The week went surprisingly quickly, despite all that had happened. It had been moderately normal, too. He and Seth failed to connect most days because of their alternate schedules. He spent his mornings lurking on the internet and Seth spent his evenings running, grading labs and analyzing data. 

Anri was lonely. It was weird, as he hadn’t been lonely during the time he’d spent with Simone after his escape from Angelina. Had never felt this alone, but now he missed Seth deeply. He spent all day hanging around the house while Seth was gone at school, and by the time he got home from work, Seth was typically already asleep. It still felt weird coming home to Seth’s house, getting ready and climbing into that huge bed while Seth slept.

Seth laughed when he told him that it made him feel like a real vampire, the quiet bedtime ritual he’d developed. Seth pointed out that he was a real vampire, then laughed when he’d explained that he meant like a ‘monster movie’ vampire. After that Seth wouldn’t stop talking to him a fake, Transylvanian vampire accent until Anri threw a pillow at him, which just began a plush projectile battle between the two of them. He loved those little moments, wondered how he’d lived without them before.

Meanwhile, Simone and Raum avoided each other like the plague like parents in the middle of a divorce. Their battle was a silent one in which they spent time tormenting one another in any of a million tiny ways. By Thursday morning, Simone threw her hands up, offended by a coffee pot with only half a cup left in it. She stomped to her room and demonstrated her anger through a series of thumps and banging. When she emerged again, she had a full backpack and an oversized tupperware case full of work materials. 

As soon as the front door slammed behind her, Raum poked his head out. Anri hadn’t heard her car start yet, and he knew what Raum was in for as he stepped towards the door, hand tentatively resting on the doorknob as if he wasn’t sure if it was safe to follow. Not even a breath later the door flew open in his face and he jumped back, the door missing him by only centimeters. 

Simone stood there, her foot still raised mid-kick. “Don’t you dare follow me. No ghosts, either. I mean it, Raum. Leave me alone!” she snarled, pivoting around gracefully. She stomped slowly towards her car, as if she wanted him to give her a reason not to go, despite her words.  

Raum’s face was stormy, Anri saw that he wasn’t catching Simone’s non-verbal cues. “Since when do you have the right to tell me what I actions I may or may not perform, Simone Rousseau?” Oh, that was the wrong thing to say to her. Anri sat back, watching the whole event unfold as quietly as possible. He wouldn’t face her misplaced wrath if she noticed him in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She turned back, her face intimidating. “Since you won’t leave me alone, demon! Go back whence you came and all that.”

“None of that is reason granted to direct my actions, Simone,” Raum said, too calmly to be that calm. “You are acting against your own best interests.”

He needed to learn to read Simone’s body language. Anri already knew it was the wrong thing to say to her when she was heated. “Go back to hell, Raum. And, while you’re there, learn how to brew a fucking pot of coffee!”

“Is your tantrum about coffee?” Raum asked, way too condescending for even Anri to ignore.

“Coffee?! You think this is just about coffee?!” She stormed back to the door, body checking Raum with her shoulder hard enough to throw him back a step. She caught sight of Anri and his stomach clenched just before she brought him into it. “Anri, can’t you unsummon him or something?!” 

He’d been trying really hard to mind his own business and read alternate Dr. Who historical timelines, but now they both looked at him like he had the answer they were looking for. “Not interested in participating,” he muttered. Simone’s glare was a physical force of nature that promised future pain. He sighed. “Not until he helps us heal Seth’s spirit.”

Simone harumped. “So, Saturday? That works for me. Good. I’ll be home Saturday. I’m going to Maggie’s. Anri, if you tell this demon where Maggie lives, so help me God, I’ll send you back to hell with him.” 

“I do not come from hell,” Raum commented.

She looked like she wanted to slam the door, but Raum now held it in his hand, so she glared at him instead. Cold air swirled into the house as she turned and walked away. Raum watched until she drove off, then shut the door with a heavy hand. 

He tried to look busy and ignore the demon, but it didn’t seem like Raum wanted to be alone. The demon shifted uncomfortably for a moment, flexing his large, cinnamon colored hands, then sat down on the ugly couch adjacent to him. 

Raum sighed dramatically.

He wasn’t going to leave him alone, was he? Couldn’t a man work in peace? “Seriously, what?”

“She, ah…” he trailed off. Anri waited. Seconds ticked into minutes. 

“You aren’t really good at talking about anything, are you?” 

