He opened his eyes and found Scott pinned to the cabinets by Corey. He’d most likely tried to come to Emily’s rescue. With much reluctance, Marcus eased back then released her.
Marcus smoothed the hair out of Emily’s face with trembling fingers. He’d wanted her blood so badly, but not like this. His throat seized, and he couldn’t find the words to tell her he was sorry.
As soon as Corey let go of him, Scott rushed to Emily’s side.
Within moments, Jai Li and Corey bombarded him with questions and congratulatory comments on his well-being. He was more concerned with Emily. God, he hoped he hadn’t hurt her – or even worse, destroyed the fledgling feelings she had begun to explore with him.
Scott led Emily over to the sink. He dabbed at her neck with a damp towel and inspected the fang marks. The expression on his face was one of concern and irritation. “I’m not sending you home with him. Stay here with me.”
“I need to take Marcus home.” She lifted fingers to her neck and winced. “I’m okay, really.”
“I don’t like this. He’s dangerous. He’s fed from you, and now he’ll have a taste for it.” His expression was heavy with distress. “Please listen to me, Emily.”
Ignoring him, she washed her hands at the sink. Scott put hands on either side of her ribs. She sucked in a sharp breath and shied away.
“You might have a bruised rib or two. You should get it looked at to make sure they’re not cracked.”
Marcus tried to understand exactly what he had witnessed. Scott wanted to protect her from him and honestly it wasn’t a bad idea. The allure of her blood and body was something he could no longer fight. Now that he’d had her, he wanted so much more.
Scott strode through the workroom doors without another glance. “Be sure and lock up when you leave.”
What odd behavior. If he were at full mental capacity, he might understand their actions. It was difficult to think with Jai Li hugging the air out of him and Corey talking nonstop.
Corey cupped a hand beneath Marcus's chin to force him to look at him. “Are you able to walk? We ought to get you back to the mansion.”
“No.” Marcus allowed Corey to help him off the table. The lower portion of his body still tingled.
“No?” Corey repeated and scratched at his left eyebrow. “No you aren’t up to walking or no you aren’t going back to the mansion?”
Marcus stood on his own. Perhaps his legs would hold him after all. “Both.”
Corey gave Marcus a fierce hug then quickly stepped away, looking embarrassed by his actions. “I’m glad you’re okay. I felt like something was wrong even before the phone call. You’re not my sire so that was kinda weird, huh?”
Jai Li glared at Emily like it was entirely her fault. “You can’t be serious, Marcus. You need rest and proper time to heal. Not to mention a decent meal.”
“In case the two of you forgot, I have a job to do. Someone has to be there in case the witch tries to take Emily again.” He watched Emily gather the dirty linens and deposit them in their proper place.
She looked paler than normal and he feared he’d taken too much of her blood.
Corey pounced on the chance. “Let me go. I’ll do a good job. I want to go. I can do this.”
Lord, the boy was more hyper than a four-year-old hopped up on sugar. “No, Corey. I need someone whole and strong there with Isabella. What did you learn about Riley?”
Corey settled down, looking a bit disappointed. “Not much. He went straight home. Ravenna and Arthur were there and I didn’t want to cause a big to do over nothing. Maybe we were wrong about him. You know how teenagers are. They always seem like they’re up to no good.”
“What about Chad and Watts?” He flicked his gaze in Emily's direction and she ducked her head.
“Nothing,” Jai Li answered with a shrug. “Chad says Isabella wanted to see firsthand that she was okay. It seemed kind of rehearsed and I suspect she planted that answer in his head.”
He chose to move past it. “I think I found the location of the ley line a few nights ago. There seems to be a great deal of power at the back of Emily’s property.”
“Are you sure?” Corey’s eyes widened. “Can you see or feel it?”
“No, I can’t see it, but it feels like a lot static in the air. You can kind of feel this powerful energy pressing down on you,” Marcus explained with a shrug. “It kind of gives me the creeps.”
