by Melody Raven
“Like Fredrick?” asked Marcus. “Last I saw him, he was missing his head. Even if I wanted Aleksander gone, there’s nothing I could do about that now.”
The interrogator shrugged. “Aleksander will welcome you back soon enough. There’s no evidence you had any involvement with Fredrick.”
“What makes you so sure?”
The speaker smiled. “I’m sure because Fredrick was working with us.”
There was a tense pause when no one spoke. Gena could practically feel Marcus consider his options. Whoever this Aleksander was, Marcus had motive to make him “gone,” and these men wanted him to do it. What would they do if he said no?
“I can take care of Aleksander on my own, and I don’t need some fucking dinner-snatching strangers to help me do it,” replied Marcus.
Marcus finally walked away and pulled her with him. His arms had fallen from their previous positioning wrapped around her, and she immediately felt the loss of body heat. However, one of his now free hands grabbed her wrist and pulled her along with him. He took long strides and she almost had to jog to keep up with him, but she’d happily run to get away from that alley.
“Wait!” called a voice from behind them.
Marcus stopped, but Gena tugged at his arm, urging him to walk away. Marcus nodded to her in acknowledgment but still looked back to the men with an impatient glare.
The speaker threw something toward her and Marcus. She flinched and held up a defensive arm over her face, but Marcus just reached out and grabbed the flying object out of the air. His arm moved so fast it appeared as a blur in front of her eyes.
As he lowered his hand at a perfectly normal speed, Gena saw that the object was a cheap cell phone. The interrogator said, “We will be in touch.”
Marcus didn’t respond, but just turned away from the three and finally led Gena from her attackers.
The farther they moved from the threat, the calmer Gena’s breathing became. Marcus periodically glanced over his shoulder and she did the same. She didn’t see any sign of the three men behind her.
Instead of going back to the club like he’d said, Marcus led her along the dark streets of the city. After a few blocks, the shock of the evening faded and Gena slowly collected her wits. She tried to free her wrist from Marcus’s grasp, but he just held on tighter.
“Let me go,” she said quietly but firmly. She wasn’t going to be manhandled again tonight.
Marcus stopped and turned his gaze to her small wrist wrapped in his large hand. It almost looked as though he forgot he was still holding her. His fingers released her, but his voice reached her through the quiet night. “Stay with me,” he ordered and moved again.
Gena followed. “Where are you taking me? I need to go back to Hope. I promised her I’d be back to her apartment before dawn.”
Marcus shot her a surprised glance. “You want to go back to your friend? Don’t you have any questions about what just happened back there?”
She shook her head, but he was looking at the street and not her. “I don’t need to know. I just need to go home. I could use a shower.” She immediately regretted the words that reminded them both about her blood-covered chest and the two bullet holes that had disappeared.
He glanced over at her chest briefly, but it was again covered with his jacket. “There’s a shower at my place you can use.”
“What the hell? Why would I go to your place?”
“It’s safer there. I can protect you.”
Gena rolled her eyes. “I haven’t been safe one moment since I met you,” she pointed out.
“That man who shot you had nothing to do with me.”
“Just because one attempt on my life wasn’t because of you doesn’t make you safe!” She knew that she was not safe anywhere. Not as long as Ryan was hunting her and her body was doing things that shouldn’t be possible.
She wanted Marcus to leave her alone. She wanted to go back to Hope’s apartment, see Lady’s happy face and wagging tail, and take a long, long nap. She decided to try a different angle. “Besides, why would I want to be alone with someone like you?”
Marcus studied her carefully. “What do you mean by that?”
She gave him a knowing look. “You asked if I have any questions about what happened. Well, I do, but I do not want to know why you can move as fast as you do or why those men and Vlad could smell the blood on me. I don’t want to know why you were unfazed by Ryan waving a gun at you or why those men, who by the way were trying to convince you to help them murder this ‘Aleksander,’ looked hungry when they saw my blood.”
Marcus remained quiet. She’d secretly been hoping he’d jump in with a rational explanation for everything she listed. “I have enough strange things happening to me already without spending any more time around anyone who raises the types of questions you do.”
Marcus set a hand on her arm. It was a light touch, so she didn’t make him move it. She could feel the warmth of him even through his jacket. She glanced up to his face and saw those ocean blue eyes look seriously at her. “You don’t understand. You’ve been caught up in the middle of something that has nothing to do with you.”
Gena shook her head. “I’m not caught up in anything. I can walk away right now and you will never see or hear from me again. I promise I won’t cause you any more trouble.”
“You’re not causing me trouble. Those men who attacked you are very dangerous, but they’re not alone. For years we’ve lived in secret and, for the most part, in harmony with humans.”
Gena put her hands to his chest in protest. “Just stop talking! I don’t want to know any more about this!”
Marcus continued, “But now there’s this whole faction that has come out of nowhere to start a war. It won’t just be vampires who die.”
Gena was speechless. She couldn’t believe he actually spoke the word out loud.
“I work for Aleksander. I was sent here to infiltrate their group and find out who they are and how they stayed hidden for so long.”