“I am not,” Raum agreed. “Expression of emotions other than anger, rage, and complete serenity are not skills taught to Legion.” He shook his head, dismissing the thought. “Simone left. This is for the best. I have things to prepare for Saturday.” 

Anri scoffed. “Prepare? Like what? What to say to your ex-girlfriend after a messy breakup?”

“It was not messy, it was mutual. Mostly mutual,” Raum hedged. “It was an arrangement neither of us was fond of.”

He narrowed his eyes at the demon. He was looking particularly un-demonic today, slumped on the couch more like a petulant teenager than a demon general. “What does that mean, exactly? Mostly mutual?”

“Hmm…we, ah, well, it was for the best,” Raum hedged. “Let us say that if we had stayed together, Gremory had seen that one of us would not have lived through it. Did I mention she does not… appreciate men? Or that her general sensibilities are… unstable?” 

He shifted, putting his laptop down on the offensively uncomfortable couch. “You might have mentioned that, yes. Tell me, Raum, did she hate men before or after your betrothal?” 

Raum’s lip curled up, revealing his sharp shark teeth. “Shall we talk about something else? Perhaps your relationship? How about tending bar and preparing libations?” 

Anri snorted. “Did I touch a sore spot, Raum? Is Saturday night going to be a horrible mess? Should I prepare for another fight? I thought we were going to see her and ask her to tell us how to get Seth’s soul back? Or were you planning on trying to kiss and make-up?”

“You facetious ingrate,” Raum snapped, rolling his eyes. “I would never kiss that creature. You forget with whom you deal. Gremory is Daeva, she is legion as much as I. You should always prepare for anything when dealing with any commander of Legion, even if this one may only be a battle of words. Generals of Legion rarely give anything for free.” 

Anri considered Raum for a moment. He rarely spoke this freely. “So, should I prepare to fight you on the daily?” 

Raum cocked his head, staring appraisingly at him. “I have told you time and again, you and yours are safe from me. I am honour bound to you, by both blood and oath. I will protect you and your kin, as well as I am able.” 

He fidgeted, pulling his legs up underneath him on the couch. For looking big and cushy, these couches were strangely hard and uncomfortable. “Yes, you may have mentioned that a few times, too. If demons are so tricky, why should I trust you?” 

Raum laughed out loud. “You should never trust any Daeva!” 

“You just insinuated that I should trust you,” he snapped. 

“I did no such thing. I just said I was honour bound from harming you and yours. I never said to trust me,” Raum said, a cocky smile on those too-thin lips. 

“You know, Raum, you’re an ass. If you were wondering why Simone left, it’s because you’re a total fucking asshole.” He shifted again, unable to find an even mildly tolerable position on Seth’s couch. “I think you want us to believe you’re all big and bad and horrible, but I think that’s just a shield you’re hiding behind. Yes, you’re an ass, but you seem to care for Simone, if no one else.” 

An unreadable look crossed Raum’s face, then his face was blank. “I do not care in excess for your sister, vampire. My concern for her is only that which I have committed to protect you and your kin. If I seem excessive in my attentions regarding Simone, it is only due to my concern for her regarding her consumption of my blood. That is all.” He said , devoid of emotion, rigid and tight. Too tight, and too rigid. He was lying. 

Anri watched him for a moment. He sat as still as a statue, staring out of the window into the sky behind Anri. 

“Of course,” he agreed, feeling smug that he’d figured out this demon, even if it was only a tiny bit. “Of course, I’m sorry if I implied otherwise, oh mighty Raum of Legion, the heartless Daeva general.” He bowed from the couch, a half smile on his face. 

“Your sarcasm is not lost to me, Anri. You do not want me to care in that manner for your sister. As you just mentioned, I am Daeva. I could never-” 

He cut Raum off with a snort. “Oh, so now my sister isn’t good enough for you because you’re a demon and she’s vampire?”

Raum’s face turned red. “That is not what I said. Do not deem to speak words from my mouth, Anri Rousseau. Think about your statement for a moment. Who would choose to be bound to a mate trained from birth to fight in an eternal war? Who would choose to be with a general of Legion if they were not Daeva themselves, and had no political gain to acquire? What person would want to subject any children which may be conceived from a union with a general like me? To bring them into the world knowing that they would be subjected to the life that I have had, to be raised as the next scion Raum of Legion? I wish that on no child, and no mate. Gremory saw it, I think, and she would rather kill me than have my child.” Raum looked wistful for a moment. 

