Chapter 28 #2
On the second floor, there was no one waiting to stop them, which felt worse than the hordes ready to throw themselves at the invaders.
Of course, after the results of some of Ethan’s bullets and Bel’s knives, the attackers were a little more hesitant to lunge at them.
Ethan did what he could to protect Marcus, but his arms and legs were starting to ache from the exertion.
He hadn’t thought he was in bad shape, but it was clear he needed to work on his endurance the next time he found his way to the interior of a gym.
They moved as quickly as they could, glancing in one room after another until they finally came to a pair of shut double doors. That didn’t feel great.
Glancing over his shoulder at Marcus, he threw his lover what he hoped was a reassuring smile before reaching out for the doorknob. The second his skin touched the cold metal a voice rang out from the other side of the door.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
Ethan released the door like he’d been burned and jumped away, his shoulders bumping into Marcus’s chest. A strong, reassuring hand smoothed down his head and came to rest around the back of his neck.
Ethan barely registered the touch, but it was enough to override the flight instinct that was still pushing him.
It was her.
The one who slaughtered his family, who haunted his nightmares.
The reason Ethan had to be there at Marcus’s side as he hunted down the vampire behind the attacks, kidnappings, and the deaths.
With teeth clenched, Ethan grabbed both door handles and shoved the doors open. The room looked as if it was a massive ballroom with a shining parquet floor and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on a black sky. A quick count revealed about a dozen vampires scattered around one side of the room.
And in the center of the waiting group was a woman in a dark-red blouse and black slacks.
Her brown hair was long and hung limply down her back.
She smiled broadly at him, her mouth smeared with blood and her fangs visible even from a distance.
It was the woman who killed everyone he loved, who ruined his life.
“There’s my boy. The one that thought he could get away,” she said, her words ending in a cackle. “How long has it been?”
Ethan’s legs trembled as he walked into the room. Everything within him screamed to run. She was going to kill him, just like she’d murdered sweet Lucy and Macy. She’d rip his throat out just like she’d done to his mother and leave him in a spreading pool of his own blood.
But he didn’t run. He didn’t beg for Marcus to finish the monster for him.
And he knew that Marcus was aching to step forward and rip her fucking head off.
This bitch had also threatened his new family.
Her fucking soldiers had laid their hands on Marcus and his brothers. They’d broken into his house twice.
Fuck. That. Shit.
“Sixteen years,” Ethan said evenly.
“I’ve let you age like a fine wine. And then I had your friend bring you to me.
” She raised her hand and Carl shambled over to her side.
Ethan’s heart gave a little jerk, but he immediately pulled his eyes back to Minerva.
She was the target. He didn’t give a shit about Carl or whatever mess he got himself into.
“I can’t wait to taste you,” she continued with a little moan as if she were imagining Ethan as the most delicious dessert.
“Never gonna happen.”
She laughed again, the sound going higher and little more hysterical. Minerva definitely wasn’t all there. “You really think you can escape. That your little clan has any chance after I’ve already—”
Ethan swung the hand holding the gun up and started firing, emptying the magazine as quickly as he could.
Some of the bullets went wild, but luckily her followers were grouped close enough that any stray bullets hammered them.
He watched as her body jerked three times as the bullets hit her, but she remained standing, still smiling at him.
Without taking his eyes off her, he popped the empty magazine from the gun and slapped in the spare. Lifting the gun to eye level, he held it in both hands and waited.
Minerva threw her head back and laughed. “Was that supposed to stop me? I’m not human, little boy. I’m a vampire.”
“Yep. That’s what I’m counting on.”
“Bullets don’t…bullets…don’t…” Her voice drifted off as the same surprised look crossed her face that he’d seen on the other vampires’ all night.
She lifted her hand and rubbed at the places where the bullets had hit.
Behind her, three other vampires screamed and writhed as the green acidic goo that was now their blood started to bubble through their skin.
She tried to jump away from them like the other observers, but she stumbled and fell to her knees.
“Interesting,” Bel murmured. “Apparently it takes longer for the formula to work on older vampires. Minerva was what? Three centuries at least?”
“Four hundred and thirty-seven,” Winter answered.
Ethan’s gaze never wavered as he watched her die before his eyes.
Her greenish blood bubbled through her flesh, eating away at it while dissolving her bones.
She tried several times to scream, but her vocal chords were already gone.
Her mouth simply opened and closed like a landed fish with a soft gurgling sound.
There had been no reason for a long speech about how he wanted her to pay for her crimes or that this was justice for his family. She wouldn’t care. Probably wouldn’t even understand his hatred. He was just food, and food didn’t deserve pretty things like justice and respect.
No, in the end, he simply wanted her dead so she couldn’t hurt anyone else, especially his new family.
“We’ve destroyed Minerva, the head of the Black Wolf clan,” Marcus said, lifting his voice so that it echoed in the large room. “As a member of the Varik clan, we declare that the Black Wolf clan is dissolved. We will grant you mercy this one time if you leave peacefully now.”
“He’s a human. You can’t—”
Ethan swung the gun around, pointing it at the chest of the speaker. “You really want to argue that technicality? I’m a Varik. That’s all you need to know.”
The vamp immediately backpedaled a couple of steps and held up his hands in surrender. No one else spoke as they quickly hurried out the other doors of the massive room, seeking a quick escape. Ethan kept his gun up, pointing at anyone that was relatively close to his family.
After less than a minute, he found only Carl standing beside Minerva’s partially dissolved corpse.
His face was completely expressionless. He stared at nothing, as if he wasn’t really there.
Winter took the machete from Marcus and walked over to the human…
or sort of human. He reminded Ethan more of a zombie than anything.
Marcus carefully pulled the gun from Ethan’s hand and drew him against his chest. Ethan closed his eyes as he rested his head against Marcus’s chest, but he could still hear the wet, fleshy sound of the blade going through Carl.
There was soft thud followed by a louder one.
Ethan flinched, his brain instantly conjuring up the image of Winter cutting the man’s head off and it bouncing away from the body.
Strong, familiar arms wrapped around him. “He was already dead. His body just didn’t realize it yet.”
“Can we go home, please?” Ethan asked, his voice muffled against Marcus’s chest.
“Yes, let’s get the little Varik home,” Bel said.
“Oh, I like that,” Rafe chimed in, and Ethan found himself smiling against Marcus despite the stress and fatigue that were causing his body to shake. There was something about the sound of wicked playfulness in Rafe’s voice that always made Ethan want to laugh.
“Does that mean you’ll stop calling me ‘Wee One’?” Winter demanded.
“Definitely not. You’ll always be Wee One, and he’s Little Varik.”
“Home, brothers. We’ve had a busy night.” Marcus sounded tired to Ethan, but also content.
“Food first,” Rafe groaned. “I need to feed.”
“We’ll get drive-thru,” Ethan muttered without thinking.
“Most humans won’t let you drag them through the little window,” Winter said. Ethan lifted his head from Marcus and found a rare smile on the youngest Varik’s lips. Well…the youngest vampire Varik.
Yes, the other kind of feed.
Ethan walked out of the house with his arm wrapped around Marcus. His world had changed over the past couple of months. Feeding now included blood. Explosions and weapons were more common. But so was laughter and playful teasing. And so much amazing sex.
He was only half listening as the four brothers bickered about where to find a quick meal at such a late hour. It might not be the life his parents had expected him to have, but he’d found love and a place to belong.