Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Philippe rubbed his eyes yet again as the burning sensation worsened. Dawn was only a few hours away, and they were all gathered in Marcus’s library. Exhaustion gnawed at his bones, but nervous energy zinged through every part of his body, making it difficult to even stand still.
It had taken some time for Lola and Ryder to shut down the nightclub and safely travel to Marcus’s home.
They were all being extremely cautious, assuming the MacPherson clan was watching them.
Aiden thought it was unlikely any of the MacPhersons would attack that night, but not one of them wanted to take unnecessary risks.
Ethan and Gideon were seated on the sofa, watching the brothers argue while they whispered together. Rafe had told him of how Ethan and Bel had led the attack on the Black Wolf clan, so the young man was no stranger to a fight, but this would be his first one as a vampire.
Philippe’s stomach twisted when he watched Ethan. He couldn’t have been a vampire for more than a couple of months. He still had this kind of human glow about him. He was breaking in his fangs, for fuck’s sake.
He didn’t know what Marcus was thinking, but he couldn’t believe the overprotective vampire was going to allow his fledgling in this fight.
Philippe’s own conscience wouldn’t allow Ethan, or even Gideon into this looming battle, but he had no idea how to voice that thought without offending at least several people in the room.
Hell, he didn’t want anyone in this room involved in this fight. There was no way they were all going to come out alive and unscathed.
Philippe looked around the room and found Aiden sitting in a chair off to the side, a shadow of a smile playing on his lips as he watched the four brothers gathered around a table where Winter had unrolled plans for MacPherson Hall—not that he was admitting how the hell he got them in the first place.
Aiden’s eyes darted to Philippe, and he tilted his head to the side, indicating the empty chair next to him. Philippe crossed the room at the silent invitation and sank into the floral cushion.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to have this moment?” Aiden asked, his voice low, as if he didn’t want to attract the attention of the Varik brothers.
“I don’t understand.”
“This. Watching them bicker…over anything. Watching them together. Seeing how their brains work and how they react to each other. I feel like I’ve been waiting a lifetime for this moment, and it’s even better than I imagined it would be.”
Philippe looked over at the quartet, taking in how close Rafe and Bel were standing together.
Rafe’s placating and gentle tone when he spoke to his twin and the biting sarcasm he chose for Winter.
Then Winter would come back, sniping at Rafe and Marcus but not at Bel.
And then Marcus bossing them all around like a bull elephant plowing down anything that might dare stand in his way.
But there was a routineness to it all. As if they’d been acting in just this manner for decades. Lifetimes. There was frustration but also so much love.
“I’m proud of what you created, Philippe,” Aiden said, jerking his gaze to his handsome face. Aiden continued to watch the brothers even as he spoke. “You tried to create something warm and beautiful.”
“My gift gave me no choice.”
“You did have a choice.” Aiden’s voice was unyielding.
He sat up a little more in his chair and turned to pin Philippe with his narrowed eyes.
“Even if you couldn’t ignore it, you could have moved.
You could have turned your back on all those who were lost and in pain, focused only on your own wants and needs. ”
“But it all blew up in my face. I brought in someone who betrayed us all. I was still alone. I’ve put your family in danger.”
Aiden stunned him by reaching over and patting the top of his hand.
“I see you’re more like Rafe than I expected.
He likes to take the blame for every horrible thing that happens, whether it is his fault or not.
He’s convinced himself he’s going to be the downfall of the Variks because he doesn’t like to toe the line.
I say he’s going to be what keeps us alive. ”
“But—”
“You’ve got to give people credit for the choices they make. Ezra chose to betray you. And the Variks are choosing to fight the MacPhersons. You have no control over either of those choices, so you can’t lay claim to any guilt that might go with it.”
“I love him. I don’t want anything to happen to him. To happen to his family.”
“I understand. But if we never take chances, we never have an opportunity to achieve something great.”
“If you’re done waxing philosophical over there,” Winter drawled, “we could use a hand with the planning.”
Philippe’s eyes jerked up to find all four men staring at them, different expressions of amusement lightening their features.
“I was simply waiting for you to come around to the most obvious choice,” Aiden replied with a smirk.
“And what’s that?”
“That we don’t face them in MacPherson Hall.”