Anri was speechless. Raum continued to watch the skies. “Sorry. I didn’t…” 

“Why would you?” Raum sounded defeated. “It is not a fate I would subjugate Simone to withstand.” 

He stared at Raum suspiciously. “You really do like her,” he mused. 

Raum looked at him sharply. “Did you not hear all of the reasons I stated that I did not ‘like’ your sister?” 

Anri smiled wryly. “I heard all of the excuses you made to keep me from thinking you might like her. And maybe yourself, too?” He watched Raum carefully for emotion, but his face was a mask. “Yeah, I think you know it already. I think…I think you goaded her into drinking from you the other day, to tie her to you even more.” 

Raum said nothing. His posture was so rigid it was making him antsy. “You did!”

“I said no such thing,” Raum growled. “I did so to prevent her from feeding on others in her condition. She would have jumped the first human she came across.” 

“I didn’t say you prevented. I said you goaded her. You must have cornered her. I know my sister, Raum. You like her,” he insisted. “Admit it, you wanted her to drink from you.”

Raum looked like he was going to pop, then he sighed again and relaxed back into the couch. “What does it matter, Anri Rousseau? It can never be.” His eyes went back up to the overcast skies behind his back. 

Silence lingered until he broke it again, feeling the need to change the subject. “So…with Gremory…what’s the plan? What do we do to prepare?” 

“I am not sure we can do anything to prepare. We will be travelling to Gremory’s territory, so we will be on her terms. We should come with an appropriate offering, though,” Raum said. He watched Anri with his creepy, too-black irised eyes and Anri squirmed more. 

“What kind of offering? How do we get to her territory?” he inquired. 

Raum sat back up. “A gift. She likes horses. I will find something appropriate tomorrow. And, she sent us directions. No one goes to see Gremory without her permission.” 

Anri sat thoughtfully for a moment. “Is that normal? That you have territory and that it’s magically protected or something?” 

Raum looked at him again, a look of mild amusement on his face. “You are incredibly perceptive, more so than you appear.” Raum paused here, perhaps waiting for him to complain, but Anri ignored the dig. “Yes, it is normal for Daeva generals to have territory, and to protect it with magic, but not in the way Gremory does. Normally, we should not be able to travel to a territory within another realm, but Gremory knows all realms as she knows all times. Her magic is slippery and different, even in the Daeva realm.” Raum sighed. 

“You really aren’t looking forward to visiting her, are you?” he asked. 

Raum snorted. “Would you look forward to visiting your witch Angelina?” 

“That’s not the same, she tortured me!” he exclaimed, too loud. 

“How do you know it is not the same? I mentioned she did not like men. I was no exception,” Raum said. Anri wrinkled his nose, vexxed by Raum’s vagueness. 

Both men stared at one another for a tense moment, then Raum looked to the skies again. He eyed Raum with suspicion. “You’re spying on Simone with crows, aren’t you!” he accused. “Admit it!”

Raum’s head jerked back to him again. “I choose not to acknowledge your presumptions, vampire.”

“For a demon,” he said, mildly amused, “you’re a horrible fucking liar. Simone will drain you if she catches.” 

“Daeva cannot lie.” A small smile lifted the corner of Raum’s mouth before disappearing back into his neutral face. “That is why she will never know. Is not that so, Anri Rousseau?” 

“Oh, I’ve always been told to never make a deal with the devil, Raum,” Anri teased. 

“Wise words. Your deal has already been struck, though, whether you desired it or not.” Raum leaned back against the couch, staring out at the sky. “Not all of us get to choose which deal we make.”

Anri nodded, feeling the gravity of their situation fully for a moment before he pushed it aside. He needed to be able to think, to move, and dwelling on the last however long it had been could shut him down completely. They shared a moment of mutual understanding, though, and he felt closer to the mysterious Daeva general.

“Still, why would I keep it a secret that you’re spying on her with your pet birds?” he asked, half wondering if he was playing with fire. He wouldn’t tell Simone, not unless Raum really pissed him off, but this was the first leverage he had over Raum and he wasn’t going to waste it.

Raum narrowed his eyes. “Because I would be displeased should be reason enough.” 

He laughed. “I’m not a soldier in your Legion, oh great general. I could care less if you are ‘displeased’. Maybe I don’t want you to be spying on my sister?” 

Anger flashed through Raum’s eyes before he caught himself. “I watch her because she may garner unwanted attention, as she smells strongly of a Raum. She possibly courts danger from our mutual enemies.” 

