he had come to depend on having Jason to talk to. Not even romantically, just about the little bullshit things that happened throughout the day. Things only Jason would find funny. Things that reminded Colt of him at every turn.
It might have been a relief to have something else to focus on, if that something wasn’t the matter of a homicidal, child-eating ghoul on the run who just so happened to share his DNA.
There had been no new disappearances or murders, but Colt knew better than to think that was because Peter had moved on. He would strike again, and Colt was sure he would do it in the most conspicuous way possible once he had another errand for him to run.
At least, he assumed that was what it would be. It was too far-fetched to think Peter was actually interested in pursuing a relationship with his brother. As much as family ties meant to most ghouls, it was obvious that wasn’t a value any of their line held close. None perhaps with the exception of their mother, and that certainly hadn’t worked out well for her.
Colt had always assumed he was an outcast because he’d been raised among humans, but now that he knew at least something of his birth family, he realized they were outliers every bit as much as he was.
At one point, that would have been a point of pride for him. Not now that he knew they were monsters. Monsters among monsters, even.
Colt had combed every inch of the state in search of his brother, but going far beyond that was asking for trouble. Especially since the last thing he needed was more scrutiny from the Council. If Peter was on someone else’s territory, at least he was their problem. For now.
He hated thinking like that, but as horrifying as the thought of Peter finding more victims was, Colt would hold himself personally responsible for the death of every ghoul in the Kinship if he didn’t keep the Council off the changeling’s trail.
Especially since that trail would lead directly to Ronnie’s door.
Colt had been warring with himself about what to do for the past few days. It had been a few days since Ronnie had checked in with Susan, and he told himself he was just being paranoid, but he needed to see him, even if it was only from a distance.
Given the effort it took to duck out of the estate without notice, Colt couldn’t say he blamed Ronnie for wanting to get away from it all. The scrutiny, the chaos, the regimented order that somehow existed alongside it. He knew he had no right to feel betrayed either, but that didn’t stop him from feeling it. He just felt even guiltier for not realizing how bad things had gotten between them until it was too late to fix.
He’d thought he was doing the right thing by giving Ronnie his space, but that didn’t feel right, either. He had given him space for months, and that hadn’t brought him any closer to coming home.
Colt was no stranger to the Brown campus. Back in the days when he’d personally stalked Jason to make sure he was safe from other ghouls, he had gotten to know the layout of the university quite intimately. A few of the people he passed actually nodded to him in recognition, proving to him just how pathetic he really was.
Now, Colt had a security team that focused exclusively on stalking Jason and Andrew. For their own protection, of course. He had assigned another to generally scout the campus, watching for trouble. He had tightened the security detail ever since Ronnie had moved onto campus, but he still couldn’t help but worry.
Every time Colt passed someone he didn’t recognize, he checked for a ring. There was no doubt plenty of the college students from wealthier families were sporting them. At least they wouldn’t be awakened ghouls yet. They wouldn’t be a serious threat to their classmates until long after graduation, in most cases.
It had taken only a little bit of digging to find out Ronnie’s dorm number, and while Colt was embarrassed he had resorted to that, it was far from the most shameful thing he had done that week alone.
Ronnie was living in the same building Jason had lived in during his undergraduate career. Walking into the dorm lobby brought back a flood of nostalgia and memories, some better than others. They’d had a fight on the very plaid sofa where