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CHAPTER ELEVEN 
FINN
“So that was Kaden?” I ask, feeling sure I already know the answer.
Marcus nods slowly. “Yes.”
“Did he know about the vampire? Ender?”
“He did, but what Kaden cared about more than anything was staying alive. He wanted to use those he could to get where he wanted, and I fell into this idea that he cared about me and I cared about him. But Kaden cared about himself. Anything aside from that was beyond his capabilities,” Marcus says. “It doesn’t matter. It is what it is. Just know that he’s conniving and will stab you in the back to get what he wants. That is why I don’t want you near him.”
“That’s okay. I promise that I don’t plan on getting too close to him. I’d be perfectly fine avoiding him altogether if given the choice.”
“Good plan,” he says.
Marcus’s phone rings and he lets out a sigh when he hears it. “Do you ever just wish we could shut phones off?”
“You… you know you can, right?” I tease. “There’s this magical button on the side that if you press it just… it just… now are you ready for this? It turns off.”
“Oh wow.” Marcus doesn’t seem to find me anywhere near as funny as I find myself. “I know it’s work. I don’t even have to look at it to tell you it’s work.”
I grin as I crawl over him and grab the phone he’d left on the side of the bed. Of course it’s Brooks, so I accept the call. “This is Da Marcus,” I say with my gruffest voice. I kind of sound like a fifties gangster from Boston, but it was a valiant effort.
“Hey, Not Marcus, we received a call from an officer who believes he saw a man matching Landall’s description,” Brooks says.
“Location?”
“Near you guys, which is why I thought to call. The corner of Baker and Vickery,” he says. “You two are the closest to that location. Think you can head over there?”
“Sure, I’ll take my scent dog and have him sniff around. Got any undies or anything he can grab a scent from?”
“I don’t need fucking underwear,” Marcus grumbles as he sits up.
“He said he needs the undies,” I say. “I repeat, he needs the undies.”
“He can have a pair of mine, if he wants. That’s all I have to give, sorry,” Brooks says, like this is an actual issue.
“Hold, please,” I say as I get up with Marcus. “Would you like a pair of Brooks’s undies? We don’t have the perp’s undies, only Brooks’s. I’m sure his wife won’t mind. That okay?”
“Give me the phone,” he growls.
I hurry out into the living room, cradling the phone to me like it’s my precious thing. “Brooks, this is Cheetah Legs wanting to report that the undies were a positive. He says he likes them best if they’re tighty whities.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Brooks says.
“I swear to god, I don’t understand how you don’t get fired,” Marcus yells, coming after me as I put my coat on.
“No one would ever fire me. I’m indispensable. You all would be lost as hell without me. The whole unit would fall apart. You guys would be absolutely miserable and would probably fall into an irreparable state of depression at the lack of my existence.”
“I think you think you’re the main character or something. We didn’t fall apart before you arrived,” Marcus says.
I gasp as I head outside. “I am the main character! Brooks, tell Marcus I’m the main character,” I say as I put it on speaker.
“Uh, Marcus, I have a gray pair, does that work?”
“I don’t want your goddamn underwear, Brooks!” he yells loud enough that Alexei, who’d been walking out to get the mail, looks over at us. He’s clearly scrutinizing us now.
“Alexei, we need you and Claude now,” I shout. “Pretty please! If you come fast enough, I’ll get you some undies too.”
“I don’t want to join your underwear fetish club,” he says.
“They think they might have seen Landall somewhere,” Marcus says, which weirdly makes Alexei help when even the undies wouldn’t.
“Ah, okay.”
“Did someone say underwear?” Claude asks as he comes out of his house. I honestly can only imagine what the other neighbors think of us, especially because it seems like we have to yell everything. Honestly, they’re probably jealous of our relationship.
“Brooks is handing out underwear for everyone,” I say as I open the car door.
“I… am not, but I mean, if that’s what you guys want this year instead of a bonus, I’m more than happy to oblige,” Brooks says.
“This joke is no longer funny, thank you,” I say before deciding we should end the call now before I regret any of this and Marcus and Alexei murder me.
“I swear to god, little human, if I end up with a pack of underwear instead of a bonus, I will eat you,” Alexei says.
