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CHAPTER THIRTY 
FINN
Once the doctor’s finished up and allows us to leave, I head out with Marcus pushing the wheelchair to Claude’s awaiting car. Marcus had sent him a message when it seemed like we were nearing the end so we didn’t have to wait on him to show.
Claude is instantly out and plucks me right out of the wheelchair I’d grudgingly let myself be pushed out in.
“Oh, my beautiful Finnigan,” he says as he hugs me carefully. “I didn’t get to go to you earlier because I had to hold back the big mean vampire while Marcus and Alexei got to love on you!”
And then he starts kissing me all over the face while I’m stuck feeling equal parts confused and amused. “I’m fine!”
“No! Oh, my sweet baby,” he says before carrying me over to Alexei. “Give him kisses.”
“I don’t… I don’t really want to kiss him,” Alexei says.
“What?” I ask like I’m offended. Honestly, I don’t need kisses from either of them, but the idea of flustering Alexei gives me some much-needed joy. “A-Alexei…”
He gives me such a look that nearly makes all the torture of Claude carrying me around worth it. “Oh, don’t do this to me. I already hugged you. I find it highly strange to kiss you.”
“But, Alexei…” I repeat.
Alexei grumbles so all can hear, especially the poor nurse who just wanted a smoke break in peace, before leaning in and kissing me on the cheek. Alexei’s cheeks are bright red as he storms off cussing us all out.
“We were all very worried about you,” Claude says.
“I can tell,” I say with a smile. “Now can you put me down?”
“Absolutely not. I will carry you for eternity.”
“Or you could not,” Marcus grumbles as he peels me out of Claude’s arms.
Marcus puts me into the back seat but what I don’t expect is that Claude also gets in next to me. They sandwich me in as Alexei drives and I don’t know why it makes me feel so damn comfortable to be absolutely squished by the people I love, but it does. I close my eyes and lean against Marcus’s shoulder as relief floods through me.
“I love you guys,” I say, and while I’m told how much they love me, I drift off to sleep, absolutely exhausted.
      
I wake when Marcus sets me down on my bed at Orin’s. How the hell I slept through him picking me up, I don’t know.
“You could have woken me up,” I mumble as he unbuttons my pants.
“Why? So Claude could kiss on you some more?” Marcus asks.
I grin at the thought. “I don’t know. Watching Alexei was pretty memorable.”
“He’s still flustered,” Marcus says as he eases my pants off.
“How’s Rylee?” I ask.
“Making Orin watch some horrific cartoon where these girls are singing and dancing. Orin’s doing a fantastic job pretending he’s enjoying it,” Marcus says with a shudder, like he can’t fathom anyone enjoying it.
“No… that’s just how Orin rolls. He loves that stuff,” I say, which is why I’d asked him to care for Rylee.
“Are you hungry? Want anything? I got you water.”
“No thanks.”
“Whose clothes are these?”
“I have absolutely no idea,” I admit. “I refused to put on the underwear because I was just… creeped out by it, you know? My own underwear was all bloody, so I’ve just been free balling it until you gave me yours.”
“I see,” he says as he takes his underwear off me before tossing them. “We picked up your antibiotics, so go ahead and take one.”
He passes me the pill and water to wash it down.
“My wonderful host Ender let me take another shower this morning, so I’m calling myself clean enough.”
“You’re perfectly fine,” Marcus says as he strips himself and climbs in next to me. Immediately, I turn and squish myself against him.
“Claude and Alexei here?” I ask.
“They’re heading to the department. I’ve told them everything you told me. Brooks is going to fight to get Alexei or DeGray to interview Ender in the hopes of getting some questions answered.”
I slide my arm over his body and tuck myself even tighter against him.
“You okay?” Marcus asks.
“Yes… I was… terrified the first day that Ender was going to kill me, but he didn’t treat me too badly, honestly. We played board games and watched movies…”
“You… you played board games with Ender while I was tearing the city apart?”
