Feet thundered up the stairs before the door swung open. “What happened?”
Sylvain jerked his thumb in Briar’s direction. “Someone decided to ‘call’ Theia and negotiate.”
“Did you just air quote me?” Briar asked. She was torn between being offended and laughing, because Sylvain holding two fingers in the air around a word was hilarious. He continued to glare at her, and she decided to have pity on him and come clean to Marcus. “I called Theia to the dream world and asked her to leave Boston. She refused. And now we have to kill her. We’re kind of exactly where we were before I went to sleep. But I do think…” She thought about Theia’s anger and rage at being held in the ice. “I think I may have showed Theia she’s underestimated me.”
“So you antagonized her?” Marcus asked.
Great. Now it was two against one. Briar sighed. “No. I’m not as weak as she believes. She hurt Hudson. I gave her a taste of her own medicine.”
Marcus’s eyes widened. “You beat her up?”
Briar’d never thought about that. “Does freezing her legs in ice count as beating up?” She didn’t think it did, but she hadn’t got into many fights so…
Marcus snapped his fingers in front of her face, and she blinked. She’d been staring off into space. “What were you thinking about?” His voice wasn’t so harsh, and she caught the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. “Never mind. I know you well enough now that I can guess.”
“Tell me,” Sylvain said.
“She was thinking about what counted as fighting because she hasn’t been in many fights.” And circle gets the square.
“Oh!” Sylvain smiled broadly. Apparently talking about fighting improved his mood. “I’ll start with the things you’ve done in a fight that count.” He enumerated on his fingers. “Ripping off heads. Biting through throats. Tearing off limbs. Stabbing. Punching. Tripping. Gouging. Throwing. Kicking.” Staring at his fingers, he drew his eyebrows together. “Did I already say gouging? I’m running out of fingers.”
“Take off your shoes,” Marcus offered helpfully.
Sylvain’s head jerked up, and he growled before smiling. “I have some others she hasn’t tried yet. Come over here so I can demonstrate.”
“Okay, okay.” Briar pushed the covers off the bed and stood. A wave of dizziness suddenly hit her and she sat back, hard. “Whoa.”
“Are you okay?” Marcus was at her side in an instant.
Eyes closed, she gripped the comforter with both hands. She felt like she’d just gotten off of a tire swing. Even with her eyes closed, her body still felt like it was spinning. Marcus and Sylvain continued to talk to her, but she couldn’t concentrate on what they were saying because she was trying not to keel over.
Her stomach roiled, and she thought about the fact that she only drank blood now and swallowed hard. She hadn’t realized vampires could throw up. One hundred percent not okay with seeing that, she concentrated hard on keeping her stomach contents right where they were. Slowly, the guys’ voices filtered to her. Marcus yelled at Sylvain to give her space, while Sylvain yelled at Marcus to fix her.
“I’m okay,” she got out when she was certain she could speak without booting. “I’m okay.” She opened her eyes to see Marcus and Sylvain standing in front of her. Marcus held onto her shoulder, like he was trying to keep her upright. “Ooo.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I have the spins.”
“You overdid it,” Sylvain said. He glared at her, but Briar knew it was more because she’d frightened him than actually being angry.
“I think you’re right,” she answered. She’d never purposefully called anyone to the dream world before, and she’d certainly given her new powers a run for their money. “I went whole hog.” She opened her eyes and was relieved to see everything stayed where it was this time. “Should have eased into it.”
Sylvain let out a breath and the glare faded from his face. “Next time, at least warn us before you start a war council.”
She nodded. “I didn’t realize that was what I was doing.” Her stomach roiled again and she shut her eyes. Please don’t barf. Please don’t barf. As it settled she let out a breath. “I’m okay.”
“Maybe feeding will help,” Marcus interjected. “When was the last time you took blood from one of us?”
Thinking back, she tried to remember when she’d bitten one of them. Who had she bitten and whose blood had flowed over her tongue? Suddenly, she was famished. Feed, her vampire told her. Get stronger.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. Her voice sounded as dry as her throat and mouth felt.
