Chapter 40 Brothers
forty
Brothers
*NOVA*
Ipace around in my room anxiously. When the guards took me out of the cell, I could see them ganging up on Benjamin. I hope he is alright. They wouldn’t kill him, right? I mean, they wouldn’t do anything without orders from their leader, would they?
I drive my fingers through my hair, unable to calm my nerves.
I won’t be able to forgive myself if Benji got hurt - or killed!
- just because of this plan. He has become such a good friend, and he is so loyal and kind.
Also, he has a mate, and I inwardly made the promise to myself that I would make sure to get him back to her.
Goddess, please-
The door opens, and the vampire, who instructed for me to be brought to this guest room, enters.
He looks different than the other guards, taller and stronger.
I instantly slip back into my role of the damsel in distress, eyeing him through fearful eyes.
“Who are you?” I whisper. “Are you going to hurt me?”
The man groans. “No, I am not. By the order of Lord Aloysius, I am bringing you some food.” He puts a plate in front of me. “How did a girl like you even end up in such a predicament?”
“I was just going for a walk,” I say quietly. “Then I saw that car in an accident, and I ran to try and help. I heard something about a little girl missing, and I was scared she would have gotten hurt, so I went to look for her.”
“I see,” the man says.
“Who are you?” I ask shyly.
“You can call me Atticus,” he says shortly.
“Are you the beta?”
“Vampires don’t have betas,” he sneers.
“I am sorry.” I cast my eyes down. “I just thought… You looked like someone of rank.”
Somehow, my words and submissive attitude seem to please him. “I am the second in command,” he says. “You have good senses.”
I have to hold back a snort at his words. Benji was right. They are underestimating me because to them, I am just an alpha’s spoiled little sister.
“Lord Aloysius asked me to bring you some new clothes,” Atticus continues. “Do you have any preferences?”
“No,” I say quietly. “Maybe something in pink? It’s my favorite color, and would make me feel so much more comfortable.”
Atticus snorts. “Pink. Well, I will see what I can do.”
“Are you keeping me here to get money from my brother?” I ask. “I… know, he would pay whatever you want to get me back.”
“No,” he says shortly. “Just pretend you are a guest here. The moment we know what to do with the other prisoners, we will arrange for you to get home.”
I am surprised by his words. He doesn’t look like he is lying. Also, he mentioned prisoners, plural, which means both Benji and Maddie are still alive!
“Anything else you need?” he asks me, almost sounding a touch too polite.
What the hell is their endgame? Do they think they can get out of this without any conflict?
I don’t know much about the vampires, and especially not about Silas’ brother, but I know that sometimes this young girl, Charlie, comes to visit Silas.
She is related to him or something. And I’ve heard they did abduct Charlie’s aunt, too, a while ago.
Do they think they can get away with the same shit twice?
They are delusional!
I tilt my head, pretending to think about his question. “Do you have something for me to read?” I ask. “Or… maybe I could help out! I can cook!”
I can’t cook, but if it means I can roam around the place, I will fake it.
“We don’t want you to work,” he assures me.
“It’s just… I feel so useless.”
Atticus pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
“I could do the laundry!” I offer. “I am good at that. I always do my brother’s laundry!”
I’ll bet if Cass heard me now, he would die laughing.
I would never do his laundry. When he was in his I’m-too-cool-for-anything phase as a teen, he thought he could bully me into doing his laundry.
I literally washed his white shirts with my red pants, and then dropped his beautifully pink clothes in front of his door.
Never asked me for help again!
“I don’t know,” Atticus mutters. “But I guess, if you really want to do something…”
“Yes!” I beam happily. “I always help my mother, too. So that, when I find my mate, I’ll be prepared!”
“I will talk to Lord Aloysius,” Atticus says thoughtfully. “For now, please have your dinner and take a rest. The boy didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“You came in time,” I say, pretending to be relieved.
“Yeah, we’ll need to find a way to keep him distracted,” Atticus snarls. “Such behavior is not acceptable here.”
Good, Benji is definitely alive. However, Atticus’s words still worry me. I guess they just roughed him up, but I hope they won’t do it again immediately. At least it would give me time to get his ass out of the cell.
*SILAS*
I feel the blood in my veins pulsating, my eyebrow ticking slightly while I look at the person in front of me.
“Is this your version of being careful, Durant?” I snarl as I look at my brother.
He arrived a couple of minutes ago to briefly catch up with us and exchange information.
I take a step closer, putting a finger beneath his chin and forcing him to look up at me.
Durant’s face is bruised, his lip split. Frankly, he is a miserable sight.
“Silas isn’t wrong,” Alex backs me up. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
“But I wanted to help,” he says miserably. “I know I fucked up once, so I want to make sure to be of help this time.”
“I know that feeling,” Julianus says quietly. “But now, I also can see why such behavior worries others. My future beloved wouldn’t be happy if she saw me like that. This doesn’t mean I won’t do everything to get her out of there.”
“Beloved,” Alex says, stunned. “So, you made up your mind?”
“I didn’t need to make up my mind,” Julianus admits. “I might not be ready to jump fully into this mate-bond situation, but without doubt, Nova belongs to me. And I won’t let any harm come to her.”
Cassian and Marcellus exchange a glance. And while Cassian still looks slightly annoyed whenever he has to interact with Julianus, he also looks contented by his words.
“I am also worried about Juniper,” I say. “I wasn’t able to reach out to her.”
“Me, neither,” Durant admits. “She wasn’t at the coven today.”
“Hopefully, she is safe,” I mutter.
Before we can discuss this issue any further, there is a knock at the door.
