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“Definitely not. You’ll always be Wee One, and he’s Little Varik.”
“Home, brothers. We’ve had a busy night.” Marcus sounded tired to Ethan, but also content.
“Food first,” Rafe groaned. “I need to feed.”
“We’ll get drive-thru,” Ethan muttered without thinking.
“Most humans won’t let you drag them through the little window,” Winter said. Ethan lifted his head from Marcus and found a rare smile on the youngest Varik’s lips. Well…the youngest vampire Varik.
Yes, the other kind of feed.
Ethan walked out of the house with his arm wrapped around Marcus. His world had changed over the past couple of months. Feeding now included blood. Explosions and weapons were more common. But so was laughter and playful teasing. And so much amazing sex.
He was only half listening as the four brothers bickered about where to find a quick meal at such a late hour. It might not be the life his parents had expected him to have, but he’d found love and a place to belong.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ethan found Marcus sitting at the piano in the music room, but not playing it. It wasn’t the first time he’d caught Marcus staring at the black and white keys, seeming unwilling to touch them but also unable to walk away.
Seventy-two hours had passed since the destruction of the Black Wolf clan, not that Ethan remembered much of it.
The Varik brothers fed. Ethan managed to tolerate Marcus feeding off a stranger only because Ethan knew he couldn’t meet all Marcus’s needs. Of course, later that night when they were both showered and wrapped around each other, Ethan was more than happy to supply Marcus with a nightcap, hoping to wash the taste of the other man from Marcus’s tongue.
For the past two days, Ethan had done little more than eat, sleep, and fuck Marcus. There was almost a desperation to Marcus’s touch now, and nothing Ethan said or did could banish whatever thoughts were haunting him.
Whenever Marcus wasn’t in bed with him, he was on the phone with the remaining members of the Ministry, explaining what had happened, or he was sitting at the piano. Ethan wanted to give him time to work it out on his own, but the melancholy seemed to be digging its claws deeper and deeper.
Ethan had to admit that he had expected to feel a bigger sense of relief and accomplishment at finding and destroying his family’s killer. He was glad Minerva was gone, unable to torture more humans. But the small, hollow part of his heart where his family resided was still there. He still missed them. Still ached over the lives that Macy and Lucy wouldn’t ever live. That would never go away.
But he had a new family. The Varik brothers would never replace his birth family, but they gave him a place where he finally felt like he belonged. It was a home. Something he hadn’t had in so damn long.
The old pains were never too far away, but Marcus and his brothers made life a little easier, more tolerable. Definitely more entertaining. His only hope was that he’d be able to help more humans now that he was on the inside of the vampire world, protect them from the pain that he’d suffered.
But right now, his focus was on the pain Marcus was struggling with.
Taking a deep breath, Ethan strolled into the music room and dropped down onto the bench, beside Marcus. The vampire straightened and managed a small, wan smile.
“Did you have a good nap?” Marcus asked.
Ethan shrugged. “The falling asleep part is always the best.” Marcus lifted an eyebrow in question and Ethan continued. “Your arms are wrapped around me.”
Marcus nodded and looked back at the piano. “I think it’s dinnertime. Shall we order something?”
“Later. I want you to talk first.”
“About?”
Ethan nudged Marcus with his elbow. “You’re not the clichéd, brooding grumpy vampire. You haven’t actually touched the piano since that night. You just sit here and stare at it. What’s going on in your head?”
“Too much.”
“Okay, but you gotta give me something.” Reaching over, Ethan slid his hand under Marcus’s and threaded his fingers through his. “Is this about your mom?”
“Some. I’m torn on how I should feel about what happened. I’m angry that anyone would hurt her, try to hurt both of you. She was the sweetest, most gentle woman. She loved her sons and music. She dreamed of giving only beauty to the world.”
Ethan’s hand tightened in Marcus’s. “I only knew her for a couple of minutes, but she seemed pretty amazing to me. And looked so much like Rafe and Bel.”
Marcus nodded. He blinked and a tear rolled unchecked down his cheek. “But I can’t forget that she was also capable of so much pain and torment. She physically hurt all of us. Came so damn close to killing Bel. I don’t think he ever forgave her for that last attack.”