Gena attempted to wrap her head around this. “While I agree this sounds like a very bad situation for everyone involved, I fail to see what it specifically has to do with me.”
Marcus took a deep breath before he broke it down for her. “They expect me to be a heartless bastard who would betray his king and cares nothing for humans. I saved you tonight by making it clear you were mine. When I see them again, they’ll expect you to be with me.”
Gena smiled at how ridiculous it sounded. “Just tell them you killed me. Wouldn’t that only help your image? I don’t understand what’s so complicated about this.”
“If you were so disposable to me, why wouldn’t I have let them take turns with you?”
“Because you’re greedy? I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s something you could tell them,” she said.
“If I told them I killed you with no proof, they would make me establish myself in other ways. If I’m lucky, it would just be one person they would force me to kill. It could be a whole busload.”
She fisted her fingers in Marcus’s shirt out of frustration. “You can’t blame that on me! It’s not my fault if those men kill someone.”
Marcus’s hands covered hers. “It might not be your fault, but it will happen,” he said gently.
“So are you saying it’s okay for me to die? To put my life at risk?” She hated to sound dramatic, but he had no right to put this on her.
“I don’t think you need to die. You can survive bullets and are impervious to our control. You might just be the secret weapon I need,” Marcus gently pointed out.
“Just because I didn’t die doesn’t mean I can’t. I’m playing a game that I don’t even know the rules to.”
“You won’t have to do much. Just be around when they come knocking at my door. Say hello and leave the room. I won’t be taking you to their headquarters or have you spying. I just need you to be around,” he said.
Gena removed her hands from his. She couldn’t give him
what he wanted. It was too much for her to absorb in one night. “I can’t,” she whispered.
She saw his lips harden and his back straighten. “Be as scared as you want,” he said. “The fact is, you need me. You need my connections to find out why you can do the things you can.”
“I’d rather be alive and ignorant than know the truth and be dead.”
Marcus cocked a brow. “Really? What happens if ten years from now you realize you haven’t aged a day? What happens to you the next time you go to the doctor, and they decide they want to see exactly what it takes to make you die? Do you think you’re capable of having children? If you are, do you think birth control will even work? Do you really think you can go months or years or decades without knowing?”
Gena was shocked into silence at all the questions he brought up. Questions she’d never considered. He was right. She really knew nothing about this body she was trapped in. How long could she really go without knowing? How long would she be able to go without someone finding out about her? Someone who was not as understanding as Hope. What lengths would people go through to find out how she cheated death?
Marcus continued, “Besides that, you still have a crazed human chasing you. He obviously followed you to Fang, so he probably also knows where you’re staying. Where do you plan on hiding from him?”
Gena couldn’t take it anymore. “Shut up!” she shouted. “What the hell do you want from me?”
Marcus placed his hands on her shoulders. She supposed he was trying to comfort her, but it sure as hell wasn’t working. “All you have to do is stay with me. I’ll keep you safe. I will show you the city and make sure we find out exactly what is happening to you.”
Gena finally brought her gaze up to meet his. “You can try to keep me safe, but you can’t promise me anything, can you?”
Marcus straightened his shoulders and looked down at her and flashed her a smile that showed off two razor-sharp white fangs poking out from under his top lip. “Don’t underestimate my protection.”
She nodded but noted he still hadn’t promised her anything. “If you need me so badly, I think I deserve to get more out of this deal.”
He smirked at her. “Negotiating, are we? What is it you want?”
“Well, for all intents and purposes, I’m dead. No savings accounts, no driver’s license, and no Social Security number. So I need an identity and money.”
Marcus nodded. “The identity might take a while, but it’s doable. How much cash are you thinking?”
Gena drew a blank. She had no idea how much to ask for. “Umm, ten thousand?”
Marcus laughed out loud. “How about one grand a day?” he asked. “Minimum of ten and maximum of one hundred.”
Gena’s jaw dropped. “Do you even have that kind of money?”
Marcus shot her his charming smile once again. “Yes, I do have that kind of money. But you’ll be working for Aleksander, not me. It’s his money you’ll be getting.” He winked.
Gena felt a rush of relief that the problem of money had been taken care of. She couldn’t live off of Hope’s charity forever. There was only one more thing that needed to be taken care of before she could leave with Marcus.
“I have one more request,” she told Marcus.
“Are you absolutely certain Hope can’t look after the dog?” asked Marcus for the fourth time.
Gena looked over at Lady, who leaned happily against Gena in the backseat of her car. The sight made her smile. “Hope has already done too much for me. Besides, she’s leaving to visit her sister in the morning and won’t be around.”
Marcus tried to focus on the road and not the drooling, shedding creature behind him. But the most important thing was that he’d gotten Gena to agree to come with him. That was a hurdle in itself. Well, that and getting her friend Hope to allow her to go.
Once it had been established that Gena would be staying with Marcus, they took a cab to Hope’s apartment. Hope had asked a hundred questions a minute, most of which Gena did not want to answer.