“I sure did,” I say with a grin. His hand gently runs down my back as I give him a kiss. It’s such a damn good feeling. Hell, being pressed against his naked body with his protective arms wrapped around me is the best damn feeling. “It really fucking sucked that I didn’t have my leg, but I managed.”
“Do you really believe him?” Marcus asks.
“I honestly don’t know what I believe. I guess the only thing I fully believe is that more than anything, he wants to keep Rylee safe. He could be screwing us all over to do that, but Marcus… I really don’t think he had anything to do with the ones who attacked me.”
“Do not ever go out alone anywhere ever again. I’m going to handcuff you to myself and if I can’t go with you, you will be handcuffed to Alexei.”
“Not Claude?” I tease.
“No, sometimes he hurts my eyes to look at and I don’t want to struggle to look at you.”
“You’re ridiculous. What if that’s the key? It’d make the enemy unable to also look at me.”
“True…” he says before kissing me tenderly. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I tuck my head against him and find myself drifting back off to sleep, even though I want this moment to last forever.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 
FINN
I wake to Marcus staring at me. It startles me enough that I jerk back.
“Sorry!” he says as he grabs for me to calm me before I fall off the bed.
“No, that’s okay. I just… didn’t expect you to be staring me right in the eyes,” I say before realizing I can’t move. I glance down at Artie who is ninety percent on Marcus, with his head on my leg. “I slept through you bringing the dogs in?”
“You groaned a little when Hela licked your eyeball.”
“Hmm… I vaguely remember that,” I say as I scoot close to Marcus. “It’s fantastic getting to wake up and see you.”
“I’m so sorry,” he says as his finger trails over my cheek. “I feel like I failed you again. I feel like what the fuck is it worth being with me for if I can’t even protect you.”
I give his face a pat to remind him how stubborn he is. “You, my love, are being damn ridiculous. Like not even just ridiculous but damn ridiculous. Like… unbelievably ridiculous. Do I need to tell you how ridiculous?”
“Finn—”
“You’re all ‘Oh, I should have punched my way through every door in the city to find you!’” I say, deepening my voice like his. “‘Threatened every human, vampire, cat, and dog. Waterboarded children into giving up your location.’”
Marcus gives me a look like he could possibly find me ridiculous when he’s clearly the ridiculous one. “Finn, I’m being serious.”
“And so am I! I’m not a pet who relies on you to exist, Marcus. I’m your partner. Sometimes bad shit happens, and you can’t do anything about it.”
“I can make you into a vampire. That’s what I can do,” he decides.
“Oh, wonderful idea! The fucking council is breathing down our necks. Perfect time to turn me so I can either live the rest of my life without you or spend my life on the run, away from everyone who loves me. Turn me now, Marcus!” I tease as I wrap my arm around his neck to pull him in close.
Marcus remains resistant for a moment before sinking into me. “Fucking hell.”
“I know.”
“Just… fucking hell.”
“Please don’t tell me you are actually blaming yourself for any of this?”
“Hmm…”
“Wow, that blew me away with how much you convinced me that you’re not,” I say.
“I know,” he says as he picks me up and holds me for some reason. Even though I’ve never been fond of being overly affectionate without my prostheses on, I feel like these past few days have kind of forced me to face the fact that I’m just as much Finn without them as I am with them. Yeah, it’s inconvenient as hell, but they don’t make me who I am. And of all people, I don’t mind showing Marcus my vulnerable side.
I roll a little to keep my stomach from touching him before sinking down on top of him. He smiles at me while holding me tightly. “I love you,” he says.
“I love you too. Are you done beating yourself up over something you couldn’t control?”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
“I’m going to beat Harris up and then I’m going to beat Ender up, and then if I’m still not satisfied, I’m going to beat Harris some more,” Marcus decides.
“That definitely won’t make you look suspicious at all,” I say.
