Ethan looked down and felt a lump build up in his throat. It was a card. Nothing fancy, just something she’d made for him. More crayon-colored hearts and arrows than words. It was one of the best things he’d ever received though, and for some stupid reason, it almost made him cry like some damn baby.
“Thank you. I’ll treasure it always.” He would, too. As he had been dying, he said it had all been worth it so long as Misty was safe and it was so true. Even though he lost his magic as a result, he would do it all over again if he had to.
* * * *
Zeke stood a few feet away, watching Ethan interact with Misty. They were both sitting on the edge of the bed, her talking a mile a minute, him giving her his undivided attention. They were sharing a packet of fruit snacks and a juice box. The look of pure adoration on her face as she gazed at Ethan was so sweet it should have been sickening, but instead, it made Zeke smile. Eric was standing back with Zeke, his arms crossed as he watched his daughter. “And you thought he was dangerous,” Zeke couldn’t resist pointing out.
“He doesn’t have his magic back yet,” Eric argued, but there wasn’t much conviction in his voice.
“Even if he does, Ethan would never turn bad. He doesn’t have it in him. I don’t give a shit what Dominic says.”
“Not to be a dick, but how impartial are you when it comes to Ethan?” Eric pinned him with a knowing stare.
“You mean because I’m his sire?” Zeke hedged, knowing he was skirting the real question.
“You know the whole coy bit really doesn’t work for you,” Eric replied, his tone much cooler now. “It doesn’t take a genius to see that Ethan is starting to mean a lot to you.”
Zeke glanced back over at the male in question. How much did Ethan really mean to him? So much that he wouldn’t be able to give him up if duty called for it? Then Ethan looked up at him and smiled and the little flip of his stomach told him what he needed to know. I love him. Fuck, when did that happen?
There was no way he could lie to himself though. He was totally and completely in love with the male. So much so that if anyone or anything ever tried to harm him, Zeke would rip them apart. Oh yeah, this went way more beyond the normal sire and fledgling bond. His knees suddenly felt weak and he had to grab one of the empty beds for support. “Shit,” he whispered, his stomach dropping out.
“I’ll take that to mean he is important to you,” Eric deadpanned.
“Whatever I feel for him doesn’t change who he is, damn it,” Zeke snapped. “We’re talking about the guy that allowed himself to be tortured to death rather than giving up our secrets. No amount of magic is going to change that part of him.”
“Fine, I’ll let him have all the freedoms of the rest of the clan, but only if you promise that you’ll watch him and let me know if anything is off. I mean that, too. If you even get a whisper of a feeling that something is up, you come directly to me.”
“Deal,” Zeke nodded, still looking at Ethan.
Eric walked over to the bed and held out his hand. “Come on, Misty. We need to let Doc finish checking out Ethan.”
“I didn’t get a chance to thank you for coming to get me,” Ethan said as he got to his feet.
“Clan takes care of their own and you’re one of us.” Eric smiled.
Zeke could see genuine gratitude in his eyes. Zeke finally appreciated the hard position the vampire was in. While he probably wanted to trust Ethan after he’d saved his daughter, as leader, he also had to worry about the safety of the clan, too.
“I’m sure my mom didn’t think the same way. Let me guess, she refused to help because one warlock wasn’t worth the risk of sending in others?”
“Yeah, well her loss is our gain.” Eric clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m just glad to see you up and walking around.”
“Of course, those morons couldn’t keep me down.” Ethan gave a crooked smile that did strange things to Zeke’s insides.
“Don’t think it will keep you out of any hard work. As soon as Doc clears you, I want you to start training with Zeke again. It’s going to take you a while to get used to fighting with your new body.”
“Yes, sir.” Ethan nodded. Reaching over, he ruffled Misty’s hair. “And you stay out of trouble, squirt. I don’t want to hear about you calling your teacher names anymore.”
“Even if they’re true?” Misty asked, giving a smile that would have been innocent if it weren’t for the fangs she flashed. She jumped down from the edge of the bed and grabbed Eric’s hand. On the way out, she paused long enough to turn around and give a wave.