Gena basically stuck to a limited version of the truth. She’d told Hope that Ryan had shown up at the club, and that was why she freaked out and told Hope to leave. She said Ryan had confronted her; Marcus interrupted him and Ryan ended up running off—also partially true.
Marcus and Vlad agreed to help Gena with her double body issue but decided Gena should stay with Marcus to be safer. Hope was quick to call bullshit on that story, but he didn’t give her much of a chance to protest. As soon as Gena had the collar on the dog, Marcus grabbed her packed bag and put Lady on her leash while Hope listed off reasons for Gena to stay at her apartment.
Marcus gave Hope his cell phone number to ease her nerves. After Gena gave Hope a tight hug and told her to make sure Joy was okay, they were out of the apartment as quickly as possible.
Marcus watched Gena stare peacefully out the window and inwardly smiled to himself. He’d actually convinced her to come back with him.
What he was going to do with her was still up in the air. Hell, he wasn’t even sure why he was driving her to his apartment. He hadn’t lied to her. Those rebels in the alley would expect him to be emotionless when it came to human life, but Marcus didn’t need Gena to prove his heartless nature.
Sure, a few more people would’ve died, but in the long run, any war being avoided would save hundreds, if not thousands or millions of human lives.
It was unfair to place her in the middle of this conflict, but he couldn’t just let her walk away. When she first barged into Vlad’s red room, his reasons had been perfectly reasonable. He was bored as hell, and she was the most interesting thing that had happened to him in weeks.
Now that the rebels had finally made contact with him, Marcus didn’t have boredom as an excuse. He just knew he wanted her, and now he had her.
The first glance Gena had of Marcus’s apartment took her breath away. The penthouse apartment was bigger than her entire house.
“I thought New York City apartments were supposed to be small,” she commented as she looked around.
The penthouse was two stories tall, and the living area had such a high ceiling that it took up both stories. One entire wall was made up of windows with a beautiful view of the nighttime skyline. The living room was decorated with ultra-modern black furniture and opened up into a state-of-the-art kitchen with stainless steel everything and black countertops.
Gena would’ve thought they were granite, but judging by the upscale look of everything else around her, it was probably some really expensive material she’d never even heard of.
The staircase bordered the open living room and seemed to lead up to a loft bedroom, but she couldn’t see it well from where she stood.
Marcus spoke from behind her. “Believe it or not, I’m not naturally a city boy. I need space.”
She turned to face him. “Are you claustrophobic?”
His intense gaze met hers. She suddenly felt the pressure of the knowledge she was alone with a vampire that she’d only met hours ago. Her nerves caused her hands to tighten around Lady’s leash. The dog seemed to sense the change in her and whined anxiously.
“Are you already looking for my weaknesses?”
“Just trying to make conversation out of an awkward situation.” She smiled nervously as she tried to defuse the situation.
His gaze held hers for one more moment until he looked down at Lady. “You might as well let her go,” he said. “This is her home for the time being too.”
Gena unhooked Lady and the curious dog quickly ran around the beautiful penthouse to sniff every single piece of furniture and every wall. Gena couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiastic wagging tail. “She really does make the best out of every situation.”
He nodded in agreement but did not reply to her comment as his gaze followed Lady’s frantic sniffing around the room. Gena could imagine that having a strange dog in his private space couldn’t be enjoyable.
“Well, I guess first thing is first,�
�� he said. “You need a shower.”
Gena glanced down at the jacket that covered the now dried blood that coated her chest. She’d never showered at a stranger’s place before. “Is the shower half as nice as the rest of your apartment?”
Marcus’s smile was positively wicked. “You have no idea.”
So this is heaven. The deliciously warm water washed over Gena. Marcus’s shower had to be supernatural, because it wasn’t possible for a normal shower to feel this good. She leaned forward; the super hot water cascaded down her back and loosened the muscles tightened by the stress of the past two days.
In this little cocoon of heat and steam, she could pretend her problems would wash away as easily as the dried blood on her had, but she knew that wasn’t possible.
A good half an hour, and ten very wrinkly fingers, later, Gena finally turned off the water and grabbed a towel Marcus had left out for her.
She looked to the small bag she’d hastily packed in her panicked rush from her house. She had a modest enough t-shirt and pajama pants adorned with a bunch of blue fish to wear. As an extra layer of security, she also threw on a bra. Normally she hated sleeping in the constricting garment, but knowing the exhaustion creeping up on her after the relaxing shower, she didn’t think it would be a problem tonight.
On second thought, the night was almost over. It was much closer to morning. She was officially keeping vampire hours now, she supposed.
She grabbed her bag and walked out of the bathroom sent from the heavens and into the master suite of the penthouse. She’d briefly seen it when Marcus led her to the shower, but now she really had a chance to take it in.
The room was large enough to have a sitting area with a smaller sofa and coffee table. One side of the room was all windows, and the other side was a railing that blocked off the lower-level open living area that the master suite looked over.
The centerpiece of the room was the king-sized bed against the wall between the windows and the overlook. The sheets were white, but the comforter on the bed was black, continuing the black-and-white theme found throughout the entire penthouse.