“Marcus,” I whine, knowing he’ll protect me.
“I will assist in the eating of the human,” Marcus, the man who is supposed to be my one true love, says as he gets into the driver’s seat.
“Claude?” I ask as I flash him the look that generally gets me anything since vampires seem to find small humans adorable, which I used to my advantage far too much growing up.
But Claude snubs his nose at me.
I stare at him with a slack jaw, and once we all pile into the car, I stare some more. “Are you… are you mad at me?”
Claude refuses to look at me before leaning in and whispering something to Alexei.
Alexei sighs as Marcus floors the gas and the car shoots down the road. “Claude says that you wounded him greatly when you allowed him to feel panicked over Marcus. Instead of explaining yourself, you laughed.”
“It was an accident! Accidental laugh! Claude, I thought you loved me. I thought we were going to,” I put both of my index fingers together so they touch on the tips, “remember? In Marcus’s bed?”
“God, I can’t stay mad at you. You’re just so cute. Why do you torture me like this, you beautiful thing?” Claude asks as he grabs my head which is quite awkward when wearing a seat belt. He proceeds to choke me just so he can kiss the top of my head and I allow it for some reason… maybe because I feel slightly guilty.
Marcus and Alexei don’t seem to care at all that we’re having some weird one-on-one love fest as Marcus heads toward the street Brooks mentioned. When he pulls off, he parks behind a police cruiser with their lights flashing.
We get out and the officer hurries over to us. “I honestly think it was him. I was alone and told not to pursue, but he moved into the back alley.”
I hear footsteps heading toward us and am surprised to see that it’s Kaden of all people. He has his hands in his pockets as he walks up and listens to the officer’s instructions.
Marcus doesn’t even acknowledge his existence as he starts into the alleyway.
“I was not aware you or your gang would be here,” Kaden says as he hurries to catch up to us.
The growl that comes from Marcus would be enough to make a normal man back off but not Kaden.
“Why are you here? I can’t fathom that someone from the council would need to be here for a man on the run,” Marcus says, voice cold.
“When the man on the run is someone I turned and cared about, then yes, I do believe it makes it one of my jobs to be here. Then again, you never were very good at caring about people you turned, were you?”
Marcus has always been quick to anger but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him this quick as he slams Kaden against the wall, hand wrapped around his throat. “Do not even pretend like that is how things happened. You sought power and pleasure over rationality. You destroyed every chance you ever had at a life where I cared about you.”
Kaden just gives Marcus a cruel smile. “You can believe what you want to believe. You can only ever see your side of the story.”
I step up to them and give Marcus a gentle push. “I understand that tensions are not… the best between you two but right now we have a job. Let’s stay focused on the job, and then maybe after we can talk.”
Marcus lets go of Kaden and keeps walking.
Kaden stares at me for a long moment, expression unreadable before shifting to something that I swear looks like he’s impressed. “Dear heavens above, have I just witnessed the grand and great Marcus actually listening to someone? And a human at that? I must be dead. I’m clearly—”
My eyes narrow. “How about you just keep your thoughts to yourself before I retract what I just said?”
He looks smug now. “You are exquisite.”
“I will tear your head clean off your body if you touch him. Then I will fucking kick it to the moon,” Marcus says as he trudges on ahead using rage to lead the way.
Kaden tries his absolute best not to look amused by this as Claude wraps an arm around me and hurries me on by. Alexei comes in behind me, and suddenly, I feel like I’m royalty with my bodyguards.
Kaden sounds condescending as he says, “Come on, now. I won’t touch the—”
All three vampires turn around quickly as I hear a strange noise and shift to look at what caught everyone’s attention.
Kaden staggers as blood gushes out of his neck, head nearly torn right off as he falls and hits the ground on his back.
Marcus tears me back, pulling me in close as I realize that I have no fucking idea what nearly took Kaden’s head clean off. The way Marcus is listening and looking tells me he doesn’t either.
I have my gun out, but at this point, I’m not sure what to even do with it. It’s clear that whatever is out here with us is faster than I can deal with, and when Marcus is uncertain, we have a lot to fear.