I don’t even need to ask, because judging by the silly, lovey-dovey expression on Cassian’s face, it can only mean that his mate has arrived.
Indeed, Flo steps into the office, immediately finding herself in her mate’s arms. As usual, these wolves don’t waste any time.
I sigh slightly at my own thoughts. I am being too cynical.
If anyone would ever dare to think something like that about Marcellus, I would rip their tongues out.
Cassian is worried about his sister, so of course, having his mate here soothes him.
“Marc,” Flo turns in Cassian’s arms to look at my beloved. “I need to tell you something.”
“By your tone, it won’t be great,” he mutters.
“I talked to Elliot today, on the phone, and by the tone of my voice, he might or might not have realized that something is off,” she admits.
“He started asking questions. Then Eugene took over and asked even more. I didn’t tell them anything, because they aren’t your allies.
” She frowns. “It was a couple of hours ago, and at first I didn’t think anything about it, but… ”
“Oh, fuck,” Marcellus curses, brushing through his long hair. “Eugene is my twin. Ever since we met again, I could feel the sibling bond to him again. Not as intense as before, but it’s there.”
“Then that means he feels it, too,” I conclude.
“He knows something happened,” Marcellus concedes.
“If he knows, why didn’t he call?” Cassian wants to know.
Marcellus’ expression turns sour. “Because he knows I would tell him to stay home. And he can’t go against another alpha’s direct order.”
“And?” Cassian pushes.
“It means he is coming without announcing it,” I say, annoyed in Marcellus’ place. “He is pushy like that, isn’t he?”
“He is definitely on his way already,” Marcellus agrees.
He grabs his phone, eyeing it begrudgingly, before stepping out of the office.
I don’t know who he called, but if I had to guess, it’s either Eugene himself or his mother.
Once Marcellus returns, his face says it all. “He is almost here,” he says shortly.
“No way,” Cassian exclaims.
“You don’t know this, Marc,” Flo says quietly. “But since you left, Eugene has constantly been talking about you. Elliot told me that he was never able to let go and move on.”
“Funny,” Marcellus confides. “Back then, it was the other way around. I was the one constantly thinking about Eugene, trying to have his back and making sure he was alright. Now it seems we’ve switched roles.”
“What are we going to do now?” Cassian asks.
“I hate to admit it,” Marcellus says. “But we wait for Eugene. He has been alpha for a couple of years now, and his pack is quite big. My pride wants to tell him to leave, but I want to save Maddie, Benji and Nova. They matter more.”
My chest warms at his words. That’s the type of man he is. He always puts others before himself and wants to protect everyone. The more reason for me to take over the role of the prickly cactus.
“I think Silas and I should combine our powers, reach out to Aloysius and march into wherever he is hiding,” Alex suggests.
“And endanger Benji, Maddie and Nova?” I ask. “Have you lost your mind? If he had no hostages, I might have agreed. Just lure him out and kick his ass, but with all three of them in his claws, I don’t want to risk it. We need to do it the old-fashioned way.”
“You are right, we should first find out where he is hiding,” Alex sighs. “Pity you couldn’t reach Juniper.”
“I will go back and dig for information. The least I can do is find Juniper,” Durant says.
His lip quivers slightly, though, worrying me instantly.
Durant is the youngest of us and the one with the least experience in anything.
He lacks Aloysius’ cold cruelty, or the way Alex and I can be aloof and icy in any situation.
Durant is soft, which is probably the reason Aloysius was able to manipulate him so well back in the day.
“You heard what Julianus said before,” I tell Durant, grabbing his chin again to shift his head slightly. There are traces of Aloysius’ fingernails scratching lines over half his face. “You need to be more careful! What even happened? Does Aloysius know you are in contact with me?”
“No,” Durant shakes his head. “But he returned to the coven earlier, and he looked like he was in a hurry, and I… kind of pushed him for an answer. You know how he is when being pushed.”
“He doesn’t suspect anything?” Alex asks.
“No, he thinks it’s just me being annoying.” Durant looks away. “And weak. Like usual.”
I feel my eyebrow ticking again. Aloysius, you asshole!
“It seems that for now we can’t do anything else,” Alex admits.
“Don’t worry,” Durant reassures us. “I am used to Aloysius. And he thinks so little of me, it comes to our advantage now.”
“Alright,” I say with a sigh. “I don’t like it, but I will let you return. It’s your decision, Durant. Neither Alex nor I will hold you back. We are just worried for you.”
Durant looks at me, surprised, and a little sad. “I wasted so much of my life,” he murmurs. “For Aloysius.”
“You can change that now, anytime. You have a place with Alex and me.”
“Sounds like you all have quite the charming older brother,” Cassian scoffs.
“For real,” Lucian says. “The guy is a sociopath through and through.”
“Talking of brothers…“ Marcellus gets up and opens the door. For a couple of minutes, it’s silent, then we can hear footsteps, and Eugene is suddenly standing in front of us. It’s still so weird to see him.
He looks exactly like Marcellus, but at the same time, they don’t look similar to me at all.
Marcellus has his own aura that pulled me in from the first moment we met.
Meanwhile, Eugene is his shitty brother, a literal stranger to me, whose ass I would happily kick.
“Creator, wow,” Alex says. “You really are brothers.”
“Yes, seeing you next to each other is a mind fuck,” Cassian affirms.
“You sound like you have never seen identical twins,” I say shortly.
“I am sorry for barging in here like this,” Eugene says. He ignores the rest of us and just looks at Marcellus. “I want to help,” he says. “Please allow me to help.”