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Rafe lifted his head and smirked at them. “We’ll see.”
The argument was interrupted by another soft chime, announcing the arrival of the elevator. They all turned toward the hall and watched Winter stroll in wearing a pair of black slacks and a black button-down shirt. He nodded at his brothers but did a strange double take when looking at Marcus and Ethan. When he looked away, there was a small smirk on his lips as if he could see that things had changed between Marcus and Ethan.
“What?” Marcus barked at his brother and Winter chuckled darkly.
“You’ve got that ‘I got laid’ glow. It’s about time,” Winter said.
“It’s true,” Bel said. “I wish I had taken more pictures of you before you met Ethan so I could do a comparison study to more precisely identify the differences in your appearance. But you do seem lighter.”
“This isn’t what’s important,” Marcus ground out between clenched teeth. He didn’t want to be the focus of Bel’s latest scientific interest. And while he didn’t want Ethan to think that he didn’t care for him, their sexual relationship was not the reason they gathered at Rafe’s. “Mother is dead, and it is quite clear that someone wants our entire family dead. Now is not the time to discuss my sex life or relationship with Ethan.”
Rafe flopped down in a chair, tossing one leg over the arm. “Well, now I’m more interested in talking about you and Ethan since you said relationship instead of nookie monkey.”
Ethan made a choking sound and Bel groaned.
Winter dropped into another chair near Rafe. “While I hate agreeing with Marcus, we need to talk about the attack. We can discuss his nookie monkey later.”
Marcus knew better than to order them to stop calling Ethan that, because it was the fastest way to make the damn nickname stick.
“We weren’t the only ones attacked last night,” Winter said, finally leading the conversation in the correct direction.
“Who?” Bel crossed the room and perched on the edge of one of the couch cushions. His body was drawn together like a little bird preparing to take flight at the first sign of trouble.
“Armand is dead.”
“Another American Ministry member?” Bel gasped.
Winter nodded.
“Wait. American Ministry? Like a vampire government?” Ethan demanded.
Marcus reached over and placed a calming hand on Ethan’s shoulder, drawing him in close. “Yes. Something like that. There’s an American one that oversees the vampires in North America. There’s another called the European Ministry that oversees Europe. And so on. There are only eleven vampires on each Ministry.”
“How do you get on the Ministry?” Ethan frowned and looked up at Marcus. “I can’t imagine vampires stepping into voting booths and electing their favorites to make laws.”
Rafe snorted. “Yes, well, some of us thrive in dark little closets.”
“Drop it, Rafe,” Marcus snapped. He wasn’t in the mood for Rafe’s little digs. He turned his attention back to Ethan, his expression softening. “There’s no voting. It’s a position of power that’s taken by a display of power. Only the strongest can claim the seats.”
“If you can claim it and defend it, then you get to keep it,” Bel added.
“Do seats change hands often?”
Marcus shook his head. “Most won’t risk their life for it.”
“Has someone claimed Percival’s seat yet? He’s been dead for a few weeks now. Or Armand’s?” Bel inquired.
Winter folded his hands on his stomach and glared at the floor. “No. And there aren’t any details on who killed Percival and Armand either.”
“But you’re thinking that the same person or group who ordered their death went after the Variks as well,” Marcus said.
Ethan stepped away from Marcus and sat down heavily on the couch. Marcus frowned in worry at Ethan. While he was over the moon at finally finding someone, he did not want to endanger Ethan’s life. The young man was too precious to him to risk losing, but he would not turn his back on his brothers either.
“So, what do we do next?” Bel asked.
Marcus shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled over to the wall of windows. The city shimmered against a velvety black blanket dotted with stars nearly washed out by the light. People rushed from one place to another while vampires moved among them. Most humans had no idea that vampires were a part of their world, preying on them, working with them, laughing with them. But that could change very quickly with a war.
“I think we have two options,” Marcus started carefully. He turned away from the windows and looked at his brothers one at a time. For now, he avoided Ethan’s gaze. He could already guess at his brothers’ opinions, and he couldn’t yet decide what to do about Ethan. “The first is that we disappear. Instead of moving north, we head very far south into Argentina or Uruguay. We start a new life away from both the European and American Ministries. We let the world forget us.”
