DAMIAN

I’ve just finished pouring myself a glass of wine when Marcus steps into the kitchen. He hums as he walks in, grabbing the girl’s camera from the kitchen island. I scan him quickly, looking for anything that might tell me what they were up to.

He notices me looking, and snorts. “I’m not a savage, Ian. Don’t worry, she’s still in one piece.”

“Good. Is she awake?”

He takes the bottle of wine before I can react and hops onto the counter on the other side of the kitchen. “Yeah, she’s up.”

“And you didn’t tell her anything.”

“I’m also not a kid, Damian.” He takes a gulp directly from the bottle, then cocks his head to the side. “She’s a pretty one, though.”

“You said that before,” I reply dryly.

He grins at me. “Wonder what she tastes like.”

“You said that too.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t think about it.”

Of course, I do. The sight of her pulse beating under that smooth neck and the sound of fresh, hot blood rushing through her veins…

I shake my head, putting off the thought. “I try not to.”

“Really? Not even what her skin would feel like?”

I shake my head and Marcus chuckles.

I take another glance at him, amused for a second. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him this excited. I’m sure it’s on account of the girl but I’m not so sure it’s a good thing for her. I hope she lasts the night.

I take a sip of my drink, clicking my tongue when the sour taste hits my tongue. Just what I need. At least that’s what I’ve been telling myself, since I went on this fast. I could kill for some blood right now.

Maybe her blood would do.

“What do we do with her now?” he asks.

“Well, we can’t kill her. Least not yet. Arden wouldn’t want that.”

He scoffs. “I bet he’ll try to get Tessa to wipe her memory.”

I nod absently. At this point, that might be our only option. Our older brother has always been against the killing of women and children. I don’t have anything against his decisions, after all, they’ve kept us alive and above for decades.

When I look up again, Marcus is frowning down at the camera. Curious, I drop my glass and cross over to where he sits. He holds it up for me to see.

It’s a photo of that same damn symbol. It’s been popping up in our territory recently, and I had not given it much thought, mostly because it’s only been just talk. Purportedly, there’s almost always a murdered person next to the symbol, it’s drawn in blood, and it disappears moments after.

“We were right there, in that alley,” Marcus says, pointing at the wall in the picture. “See? She took it tonight.”

“Fucking hell.”

“What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know, but it sure as hell doesn’t look good.”

Marcus puffs air out of his lips and leans back on the counter. I can tell he’s disturbed, a bit. but it’s enough to set me on edge too. Things rarely bother my brother.

“Any word from Larry?” he asks.

I shake my head. Now that Marcus mentions it, I can feel a sliver of worry run through me. Larry is one of the few people we actually trusted in the underworld, and one of the few people I could trust with carrying out specific tasks. Like tracing the root of these symbols that the barmen were talking about.

It’s been a week, and there’s been no word from him.

“She actually caught it on camera,” Marcus says, sounding impressed. “Seems like there is more to her than meets the eye.”

“She seems like a lot of things,” I mutter, “including trouble.”

“You know what I mean.” He drops the camera and narrows his eyes at me. “She had a wound on her head, didn’t she?”

Yeah, the wound you gave her when you scared her half to death, dickhead. But it’s also the same wound that had mysteriously healed by the time we brought her back here.

“And she’s fast too.” Marcus adds, dropping the camera on the counter. “There’s few people who can move like that, at least not in the underworld.”

“So, what’re you saying?”

“Well, there’s more to the pretty human than what meets the eye, isn’t there?”

“Ugh.” I groan, running a hand over my face. This is all too much change for me to comprehend, and I don’t like it. Change is almost never good.

“Maybe I could spend the night with her,” Marcus says, grinning.

“No,” I reply almost immediately.

“Come on, one night.”

I shake my head again. Leaving him with her at night is probably the worst idea I could allow. Same thing as me slashing her throat with my bare hands.

But why should I care? She’s just one of many humans we’ve come across, one of many whom we’ve had to dispose of, one way or the other.

I return my attention to the camera. I thumb the side, trying to zoom in to the symbol again, but my finger hits the wrong button. The next image pops up.

It’s a picture of the girl. She’s sitting cross-legged on a bed, looking down at a sketchbook. Her hair is a tied-up mess, with red curls falling loose and hanging over her eyes. She’s wearing a camisole, revealing a slightly muscled torso, a beautiful curve to her hips and a spiral trail of tattoos that run down the length of her left arm.

I run a finger over the screen as I take in the sharp angles of her cheeks, the frown of concentration on her face, the dimple on her cheek as she pursed her lips. Her neck, long and perfect, looking soft enough to sink fangs into. I finally locate the zoom button, and that’s when Marcus clears his throat. When I look up at him, he has a nasty grin on his face.

“You gonna eat her yet?” he asks.

“Fucker,” I mutter, tossing the camera at him.

“Yeah, I know. There’s something about her-”

There’s a distant sound that makes us both turn suddenly. For a moment, I assume it’s her and she’s somehow found a way to escape.

Then Tessa, our cousin, walks in. She’s carrying two paper bags balanced perfectly in both hands and she gives us a gruff nod.

“Hello, boys,” she says, dropping them on the kitchen island.

“Oh, you’re a lifesaver, Tess.” I dip one hand into a bag and take out an apple.

Marcus wrinkles his nose at me. “I have no idea what’s going on with your diet these days.”

“You should join me.” I toss an apple at him and he deflects it with an easy wave of his hand. It flies straight at Tessa, bouncing off the back of her head.

“Hey…!” she snaps, whirling around. She stops mid-motion, cocking her head to the side like she’s heard something. Probably the girl’s heartbeat. “Who else is in the house?”

“We captured a lady,” Marcus replies, swinging his legs like a child.

Tessa raises a brow. “For ransom?”

“Not exactly.”

She looks at me, then at Marcus. “You two are getting into an awful lot these days.”

“Where’s he?” I ask, leaning on the island.

“He said he had business to settle in the west side of the city,” Tessa replies, taking out small red bags.

My stomach rumbles just as I spot them. I turn away before the hunger seizes me. Marcus is not so controlled; he slips off the counter and grabs one for himself. I can hear him slurping loudly behind me, and that’s what makes my resistance worse.

“It’s strange for him to be out this late,” I say, still turning my back as she stocks the fridge with the blood bags.

“Yeah, well. That’s what he does.”

I can hear the worry in her voice, and that’s what makes me turn.

“What happened?” I ask, when I notice the thin red line along her cheek.

She clicks her tongue. “I ran into a bloody werewolf at the Store.”

Marcus raises a brow, licking blood off his lower lip. “Is he alright?”

She shrugs. “Well, he’s not breathing.”

I release a breath, tossing the apple from hand to hand. “Now, I’m bothered. Hunters, werewolves showing up in our territory. Makes me wonder if we’re getting soft.”

Tessa frowns. “Hunters?”

“Couple of them followed us out of Malcolm’s bar tonight,” I explain. “Marcus caught one, the other managed to escape.”

Tessa lifts her brows again. “A hunter actually escaped you guys?”

“Like I said…” I shrug, crushing the apple in my hand. “…I wonder if we’re getting soft.”