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Henry let his eyes drop from Lorien’s. His gaze slid all the way down the vampire prince’s face, searching it for clues. He found something like one at the opening of Lorien’s shirt. He usually wore high collars, but the rough handling had made it pop open, and there was rough, thickened, twisted skin beneath. Henry lifted his other hand to trace the lines of pain with a careful touch. Lorien’s involuntary flinch did not escape his notice.
“I thought vampires couldn’t scar.”
“They can when the wound is inflicted before they are turned. I have had my throat ripped out twice. Once more recently.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were sensitive about your neck?” Henry let Lorien go, the mystery being solved in his mind.
“You were very insistent that you were too tough for me,” Lorien said, readjusting his clothing.
“That’s…”
“Yes. You insisted you were so tough, so terrible, so completely alpha that I could never take what you had to give. It was not the environment for sharing weaknesses.”
“I fucked up,” Henry said. “I didn’t want you to run.”
“I didn’t run. I went hunting.”
“Stop trying to bullshit me. I wanted you. I’m sorry I made you run.”
“Actually, you wanted to take your anger out on me. I offered myself. I’m sorry I disappointed you.”
Lorien’s sorry was not like Henry’s sorry. It was a bitter comment rather than a proper apology.
“You didn’t disappoint me. I was too rough and too stupid. I treated you like you weren’t human.”
“I’m not human,” Lorien replied.
“I mean, I treated you like you don’t have feelings,” Henry tried to clarify. He was not good with words. Wolves preferred actions.
“Nothing new there,” Lorien shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I do worry about it.” Henry put one hand back on the wall next to Lorien’s head, keeping Lorien in place in a softer way. “I worry about what I do to you. The effect I have on you matters.”
Lorien’s expression shifted in an unexpected way. There was perhaps a hint of a quiver of his lower lip before his normal mask restored itself. But he was still without words.
“Think about it,” Henry said, pulling his hand away from the wall and patting Lorien’s cheek gently. “Come to me if you want me.”
He turned and walked away, giving Lorien a little space. He was getting a pretty clear idea now of the role Lorien had played. Not enough of a troublemaker to be beaten like Will. Special enough to be noticed by Maddox, but always occupying an overlooked middle space. Like a middle child. People like that quite often don’t know how to handle the attention they crave once they get it. He was going to have to be more careful with Lorien than he’d planned.
13
“William and I are going to go on vacation,” Maddox announced later that day when everybody was assembled. “Lorien, can you stay relatively out of trouble for a few months?”
“A few months?” Lorien was surprised by the length of time. Maddox usually never gave up control for that long. As impressive as he was, he couldn't keep tabs on the city if he wasn’t actually here.
“I've not had enough time with my boy. New York is full of distractions and responsibilities. We need some time away from the city to reconnect.”
“I’ll have the whole place to myself? What about Chauvelin?”
“If you see him, kill him.”
“What if Ivan returns?”
“He won’t.”
“What if royal business arises?”
“I’ve delegated it to you to deal with.”