“So what do we do?” Jai Li brushed a smudge of dirt off his cheek.
It didn’t escape his attention that Emily shot Jai Li an evil look. His little vixen was jealous!
“We need to locate an expert. We don’t know enough about the lines. I honestly don’t know if there’s anything we can do to dispel their power or not.”
“I’ll get online,” Corey agreed. “We can’t trust anyone in the city. Starr probably has the metaphysical shop owners in her pocket.”
He nodded, impressed with Corey’s solution. The kid had come a long way in a short amount of time. “Listen, I want a couple people, preferably werewolves or some other shifters, to keep an eye on this place. Claude will tell Starr he missed me again and she’ll more than likely know I was brought here. I don’t want any unnecessary trouble for Scott, got it?”
“Got it.” Jai Li grasped Corey’s upper arm and led him toward the workroom doors. Corey moved on, but Jai Li’s shoulder smacked into Emily’s. She stopped to glare at her. “You owe him your life.”
Before she left the building completely, Jai Li called to Marcus, “We’ll keep in touch. Stay safe.”
***
Marcus slumped in the passenger’s seat, silent, and sullen. Tonight marked the first time he’d ever allowed anyone to drive his car.
Emily’s shifting was much smoother now that she had calmed down.
“Thank you.” Emily eased the car through traffic.
“For what?” Marcus rolled his head against the leather to look at her. He’d let the seat back a little and it had felt good to recline at first. Now it felt a bit alien to be so relaxed.
“For what you did back there. They would have killed me.” She braked, exiting the interstate.
Marcus didn’t answer for several moments. He honestly regretted how things turned out. “I promised to protect you. And I'm sorry about your friend switching sides and trying to hurt you.”
Emily was silent, staring out at the road instead. He sat up and glanced at the puckered fang marks he’d left her with. They no longer bled, but were ragged and bruised. Remorse swept over him. She’d had to endure the pain of his teeth tearing into her flesh. “I never wanted to bite you. What I mean is, I do want to bite you, but not like that.”
He groaned at her silence. The words were not coming out like he wanted them to. If he could just make her understand…
“It’s okay.” Her voice was quiet and he wasn’t sure what it meant. “You were dying and not in your right mind.”
His chest tightened and he didn’t understand the emotions that threatened to drown him. He’d never felt this way about anyone before. Jai Li was right. He probably should have returned to the mansion where he’d have an endless supply of fresh human blood. But that meant leaving Emily. She had become more than a menial task given to him. Damn. The realization was like a gut punch.
They’d left the bright city lights and were headed down the old county road. Emily continued her train of thought. “I guess it makes sense Brenda would switch sides. She hates nosferatu.”
Marcus chuckled, already feeling a bit better. “Why do you call us that?”
Emily parked behind the Bug and put the car into neutral before killing the engine. “Nosferatu? I don’t know. Brenda came up with it and it just kind of stuck.”
He used every sense he could call upon to survey the darkness. It didn’t look or smell like anyone had been snooping around the house. Perhaps Claude’s news had not reached Starr yet.
“Do you find it derogatory?” Emily stared at him, one eye
brow raised.
It took him a second to refocus on their conversation. “Sure I’m tall and a little skinny, but I’ve got a full head of hair. Besides, my ears aren’t pointy like his. So I ask you, Freckles, do I look like Count Orlok to you?”
Emily’s expression grew serious and her gaze locked with his. She ran a finger over the ridge of his left ear. “No, you definitely do not. Actually, you’re nothing like I expected.”
She wasn’t what he expected either. Though he still felt like she was hiding something from him, she had surprised him tonight. Emily had come through for him. She could have left him to die, probably should have, but hadn’t.
Emily opened the door to the spare bedroom. Marcus lay right where she’d left him earlier that morning. He’d taken a shower and settled into bed soon after they’d returned home. He claimed that he felt better, but had looked peaked and ill. Isabella had called this afternoon to check on Emily’s progress. She hadn’t been happy with Emily’s answer of, “All I got was childhood memories and him working in your stables.”
