And there it was again, that denial. Ben remembered the threat of the sword, the threat of being shoved out of the car. True, he hadn't been hurt and he'd expected to be, so there was some truth to Jake's words. Perhaps he didn't bite as often as he barked... but he doubted it. His temper flared again at being called small-minded. 'Small town boy' was so dismissive, so patronising... he'd done nothing but train as a vampire, educating himself and now educating others. He'd travelled. He'd held down actual jobs. He'd lived in the real world, on his own as well as with others.
He had to control himself. No doubt Jake would troll him with all sorts of statements, designed to get Ben to argue.
He got what he wanted - Jake's word that he wouldn't be killed. He did notice the 'permanently' before harming, like a little justification that let Ben knew he would be facing some pain at Jake's hands. "Thanks," he said.
He was aware that the shock hadn't really passed, because he was sitting here without much trouble, feeling numb. Only a few nights ago he'd been here, telling Zeph that he was happy with how his life had turned out. Bah.
The night passed in a blur, until Jake made noises for them all to leave. When Ben got up, he pulled out his phone and texted a message to Kerr; he apologised that he wouldn't be coming home for a while and that he had to finish something that had gone wrong, he promised that he would return as soon as he could and that he loved him and was thinking of him. He glanced at Jake, wondering if his phone would be slapped out of his hands or taken from him, but Jake didn't seem to care. Reading the message over, he realised he hadn't told Kerr who he was with or what was happening. He didn't want Kerr to interfere with an order direct from Charon. He doubted Jake would hold onto him for very long - just a bit of punishment, a bit of pain, then released.
He hoped.