Chapter 5 #2
No one was to be permitted into the house unless it was Janice. Arrangements would be made for the movers, but no one else was allowed inside.
All the curtains were to remain shut at all times.
All doors were to remain shut at all times.
And he was not to attempt to enter any room that was locked.
The tour of the house ended in the kitchen just before noon.
“You may eat anything in the fridge or pantry that you like,” Marcus said, waving a hand toward the fridge. “I have housekeepers who come once a week to clean and restock the fridge. If there’s anything you’d like, please leave a note on the fridge. They will add it to the shopping list.”
“Wow. That’s surprising,” Ethan murmured before he could catch himself.
“What’s so surprising about that?” Marcus asked. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at Ethan.
Ethan swallowed hard and he could feel the blood rushing to his face. Holy shit! He’d said that out loud. It was on the tip of his tongue to comment that Marcus wasn’t supposed to eat food or drink anything at all. He was a vampire! Vampires drank only blood!
“Oh…um…just that you cook for yourself. With this big, fancy house, I thought you’d have a personal chef to handle all that,” Ethan said, feeling awkward as hell.
“I don’t like having people in my personal space.” Marcus stared at the marble counter that was between them. “I don’t cook much. I tried to learn once but discovered that I didn’t have much patience for it.”
“Me neither,” Ethan said quickly. “Kind of a grilled cheese and tomato soup guy.”
Marcus gave a little nod. Silence settled over the kitchen, and then Marcus seemed to pull himself together. His shoulders straightened and his spine stiffened. Cold blue eyes settled on Ethan and he tried not to shrink under that gaze.
“Do you have any questions?”
Ethan pressed his lips together hard to hold back the barrage of vampire-related questions that were bouncing on the tip of his tongue.
“Umm…is there anyone else in the house with us?”
Marcus’s brow furrowed again, but his surprise made his ever-present frown disappear. “Excuse me?”
“Well, we went through most of the house, but there are a lot of rooms I didn’t see.
I guess I was just wondering if I should expect to run across anyone else.
I don’t want to accidentally stumble over your old great-aunt Gertrude as she shuffles to the bathroom and we both freak out, giving me a heart attack while she beats me with her house slipper. ”
Marcus’s lips pressed together, but Ethan could still see them moving as if he were trying his hardest not to smile or maybe even laugh.
Ethan grinned broadly at Marcus, and he was stunned to find that he really wanted to hear Marcus laugh.
The man had a deep, rumbly voice that sort of stroked along his spine in the most amazing way, leaving him feeling like a cat receiving affection.
He couldn’t imagine how his laugh would sound.
“No, I don’t have a great-aunt Gertrude hidden in the house, and there will be no one else besides us. The only person who stops in occasionally is Janice, and that’s just long enough to drop off contracts for me to sign.”
“Got it.”
“Well, there’s also Ozzie, but you won’t be meeting him today.”
“Ozzie?”
“A large black raven. He belongs to my brother, but he likes to spend time at my home as well. I believe he elected to spend today at my brother’s.”
Ethan nodded. “No great-aunt named Gertrude, but there is Ozzie the raven. Got it. Makes sense.”
Marcus stared at him for a moment longer, and Ethan wished he could decipher what was crossing his mind.
He didn’t think he was sizing him up for a meal.
If anything, he seemed confused by Ethan and pretty much everything that came out of his mouth.
Not that Ethan could claim to be talking much sense.
But he wasn’t alone. Marcus apparently shared a raven with his brother and its name was Ozzie. Naturally.
Taking the hand Marcus extended to him across the counter, Ethan shook it, proud that his fingers didn’t noticeably tremble.
“Thank you for your help, Mr. Cline,” Marcus said formally.
“Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Varik.”
Marcus released his hand quickly and hurried from the room. He moved silently for such a large man.
Ethan counted to ten before he released a heavy sigh and leaned against the counter. Tension and adrenaline buzzed through his body. He felt lightheaded as he gulped in big gasps of air.
He was alone in a house with a vampire.
Maybe.
