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Footsteps echoed across the floor, the sound growing closer. Ethan’s head popped up and he opened his eyes to see the four brothers file into the library. Although the others had more than their fair share of cuts and gunshot wounds, Marcus looked as if he was in the worst condition.
Marcus slowly made his way over to the leather sofa and dropped onto it with a hiss of pain. Bel sat next to him, a look of worry on his face while Rafe hovered behind his twin.
Winter approached Ethan and stared at him for a moment before reaching for the tail of the cloth in his mouth. He was smaller than his siblings, possibly even the same height as Ethan, but there was a dangerous kind of energy that vibrated around him. His hair was longer than his brothers and the black strands were liberally threaded with stark white, as if he’d just barely escaped winter’s icy hold.
“Tell the truth. I’ll know if you’re lying.” He leaned down and smiled coldly as he stared into Ethan’s eyes. “I already know more than you might suspect,” Winter warned before pulling the cloth from Ethan’s mouth.
Ethan coughed and moved his tongue around his dry mouth, trying to get some saliva back in it before he tried to speak.
“Why?” Marcus demanded in a low, rough voice.
He stared at Marcus for a moment, willing him to understand, but he was afraid to hope that it was possible. “Vampires killed my family.”
Marcus immediately shook his head and Ethan leaned forward against the ropes holding him in place.
“It’s true! Sixteen years ago, just outside of Indianapolis. I was ten years old, living in an apartment building with my parents and two sisters. I woke up in the middle of the night and went to the bathroom. I heard a loud bang against the front door, and then my mother screamed. I hid in the linen closet. There was a hole in the wall. I curled up in the hole behind some towels and bedsheets. I could hear everyone screaming and people laughing. I saw her through a crack in the door. She had long brown hair and a pale, blood-covered face. And fangs.”
“Fuck,” Rafe swore softly. He paced away from the sofa, rubbing his eyes.
Ethan swallowed past the lump in his throat, hating the old pain that rose with talking about the memory. “I should have helped them instead of hiding. I kept thinking I was just a little kid. What could I do? But I should have tried to help them.” He paused and cleared his throat. “When I crawled out of the closet, my entire family was dead. I ran across the hall to the neighbor. His door was open and I found him dead. All the apartment doors were open with bloody tracks leading from them. After that, I went back to my apartment and sat next to my mom’s dead body until the cops came. All three floors. Twelve apartments. I was the only survivor.”
“So, you wanted revenge,” Winter supplied.
Ethan turned his head toward the cold voice to find Winter sitting in a chair turned toward him. He looked relaxed, as if they were talking about plans for the weekend and not deciding Ethan’s fate.
“I did. My sisters didn’t deserve to die like that. Neither did my parents. They all deserved a normal, happy life. I should have grown up in a home!” Ethan shouted, tugging against his ropes. “Not alone.”
“You planned to kill us because we’re vampires?” Bel asked.
“No! I just want the woman who killed my family. When I moved to Glenpark about two years ago, I ran into this man. Carl. Apparently he tracked me down from the news story about the apartment building murders. He started talking about this group who believed in vampires. He was the first person to ever confirm they were real. He promised to help me get justice for my family. I…I was alone and I missed my family. If I couldn’t save them, I could at least get justice.”
Taking another deep breath, he put as must steel as he could muster in his voice and looked over at Marcus. “I told them about the woman, and they told me about a clan all centered around a woman that matched my description. When the job listing came up, it was like fate was handing me exactly what I wanted. They already knew Marcus’s home address. My task was to get the job and feed them back any information I could.”
“What did you tell them about my family?” Marcus growled.
“Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you!”
“It’s true. I told them nothing of importance. I had to have proof that this was the same woman. Two years with the group had made it clear they were just a bunch of murder-happy lunatics. I wasn’t going to sic them on innocent people! I didn’t tell them where you were moving or anything about your brothers other than that you have three, which they already knew. I told them that you loved Italian and Greek food, which they didn’t believe. They’re convinced you only drink blood. I told them that you played the piano. I never told them about your mother, even after I saw what she did to Bel,” he said, ending on a whisper.