Dahlia came over, her lips locked on the cup of coffee Zeke had brought her. He started to ask a question, but she held one finger up while she sipped her drink. Finally pulling back, she sighed in satisfaction. “Ah coffee, my crack cocaine.”
“How is he doing?” Unable to stay away any longer, Zeke moved closer to Ethan and placed a hand on the male’s knee.
“I’m sitting right here. If you want to know how I’m doing, why don’t you ask me?” Ethan’s face twisted in annoyance.
“Because you’d tell me you’re fine even if there was something wrong,” Zeke replied as he gave Ethan’s leg a squeeze.
“He’s fine,” Dahlia reassured. “He just needs rest and blood and everything will be gold.”
“I’ll make sure he gets both,” Zeke promised.
“How soon before I can go back on duty?” Ethan asked.
“Give it a couple more days. Try to be careful when you go back out, too. It really pisses me off when someone who I’ve spent good time on patching back up decides to get hurt again. It makes me feel so unappreciated.” She took another sip of coffee, her eyes rolling up in pleasure.
“I’ll make sure he feeds right away,” Zeke said. A deep burn of arousal went through him when he noticed how Ethan’s gazed honed in on his jugular.
“Just make sure you don’t do it here. I heard what happens when Ethan drinks from you and I don’t want to shock what few patients I have.” She held the cup up to her lips, but it did little to hide her devilish grin.
“Dante told you about that?” Ethan’s mouth dropped in outrage.
“He may of mentioned it when he dropped by earlier.”
Ethan’s cheeks were red with embarrassment and Zeke realized the private moment he and Ethan had shared earlier, might not have been so private after all. Given the way Dante liked to blab, too, it would only be a matter of time before the whole clan knew about his and Ethan’s little encounter.
“I have one last question.” Ethan’s face got even redder as he looked down at his hands.
“You need to wait two days for all types of physical activity,” Dahlia answered, saving Ethan from further embarrassment.
“Does today count as one of those days?” Ethan asked, his head still down.
Zeke got a glimpse of the evil smile on his face.
“Out! Both of you.” Dahlia pointed to the door. She was laughing though as they left.
Chapter Eight
Ethan concentrated on the folded piece of paper on his desk. Holding his palm over it, he tried to channel whatever smidgen of magic he had left in his body so he could shoot off a spark. Please, let this work. Just give me this little bit of hope. Burning up a piece of paper was the first trick any young warlock or witch learned and the irony wasn’t lost on him that the son of the mighty Olivia couldn’t even manage that anymore.
Still he kept trying, concentrating so hard that a sweat broke out on his brow and his head started to pound. Come on. Come on. You can do this. It’s who you are. What you have always been best at doing. Nothing. Not even a smoldering wisp of smoke to let him know he’d been close. Letting out a low growl of frustration, he flicked the offending paper off his dresser and ran his hands through his hair. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been this damn frustrated.
To make matters worse, since that day at the infirmary, Zeke had been so cold and distant, only coming a couple of times to check up
on him. To add insult to injury whenever it came time for Ethan to feed, Zeke would offer his wrist, not even leaving the more intimate area of his jugular up for debate. Other than that, the man had made himself scarce.
Whenever he’d asked about the vampire, he’d been told he was out on a mission. Code for he’s not that into you. It hurt—bad. For a while there, he’d actually deluded himself into thinking that there had been something between him and the dark vampire.
The final insult had come an hour ago when one of the workers from the infirmary had dropped off some bagged blood. The sheepish male had explained that it had come from Zeke and Ethan had felt his heart clench in pain. Zeke couldn’t even bother to come and reject him in person. He had to send some lackey to do it for him.
The bag was still sitting on his table, untouched. It would stay that way, too. Not only could it be tainted, but it just wasn’t in Ethan to take pity. Especially if it came from the one individual that he had thought he could count on.