“That is all? There was nothing more?” Isabella clearly did not believe her.
On a shaky exhalation, Emily added, “I know how he got that tattoo and how you turned him.”
After a moment’s worth of silence, the vampire said, “I look forward to meeting your sister. Perhaps I will send someone over tonight.”
“That’s not necessary! I’ll read Marcus again this afternoon. Just keep in mind that I can’t control what I see.” She shuddered at the idea of seeing more of Marcus's haunted memories.
Now she carried a pair of his jeans, the sexy ones with the fraying front pockets, to the closet and hung them up. She washed them with her own laundry this morning, just in case he was awake.
He'd left none of his belongings lying about. Even the computer was tucked away in its case. There would be no peeking at the screen this time. She turned in a tight circle and surveyed the room. He kept it fairly neat, except for the pair of pants he’d worn the night before wadded in the corner. His boots sat at the end of the bed. They were scarred from the previous night’s scuffle and in bad need of polish. Maybe she’d be nice and do it for him, or at least leave the polish where he could find it.
She eased onto the bed, careful not to jostle him. He’d changed into a pair of dark red boxer-briefs, no shirt. She supposed it made it easier to find a bare patch of skin.
He lay on his side, facing the wall. His hair had fallen across his face. With careful fingers, she brushed silken black locks away and dropped a tentative kiss on his cool cheek. If only he was a normal, living man…
Her fingers traced across the wings on his back and the unmistakable pattern of scars. Hazy images surfaced through the murky darkness in his mind, all of them vying for her attention.
Snippets of Emily and other unfamiliar faces floated in her mind. There! A memory of Isabella broken and bloody on the floor flickered into the forefront of her mind. Was this a memory or something he desired? She was almost certain that it had everything to do with the power play Isabella feared. Emily settled in and focused on ferreting out the source of this recollection.
***
Isabella pulled on a lavender dress and pinned her long hair atop her head. Marcus knew she was watching him in the mirror’s reflection. He swiped a pair of jeans from the floor and stepped into them. Fresh bite marks and scratches decorated his back and shoulders.
She sat aside her brush and turned to face him. “For the record, this changes nothing. You can promise me your soul and I will still do as I wish with Evan. He is mine. He belongs to me.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes and a snarl formed on his lips. “He’s a human being, not a toy or pet. He doesn’t belong to anyone.”
“He is mine,” Isabella repeated with more force.
White-hot anger clouded Marcus’s mind. His fingers curled into fists. “You said you would never bring him over. He doesn’t want this – this imitation of life that we live.”
She shrugged. “He will change his mind.”
“No, Isabella, he won’t. And you better not change his mind for him.”
She huffed with irritation. “I wish you would refer to me as Mistress Isabella. I do deserve a certain amount of respect. I expect that much from you of all people.”
Marcus made a sour face then brushed dark hair out of his eyes. “You lost my respect a long time ago. I’ll refer to you however I wish.”
“How dare you speak to me in such a manner!” Isabella’s expression contorted into something dark and hateful. She grasped a handful of his hair and pulled him down to her level. “You belong to me too, Marcus. I made you. Never forget it.”
Marcus pushed her away in disgust. “How can I? You keep shoving my nose in it.”
He turned to go, finished with this tired discussion. Isabella launched herself at his back, fingers hooked like claws, and her lips pulled back to reveal fangs.
Marcus turned and caught her by the throat in midair. “You’re too slow, old woman. Your actions are becoming predictable.”
She brought her knee up, catching him just under the ribcage. He tossed her aside. Isabella rolled and bounced back onto her feet.
This time, he caught her wrists and wrenched her arms up over her head. “I’m done playing your games. Leave Evan alone or you’ll deal with me.”
Isabella’s laughter sounded harsh in the intimate room. After he released her, she said, “I have been dealing with you for the better part of a century. You are all growl, but no bite. I think you are afraid to be without me.”