His temper flared. “Our mutual enemies?! Seriously, Raum, you’ve made everything ten times worse! I can’t wait to have you gone from our fucking lives. None of us fucking asked for this, any of this shit.” He was getting too riled up, talking with his hands now. “If you ask me, all of this is your fault. So, I won’t tell Simone you’re spying on her, and you’ll get Seth’s soul shoes or whatever back, and then you’ll go back to fucking hell or wherever the fuck you came from.” 

Anri could feel he was close to vamping out, as Simone called it when their temper flared their eyes turned red. He took a deep breath. He wasn’t usually this close to his temper, but all the stress had him on pins and needles lately. When he felt like he had his temper in hand, he opened his eyes, looking at Raum.

Raum said nothing. The tension was thick, and Anri already regretted his outburst. Raum didn’t want to be here. Angelina had summoned him. Because Anri hadn’t finished the job. Still, he couldn’t calm down, and couldn’t admit to the demon that little fact. Tense, they both sat in silence, neither really looking at the other until Anri’s phone chirped from the kitchen.

It was Seth. He just knew it. His anger and guilt disappeared like a magic trick and Anri could feel the big doofy smile he wore. He wasn’t even embarrassed by it. He jumped up and was in the kitchen in a heartbeat, then grabbed his phone, and ran down the steps, slamming both doors behind him. He sat down on Seth’s bed before he turned on his screen. 

Sup? 

Anri couldn’t help it as butterflies rose up in his stomach. Seth did this to him every time. Picking on Raum. How’s school?

He sent the text then watched the phone, waiting for Seth’s response. A whole minute passed before he responded, and Anri was beginning to feel stupid. 

You shouldn’t pick on him. Have you seen his teeth? School’s OK. Bored. Miss you. 

Anri sighed. He thought of about ten different texts to send back and hated them all. Instead he sent, do you have time to talk? I hate texting.

Anri’s face fell when he got Seth’s response. No, can’t talk. Wake me when you’re home from work. 

Anri frowned and texted back a quick response. He considered going back upstairs for his laptop but didn’t want to talk to Raum again, so he stayed put in Seth’s basement, amusing himself by snooping through Seth’s stuff. He only felt half-guilty as he pawed through his mate’s belongings.

–

When Anri got home from work that night Seth was already asleep. Despite Seth’s assurances, he just couldn’t bring himself to wake him up. His lover, in his normal t-shirt and sleep pants, had kicked the blankets off with the exception of one leg, still tucked beneath them. A small sliver of that sexy, pale abdomen peeked out from under his Fear Factory shirt. 

Feeling like a burglar, he quietly removing his work clothes, then snuck into the bathroom. For some reason he still didn’t feel like he had a right to be here, and definitely didn’t feel like he had a right to be with Seth. He showered, using Seth’s soap, which just strengthened the nightstalker persona he was developing with all the sneaking.  He wished he had his own soap, he’d really grown accustomed to the smell of Simone’s strawberry shampoo, but there was something arousing in thinking of using the same soap as Seth.

Thinking of his shampoo had him feeling melancholy. He missed the old familiarity of daily life. It had been a while since his days weren’t filled with one dramatic, life threatening event after another. Would it ever feel normal again? Would he ever feel at home with Seth, in his room, in his bed? 

He toweled off and then realized he’d forgotten to grab some clean clothes from the box of clothes he’d been living out of. He sighed. How long had it been since he was able to say somewhere was his home? He’d run straight from Angelina to Simone, and now to Seth. 

He sighed again, feeling bad for himself. Wrapping a towel around his torso, he cracked the door, careful not to let too much light into the dark room, knowing he’d ruined his night vision during his shower. He snuck out of the door, trying hard to only open it as much as necessary for him to pass before closing it to just a crack. A long sliver of light cut across the room, barely illuminating his surroundings. 

He tried to find underwear by feel alone. The rustle of cloth seemed to echo loudly in the dark room and he cringed with each sound. He bumped into something and something else fell in a loud clattering noise to the floor. He froze, as if not moving would prevent the noise from waking Seth. 

After a moment passed, Anri let out the breath he was holding. He rustled around and found a pair of underwear, decideding to forgo the additional rummaging for pajama pants. 

“You’d make a terrible thief,” Seth said sleepily. He jumped back, startled, knocking something else off of something other thing. The thump of books falling to floor made Seth laugh. Embarrassed, he pulled on his boxers. He could hear Seth shifting in bed, the rustle of the blanket and Seth’s body moving over the sheets. A moment later there was a click and the side lamp next to Seth’s bed turned on, illuminating the room in a dim yellow light. 

