Caleb
Adriel and I hadn’t spoken properly since the night we had sex. We made small talk and went on like nothing happened, but I could sense the awkward tautness in the air like a vibrating string.
Something was wrong, and once again, Adriel wasn’t talking to me about it.
I wanted to rip my hair out in frustration. I thought thatfinallywe had things under control. I thought I had everything I wanted - a stable, if weird, relationship with Adriel, and one smoking hot night of sex.
In the end, I got what I wanted - but it didn’t last. As soon as it was over, Adriel left, and he’d been quiet ever since.
Acting as if he wanted nothing to do with me.
Fine,I thought bitterly.If that’s what he wants, I can do that, too.
I was about to head downstairs to eat something when a knock at the door and a voice caught my attention. Adriel answered it. Pierce stood in the threshold with a worried expression that instantly made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“Yes?” Adriel said.
“I assume Caleb is here,” Pierce replied.
“He is,” Adriel said stiffly. “What business do you have?”
I could tell from Pierce’s tone that he was annoyed with Adriel.
That makes two of us,I thought.
“Benji is sick,” Pierce said. “He wants his brother.”
My stomach flipped.Benji’s sick?
“Is he all right?” Adriel asked softly.
Pierce’s mouth tightened. “He’s fine. But he wants Caleb for support.”
I knew what was going on. Benji was finally in his third trimester, and that meant his half-vampire child’s craving for blood was getting to him. Benji would need to drink blood to feed his child.
I shuddered. We’d spoken about it before, the night I first arrived at the Tenebrae mansion, but now that it was finally happening… it all seemed like a surreal dream.
Not able to sit and eavesdrop any longer, I bolted downstairs to meet Pierce. “What’s going on?”
Pierce summoned us to follow him as we left for the mansion, where Benji was waiting for me. “Benji requires blood for the baby.”
“Oh,” I said. “I see.”
“It can’t be helped,” Pierce said. “It’s necessary for the baby’s growth and survival.”
“I know,” I replied. “I don’t judge him or anything. But it must be hard.”
Adriel didn’t say anything. He remained silent, taking up the rear as I walked alongside Pierce. For a moment I felt a flash of jealousy. Pierce was totally, utterlynormal- even for a vampire. It was so not the time to be envious of my brother’s taste in vampire boyfriend, but I couldn’t help it. He was so unlike Adriel.
I remembered what Pierce told me earlier, about how Adriel was the most immature of all the brothers.
He was right then, and he’s still right,I thought in irritation.
All my annoyance at Adriel melted away when I saw Benji sitting weakly in the chair. Exhausted dark marks under his eyes contrasted starkly with his pale complexion.
My heart stopped when I saw who else was sitting next to Benji at the table.
Margaret.