Fire danced behind Isabella’s brown eyes. She was no longer playing around. Like a caged animal set free, she pounced on him with teeth flashing and nails tearing into his flesh.
They fought for several moments before Isabella finally loosened her grip on him. He tossed her in the direction of the vanity. His body screamed out against the wounds she’d inflicted. Isabella sprang at him again.
He pinned her against the wall to keep her from damaging him further. She threw back her head to scream for help. He silenced her by burying his fangs in her throat. She struggled against him, but he refused to let go. She rapidly lost strength and life.
Her voice shook as she whispered, “This is forbidden! You will be put to death.”
Marcus came to his senses then dropped her. She curled at his feet and glared up at him. The fire burning within her had been doused.
He stood over her, hate, and anger radiating from his very core. “You won’t kill me. You’re too weak. You’ve come to rely on me too much.”
“And you cannot kill me. I am your master.” She lay sprawled on the floor, her lavender dress torn and dirty. The wounds Marcus had given her during the scuffle stained her face and hands. The neck wound ruined the front of her once pretty bodice. Mascara ran down her cheeks, leaving a trail of despair in its wake. White-blonde hair had come undone from the clasps and spilled curls around her shoulders.
Using the back of a trembling hand, Isabella wiped at her chin. Her eyes glistened as she peered up at him. Fear as well as revulsion burned in her dark gaze. Her voice cracked on a sob. “Why have you done this? Why have you taken from me?”
A malicious grin played at the corners of his mouth. He turned darkened eyes upon her. “Because I can. Now you know your place. You are beneath me. You're the dirt beneath my boots. You disgust me.”
“You cannot overthrow me this way.” She sobbed. “This does not count. No one witnessed this.”
“But you and I know. That’s good enough, for now.”
Isabella tried to think of a way to save face. “We must not tell anyone, do you understand? There are strict rules about this.” She clutched at his leg, her expression screamed of desperation.
Blood glistened on Marcus’s chin. “Know this, Isabella. You won’t always rule over this city. You won’t always be a master. When that time comes, you’ll no longer be safe from me.”
She gasped, his words rece
iving the reaction he’d expected. Isabella clutched at the lacy bodice and tears continued to leak down her pale face. “I am not safe away from your shadow. And now I am no longer safe within it.”
Marcus rested his hand on the doorknob and looked over his shoulder. “If you so much as harm a hair on Evan’s head, I will find a way to kill you.”
***
Emily snuggled deeper into the pillow, shaken by what she had seen. The last image she viewed before waking was disturbing, to say the least. Marcus had followed Isabella while she’d been out with other enforcers. She had slipped away from them, seeming to need a moment alone. Marcus was there—waiting in the darkness—thinking of how easy it would be to put an end to her existence right at that moment.
Emily must have dozed off. Nightfall already blanketed the Earth.
How in the hell had she managed to fall asleep while reading Marcus?
The answer, she decided, wasn’t as important as getting out of the room before he woke up.
A cool hand wrapped around her wrist just as she sat up and swung her legs off the mattress. Emily managed not to shriek— knowing fear wouldn’t help matters.
His voice was low, wary. “I can only think of two reasons you’d be in bed with me, Freckles.”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay. I must have dozed off.” Had the slight tremble in her voice given her away? Her next words were truth. “And I wanted to be near you.”
He sat up and gave her arm a gentle tug, forcing her to lean against him. Her back rested against his bare chest, her head on his shoulder.
“What do you want to know so badly that you're willing to risk waking me?” His lips brushed against her temple.
A shudder rippled down the length of her spine. This had to be one of the dumbest things she’d ever done.
Marcus caressed her shoulder and neck. His fingers stopped just beneath her ear. He’d competently tilted Emily’s head to expose her throat without her even realizing what he had done. Before she had time to move—let alone think—his lips pressed against her throbbing pulse. Instead of biting, he tasted her skin just above the old fang marks with the tip of his tongue. “Have you brought me breakfast in bed?”
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