He’d knocked over a portable speaker and a stack of graphic novels. He bent over and picked them up, blushing, and returned them to the shelf he had knocked them from. 

Seth watched, tired but amused. “I told you to wake me up. You don’t have to creep around.”

Anri pursed his lips guiltily. “I did wake you up.”

Seth laughed again. “Yes, you did. For being a prince of darkness, you really are pretty clumsy in your element.” He scooted back to the center of the bed, leaving the light on. Seth watched him, those hazel eyes making him squirm. 

He returned to the bathroom to shut the light off, mostly to hide from Seth’s gaze. It didn’t work, of course, he could still feel Seth through their bond, even if he couldn’t see him. He sat down on the edge of the bed. “I ruined my night vision in the bathroom,” he explained, feeling stupid. 

“Don’t pout,” Seth said, climbing across the bed. He was wrapped in Seth’s arms, his body naturally pressing into his lover. A fleeting thought, socicietial conditioning reminded him that men weren’t intimate, and that he should be ashamed. The thought passed as Seth’s weight and heat was comforted him, making him feel more whole than he had before. As much as he wanted to pout, he found himself relaxing in those comforting arms. Seth nuzzled his face into his neck despite his hair still being wet and stringy. 

“Aren’t you supposed to dry long hair before you go to bed?” Seth asked, leaning heavily on him. 

Anri leaned back into his weight. “Maybe. I dunno. I always just let it air dry.” 

They sat like that for a few seconds saying nothing. He felt Seth trying to hold back a yawn. “You’re tired,” he said. He leaned more heavily against Seth, pushing him back. “You should get some sleep. Don’t you have school tomorrow? It’s late.” 

Seth bit his lip ring, a tired smile on his face. He pulled Anri back with him, half dragging him onto the bed. “I don’t have to go in tomorrow until later. I missed you. I wanna talk to you. Everything is so crazy lately. I just wanted to have a normal couple of minutes with you, ya know? I wanted to just have a few minutes where I didn’t feel like everything was just a few seconds from falling apart.” 

The comments really hit home. Anri longed for something to feel normal, even if it was just for a few minutes. That those minutes could be with Seth… He smiled, happy that he and Seth felt the same. 

Seth released him and settled back into bed, his head on a big fluffy pillow. Anri crawled over to him, grabbing a pillow and one of the several blankets spread haphazardly about. He settled in next to Seth so that they were facing each other. 

“What part of you inviting a vampire, a male vampire, into your bed strikes you as particularly ‘normal’?” he asked. He depressed himself with the question, even though it was meant to be light-hearted. “You know, I still can’t figure out why you stuck around. You don’t deserve this shit. If you’d left-”

Seth cut him off with a finger over his lips. “Hush. Why do you feel that way about yourself? That you aren’t good enough, or that I’d be better off with someone else? You forget, it was me who pursued you. If I hadn’t, well, you’d never’ve… Let’s just say that this was all my doing, and no, I wouldn’t change it. I won’t!”

“Seth,” he whined.

“No, Anri, I love you. I know you don’t believe it for some reason, even though I know you can feel it, because I can feel how much you love me. I do. You don’t get to decide how I feel. And, I don’t care if it started because you’re a vampire and I’m a Wren, I really don’t. That doesn’t define my feelings for you.” Seth pulled his hand and placed it on his chest, over their bond mark. “I love you, Anri Rousseau. Man, vampire, I don’t care. I love you.” 

He blushed. He didn’t know what to say, so he looked away. He squirmed and Seth moved closer, pulling him into his arms. 

“Listen, Anri, I know you don’t feel comfortable here. It’s too new, there’s too much going on. But… I hope you can feel comfortable with me someday.” Seth’s smile was sad, yet sweet. He leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together before placing a light kiss on Anri’s nose. 

“You know,” Seth continued after a minute, “I was really worried for a bit that my feelings actually were the result of some weird vampire magic. Lance said it over and over again, that I was enthralled by you, cause you’re vampire. But… After I thought about it, I realized that even if I was enthralled, it wasn’t your work. You’ve been running from me since the moment I met you.” 

“Sorry,” he apologized.

“Why do you always apologize for everything?” Seth asked. 

He almost apologized again, then stopped himself with a snort. “I’m not running now.” 

Seth smiled a sexy, wicked smile. “Good. I caught you. Anri, I’ll chase you as many times as I have to, you won’t get away from me now, never again.” 