Marcus turns fast and at the end of the alleyway I see a man standing there. There’s just enough light for me to make out Landall’s frame, but there’s no way he was fast enough to do what he did to Kaden… right? It had to have been the vampire who killed the others.
“You don’t know what you’ve done, do you?” Landall asks as he steps into the alleyway. “You don’t know what’s going to happen now, do you?”
“Landall, we want to help you,” I say, feeling like we can still reason with him, and if we can, could he tell us something we don’t yet know?
There’s a noise and Marcus moves so quickly that I don’t even realize what’s happening until I’m being pushed into Claude’s arms. I want to help. I want to tell them that I can help. That I’m not useless—but the fucking fear. The fucking… all I can think about is Watson. About the fear I felt when he took me.
Marcus moves past Kaden, after something I can’t even see but I can feel.
Then suddenly, I’m being torn back, ripped away from Claude as I feel warm blood coat my face. Claude is fast, maybe not as fast as Marcus, and can fight very well—honestly, it’s easy to forget how competent he is when he worries more about clothes than fighting—but even Claude isn’t able to outmaneuver the vampire.
Where the fuck did Marcus go? Why the hell would he leave? Did he leave? What is happening?
I raise my gun, but the man is too fast, and Claude is bleeding too much. And then suddenly, there’s a hand on me and I’m pulled away again. Claude grabs for me as the aura of the vampire crushes me. It’s just darkness and desperation as I’m dragged away.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TWELVE 
MARCUS
I go to tear Landall off Alexei, but it’s almost immediately apparent that he didn’t need much help as Alexei drives him off, pinning him to the ground.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I growl at the feral man. Why the hell would Landall start attacking us? But I don’t bother waiting around to find out because I don’t want to leave Claude and Finn alone too long when I’m not quite sure what’s happening.
It was only a second ago that I’d hurried over to assist Alexei, but it still feels too long as I turn into the alleyway and see Claude standing alone. His back is to me so there’s a moment I think Finn is hidden in front of him before Claude turns, blood running down his body.
As I rush past Kaden, he reaches out to me, his body working hard to try to live, but my mind is fixated on Claude and Finn.
“Where is Finn?” I ask as I look down and realize that whoever it was had driven some kind of pipe into Claude’s chest, right where his heart is.
“Claude?”
He staggers back as I quickly grab him, refusing to let him fall.
“You’re fine, you’re okay,” I say, voice catching.
There are two surefire ways to kill a vampire. Cut off their head or destroy their heart. But this couldn’t… no, it couldn’t. How did this even happen? I heard nothing. I heard…
“Claude!” Alexei yells, voice frantic as he rushes forward, pushing past me as he grabs onto him. I can’t leave him, but I also can’t leave Finn.
Gently, I lower Claude to the ground and pull the metal free so he can heal as Alexei cups his hand over the wound. “No, no, you’re fine. You’re fine, Claude.” He grabs his face, smearing blood across his cheek with his bloody hand. I bite into my wrist, tearing it open as I try to get Claude to latch on to it, but he’s not responding at all. Just staring straight ahead, almost like he’s staring through us.
“Claude, come on,” I say as I bump my wrist against his lips. I need him to be okay. I need to get to Finn. Where the fuck is he? Do I leave Claude to help Finn? But if I leave Claude, will he die? I don’t know what to do. “Claude, come on. Claude. Fuck.”
My blood is running down his lips, dripping onto his throat as I pry his mouth open.
“Please, you can’t die, Claude,” Alexei whispers before he starts saying something in Russian that I can’t understand. “Fuck. Where’s Finn?”
“I don’t know,” I say, but the only saving grace is that I don’t smell his blood. No, the alleyway is filled with the smell of Claude’s blood. I’m kneeling in it. There’s too much blood. “Fuck, Claude. Come on.”
I need to get to Finn but what if he’s fine? What if he ran? What if he hid? What if I leave Claude and he dies?
Alexei puts a hand on my wrist. “It’s okay. I’m here with him,” he whispers.
I push Claude’s hair back, running blood through it. “You better not fucking die on me.”
There’s nothing. No reaction at all as I push myself up, begging, pleading, praying that this won’t be the last time I see him alive.
