“Is that right?” Blake asked.
“Yeah, it is,” I said, and knew if it came to it, I would die burning slowly in the sun for him.
Thirty-One
Blake
We moved as a group to the cabin, which I was relieved to see had two bedrooms. The tension was already high between Marlon and Josiah as everyone walked around the space and chose where they would spend the night.
“I’m going to get our bag out of the truck,” I said to Marlon. The sun was just starting to brighten the sky on the horizon, so I hurried out to the truck and was both relieved and happy when Marlon took the bag from me.
“I won’t harm Josiah or his mate,” he murmured close to my ear.
I cupped his cheek in my hand and nodded. “We should get inside. I’d rather not find out what burning feels like.”
“One star. Would not recommend,” Marlon said as we closed the door to the cabin. Elias was just closing the blinds and turned to us.
“Where did you learn that?” I asked Marlon.
“What do you mean?” he said even though I knew he knew exactly what I meant.
“I can stay down here. You two take the other bedroom,” Elias said and turned on the television. A door closing upstairs told me Josiah and Mark had moved to a room already. “He’s trying to avoid you.”
“As well he should,” Marlon mumbled. “But I have no need to harm him or his mate. We’ll all need to work together if we’re going to destroy a witch who has been alive longer than most of the vampires in this cabin.”
“Very wise of you,” Elias said from the couch where he’d plopped down and curled up on his side. I still couldn’t get used to the fact that he was older than me by a lot and possibly even older than Marlon but still looked like a child. His eyes met mine, and I knew he’d heard my thoughts.
“Sorry, I forgot,” I said, making him grin.
“Your thoughts aren’t nearly as loud as the newborn upstairs,” he said and pointed up. “He feels betrayed by his mate and resents the fact he wasn’t left to die.”
“I thought you couldn’t read my thoughts?” I asked.
“Only at times,” he admitted.
“But you can read Mark?”
“Yes, he’s only been a vampire less than a month, so with the change and what the witch put him through, there is a lot of confusion, like you feel but a lot worse,” Elias whispered. “He truly wishes he’d died.” He said that last part so low I barely heard him, and hopefully spared Josiah’s feelings.
“I felt that way too,” Marlon said. “I never wanted this life. It took everything from me, and for decades it forced me to be an animal.”
I took his hand and held it close to my chest. No words were spoken for a moment because no words would make up for all he’d gone through. The only thing I could offer now was my love. “You have me now,” I finally said.
“You are all I exist for,” he said, and I ignored how dramatic that sounded. He was dramatic and intense. But he was mine, and I understood how much pain he’d been through both emotionally and physically, and I’d fight by his side or defend him against anything that tried to harm him.
Elias looked away, and I knew he’d heard my thoughts but chose not to comment. Marlon’s fist clenched as he struggled to control his hate, anger, and murderous thoughts while still realizing we would need to work together.
“We need a plan,” I finally said.
That snapped Marlon out of his rage, and the three of us sat down and strategized. “We can’t waitfor them to find another vampire. Not that there are that many of us around who are as old as she seems to prefer. But there are more of us around here than you would expect,” Marlon said.
“You can feel them?” I asked.
“Not directly, but I can sense them,” Marlon said.
“It’s that sense that keeps us alive,” Elias said. “We’ll need to strike away from the trap they’ve laid. I won’t risk going back into that area. They leave often and don’t live there, so it’s just a matter of setting up a perimeter and catching them either when they’re returning or leaving.”
“What do we do when we catch them?” I asked.