Mouths hung open in speechless silence. It was an obvious answer. Facing them in MacPherson Hall was a death sentence. Short of blowing the place up, they would be at an incredible disadvantage no matter what they did.
“But they have Jullien. It’s what they want,” Philippe said, finding his voice first.
“They also have us outnumbered. Why hand them all the advantages? Just because someone presents you with two options, it doesn’t mean you can’t come up with a third. Don’t accept their limitations. There’s always another choice.”
“You’ll think they’ll agree to a new venue?” Marcus inquired.
“Nolan won’t pass it up. He wants Philippe, and he wants to crush the Variks. His ego won’t allow him to walk away.”
Rafe folded his arms over his chest and leaned his hip against the table. “Then where do we meet them? Here? Blush?”
Aiden smiled. “Cockaponset Forest.” His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head once at Rafe. “Now is not the time.”
Rafe threw his arms up. “Ahh…come on! With a name like that—”
“Save it for later.”
“Where is it?” Marcus demanded.
“I believe it’s a little more than half an hour south of here.”
Winter shook his head. “Why there? How do you even know of it? You’ve been in town only a few days.”
“True, but I’ve been scouting this area for a few years.
Marcus keeps me apprised of all your new homes well before you move.
The forest will help to level the playing field.
We have to play to our advantages. There are fewer of us.
We need to move quickly and in secret. Take them down one at a time to even the odds.
The forest will also allow Bel to use his gift to its full advantage. Winter as well.”
“There will be even fewer of us,” Marcus announced grimly. He leaned forward, both hands braced on the table, but he was looking at Aiden. “I would like Aiden to remain behind at Varik Manor to protect Ethan.”
“What?” Ethan shouted, springing off the sofa as if he’d been launched. His face was bright red and his slender body was practically trembling. “You’re planning to leave me behind? I’m a part of this family too!”
“Yes, and you’re a fledgling. You won’t have the advantage of any of Bel’s science concoctions. It’s too dangerous.”
“No! This is fucking bullshit!”
“He’s right, Ethan,” Aiden interrupted. “In this case, you’re a liability. You’re not nearly as fast or as strong as you need to be. You’ve not even come into your gift yet.”
“But…” Ethan started again, but the anger had drained from his voice, lowering it to more of a whimper.
“Having you there will almost ensure Marcus’s death.”
It was a cold thing to say, but it got the result he needed. The flush drained from Ethan’s face, leaving him frighteningly pale. He swayed a little on his feet as he stared at his boyfriend with unshed tears.
“Okay,” Ethan agreed softly.
“I want Gideon to also remain with Ethan,” Rafe added.
But where Ethan was insulted, Gideon cringed and seemed to sink into himself.
“Gideon is a survivor more than anyone else in this room. If Aiden should be overwhelmed, I trust Gideon to get Ethan away from the house and help him survive until one of us can reach them.”
And like that, Gideon’s shame and embarrassment were wiped away. He sat up straighter, lifted his chin.
“I’ll watch over Ethan,” Gideon said.
“Thank you,” Rafe replied, and even Marcus seemed to relax a little more.
It was a good plan. It did seem likely that the MacPherson clan would send someone to attack the Varik house in the chance that one or more of the clan members were left behind. After what Rafe had told him, he was sure Nolan would only be happy if he knew he’d wiped them all out.
Philippe rubbed his eyes again and glanced over at Gideon sitting on the sofa next to Ethan.
Their heads were close and their conversation low, but there was no missing that there was more confidence in Gideon’s bearing now.
Was this something he’d missed when he’d been trying to manage his own clan?
He’d been so focused on everyone’s safety and protection that he’d put it all on his own shoulders.
He handled everything, only occasionally delegating to Jullien or Ezra.
Would the people he’d pulled together have felt more like a family, an actual clan, if he’d given them responsibilities?
If he’d trusted them all a little more to look out for each other?
The sun had crept above the horizon more than an hour ago when Philippe trudged up the stairs to a bedroom Marcus had pointed out for him.
Steel shutters had come down over the windows, sealing them in and protecting them from the daylight.
He’d just ended a quick and painful call with Ezra, informing him of the new location for the meeting tomorrow night.
At Aiden’s direction, he gave Ezra no time to argue or counter.