The Humans Protecting Humans League was so positive that Marcus Varik was a vampire. They were positive that he and his family were the culprits behind the murder of his family and all the other people living in his apartment building sixteen years ago.
When he’d taken the assignment to gather intel on Marcus and his family, he’d been sure he’d find proof of his vampireness, but other than the sunlight issue, there was nothing to prove that Marcus was an immortal bloodsucker.
So far, he appeared to be a slightly eccentric rich guy who didn’t like people.
No, that didn’t feel right. Ethan was sure it wasn’t that Marcus didn’t like people. It seemed more likely that he felt awkward and out of place around people. Before he’d slipped into his “boss” tone of voice, he’d been adorably awkward and nervous. As if he didn’t know what to say to Ethan.
And of course, gruff on the exterior and squishy on the interior pushed all his fucking buttons. Hell, he was in trouble even if Marcus didn’t turn out to be a vampire.
The one thing Ethan felt sure of was that Marcus hadn’t been one of the people in his apartment that horrible night. He would have remembered Marcus’s voice. The voices of the two men and the woman were permanently etched into his brain like grooves on a record.
So…if Marcus was a vampire, he wasn’t one of the killers on his list that needed to be exterminated.
But if Marcus was a vampire, didn’t that mean he needed to be exterminated anyway? Hadn’t he killed other humans to feed his need for blood? Didn’t those murdered people deserve justice too?
Except for the fact that Marcus didn’t strike him as a bloodthirsty killer.
Marcus had been quiet and reserved during their tour of his house.
Ethan had watched him closely as they walked, noticing the way he would touch little artifacts around the house—a book here and a little porcelain figure there—as if they were precious to him.
He would steal quick glances at Ethan when he thought Ethan wasn’t paying attention.
When he did, his expression would soften, and there was only what looked to be curiosity in his gaze and maybe confusion, but never hunger or malice.
He seemed to be an awkward rich guy who might also be a little lonely.
Not that Ethan thought he was necessarily harmless. The guy was clearly powerful on a physical level. Tall with broad shoulders and a thick chest. He could probably bench-press a car without being a vampire. His suit did nothing to hide his strength.
And then of course he had those piercing blue eyes and longish black hair. Today it had been tamed. Neatly combed back and styled, but Ethan had to wonder if maybe as the day wore on and Marcus ran his fingers through his hair those locks grew wilder.
Ethan could imagine climbing into his lap and shoving the fingers of both hands through those thick waves, plunging into the softness only to hold his head captive as he leaned down—
A low groan escaped him, and he didn’t give a shit if Marcus could hear him. Why did he have to be so hot with those beautiful eyes, chiseled jaw, and perfect cock-sucking lips?
Leaning down, Ethan banged his head against the counter and winced as pain shot through his forehead. He should never have agreed to this assignment. This was an enormous mistake. He wasn’t some highly trained super spy. He didn’t know what the fuck he was doing.
They’d made it sound so easy. The perfect way he could do something valuable to give his family justice. Get this job, gather a little intel, and get out again. The professionals with experience killing vampires would handle all the real dirty work.
Except Ethan didn’t want innocent people to get hurt.
And if Marcus wasn’t involved in the death of his family, he didn’t deserve to be targeted. He definitely didn’t deserve to die.
Pressing his hands to the cool marble, Ethan pushed himself upright and glared at the stove directly across from him. He could do this. There was still time. He needed to find actual proof that Marcus was a vampire and a killer. Then he could justify giving information over to Carl and the League.
And if the League was wrong about Marcus, he’d tell them and they could look elsewhere.
Plus, Ethan had the added bonus of a damn good paying job for a few months.
He’d get to live in a nice place that didn’t have mice, and he didn’t have to worry about getting mugged when he walked to and from the train station.
Closing his eyes, Ethan fought down the swell of uselessness that seemed to swamp him along with the memories of his older sister Lucy and little sister Macy.
Lucy would have been out of college and possibly married now if she’d lived.
Macy would just be starting college. They deserved to live, to have long and happy lives. But that chance had been stolen.
As their brother, he needed to do something about their stolen lives. He should have done something about it already.
God, why do I have to be so useless?