Chapter 24
ALEXANDER
There was literally no way that Alexander was going to get around this. Tobias had just stared, wide-eyed, as Alexander threw a heart on the fucking floor like he actually was a monster out of a storybook.
That probably wasn’t his finest moment. But then again, what was he supposed to do? Vladimir needed to lay down the law in his own home, and that included not letting his subjects attempt to murder Alexander’s–
His mind stuttered over the concept. What was he to Tobias?
Were they dating? Just fucking? It felt like so much more than that, but it wasn’t as if with all the murders they’d had time to define their relationship.
And it wasn’t as if there could really be anything between them with the secrets that Alexander had been keeping.
Although that was likely at an end, too.
Alexander guided them back to his rooms with a hand hovering just behind Tobias’ neck, reluctant to touch him with his hands coated in a vampire’s blood.
But Tobias leaned back into his touch, and so Alexander marked him, smearing blood across the ridges of his vertebrae.
Tobias looked up at him, biting his lip, and Alexander couldn’t tell if he was in shock or if he was about to have a freak-out of epic proportions.
Maybe he should be taking Tobias’ cell phone in case he tried to call the police, because clearly Alexander had just murdered a person…
If only Tobias knew just how many people – mortals and vampires both – Alexander had killed in cold blood, not even to protect people he cared about. Just to eat, to feed, sometimes even just because he was bored and wanted to toy with them.
“Alexander–” Tobias started as they walked down the hall, following the trail of blood that Alexander had left dripping in his wake. But Alexander cut him off.
“Give it a minute.” He hated the way his voice was shaking. “Just until we’re somewhere private.”
Tobias nodded, his shoulders hunching. Alexander hated that he was clearly scared, and he hated even more that he was the cause of it. He had to hope that Tobias would allow him time to explain. And that he’d then accept the explanation.
They got back to Alexander’s wing of the house, where two servants were sweeping up splinters of wood, with another removing the pins from the ruined door’s hinges.
There was already another door leaning up against the wall – it wasn’t uncommon, unfortunately, for them to need to be replaced with an alarming frequency – and he was for once grateful for the speed with which things were repaired at Rothburn.
At least they’d have privacy for the awful discussion they needed to have.
“If you don’t mind.” Alexander guided Tobias around the biggest of the splinters, the two vampires who were cleaning up scurrying to the walls and bowing their heads in deference. “Perhaps I should get cleaned up first. You’ll watch while I do.”
He hated using compulsions on Tobias, but he couldn’t risk the boy running away, not before he had a chance to explain.
And besides, if Tobias ran, Vladimir or his followers would just chase after him to hunt him down and kill him.
It was better that he used his power to make sure that Tobias stayed safe.
He could give him the option to leave later, if seeing the truth of Alexander made him want to get away more than he valued his own life.
He led them to the bathroom and sat Tobias down on an upholstered bench before turning on the tap over the massive claw-foot tub set against the wall.
As it filled, Alexander stripped, tossing his bloodied clothes into a heap in the corner of the bathroom.
A servant would fetch them and burn them, undoubtedly – there was no saving them, even with the best dry cleaning in the world.
He scrubbed his hands and arms in the sink, getting off the worst of the blood, and then splashed water on his face.
There was blood caught in the stubble around his jaw, and while he ordinarily wouldn’t have minded, he grabbed a cloth from the cabinet beside the sink and scrubbed vigorously.
If he was going to have a conversation with Tobias about how he was a monster, he at least didn’t want to look like one while doing it.
When he straightened up, water dripping down his bare chest, Tobias was still staring at him – clearly the compulsion was working a bit too well. His face was ashen, and a trail of blood marked his neck like a collar.
“You don’t think you’re just going to sit and watch, do you?
” Alexander knelt down in front of Tobias, untying the joggers that he’d clearly stolen from Alexander’s own closet, then unbuttoning his pilfered shirt.
Alexander tried to ignore what the sight of Tobias in his clothes did to him, the possessive flare that it lit in his chest. “Join me.”
“I’ve been waiting for an invitation,” Tobias admitted, a flush covering his cheeks.
