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Rafe suspected the latter would most likely be the case. Julianna’s sons were too much of a painful reminder of what he’d lost.
The thought hurt. More than the loss of Julianna. He liked Aiden. When Julianna had been human and Aiden was courting her, he accepted her illegitimate children as if they were his own. He laughed so easily and had such loving patience with them. He had been the father Rafe had always dreamed of having in his life.
Then everything fell apart.
“Keep that damn needle to yourself, Bel! I swear if you come near me with it again, I’ll stake you in your sleep!” Ethan’s angry voice echoed through the first floor, and Rafe was shaken from his gloomy thoughts.
As potential mates went, Rafe had to admit that Marcus chose well for himself. Ethan fit in perfectly, breathing fresh life into their family. And if he made Marcus happy, that was good too.
“Please, Ethan. It’s for science,” Bel countered in a softer, almost pleading voice. It really was his favorite argument for pretty much everything. As if they should just understand and submit to his whims so they could help him further his studies of vampire nature.
Rafe followed the sounds of their arguing, finding Ethan and Bel on opposite sides of the library. Ethan’s face was a little pale when confronted with the syringe with an obscenely long needle in Bel’s hand.
“Come now, Bel. Haven’t you taken enough of Little Varik’s blood?” Rafe teased.
Bel blushed and lowered the needle. “There was a bit of a mishap in the lab, and the vial with his vampire blood was lost.”
“Mishap? What are you talking about?” Rafe demanded instantly, his heart rate picking up. Bel didn’t have mishaps. There were few creatures in all the world more fastidious and careful than his twin.
Bel shook his head. “Nothing important. Ozzie startled me last night while I was working, and I dropped the vial.”
“Bloody bird,” Rafe muttered as relief washed over him.
Ozzie was a raven Bel sent flitting between his house and Marcus’s so he could keep an eye on his oldest brother. He had warned Bel against setting animal tattletales on him, and Bel promised not to, but there were times when he was out hunting that Rafe swore he felt little eyes on him. Not that he blamed Bel. They all tended to be a bit overprotective.
But Bel’s ability to understand and speak to animals was an interesting one. Not something that he would have expected for his twin. When Beltran had been human, he’d never been particularly fond of animals. Now he was a regular Doctor Dolittle.
“Later, Bel. After the meeting and when Marcus is with me,” Ethan finally relented.
It was a little adorable that Ethan was so dead set against needles and having his blood drawn. He had a suspicion Ethan didn’t object if his brother wanted a little nip during sex. Not that Rafe wanted to think about Marcus’s sex life at all.
Rafe was still mentally shuddering when Ethan turned his attention to him.
“How’s the nightclub?” the fledgling asked as he dropped onto the sofa and pulled a pillow into his lap.
It was an interesting habit Ethan had developed recently. If Marcus wasn’t around, Ethan tended to grab one of the throw pillows and run his fingers over the brocade design again and again as if it soothed him. The second Marcus appeared, the tension would disappear, the pillow tossed aside. He’d mentioned it once to Marcus, and he commented that Ethan was struggling to accept his newfound hunger.
“Opening night was a success, of course. Blush is on track to be one of my best yet.” Rafe stopped in front of one of the leather chairs and unbuttoned his suit jacket before sitting.
His new club had been open for roughly a week, but Rafe had been there only two nights so far, preferring to leave it in the capable hands of Lola. He would never admit this to anyone, but he was growing bored with the club scene. Year after year, it seemed to be more of the same. The music was loud. The clothing was shrinking. And the drinks…well, he hadn’t enjoyed anything pleasantly original in quite a while.
Or maybe it was the people. They changed even less frequently. Young, careless, confident that they were invincible. The world belonged to them. Or so they thought. They were all oblivious to the fact that among their ranks prowled true predators who could so easily end all those confident hopes and dreams.
Dear God, I’m maudlin tonight.
Was this thanks to his chat with Philippe Arsenault the evening before?
Maybe after this meeting with his family, he’d find a nice distraction or two. He didn’t need to feed for another few nights, but fresh bedroom companions always put him in a better mood.
“How goes the teething?” Rafe teased.
