Chapter 4
Four
Rafe hated the uneasiness that ran through him as he used his key to unlock Marcus’s front door. His older brother’s house had been invaded twice in the past six months, and it left him feeling like he needed to be on guard in a place that had always been a second home for him.
But it was na?ve of him to think Marcus wasn’t vulnerable. His brother had always used his residence as a meeting place for business as well as dealing with other vampires. Aiden might be their sire and the head of their family, but everyone came to Marcus when something needed to be dealt with.
For so long, Aiden’s distance had been related to their mother’s mental health. Being around Aiden appeared to set her off.
Now she was gone forever.
When Aiden was finished mourning, would he finally join them? Would he choose to live near them and be a full part of their family again? Or would he drift away?
Rafe suspected the latter would most likely be the case. Julianna’s sons were too much of a painful reminder of what he’d lost.
The thought hurt. More than the loss of Julianna.
He liked Aiden. When Julianna had been human and Aiden was courting her, he accepted her illegitimate children as if they were his own.
He laughed so easily and had such loving patience with them.
He had been the father Rafe had always dreamed of having in his life.
Then everything fell apart.
“Keep that damn needle to yourself, Bel! I swear if you come near me with it again, I’ll stake you in your sleep!” Ethan’s angry voice echoed through the first floor, and Rafe was shaken from his gloomy thoughts.
As potential mates went, Rafe had to admit that Marcus chose well for himself. Ethan fit in perfectly, breathing fresh life into their family. And if he made Marcus happy, that was good too.
“Please, Ethan. It’s for science,” Bel countered in a softer, almost pleading voice. It really was his favorite argument for pretty much everything. As if they should just understand and submit to his whims so they could help him further his studies of vampire nature.
Rafe followed the sounds of their arguing, finding Ethan and Bel on opposite sides of the library. Ethan’s face was a little pale when confronted with the syringe with an obscenely long needle in Bel’s hand.
“Come now, Bel. Haven’t you taken enough of Little Varik’s blood?” Rafe teased.
Bel blushed and lowered the needle. “There was a bit of a mishap in the lab, and the vial with his vampire blood was lost.”
“Mishap? What are you talking about?” Rafe demanded instantly, his heart rate picking up. Bel didn’t have mishaps. There were few creatures in all the world more fastidious and careful than his twin.
Bel shook his head. “Nothing important. Ozzie startled me last night while I was working, and I dropped the vial.”
“Bloody bird,” Rafe muttered as relief washed over him.
Ozzie was a raven Bel sent flitting between his house and Marcus’s so he could keep an eye on his oldest brother.
He had warned Bel against setting animal tattletales on him, and Bel promised not to, but there were times when he was out hunting that Rafe swore he felt little eyes on him.
Not that he blamed Bel. They all tended to be a bit overprotective.
But Bel’s ability to understand and speak to animals was an interesting one. Not something that he would have expected for his twin. When Beltran had been human, he’d never been particularly fond of animals. Now he was a regular Doctor Dolittle.
“Later, Bel. After the meeting and when Marcus is with me,” Ethan finally relented.
It was a little adorable that Ethan was so dead set against needles and having his blood drawn. He had a suspicion Ethan didn’t object if his brother wanted a little nip during sex. Not that Rafe wanted to think about Marcus’s sex life at all.
Rafe was still mentally shuddering when Ethan turned his attention to him.
“How’s the nightclub?” the fledgling asked as he dropped onto the sofa and pulled a pillow into his lap.
It was an interesting habit Ethan had developed recently.
If Marcus wasn’t around, Ethan tended to grab one of the throw pillows and run his fingers over the brocade design again and again as if it soothed him.
The second Marcus appeared, the tension would disappear, the pillow tossed aside.
He’d mentioned it once to Marcus, and he commented that Ethan was struggling to accept his newfound hunger.
“Opening night was a success, of course. Blush is on track to be one of my best yet.” Rafe stopped in front of one of the leather chairs and unbuttoned his suit jacket before sitting.
His new club had been open for roughly a week, but Rafe had been there only two nights so far, preferring to leave it in the capable hands of Lola.
He would never admit this to anyone, but he was growing bored with the club scene.
Year after year, it seemed to be more of the same.
The music was loud. The clothing was shrinking.
