Chapter 18
Eighteen
Ethan found himself quickly hustled to the library, where he spent the better part of an hour tied to a chair with a rag stuffed in his mouth while the others handled getting what they called “cleaners” in the house to get rid of the dead bodies.
Bullets were removed and other wounds were covered with gauze and tape.
Supplies were also found to secure the front and back doors for the day.
He could hear them arguing with Marcus to go feed, but his boss refused to leave the house until he had the truth of what the fuck was going on.
Ethan had a feeling that he was going to end up being Marcus’s meal when he didn’t supply them with the answers they wanted.
Unfortunately, he was pretty sure they weren’t going to believe what he had to say.
Closing his eyes, Ethan dropped his head forward.
He should have told Marcus weeks ago. Come clean.
Maybe they would have been better prepared.
Maybe they could have attacked the League instead of the other way around.
He didn’t know, but his mind kept circling back to Julianna.
If he’d done things differently, she’d be alive now.
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.
“No!” Marcus tried to shove to his feet, but both Bel and Rafe were there to keep him seated.
“It’s the truth! I swear!” Ethan cried back at him.
“He’s telling the truth,” Winter confirmed, shocking the entire room into silence. Winter crossed the room, pulling a knife out of his pocket.
“What?” Marcus demanded.
Winter paused and smirked at his older brother. “You asked me to look into your new hire, so I did. I found the ties to the League immediately and I wanted to watch them. I bugged his apartment and cloned his cell phone,” he casually admitted.
“Holy shit,” Ethan muttered.
Rafe snorted. “Sneaky bastard.”
Winter gave a little bow of his head to Rafe before turning to Ethan.
He cut the ropes tying him to the chair.
“He didn’t tell this Carl or anyone else from the group anything of value.
” A strange expression crossed Winter’s face, sort of like pride, when he said, “He actually gave a pretty impassioned defense of our family right before getting the shit beat out of him. He also didn’t know about the attack that happened tonight. ”
“But I don’t understand,” Bel interjected. “The Humans Protecting Humans League is an anti-vampire group. They’ve been attempting to hunt us for decades. But there were also vampires that attacked here tonight. How could they be working together?”
“I don’t know,” Winter admitted. He wandered back to his chair while folding up the knife in his hands. He flopped down, looking for the first time like the little brother he was. “My guess is that the vamps were using the humans. Maybe feeding them info about their enemies.”
“They were fucking cannon fodder,” Rafe growled. “They came through the door first. It was only when they were nearly wiped out that the vamps followed.”
“Probably hoping to weaken us,” Bel added. “But who would do this?”
“I saw known associates of Meryl among them,” Marcus said.
His voice was like a low rumble of thunder, and it felt like it was a warning of worse still to come.
“This could be a retaliation for the nightclub incident. Or just the Hidden striking at us again. Or even a larger political move. Aiden thinks they are aiming to take control of the Ministry. Did you see anyone you recognized among the dead?”
Winter sneered at his older brother. “No, and this kind of blatant attack isn’t our way. It’s not a good way of staying secret and hidden. This screams Predators. They’re sloppy and prefer to use bold attacks to scare the humans.”
“I don’t understand. Are we getting pulled into the middle of a political war? Why?” Rafe demanded.
“Someone is making a play for the American Ministry. Both the Hidden and the Predators,” Marcus said.
He relaxed against the sofa and released a heavy breath.
Ethan watched him, taking in the signs of discomfort clear on his face.
But when Marcus turned his gaze back to Ethan, rage still burned bright in his eyes.
“Aiden seems to think that the same person is trying to take out clans that might challenge them or cause problems in the power shift. For some reason, the Variks have been listed among the possible troublemakers.”
“This is fucking bullshit!” Rafe snapped. He paced across the room and kicked a box of books before turning back. “What the hell do we care about the fucking Ministry and all that nonsense?”
“Some of us do happen to care about which maniacs are in charge,” Bel said primly.
Rafe lifted an eyebrow and turned a skeptical eye on his brother. “Really? You’re going to climb out of your lab and books long enough to voice an opinion on the rule makers?”
“I care,” Marcus declared, stopping the bickering between siblings.
“I’ve heard about some of the recent insanity coming through both the American and European Ministry from Aiden.
It can’t be allowed to continue. It doesn’t matter why we’ve been targeted.
The important thing is that we have been, and that isn’t going to change.
There will be another attack. We all know that. ”
“But what can we do?” Bel asked. Rafe walked to his brother and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
Ethan marveled out how Rafe was always the first with the snarky, cutting comment, but he was also always the first to be right there to reassure Bel. Marcus had commented on Rafe and Bel’s closeness, but it was another thing to see it in action.
But then, it was clear that all the brothers were close in their own way. Winter might have physically separated himself from his brothers, but he was right there, watching over them and protecting them.
“Tonight, I say we feed and rest,” Winter suggested. He stood and shoved his blood-smeared hands into his pockets as he stared at Ethan. “They won’t attack again tonight. They’ll need to regroup.”
“And what about tomorrow? Are we supposed to wait around for the next attack?” Rafe grumbled.
“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.