Sylvain knelt at her feet. He swept his long hair to one side to expose his neck. The vein jumped once in time with his slow heartbeat. “Go ahead.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. Briar slid from the bed, wrapping her legs around his waist. When he was on his knees like this, and she was on his lap, her lips were perfectly aligned with his throat. Hunger burned her stomach like acid, but she made herself move slowly. She didn’t want to hurt him, and she had a tendency to be too aggressive when she fed. Rocking forward, she wrapped her arms around Sylvain and slowly slid her teeth into his flesh. Blood rushed over her tongue and down her throat.
The taste was heavenly. Dizziness, nausea, exhaustion, all fled. She tried to stay in control and not suck too hard or too long. Sylvain’s hand came up to her head, holding her in place as she drank. She became aware of his hips moving against hers and she eased away from him, licking her lips and teeth self-consciously.
“You can drink from me,” she whispered, opening her eyes. She and Sylvain were alone in her room, but he shook his head.
“No, not yet,” he replied. She couldn’t help feeling a little rejected but nodded anyway. Capturing her face between his palms, Sylvain forced her gaze to his. “I want to,” he explained. “But not today. Give yourself more than ten seconds to feel well before you offer yourself to me.”
The man had a point. “Okay,” she replied and arched up to kiss his lips. It was chaste, just lips on lips before they moved away from each other.
Sylvain gripped her legs, keeping her in place, and got to his feet. “Ready for your day now?”
She took the hand he offered her to stand, relieved when the world stayed steady. “Yes. Do we have a plan?”
“Oh, the usual. Shenanigans and mayhem.”
Briar’s eyes widened before she burst out laughing. “Okay, then. We should get to it.”
Sylvain glanced down at her, taking in her sleep shorts and Mordor Fun Run t-shirt. “Get dressed and meet us downstairs.” He leaned down and kissed her, and his face softened. “I love you, Briar Hale.”
She kept her eyes closed for a moment, breathing him in. “I love you too, Sylvain…” Her eyes popped open. “Oh my god. I don’t know your last name.” She started to laugh before covering her mouth. “Sylvain! I don’t know your last name!”
He chuckled before kissing her. “Bergeron. Sylvain Phillippe Bergeron.”
“I like your name,” she said quietly, and he was silent.
After a moment, he spoke, “Would you like it to be yours?”
Briar blinked, and blinked again, passing the question through her head as she tried to discover its meaning. “Huh?”
The door suddenly opened and a frowning Marcus appeared. “Sylvain. No.”
“I want her to be our wife,” Sylvain said. He placed himself in front of Briar.
“This isn’t the time to be talking about this,” Marcus replied. Briar edged around Sylvain to see Marcus’s face. Most of her life, Briar hadn’t thought about getting married. She’d thought about getting her college degree and not burning to death while doing it. But since meeting the guys, the thought had crossed her mind. Often she found herself wondering how it would work. Annie had married one of them, wife to one of them in law but to all of them in spirit.
Would that be what they had to do? Was that what Sylvain was asking? How could she choose whose name she took, or should
she just hyphenate… Briar Hale-Bergeron-Nors—and oh no! She didn’t know Marcus and Valen’s last name either! What kind of person was she, sleeping with four men, three of whom she didn’t know—wait. She knew Marcus’s. Filipelli. Marcus Filipelli. He was Italian? Well—this much was clear. She wasn’t marrying anyone until she knew their last name.
Her vampire was on her back, laughing her ass off, and Briar mentally glared at her. It wasn’t funny.
“Let’s talk about this when Valen and Hudson get home, okay?” she squeaked. Sylvain looked hurt, and it broke her heart. “Sylvain…”
“It’s fine, Briar,” he replied. “I’ll meet you all downstairs.” Without a backward glance, he left her and Marcus alone.