And the drinks…well, he hadn’t enjoyed anything pleasantly original in quite a while.
Or maybe it was the people. They changed even less frequently.
Young, careless, confident that they were invincible.
The world belonged to them. Or so they thought.
They were all oblivious to the fact that among their ranks prowled true predators who could so easily end all those confident hopes and dreams.
Dear God, I’m maudlin tonight.
Was this thanks to his chat with Philippe Arsenault the evening before?
Maybe after this meeting with his family, he’d find a nice distraction or two. He didn’t need to feed for another few nights, but fresh bedroom companions always put him in a better mood.
“How goes the teething?” Rafe teased.
Narrowing his eyes on Rafe, Ethan lifted his upper lip and Rafe watched as a pair of perfect white fangs deftly slid into place with a growl.
“Nicely done, pet,” Rafe continued, unruffled by Ethan’s challenging glare.
“Don’t call him that,” Marcus snapped as he entered the room.
Usually a command like that only encouraged Rafe to continue, but Marcus’s tone made it clear he would happily crush his brother’s neck over it.
And in truth, the name was a little more tasteless than his usual playful teasing.
Ethan Varik was no pet. He was Marcus’s mate.
His cherished love. And Rafe respected that, maybe even envied it.
“The hunting goes well,” Marcus said as he sat on the couch next to Ethan. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders, pulling him in closer, as if he didn’t want more than a centimeter of open space between them.
“Except that I have to do it every night,” Ethan groaned. “Some nights I just want to lie around and do nothing.”
Rafe smirked. “You have an eternity in front of you, Little Varik. Plenty of time for fucking my dear brother.”
Ethan’s smile became smug, and he sat up a little straighter. “Trust me, doing your brother is not doing nothing.”
Rafe flinched and tried to scrub the immediate mental image from his brain as Marcus’s laughter filled the room.
“You started it,” Bel needlessly pointed out.
It was true; Rafe had walked into that one.
He still wasn’t accustomed to having someone so willing to fire comments at him with such brazen enthusiasm, let alone about his brother’s sex life.
Hell, if his brothers’ conversations were to be believed, Rafe was sure he was the only one of them having sex. Until Ethan arrived, of course.
Sighing loudly, Rafe returned his attention to Marcus. “We’re still waiting on Wee One? I do have other things to see to this evening. I—”
“I’m here,” Winter said as he strolled through the open doorway, his hands shoved into the pockets of his long black jacket. The youngest of the Varik brothers smirked as he walked past and dropped into the remaining empty chair. Rafe had a feeling he’d heard his back and forth with Ethan.
“How goes the Ministry?” Winter inquired. At least he was moving them forward to the real reason for their gathering.
“Pissed,” Marcus grumbled. Not that anyone was surprised by that announcement.
The war between the Variks and the Black Wolf clan was not the problem.
Minerva had led an attack on the Variks, kidnapped three of them, and killed Julianna.
They had been well within their rights to slaughter every last fucking one of them.
The Ministry had no problem with Minerva’s death or the disbanding of the clan.
No, their problem was with how Minerva’s final death was accomplished.
“They want to execute me, don’t they?” Bel said in a soft but firm voice.
Rafe’s hands tightened into fists, but he clamped his mouth shut.
There was no point in him shouting that no one was going to lay a hand on Bel.
All his brothers could easily agree on that.
He couldn’t stomach the idea that his twin was able to voice such a thought so calmly.
No one who knew Bel could ever want to hurt him.
Yes, Bel could be a little absent-minded and lost in his own world of science, but he knew of no one with a kinder, warmer heart than sweet Bel.
“Some are arguing that we share the formula for that poison you’ve created,” Marcus started.
“Never going to happen,” Bel barked. “Creating it was purely an accident. And yes, I never should have used it. But allowing it to fall into the hands of others would be even more careless.”
“That’s why I’m arguing that you will destroy all remaining vials of the solution and all notes on how to make it again,” Marcus calmly continued.
“And how would we convince the Ministry that Bel fulfilled his end of the bargain?” Winter asked.
Marcus sighed and his hand tightened on Ethan’s shoulder. “If Bel fails to keep his end of the deal and another vampire dies by his poison, then Bel would be immediately executed for failing to obey the orders of the Ministry. No trial. No arguments. No chance for reprieve.”