He snorted, disgusted with himself. What had he expected? That after a blowjob and some heavy petting, Zeke would fall for him and forget about how much he hated magics? Olivia was right about one thing, Ethan was too dumb for anyone’s good.
So, no, he wasn’t going to lower himself even more by taking Zeke’s bagged consolation gift. As soon as he saw the vampire, he was going to let him know that, too. Ethan had survived this long on his own and he could continue to do it. Blood hunger or not.
It was so damn hard though. Even now, the blood over on the table called out to him. Almost like it had a voice of its own. Come and drink me. Ease the ache inside you. Feel the power surging through your body.
A soft knock on the door jerked him out of his trance. He turned toward it, a flutter of hope dancing through his stomach, despite his earlier thoughts. Maybe Zeke was finally coming to see him, to tell him that he was sorry for being away so long, that he really had been on some mission and he’d been aching for Ethan the entire time.
Rushing to the door, he opened it and felt a crush of disappointment when he saw it was Kavan. The warlock wasn’t wearing the coven leathers anymore. Instead, he had on a pair of blue jeans and a green button up shirt. Rafe had told Ethan how several of his friends had left the coven for him and now he felt more than a bit guilty that he hadn’t sought them out before now to thank them. He self-consciously ran his tongue over his fangs as he realized the true reason he hadn’t done so.
There was a good chance that they would spit on him in disgust for what he’d become. While Ethan knew there was going to be some that would hate him for what he was, he just hadn’t been ready to see if his former team would feel the same way. He’d gone through hell with these guys and their respect meant so much to him. He’d already lost it once, he couldn’t stand to see the looks of disappointment on their faces again.
“Wow, I almost didn’t recognize you in regular clothes,” Ethan said by way of greeting. He still hadn’t opened the door completely, not sure of how this whole meeting was going to go down.
“Yeah, well since I broke ties with the coven, it only made sense that I change my wardrobe, too.” Kavan held up his palm, which still had the vertical slash on it. It was faint and healing, but it still stood out sharp, like an accusation.
“I heard what you guys did for me. I was shocked you would go that far.” Ethan swallowed hard, overwhelmed by their gesture.
“Not all of us are cold like Olivia and we respect you,” Kavan replied, his grey eyes growing stormy with emotion. His hair was hanging in his face and for some reason, Ethan had the urge to reach out and brush it away.
There had always been a strong attraction between the two of them. Unanswered questions, unspoken words. Now it seemed wrong though. Like if Ethan went down this road, he would be betraying Zeke somehow, which was idiotic given how the vampire had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with him. It wasn’t like it was the first time that he’d been rejected by the male either. How did the saying go, Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. “Do you regret leaving now? Knowing what I am?” Ethan parted his lips slightly so his fangs showed.
“No, I was there when Zeke did it. I was all on board for it, too.”
Kavan turned his head slightly and Ethan got a brief glimpse of the scar running along the warlock’s jaw. Right before his gaze honed in on the male’s jugular. If he listened close enough, Ethan could even hear the blood rushing through Kavan’s veins, smell the sweetness of it. Fuck! You are not going there. “Do the others feel that way? I mean, now they have no coven or home and it’s all for some vampire.” Ethan finally opened the door wider and let the warlock in, even though part of him knew that it would be harder to restrain his thirst if he were alone in the room with Kavan.
“You should know they all do. Our team was tight before and we still consider you our leader.” Kavan came into the room, but made no move to sit down. Instead, he started pacing a bit.
It made Ethan feel edgy and nervous since he’d never liked anyone in his personal space. Although it didn’t seem to bother him anymore when it was Zeke doing the intruding. “I’m not a warlock anymore, so I can’t be your leader,” Ethan reminded him.
“That doesn’t matter to any of us. Besides I have a feeling you’ll get your magic back soon.” Kavan looked down at the bag of blood, his gaze pensive. “You know I was thinking.”
“Great, nothing good has ever come from anything when you start off your speech with that sentence.” Ethan smiled, remembering some of the trouble they’d all gotten into.