“If someone thinks I look suspicious, I’ll beat them up too. I was going to wait to tell you so we could enjoy it together, but I’ve decided that I’m going to take over the city.”
“Ah, okay. That’s a new one,” I realize.
“I’m strong enough to take over the city. I will make it a safe haven just for you, and if anyone dare challenge me, I will simply eat them.”
“You are being absolutely ridiculous this morning. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head fighting Ender?”
“Positive,” he says as he kisses my forehead.
“Alright, I’ll allow you to take over the city if you promise you’ll do it naked.”
“I feel like it would… hinder the progress of taking over the city.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I think the citizens would love it,” I say.
“Just you. I’m pretty sure it’d just be you.”
I grin at him. “Maybe.”
Once I manage to finally drag myself out of bed, I head downstairs with Marcus who helps me over to the dining room table where Rylee is sitting with a coloring book that Orin must have either found or bought her.
Rylee looks up when she sees me and jumps out of the chair to rush over to me. “Are we going to see En now? Please? Please? I want to see him.”
“I’m going to try to see if we can talk to him, but we can’t take you there. Ender is concerned the people who took you are looking for you. So you’re going to stay with Orin at all times, okay? We don’t want anyone besides our crew to know you’re here.”
She looks close to tears but nods vigorously before going over to her coloring book and staring at it. “Will En go to prison?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“Where will I go if he does?”
“We’ll make sure you’re okay, alright?”
Rylee nods slowly. “Just please don’t make me go back to my mom. I don’t like being with her.”
“I won’t,” I promise. I turn to Marcus. “Anyone talk to Charlie about when I can have my leg back?”
“She said it’d be a few days,” Orin says.
I stare at him, positive he misheard her. “A few… a few hours, she meant, right?”
“A few days.”
“Clearly, you are quite old and hard of hearing. She said hours.”
“Really? Am I really the one hard of hearing right now?” he asks.
“I have to go to work like this?” I ask as I wave toward myself.
“I could get one of those little backpacks and you could ride on my back,” Marcus says, which makes Orin and Rylee laugh. Clearly, they’re damn evil and enjoy my pain.
“You have crutches here,” Orin says.
“Fuck crutches.”
“You have a wheelchair.”
“I think Aria and I burned it,” I admit.
“Oh yeah. You did, didn’t you?”
“The wheel broke.”
“And instead of fixing it… you lit it on fire.”
“It was an accident,” I say.
Orin doesn’t seem overly convinced. “Aria accidentally had the lighter fluid in her hand? And you a lighter in yours?”
“One hundred percent.”
He shakes his head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Thank you. Marcus, I want Alexei to carry me around because his misery will make me happier,” I decide.
“I’ll text him now.”
Marcus takes out his phone and a moment later my phone buzzes, telling me he did it in the group chat.
Marcus: Pack mule, you are needed. 
Claude: Which of us is the pack mule? 
Alexei: How do I remove myself from this group chat? 
Me: I’ve changed my mind. I want to sit in a chair and each of you carry a leg of the chair so I feel like royalty. 
Alexei: Anyone else thinking back to how quiet it was a few days ago? 
Me: You LIKED me being abducted? 
Alexei: I didn’t necessarily say liked. I said it was quiet. Wonderfully quiet. 
Marcus: No one called me “Fangy Fucker” for a while either. 
Claude: Aw. Finn is never mean to me. Finn loves me. 
Alexei: The other day he told me you looked like a cheetah fucked a rainbow. 
Claude: GASP. No. Not my one of a kind Rivont Gelle suit! 
Me: No… come on guys. Why did this turn against me? I was abducted and you guys loved me so much when you saw me again, and now you want to get rid of me? All I wanted was three strapping men to carry me around on my throne. 
Marcus: You know what he told me he was doing while we were tearing the city apart? Playing board games. And watching movies. 
Me: You all are evil. 
Alexei: On a serious note, there’s really no sense in you even going to work. They’re not going to let us do shit right now. 