Valen
“Can you explain this to me again?” Valen asked Hudson, who was examining the labels on the latest prescriptions he’d picked up from the pharmacy. They were on the eighth round of what Hudson called “trials.” Two weeks had passed, and Valen had hoped they’d be home by now. Instead, Hudson had tweaked the doses and types of drugs, trying different combinations in his search to find the perfect antidote to Theia’s mind control.
Hudson nodded. “Yes. The drugs I took earlier block a chemical in the brain. Briar and I both thought it could work to stop me from seeing things that aren’t there. But because it made me zombie-like, I needed to think about other things I could take. I did a little more research and thought about Briar’s idea.”
Briar had explained it to Valen. Sometimes, people could not tell the difference between what was real and what wasn’t. “And what conclusion did you come to?” he asked Hudson.
“I want to try a combination of drugs given to people who have attention problems. It allows them to focus better. I hope it won’t leave me unable to move or speak like other drugs did.”
One of the things Valen appreciated about Hudson was that he didn’t make him feel stupid. He explained things, even if they were complicated. He never said to Valen, “You won’t get it.” It made Valen feel like he was part of Hudson’s work.
“I timed how long it took you to regain your motor functions with each trial,” Valen said and Hudson smiled broadly.
“Perfect! I regretted not doing that. Now, if you do it again this time, we can compare.”
True, but— “We have to go home after this. It’s been two weeks.”
Hudson drove his hands into his hair, messing up the dark locks. “I know.” He sighed and let his hands fall to his sides. “If this works, I promise we’ll return.”
“You have to promise me we’ll return if it doesn’t work,” Valen replied. “Every day Marcus, Sylvain and Briar fight the crawlers and soldiers without us, I go mad. I can’t stay away any longer, Hudson.” He was a patient man, but the idea of Briar and his brothers being in danger was slowly driving him mad. “Please.”
Staring at the ground, Hudson shook his head from side to side. Valen’s heart sank. He couldn’t leave Hudson, but he couldn’t stay away anymore. What was he supposed to do?
Finally, Hudson lifted his gaze to Valen. “All right,” he said. “We’ll leave after this.”
Relief made Valen weak, and he braced himself against the door frame. The cheap wood cracked under his grip. “Thank you,” he said to Hudson.
His brother nodded and opened the first pill bottle. For the next hour, he took pills and waited. Valen’s job was to observe him and then ask Hudson a series of questions or perform motor tasks to help them judge the effectiveness of the drugs.
“My hands are tingling,” Hudson said. “It’s a side effect of the drug.”
“A good one?” Valen asked. He’d learned during this time that drugs had more effects than they were designed to have.
“Not really,” Hudson replied. “And they’re cold. At least I know it’s in my system.”
They continued to increase the dose, but the tingling and numbness never got worse. Hudson was able to write and type just fine. And when they progressed to speed and agility, he caught every knife Valen threw at him.
By the time Hudson admitted that taking any more of the drug would be pointless, Valen had their few belongings packed. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Hudson sighed and shut his laptop. “You’re right. Perhaps I should call first? Should I have them prepare to fight me if Theia gets in my head? Maybe we could have them fashion a cage of some sort.”
“Kryptonite?” Valen asked and Hudson froze.
“What?”
“It’s a movie Sylvain loves. The man’s only weakness is a green stone called kryptonite. He can bend metal bars, so if we make one out of kryptonite, we can keep you in it.”
Hudson stared at him, frowning. “Valen—”
“I’m joking,” Valen said. “I know it’s not real.” He chuckled and opened the motel door. Outside, it was snowing and a gust of wind blew in the snow. “But Hudson, you need to trust yourself and us. Together we’ll keep Briar safe.”
Hudson shoved the laptop in a backpack and then the bags of prescriptions in after it. “You’ll promise to stop me.”
“I promise to keep Briar safe,” Valen said, hand over his heart. “But I will also promise to keep you safe. Do you trust me to do that?”
“Yes,” Hudson answered immediately. “It is myself I don’t trust.”
“That’s okay,” Valen replied. “I trust you enough for both of us.”