I have no idea where Finn is, but he must have gotten some of Claude’s blood on him because there are drips of blood in the snow and footprints that lead off.
Clearly, someone wants me to follow.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER THIRTEEN 
FINN
Fear is burning bright in my chest as the vampire puts me down on my feet. The blood from Claude has dried on my face as I realize that I don’t know how hurt he was. What if the vampire cut Claude’s head off like he’d tried to do to Kaden? What if something horrible happened to him and all because I couldn’t protect myself?
No, Claude’s older. He’ll be okay. He’s fine… Claude has to be fine.
And as I stand here right in the middle of a goddamn bridge, I realize that I might never find out if Claude is fine or not. I might never know because I might die right here.
The vampire is still for a moment before his dark eyes drop to mine. I’m not sure what I thought the man would look like, but I’m almost shocked by how normal he appears. I’d painted this picture of a dark monster that lurks only in the shadows, but he looks absolutely average. His hair is a little long and it hangs in his face, but it’s not greasy.
He’s so completely average, but everything else about him tells me he’s not. Everything in my being tells me that this is a man to be afraid of. His aura sends fear rushing through me and my body feels heavy and weak in his presence.
He takes a step toward me, and I quickly step back, no longer having my gun to assist me. I don’t even know when I lost it, but I felt useless with it.
The railing bites into my back as I turn my head to look down at the highway far below me. There’s no water, nothing at all to keep me from dying if he were to simply push me over the edge. None of the vehicles rushing about their day would expect it to happen and I doubt they’d manage to stop in time… not like I’d live from the fall.
Fear is eating at me as I try to calm myself. He would have killed me immediately if he wanted me dead, right? He wanted to get me away from the others, likely to talk.
“So you’re Watson’s pet, are you?” he says with a light Spanish accent.
The question startles me. It was the last thing I thought he’d ask and I have absolutely no idea what to say to it. “W-What? No. I’m… Watson is dead.”
He gives me a smirk that makes me feel like he’s toying with me. “I’m very well aware of that. What devastating news. The moment I heard, I had to come see for myself just who decided to kill the unkillable man. And here I find a little pet.”
“I’m not his fucking pet,” I say, venom coating my words.
He grabs my hand, flipping it over so my palm is up. Without hesitation, he rakes a nail over my wrist, slicing it open just enough that pearls of blood begin to bloom. Quickly, I try jerking my arm back, but he holds me still as he runs his tongue over my wrist, licking the blood away.
“Then tell me, human, why do you have his blood running through your veins? I can taste it,” he says.
This time, he allows me to jerk my arm away.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I say, hating the idea that anything of Watson’s is inside me, but isn’t that a joke since the very reason I can run and use my hand and leg is because of the prostheses Watson created.
“We’re similar, you and I,” he says as he grabs my chin, forcing it up as he looks down at me. “The difference is that I did not allow him to make me into a pet to do his bidding.” He grabs my prosthetic arm and slides the sleeve up as he examines it before letting it drop. I want to pull away, I want to keep him from touching me and manipulating me in any way he pleases. I want to shove him back and fight or run or do something, but I can’t. I feel rooted to the spot because I know that I’m not strong enough to win this fight without a gun or weapon or anything to aid me.
My heart is beating out of my chest as I stare at him. “We killed him, and we can kill you too.”
His eyebrows lift as he stares at me. “Oh? Maybe I’m not the one who needs to be killed,” he says as he presses into me until the railing is eating into my back. “Maybe you don’t know as much as you think you know, human.”
That’s the moment a huge smile grows across his face, and he pushes off me but doesn’t give me enough space to run. Instead, he turns as I sense Marcus and relief floods through me but so does fear. This man led me out here for a reason. Was it to draw Marcus away from the others? Does he wish to kill him? Is he strong enough to kill him?
“Good evening, Marcus.”
“Let him go, Ender,” he says.
“You’re just always so quick to anger and so hard to talk to. I knew the only way I could get you to stop and listen is by force. So here I am with your human.”
“Let him go, and I will listen to anything you fucking want,” Marcus growls.