Me: I still want to try. I’m pretty good at talking people into things. I talked Marcus into trying Claude’s clothes on one time while we were pet sitting for you two. 
Claude: He got the hunger, didn’t he? He felt the desire to be wrapped in the loving embrace of true fashion. 
Me: He actually broke out in hives after. Now will you stop by and pick us up? I’m not the fondest of the idea of leaving with just two of us. 
Claude: Your pack mule is trotting your way shortly. 
Me: I’ll have a carrot ready for you. 
Alexei: Am I supposed to be jealous? 
Marcus: Even I don’t know the answer to that. 
Sadly, Alexei was right. They won’t allow me to speak to Ender because he’s no longer our case after he abducted me. While… that’s understandable, it doesn’t mean that I’m pleased by it. Honestly, I just want to see if I can get more information out of him.
That’s when I notice Kaden walk in. He immediately smiles at me as I question his motives. Is he being genuine, and I’ve allowed a psychopathic, murderous Ender to get in my head, or is he faking it?
“Hey, it’s so good to see you,” Kaden says as he rushes up to where I sit in my chair that I’ve elected to scoot around in to avoid using the crutch leaning against my desk.
“Thanks for your assistance,” I say. “Marcus and Alexei told me you were a lot of help.”
“I don’t mind at all, trust me.”
“Any more news on Ender? Have you been able to speak with him?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No. I know Addison has, but I don’t think he said anything to her of use, sadly. You really think there are two forces at work here?”
“I do,” I say, feeling free to tell him that much.
“Would you be comfortable giving your statement?” he asks.
“Yeah, I was going to sit down here with the crew in a bit, and they were going to record it.”
“Mind if I join?”
“No, of course not.”
“Great.”
After a bit, we head to the room where they decide to let DeGray and Briar conduct it since they’re not related to me. And while I’m sure whoever the case gets pushed over to will want to do their own interview, I’m hoping that by giving my own side of the story, I’ll be able to see if the council inquires about things pertaining to Rylee or me.
While Brooks stays in the room with DeGray, Briar, and Kaden, he parks himself off to the side and just listens. Marcus, Claude, and Alexei are able to listen and watch from a monitor outside the room. I make sure to focus on points that clarify that I’m positive there were two opposing forces involved. I leave out anything to do with my blood and I say absolutely nothing about Rylee.
When I finish, Kaden looks up. “Did you ever see the little girl we speculate Ender took?”
“Oh, no, sorry,” I say. “I had a question. What about the owners of the home? Do you know who they are? I mean, I saw stuff for children around, but it was clearly a home that was lived in.”
“They were visiting family for a month in Canada.”
“Oh, interesting,” I say, while wondering if he’s going to ask about Rylee more.
When he doesn’t, I’m left second-guessing myself again.
Kaden turns to DeGray and Briar, who decide they have nothing more to ask, and we head out together.
“You doing alright, Finn? That had to have been scary,” Kaden says.
“It was. I just… I wonder who the third vampire who attacked me was, you know? Sadly, I didn’t get a good look at him. He had his face covered, but I’d say his build was similar to yours,” I say.
There is no change in his expression to hint that he might question if I know something.
“I’m about five eleven; you think that tall? Let’s make sure we get a note of it,” he says.
“Already have it,” DeGray responds.
“Good.”
He parts ways to talk to someone else as I head over to Marcus who just shakes his head.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“Whether or not it was Kaden?” Marcus asks.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know either. I trust neither him nor Ender. I think you need to go home now and get some rest.”
I nod even though I’d like to assure him that I’m perfectly fine without it. But honestly, I still feel exhausted and would love nothing more than a nap.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 
FINN
The pool room door opens, and I look over as Marcus walks in.
“Hey,” I say as I pick up my crutch and make my way over to him. It’s been days since I returned, but I still have to wait one more for Charlie to return my prostheses. We still haven’t been able to get in to see Ender at all and have been practically cut off from the whole thing because of our personal involvement with it.
