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“No, but we need time to think and gather information. We need to talk to Aiden, if possible,” Marcus said.
Winter nodded. “I’ll go check on him.”
“You know where he’s at?”
“I’ve got a few guesses. I’ll talk to you tomorrow about next steps.” Winter crossed the room and placed a hand on Marcus’s shoulder with the smallest amount of blood soaked into his shirt. “Rest and feed, dear brother. You will need your strength,” Winter said in a near whisper before leaving the room.
“As much as I hate to say this, Winter is right. Let us help you hunt tonight—” Rafe started.
“No, I’ve already got what I need here,” Marcus said.
All three sets of eyes fell on Ethan and he tried not to squirm in his chair. Yeah, he had a feeling that he might end up a blood donor for Marcus. There had always been a part of him that wanted to know what it was like to feed Marcus, to know if it was as sensual and sexy as they made it in the movies, but he didn’t want to do it like this. Not when Marcus looked at him with such anger and betrayal in his eyes. But it didn’t look like Marcus was going to give him much of a choice.
Sadly, he really couldn’t blame Marcus for it either.
“Don’t, Marcus. You’re going to regret it,” Bel said.
“Fuck it. Drain him dry,” Rafe countered with a cold bark of laughter.
“Just leave. I’ll take care of Ethan. We still have things to discuss…in private. We’ll meet tomorrow night to talk more.”
Ethan watched as Rafe and Bel looked at each other for a moment in silent communication. Rafe gave a little shrug, and Bel sighed before getting to his feet. They both filed out of the room without another word.
Tension crawled across Ethan’s skin, leaving behind tight little pinpricks. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what words would make things better. Maybe there was no making it better. There was no way he could get Marcus to forgive him. He’d made a choice, and it was a bad one. There was no going back, and there was no getting Marcus to give him a second chance.
“Marcus—”
“Don’t!” Marcus’s voice was like the crack of a whip. “Don’t talk. You talk only when I ask you a question.” He tried to push to his feet, but he struggled and fell to the couch again. Ethan instantly leaped to his feet and hurried to Marcus’s side, grabbing his arm to try to steady him.
Marcus jerked his arm out of Ethan’s grasp. “Don’t touch me!”
“Look! Be angry with me. Go ahead and rip my throat out if that’s what you want to do, but don’t expect me to just stand by and watch you hurt yourself!” Ethan shouted at him.
Marcus’s hand shot out and wrapped around his throat before slamming Ethan down on the couch beside him. Ethan tried to gasp, but it was difficult to breathe with Marcus’s tight grip pressing against his windpipe. He instinctively grabbed Marcus’s wrist, but didn’t struggle, didn’t fight back no matter how much terror clawed at him.
“You’re going to wish you had,” Marcus said. He opened his mouth and Ethan could see a pair of sharp, white fangs slide down behind his teeth. If there had been any doubt in his mind before, it was erased. Marcus Varik was most definitely a vampire.
Chapter Nineteen
Rage burned through Marcus as he stared Ethan. He felt so fucking betrayed. He’d trusted Ethan, let him get so damn close. He’d spent weeks agonizing over if and how to tell Ethan that he was a vampire, but he’d always known. He’d known and gotten close to Marcus with the sole purpose of destroying his family.
He wanted to make Ethan pay for his treachery.
But there was a small voice in the back of his mind reminding him that Ethan had already paid. He’d lost his family. They’d been murdered by a vampire. He’d been left alone in the world with no one to watch over him, protect him, hold him tight. Even when the world was at its bleakest, Marcus always had his brothers. Ethan had no one.
Marcus stomped down on the voice. Ethan had plotted to steal away his family.
Yet, Winter said Ethan hadn’t given any information to the League. He’d had ample chances. He could have unlocked the doors during the day and allowed them to walk right into his house. He could have given them the address of his new home and even the addresses of his brothers. Access to that information was given on his very first day at work. But he didn’t. He’d protected Marcus as much as he could.
“You’ve known all along,” Marcus snarled.
“Yes,” Ethan whispered, his voice sounding pained and choked. Marcus loosened his hold on Ethan’s throat a little, and Ethan sucked in great gulps of air, coughing a little.