“Cute. I was just telling Watson’s pet here how you guys killing Watson brought me back. This was his territory, you know? He kept the toxic vampires at bay but as soon as he was gone, they flooded the area, didn’t they? Vampire hunters and hell, even Chief Bowman got cocky. It was open season with Watson gone, but here’s the thing, Marcus. Watson had something I wanted and now that he’s dead, I feel like it’s fair game. Issue is, I might not be the only one.
“I want what I deserve to have. These people you believe you’re helping: Kaden, Landall? They are using you. I, at least, have the decency to do it on my own and tell you when I want to use you. I don’t need you, Marcus, but I think it’d be fun to work together.”
“Let Finn go,” Marcus says, his voice cold as his aura floods the area. Thankfully, his aura doesn’t affect me like Watson’s and Ender’s have.
Ender lets out a noise that could only be called a growl. “Is that all you can fucking think about? It’s no wonder why you haven’t seen anything that’s been happening around you. You’re fucking blind to everything because you’re so goddamn fixated on a mere human. Humans die, others replace them. But if you don’t pay attention, you don’t see the shit happening around you.”
“Let Finn go, and I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”
Ender sighs and looks almost disappointed in Marcus as he shakes his head. “I changed my mind. You’re fucking useless,” he says before shoving me hard.
The guardrail digs into my hips but the force is so hard against my back that I’m thrown backward. I try scrambling to grab hold of something… anything, but the force he’d hit me with was enough that I feel like I’ve been hit by a car.
I’m disoriented and it takes me a moment to even realize I’m falling as my fingers and hands scrape against the side of the bridge but as I manage to grab onto nothing, I realize that I’m going to die. I’m going to plummet to the ground and die and—
Strong arms wrap around me, squeezing me tight as Marcus presses me hard against his body while the wind whips around us and Marcus twists, tucking me in close a moment before he hits. Everything happens so fast that I don’t even realize what’s happened until I slam down against Marcus. The sound of bones breaking sends panic through my body.
The momentum throws me forward as I’m flung off Marcus and hit the ground hard, sliding across the road as pain tears into my leg above the cap.
The noise of a car slamming on its brakes snaps me back to reality as I shove myself up onto my aching arms. Quickly, I turn as Marcus rolls onto his side.
“Fucking hell,” he growls as he tries to get up but immediately falls back down.
“Are you alright?” I ask as I assess my own injuries but besides some burns on my arm from hitting the road and the pain in my leg, I feel okay.
“Yeah, just… give me a moment,” he says as I remember the sound of bones breaking and realize the fall must have broken something on him, but he heals quickly enough that he manages to get up on his hands and knees. “We have to get back to the others.”
I nod as I get up to my feet and reach down to help him. He takes a tentative step before he must heal enough that he can get his legs working under him.
“Is Ender still up there?” I ask anxiously as I look up, but I don’t see anything.
“No, he threw you to get me off his back while he fled,” he says. “But I don’t trust that the others are safe.” Something in his face tells me there’s more to it, but I’m afraid to ask.
He wraps his arms around me, and now that he’s healed, he starts to run.
“Marcus… Claude was hurt,” I whisper as I dig my fingers into him.
“I know.”
“Is he okay?” I ask.
He’s quiet for a moment and panic starts to eat at me, even more than before. “Marcus, please…”
“I don’t know, Finn.”
I cling onto him, praying, begging, hoping everything will be okay. We couldn’t have been gone long, but when we arrive in the alleyway, there’s an emergency team working hard to help Claude. But he’s a vampire… why didn’t he heal immediately… unless…
As Marcus puts me down in the alleyway, I realize how much blood there is in the spot Claude had been standing with me.
“Where’s Claude?” I ask. Panic rushes through me as I race down the alleyway. It’s eating away at me as the flashing lights invade the alleyway and I find Alexei hovering near Claude who isn’t moving from where he lies on a stretcher. They’re trying to get blood in him but he’s coated in it, losing it as we stand here. The amount of blood from the alleyway explains why he’s not healing and the gaping hole in his chest that is still open and unhealed tells me just how serious this is.
I dig my fingers into the cut Ender had made on my wrist, but it’s not enough so I shove my arm against Alexei. “Bite me.”