I leave Orin and Rylee to splashing in the pool as their music echoes around the room—I’m pretty sure they’re oblivious to my exit since Orin is having such a blast with Rylee. Rylee seems to be handling the change alright. She gets a bit teary-eyed and asks for Ender at least once a day, but I honestly can’t tell her much.
“Hi, my love,” I say as I reach Marcus.
He smiles at me as he heads over to the stairs. “How are you feeling?” Since going up them is an absolute pain in the ass, I allow him to carry me up before we go into my room.
“Fine. Anything new today?” I ask.
“Not one thing,” he says. “The only thing that I find… interesting is that I don’t actually know where Ender is.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know people who work at both the jail and the prison, and he hasn’t been admitted into either, even for holding.”
“So they have him out of the area or even out of the state?”
“Looks like it.”
“Hmm… well, I can think of something we can do to kill some time,” I say as I slide the door shut and lock it.
Marcus looks at me in surprise. “Are you… you feel good enough?”
I drop the crutch and sit down on the bed before holding my hand out for him. “Yes, I’m back to normal. I missed you…”
“I missed you too.” Leaning down, his lips press against mine as he tugs my sweats down, sliding them off with ease before dropping them on the ground. “Oh? No underwear?”
“Didn’t want you to have to work too hard,” I say with a grin.
“Thank you; you saved me much time,” he says as he drops his own pants and I grab for the edge of his underwear, sliding it down one side and then the other before letting them drop down to his ankles. He kicks them off before reaching onto the bed and lifting me up as he crawls on.
“I just can’t get enough of you. I’m paranoid every time I leave and so fucking happy to see you every time I get back,” he says.
“Hmm… you are pretty addicting,” I say as he slides me up onto his thighs while one hand dips under the back of my shirt, his warm fingertips running over my skin.
“You sure I’m the addicting one?” He kisses my neck as I tip my head to give it to him. He can claim my neck all he wants. I’m his and he is mine.
His lips trail over the skin as I let go of him to lift his shirt.
“This one-armed shit’s a bit annoying,” I complain.
“I could tie you up so you have no arms to work with,” he teases.
Grinning at him, I shrug. “Fine, fine. I’ll make do with one arm.”
“I don’t care how many arms you have, Finn, you are so damn beautiful and addicting. I’m not sure I can get enough of you.”
“What if I had like eight arms?”
“I would still love my OctoFinn just as much.”
“Sounds kinky,” I decide.
He shakes his head.
“I’d have a hand for each of your ass cheeks, your dick, your balls… man, I’d just work you like putty.”
“You already do,” he says. “I’ve been alive hundreds of years, and there is no one else who makes me feel like this. Honestly, I’m more worried when you have two arms. You have a hold of my dick, and I’m like man… Charlie could have fucked something up and this would just squeeze my dick right off.”
I can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous thought. “Oh my god. Is that what you think? My arm might just go haywire and pluck your balls right off?”
“I can’t say that it hasn’t crossed my mind,” Marcus says, which leaves me grinning like a fiend.
“Oh shit. I don’t know why that amuses me so much. I’ll make sure Charlie knows next time to not have a command that tears dicks off.”
“Thank you,” Marcus says as he kisses me. “I feel like we always get distracted.”
“Us? Distracted? Never,” I say. “What is an issue is that I’m positive you’re wearing one shirt too many.”
He pulls his shirt off and whips it across the room in a sexy display.
“Ooh baby, that’s what I’m talking about, my wild stallion.”
“Oh boy. Here it goes.”
I tuck my head into his shoulder as I laugh. “What? Are you saying my sexy talk is bad?” I ask before looking down and pointing at his dick. “Mr. Dick here doesn’t think so.”
“Mr. Dick is an idiot,” he says as I wrap my fingers around him and he murmurs something.
“What’s that? I couldn’t hear it.”
“I simply said that you are the best.”