“Consider it extended,” Alexander replied.
When Tobias was naked too, he towed the smaller man to the tub, pulling a bottle down off the nearby shelf at random and dumping in bubble bath. As it foamed, he stepped in, then offered a hand to Tobias to join him.
“Well,” Tobias said as he settled down in the water, sinking until only his head was above water. “I suppose this is a perk of being extraordinarily rich, having a tub that’s decidedly big enough for two fully grown men.”
He gave a little giggle, but it sounded nervous, and Alexander hoped that he wasn’t about to become hysterical – although it would be a rational reaction to everything that he’d seen.
He squinted at Tobias, trying to figure out why he wasn’t freaking out, being in the tub with a murderer.
Even compulsions couldn’t stop someone from experiencing their own emotions – it simply stopped them from acting on them.
Maybe this was because of the accident that had killed his family? Was he maybe desensitised to violence?
“Lie on me.” He took Tobias by the shoulders and guided him around so that his back was resting against Alexander’s chest, his hips slotted in between Alexander’s thighs.
He grabbed a cloth from the shelf beside the tub and started to wash Tobias’ neck, making sure to remove every trace of his would-be murderer’s blood.
Tobias sighed and relaxed into the touch, and for a moment Alexander let them just exist, the warm water lapping around them and their bodies connected. But he knew it couldn’t last.
He had to confess, if he was to have any chance of keeping Tobias safe. And that was more important than anything else, even his most closely guarded secret.
“Tobias,” he began, “my family isn’t… normal. And I’ve been keeping things from you.”
“I think that much has become obvious,” Tobias quipped back, resting his head against Alexander’s shoulder.
“I don’t know many filthy rich families that try to murder one another.
Although that’s what the movies always say happens behind gilded doors.
” He gave a nervous chuckle that Alexander was sure signalled the beginning of a crackup, but then he swallowed it down and turned to Alexander expectantly.
Alexander huffed. If only. “No, but – look.” He paused and took a breath.
It was easier to confess to this without having to look Tobias in the eyes.
He tried to remember how he’d done this with every other mortal, and somehow came up blank.
It had always been the start of his relationship with others, who came looking for that particular kind of thrill.
It didn’t come out once there was already something between them.
“It’s deeper than that. More dangerous.”
“More dangerous for me?” Tobias asked, voice soft.
“Yes, little deer.” He ran his fingers through Tobias’ wet curls, lathering them with soap and then guiding Tobias down to rinse them out in the water.
Tobias blinked up at him, his head tilted back and his throat exposed as he let Alexander rinse his hair. The trust there, the way he was baring his neck to a predator and didn’t even know it, gutted Alexander. Would Tobias ever feel the same way towards him again, once he revealed what he was?
“Why? Are you– Is someone going to do to me what you just did to whoever you killed?”
There was no sense in lying to Tobias, so he wasn’t going to.
“They might try.” Alexander pulled Tobias back up and rested a finger on his porcelain skin, feeling just how delicate it was.
“But I’m going to protect you. No one is going to hurt you.
They’d need to get through me first, and believe me, I’m more dangerous than anyone in this house besides my father. ”
Tobias swallowed. “Why might someone try to kill me?”
“Because of the blood that’s in your veins,” Alexander whispered. “It’s not – we’re not like you.”
“Then what blood runs in your veins, Alexander?” He was so perfectly still that the water surrounding him was practically a mirror.
“I’m not human, and neither is my family. No one here is, but you.”
Tobias went rigid in Alexander’s arms. He fought the impulse to lock an arm around him and prevent him from moving. He didn’t want Tobias to run, but he also didn’t want him to feel trapped.
“I mean, I did just meet your dad, and, yeah, he definitely seemed to have something freaky going on.” Tobias’ voice was strangled. “But being some kind of international crime lord doesn’t mean you’re not human. You’re all just… kind of violent? Is this, like, the mafia?”
The image of Vladimir looming over Tobias made a growl build in Alexander’s chest. “It’s not the mafia. It’s worse. I need you to stay away from him. I need you to never go near him again.”