He studied the bed between them, blushing furiously. Seth’s possessiveness was sexy. Seth leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. 

“Tell me about yourself,” Anri asked, still too embarrassed to look up. 

Seth smiled and his heart throbbed. “Sure,” he agreed. 

They just talked. Seth told stories about his life as a middle child surrounded by siblings, an older sister and younger identical twin brothers, growing up in suburban Indiana. Anri was surprised to find that Seth had such a big family. 

“That’s kind of how it goes in Indiana, I suppose,” Seth said. “Big families and all that. Farm life.” 

“You said you grew up in the suburbs,” he reminded. 

“Yeah, well we had a garden. And we lived in a big old farmhouse. So, it counts. Pretty much everywhere in Indiana is the country, even the cities,” Seth joked. 

“Your younger brothers are identical twins? What was that like?” he wondered. 

“Chaos, mostly. They’re a lot younger than me and my older sister, who’s only older than me by two years. My brothers are six years younger than me. You know, the ‘accident’,” he put air quotes around his statement. “Or ‘accidents’, whatever. My sister still calls them that, by the way. Lovingly, of course, but, yeah. They’re my mom’s babies. One of them is okay, but the other one’s an ass. What about you? You have any other siblings? You said your dad is a Wren like me?”

He shifted so that he was laying with his head resting on his arm, watching Seth. “Yeah, my dad was a Wren. He’s dead now, been dead for a while. It was really hard on us all.”

“I’m sorry,” Seth said in sympathy. “Can I ask how…”

“Sure, it was a while ago. I still miss him, though I didn’t appreciate him like I should have at the time. He died when I was sixteen. Car accident. On his way to work,” he explained. “He was out on the road and the rain had just turned to snow. A car on the highway lost control in front of him and he slammed on the breaks. He didn’t hit the car. He rolled down the side of a hill into a ravine. Cops said that it was a clean death, that he didn’t suffer.”

Seth’s hand covered his. “I’m sorry, Anri,” he said, pain in his voice. 

Anri shook his head to clear it. “It was a while ago, Seth. I miss him, but it doesn’t hurt like it used to. I have his wedding ring. I can’t wear it at the bar because any rings would just get messed up. Simone made it into a necklace for me to wear, but I just can’t. I keep in in a box. My mother couldn’t stand to have it around. She got rid of all of his stuff, as if the sight of it hurt her. It probably did. Simone was already gone from the house, and I was…well I was sixteen and selfish and hurting in my own way. My mother, she’s strong. And, well, she had Cammi, and Cammi was little, so she devoted herself to caring for her.”

“Cammi?” Seth asked, his fingers tracing comforting circles onto his hand.

“My younger half-sister. I guess we have a big family, too, but Cammi is so much younger than Simone and I that it almost feels like she’s a niece or something and not a younger sister. She just turned nineteen in November.” 

“Half-sister?”

Anri blushed, he couldn’t help it. “Ah, my mom was, ah… Well, Cammi’s dad lived with us, for nearly as long as I can remember. I turned out that all three of them were, ah… It’s complicated. My mom had two Wrens, let’s just leave it at that.”

The look on Seth’s face was priceless, making him blush further. Thankfully, Seth changed the topic. “How old are you?”

“Oh, old enough. Too old for you, honestly.” 

“Anri!” Seth chided, slapping at his hand gently. 

He rolled and placed a kiss on Seth’s lips, then darted away just as quickly. “I’ll turn thirty-one this year. Older than dirt, you know.”

“I’m only five years younger than you! That’s not a big deal at all!” Seth argued. “More like four and a half! That’s nothing!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he agreed affably. Seth pulled him into his arms and kissed him, a smile on his lips. 

Anri told stories about growing up as a vampire in the city. He told Seth about his time in college, and Seth told him stories of a few of his misadventures with Lance growing up. 

Anri felt peaceful for the first time in a while. These moments were his and Seth’s, and even though he knew they wouldn’t last, he wished they could go on forever. He relaxed and tried to burn this into his memory, the calm and peace he felt in Seth’s arms, the feeling of love, acceptance, and comfort. He knew it wouldn’t last. 

He refused to complicate the moment with doubts and worries for tomorrow. He let them drift away as he listened to Seth tell a particularly funny story about Lance’s thirteenth birthday party. 

They talked until they fell asleep, with the light still on.

Demonbound Chapter 13: As Honest as I Dare to Be, Seth’s Aside

Demonbound Chapter 15: Coming soon