainly not Henry. But Henry it was, glowering at him with those dominant alpha eyes.
“I followed your scent. And your cellphone.”
“Stalker,” Lorien said, straightening his collar and generally trying to regain his equilibrium. “Don’t you have dinner to make for the boys?”
“No, because I had to chase a spoiled brat across the city.” Henry frowned. “Don’t run from me, Lorien. There’s no need. We can talk about it if you’re angry.”
“I’m not angry. I’m… angry.”
Henry smirked, but not in a cruel way. There was a kind understanding in his eyes that made Lorien feel as though he’d wasted the last ninety years of existence somehow becoming less mature than this forty something year old mere mortal.
Arrested development. That’s what it was. He’d stayed the same emotional age he’d been when he passed, and that hadn’t mattered because Maddox had always been there to somehow cover for him. But now Maddox was gone, and he was in charge, and he was fucking it up, and here Henry was, telling him about it.