Alexei seems unsure of what to do. “Marcus and I already gave him blood. He’s not healing,” he says, a quiver to his voice that I’ve never heard.
“Alexei, please,” I beg. Alexei is always so calm and collected but when he grabs my wrist and bites it, his fingers shake.
The blood drips freely as I press it against Claude’s lips that are cold as ice. I feel absolutely sick as I stand here, my leg screaming but the adrenaline keeps me on my feet.
When the blood clots over and stops dripping and they’re putting Claude in the ambulance, I want to give him more. I want to do what I can to help him, but when I ask Alexei to bite me again, he shakes his head.
“You can’t lose too much blood, Finn.”
I shake my head, positive I haven’t, positive I could give him more… so much more. “No, I’m fine. I can do more,” I say as I fight to get into the vehicle, but they shut the doors before I can. “Marcus, tell them I can help. I need to help.”
“You’re barely standing, Finn,” he says.
“No, that’s just because of my leg. I’m fine. It’s not the lack of blood,” I say, knowing I would drain myself dry to not lose a member of my family. I would do anything it takes to help them.
Marcus pulls me over to the waiting car with Alexei who doesn’t seem to be fully functioning. He gets into the back seat, so I get in beside him as Marcus pulls in behind the ambulance and follows without any acknowledgment of the speed limits. I wrap an arm around Alexei, and he presses in close to me.
“I can’t lose him,” he whispers.
I don’t know what to say. I want to tell him he won’t, but I’ve never seen a vampire take this long to heal, especially one as old as Claude. I’ve never seen a vampire take something straight to the heart and live. I’ve never seen one lose as much blood as Claude has and still have enough blood and energy to heal.
Instead, I take his hand and squeeze it tightly as Marcus drives.
When we arrive, Marcus wastes no time parking, and then we’re out and rushing after them. They’ve already taken Claude back before we reach the door, my leg aching with every step I take, but I can’t slow down.
A nurse leads us to a room we can wait in, but I want to be back with Claude, and I’m sure the others do as well. The uncertainty is going to kill me.
Marcus and Alexei can’t manage to sit down, but my leg hurts enough that I quickly find a seat and sit to get the pressure off it. Leaning back in the chair, I wish I could take my prosthesis off, but there’s absolutely nothing that could make me hinder my movement when I need to be able to get up at a moment’s notice.
It’s a good twenty minutes but it feels like hours before the door opens. It’s like time stands still as I wait for the woman to speak. We’re the only ones in the waiting room so the doctor comes over to us and smiles. “I wanted to let you know that his body is finally accepting the blood and healing. He should be good as new within a few hours… honestly, I can’t even tell you how lucky he is. I’ve never seen a vampire heal after what he’s been through.”
“Thank you so much,” I say.
“Of course. He wouldn’t have lived if you guys hadn’t supplied him with blood until we got him here. He’s very lucky he had you three around,” she says as relief floods through me. After telling us it’ll probably be a couple more hours, she leaves, and Alexei just sinks down right there on the floor. He covers his head in his hands as I see how much they’re shaking but he doesn’t let out a word.
Aching, I push myself up and go over to him before kneeling down. I know if I make it too obvious that I’m in pain, Marcus will usher me off, so I pretend like it’s fine as I reach out and wrap my arms around Alexei.
“Hey, it’s okay. He’s going to be okay. She said he’ll be back to normal in a few hours,” I say.
“Yeah,” he whispers.
Gently, I rub his back. “I know… I know it’s terrifying and upsetting, but he’s so strong. Just you watch, he’ll be perfectly fine even sooner than the doctor predicted. It’ll be like nothing happened, and he’ll be back to blinding us with his suits. I mean… how does one have so many weird suits?”
“The house is full of them,” he whispers, but he refuses to unbury his face, so I squeeze him tight and let him silently cry against me where he can hide his tears.
After a few minutes, he clears his throat. “I’m fine, moj zanuda.”
“Alright. If you’re not, Marcus loves hugging people,” I tease.
That makes Alexei smile. “It’d be like hugging a cactus.”
“A handsome one,” I say.