I stroke him while debating this. “Weirdly, I feel like you made fun of my sexy talk some more, but fine, I’ll pretend to believe you.”
Marcus grins at me. “Thank you.” He nips my neck without fully biting me but just the thought of it makes me groan and push my hips into him. His hand finds my cock and strokes it against his own.
“You’re going to train me to be hard the moment someone bites me,” I tease.
“That’s concerning.”
“Right?” I ask as I watch him grab the lube. “I’ll be all ‘Allow me to save your life with my amazing blood. Please ignore the raging boner.’”
“Guess I’ll have to stop biting you, then,” he says as he drips cold lube onto my cock. It makes me shiver as he watches me closely, but he gets a groan out of me the moment his hand immediately warms it up.
“Nooooo, don’t withhold the bite. Please. I want it. I want your cock, and I want you to bite me and make me come.”
“Now that is better sexy talk.”
“You thunderous love-making machine,” I toss onto the end since I can’t let him be too pleased.
“And there it goes.”
I grin as he pushes a hand against my chest so I lower onto my back.
“You sure your stomach is good?”
“It’s perfectly fine, I promise.”
Marcus lifts my hips as he settles between them, one hand slipping between my legs to rub over my hole while his other draws a line down my hip to my right leg, stopping as he reaches the cap. He never strays away from the parts of me that I’d taken a long time to stop hating. The way his touches and kisses explore every part of me has helped me love myself even more, and I wonder if he knows how much he’s changed me.
His finger pushes inside me as he rocks his hips, letting his cock brush against my thigh, making me want him inside me now.
“I’m going to grow old waiting,” I decide.
“That’s a super-sexy way to tell me you want me inside you now.”
“Thank you.”
He adds another finger as he leans forward and kisses my lips. “Maybe I want to feel all of you first. I mean… there’s not a ton of distance to feel, but I’ll get there eventually.”
“Is this because I’m missing limbs?”
“Definitely that and not because you’re short.”
“I am not short! You guys are giants,” I declare.
He grins at me before kissing me again, which at least keeps me from commenting on how evil he is. Although, even if he’s evil, I’d like him to hurry along to the best part.
When he breaks the kiss, I feel the head of his cock against me. I squeeze my leg tighter around his hip, urging him closer to me as the head of his cock slowly opens me up.
I moan as his hand tightens around my cock, gliding in slow, long strokes as he pushes inside of me. It hasn’t even been that long since we’ve had sex, but it feels like it’s been too long. He rocks his hips, knowing my body so damn well that heat pulses through me. It’s clear that he knows exactly how to make my toes curl, my body arch into him, my breath come faster.
As he thrusts inside of me, I grab desperately onto him, dragging him down for another kiss, my tongue wrapping around his as he pushes in deeper. The strokes are slow at first before he begins to quicken and when his cock rubs that sweet spot inside of me, a moan tears through me.
“Fuck… there…”
He doesn’t need guidance as he moves just right. I’m clenching desperately onto him, fingers digging into his back as his lips kiss a line down my neck. He nips the skin and I moan, loving every moment of it. He sucks the skin, kissing and licking before his fangs break through and I’m filled with an unbelievable pleasure that courses through me.
I feel like there is nothing before me but pure ecstasy. That I’m basking in it as I lose focus of my own body. It’s just pleasure and the connection between me and Marcus. It’s so overwhelming that with just one more stroke of Marcus’s hand I’m coming as he pulls his fangs from me. He licks and sucks the skin as he rocks his hips into me until he comes with a moan. His lips find mine and I can taste the hint of blood on them as the high wanes to a satisfying bliss as he pulls out of me and rolls onto his side, pulling me with him.
“We’ll get a shower in a bit,” he mutters as he holds me close. “For now, I just want to hold you.”
“Hmm… I’m definitely not going to complain,” I say as I press myself into him while he grabs my ass and pulls me up closer.
I close my eyes and press in tight, positive I could stay in his arms all day.