The sun was rising as Valen and Hudson began their run east. It felt significant, leaving the darkness behind them to go toward the horizon. Each mile that passed made Valen’s heart lighter. Ahead of him were his brothers and Briar. It wouldn’t be long before he held her in his arms again, slapped Sylvain on the back and joked with him, and watched Marcus tease Hudson mercilessly. This separation had been necessary, but it was time for their family to be together.
Every night, Valen had watched the news about Boston. He knew from Sylvain that Briar had called Theia to her dream and issued a warning to the vampire. In the time they’d been gone, it seemed as if the murders and killings had dropped off. Boston College’s classes ran normally again, but every few days a body was plucked from the Charles River, or found in one of the forested areas around Boston. It was as if the crawlers and soldiers were reined in, but not completely.
Theia was exerting her power. “See?” she seemed to be saying. “I can control them if I wish. But I don’t.”
The sky was bright red as they came into Boston and Valen recalled something he’d heard sailors say long ago, “Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.”
It was meant about the weather, but Valen’s instincts prickled. It didn’t happen often, but there were times when the universe showed Valen what was to come. Sometimes, he saw an image—one he could easily excuse as a dream. Other times, he had a sensation or a feeling something was going to happen. It could be something good or something bad. And right now, Valen didn’t know what it was he would find when he got home. He just knew it was something that would change his life.
With the Charles River in view, Hudson picked up speed. Valen stayed close on his heels, and in a matter of seconds, they came to their brick row house. “Home,” Valen said aloud without thinking.
Hudson glanced back over his shoulder and nodded. “Home,” he said before dashing up the stairs and through the door.
Inside, it looked the same as it always had, if a little messier. A blanket was rolled on the couch, like someone had just kicked it off. Valen breathed in, searching for Briar’s winter scent.
There. He found it—snow, ice, the sea. It was the most perfect combinations of scents in the entire world. Maybe it was being away so long, but it seemed headier, giving Valen the impression that Briar had just left this room.
“Upstairs?” Hudson asked. Valen noticed Hudson was breathing in as often as Valen. “Does she smell different?”
“Better,” Valen said. “Maybe it’s the vampire? She’s changing. Developing.”
“Maybe.” Hudson seemed distract
ed. He took the stairs two at a time. Valen glanced up and saw Marcus standing at the top of the steps.
He smiled when he saw them, waiting for them to hit the top step before folding them into a hug. With one arm around Valen and another around Hudson, Marcus squeezed them tight, almost knocking their heads together.
“Finally!” Marcus slapped Hudson’s arm. “How long does it take you to figure out mind control, Hudson? Really.” Throwing his head back, Marcus laughed. “Briar and Sylvain are at BC. She refused to miss another Human Parasitology class.”
“So in between killing crawlers and soldiers…” Hudson began.
“She’s keeping up with homework,” Marcus finished. “Amazing girl. Though I’m afraid she’s been doing too much.”
Valen breathed in again. “I’ve missed her scent. It’s better than I remember.”
Marcus nodded. “It has changed. I don’t know if it’s the fighting and hunting, but she’s been feeding more than she has before. Almost every morning. And she’s had dizzy spells. Sylvain encourages her to go to class, so I go out hunting both for myself and for soldiers. We want her to relax more.”
Anxiety welled in Valen’s chest. “But she’s well?”
“It’s a balance,” Marcus explained. “She’s strong, and when she sates her hunger, the other symptoms disappear completely. Sylvain is smart, appealing to her need to stay up on school. It’ll be easier now. One or more of us can be with her at all times.”
“Yes—” Whatever else Hudson was going to say was forgotten when the downstairs door slammed.
“Valen? Hudson?” Briar’s happy voice called up to them.
Valen dropped his backpack and flew downstairs, catching Briar in his arms. She giggled, raining kisses all over his face. “You’re home!” Her lips locked onto his, and Valen lost himself in her scent and taste.
And then Hudson spoke, and Valen learned, yet again, to listen to his instincts. “How could you miss that?” His voice caused Valen to jerk away and stare at him in confusion.
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