Lethe's Kiss (Ari & Soren Book 3)

Chapter 4 - Soren

Dawn found me lying with Ari tucked up at my side, curled into a ball against my chest. Usually, he got too warm at night to sleep so near, and although we might fall asleep in one another's arms, we rarely awoke that way.

After a moment of enjoyment, the memory of the previous night's excursion returned, although it wasn't clear. It was vague and dreamlike, and I wasn't sure how much of what I remembered had been real.

"Ari?" I shook him gently, and he made a sleepy sound before letting out a sigh.

"What?" he asked, sounding a little grumpier than usual.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm alright."

He was definitely grumpy.

"Are you sure?" I asked, and then winced. I knew he didn't like it when I fussed.

He remained still a moment, and then he sat up.

"Soren, it's six am. I just managed to fall back asleep thirty minutes ago, and before that, I'd been up since midnight. And before that, I had a very uncomfortable experience with your father in his basement."

He paused.

"You know what I mean."

"Actually...I'm not sure I'm remembering the whole thing quite clearly," I admitted. "What happened, exactly?"

He sighed again, scrunching his fingers in his curls and making them stand up in even crazier ways than usual. I badly wanted to touch, but I restrained myself.

The vibe he was giving off did not say 'please touch my hair.'

"I...I wanted to confront all the traumatic shit that happened here," he said, his voice sounding more strained with every word. "I thought if I went down there—to the caverns—and saw for myself that it was fine, that there was nothing to fear, that I could learn to love this place again. Instead, I trespassed where I had no business, almost got myself killed, and frightened your father half to death. I wouldn't be surprised if he looks more like Gary Oldman at the beginning of Bram Stoker's Dracula this morning instead of his usual blond Hannibal guy."

As usual, I had no idea what he was referencing, but I got the gist.

"Ari...why didn't you tell me this before? I would have gone with you."

"I know you would have," he said, voice softening. "It was a stupid thing to do on my own, even if your father didn't have some sort of rabid new-blood locked down there."

"Speaking of my father," I said, rising reluctantly, "we ought to hear what he has to say on that matter as soon as possible. I hope he hasn't gotten himself into trouble of some sort."

"Trouble?" Ari asked, rising also and heading for the bathing room.

I followed. "Yes. He said he 'found' the new-blood. I don't see how that's possible."

"I don't understand," Ari said as he shaved in front of the large mirror. "Is it like, bad manners or something to leave a new-blood lying around?"

"You could say that," I said, leaning against the wall and watching him complete his morning routines. I hadn't needed to shave very often since I'd turned, once or twice a week at most, and the regularity of the ritual was something I missed. I'd taken to watching Ari, deriving satisfaction vicariously through observation. He seemed not to mind. "It takes skill to turn a human," I said. "Skill, and power. Even if the subject survives the ordeal, the result is often...unfortunate. I don't know if I could manage it yet, myself."