“I think I know of a way to get your magic back,” Kavan stated so simply he might as well have been talking about the weather.
Ethan felt like all the breath was sucked out of his lungs as he stared at the warlock. “How?” he finally asked, trying hard to keep the desperation out of his voice.
“I’ve heard that a vampire takes in magic when they drink from a witch or warlock. Is it true?”
“Yes, what of it?” Ethan’s pulse raced as he realized where Kavan was heading with this.
“I’m offering myself up to you.” Kavan’s lips spread out into a dark, sexy grin that didn’t do a damn thing for Ethan.
“What about Derik? Last time I checked, you two were still pretty close and I know he left the coven with you.”
“I already talked to him about it and he’s more than okay with this.” Kavan’s heated gaze slowly traveled up and down Ethan’s body, leaving no doubt about his true feelings.
“I already told you, I won’t be somebody’s third.” Even though his cock wasn’t into this, his fangs started to grow larger, making his words slightly slurred.
“Why not? Your brother is in a Triquetra?” Kavan challenged, using the magic term for a joining of three individuals. Their society treasured such relationships, because the magical bond between the three produced such strong magic.
“It’s just not for me.” Ethan slowly shook his head as his thoughts drifted to Zeke and how much he wished it were him that were here offering himself up.
“Just think about it.” Kavan walked closer until his body was pressed against Ethan. Putting his lips just inches from his ear, the warlock continued, “With your kick ass magic and what you can draw from us, you would be unstoppable. The Nine wouldn’t know what hit them. You could finally have your revenge for what they did to us that night.”
Goddess, it was so tempting. To be able to finally stop the Nine before they continued to hurt others. To finally make all the suffering he went through mean something. All he had to do was take Kavan up on his offer. It would be so easy to use him and Derik and it wasn’t like they weren’t willing. Hell, both of them had let it be known several times how much they desired him and it wasn’t just for his magic. But he knew he could never do it because he would just be using the warlocks as an means to his end and that would make him no better than Olivia. “I can’t. I’m sorry,” Ethan whispered back.
“It’s that vampire,
isn’t it? You care for him,” Kavan asked, but he still didn’t move back.
Ethan found himself staring at the male’s jugular as his thirst grew so strong that a red haze obscured his vision. Shit, he’d waited too long to feed. He should have just drank from the damn bag instead of letting his hang-ups stop him. “There’s nothing going on between Zeke and me,” Ethan protested in a thick voice as he leaned in a little closer, his mouth watering.
“You could have fooled me. I saw the way he reacted when you died.” Kavan paused, tensed and his breath hitched. “Are you getting ready to bite me?”
“I shouldn’t,” Ethan protested weakly as he ran his tongue along the edge of one of his fangs.
“Why not? I offered. I still want to help you get your magic back and this may be one way. Besides, it looks like you could use some blood.” Kavan put his hands on Ethan’s shoulders and brought him even closer.
“I don’t want to lead you on,” Ethan continued to object as he inched closer.
“You’re not. This is just business. One friend helping out another,” Kavan reasoned, but there was no mistaking the desire in his voice.
Ethan bared his fangs with a soft hiss before he moved forward those last few inches. As soon as his teeth sank into the male’s soft skin, his body came alive. It wasn’t sexual, but rather a pleasant buzzing. He could feel Kavan’s magic surging through him and for the first time since he’d been attacked, Ethan felt the powerful high that only magic could bring.
‘“Fuck,” Kavan moaned as he tilted his head to the side, exposing more of his neck. “I never thought it would feel like this.”
Not wanting to take too much and drain Kavan’s strength, Ethan only took a few sips before he pulled back and licked the wounds shut. As he stepped away, he noticed how the warlock was trembling and his lips slightly parted in arousal. “Sorry,” Ethan said as he slowly ran his tongue over the curve of his lips. The little bit of blood he’d taken only made him want more. Despite the high he got from it, it wasn’t Kavan’s blood he craved.
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