Alexei stands up and holds his hand down to me. I gratefully take it, but crouching did shit to help ease the pain of my leg and when I try putting weight on it to make my way back to the chair, I fall into Alexei.
“What’d you do?” he asks as Marcus rushes over to help.
“My leg just went numb from sitting,” I lie.
“Finn,” Marcus says, voice telling me he’s not going to listen to my lies.
“I’m fine,” I assure them. “Just… help me to a chair. I just… tweaked it when I was chucked off the bridge. I think maybe when he slammed me into the guardrail or maybe when I used you as a landing mat or… there were a lot of moments.”
Marcus takes my other arm and the two of them guide me over to the chair by practically carrying me. It’s awkward and I try not to be annoyed at myself over it. Fuck, do I hate being weak.
“Thank you for your help and keeping me sane… both of you,” Alexei says as he looks at us, and I forget about my own irritation at myself. I know I shouldn’t let my mind go there anyway, but sometimes it’s hard when my brain seems to do whatever it pleases.
“You’re welcome. Sorry you had to go through so much,” I say.
Marcus shakes his head. “I feel awful that I didn’t protect you guys better. It’s my fault for leaving,” he says quietly.
“You were helping me,” Alexei protests.
“It’s not your fault,” a voice says as the door opens. “It’s absolutely no one’s fault.”
Claude stands in the doorway rocking a hospital gown. “Finn, I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m sorry I lost you.”
It definitely hasn’t been hours and Claude is pale but looks as good as new… well, besides how filthy he is—it’s not like they gave him a bath in the hour they had him back there trying to die.
Alexei just stares at him like he’s a ghost. I’m honestly a little unsure if I should rush forward and hug Claude before Alexei does but Alexei’s not moving at all.
“God, you three look rough,” Claude says. “Don’t get me started on the gowns here. I mean… look at this.” He turns around and parts the gown so everyone can see his bare ass.
Alexei starts muttering something at him in Russian that I’m pretty sure absolutely none of us can understand.
Claude, though, just smiles and grabs Alexei in his arms, pulling him in close for a tight hug.
“You asshole. I thought you were going to die,” Alexei whispers, his voice shaking.
“Shhh, I would never leave you, my love,” he says as he kisses Alexei’s forehead.
“You don’t know that. I thought I was going to lose you… I can’t… dammit. Claude…” Alexei trails off and Claude just kisses him again.
“I’m so sorry I let you get hurt,” Marcus says.
“I’m sorry you got hurt because of me,” I add.
“Aww! It is no one’s fault besides the evil bad guy. God, I love you guys,” Claude says as he drags Marcus into the hug, and of course, I have to hug him as well. Alexei’s squeezing Claude hard enough that I won’t be surprised if he slices him in half. Marcus doesn’t seem prepared to ever let Claude go either.
The door opens again. “Excuse me, sir,” the nurse says. “I did not give you permission to rip your IV out and leave.”
“I am all well and dandy, thank you, honey,” he says. “And I need to get out of this godawful gown. It makes my body hurt.”
“Maybe that was nearly dying and not the gown,” I say.
Claude thinks about that for a moment before shaking his head. “I fear not. It is this hideous thing they have forced me into. My skin is rejecting it.”
“Sir, your skin is not rejecting the gown. I need to ask you to come back until the doctor releases you.”
“But I’m perfectly fine,” Claude says, looking absolutely heartbroken by this news. “I’m a vampire. I’m all healed.”
“The doctor has to release you.”
Claude seems rather irritated by this, and he is rarely irritated. Even so, Marcus gives him a squeeze. “Go back. We’ll be waiting patiently.”
“But…” Claude whines before he kisses Alexei’s forehead again.
“Go on,” Alexei says. “We’ll be right here.”
“He will likely be discharged before long but will need some clothes. We had to cut his clothes off to work quickly,” she says.
Claude gasps. “Not my pink and orange Rebellaud exclusive. There were only fifty made.”
“Thank god,” Alexei says before going, “I mean… we’ll find you something else equally ugly, I promise.”
Claude gives Alexei a warm smile before kissing his cheek. “Thank you, my dear. Now I’m off to be tortured some more. I hope they don’t try to put those hideous socks on me.” And with a shudder, he’s dragged off.