Page 38 of After the Chase

Marcus leans back slightly. "What?"

"Three things. Access to club facilities when I need them. Safe houses, storage, whatever resources you have available."

Marcus nods slowly. "That can be arranged. What else?"

"Second, assistance with cover-ups when necessary. Bodies, evidence, witnesses. I need to know I can call on the club if a situation requires cleanup."

Marcus's expression doesn't change, but I see something shift in his eyes. Curiosity.

"And the third?" he asks.

"I want to participate in club operations. Specifically, any killings you carry out, interrogations. I'm not interested in drugs or extortion or any of the other business. Just the violence if the mood takes me, that includes me bringing any victims here. No questions asked."

The room goes very quiet. Marcus studies me for a long moment, then he leans forward, elbows on the table.

"You're asking for permission to kill with us."

"I'm offering to contribute, when I’m available, of course. In exchange for funding and resources."

"Why?"

"It’s something I enjoy, and I also need something that’s going to entertain if I have to live here full time.”

Another long silence and Marcus's eyes narrow slightly, processing this what appears to him to be an unusual request. I look at it as smart business for me. I have urges, especially when triggered by anyone who comes close to Chase. This will make it an easier and safer process, so Chase worries less and I get to fulfill a need when the mood hits.

"You're not like your father," he says finally.

"Thats a compliment I’ll take."

“He never wanted to get his hands dirty, but you, you're something else." Marcus glances at Ethan, then back at me."You're secure telling me this because you know I'll figure it out eventually."

"It wouldn’t take long for you to figure out who I am, this just saves the bullshit. I don’t do friends, or chit chat or heart to hearts."

Marcus is quiet for another moment. Then, surprisingly, he smiles. "I like you, Noah. You're direct."

"I don't see the point in pretending."

"Most people do, they like to play a role." Marcus gestures toward Ethan. "Even Ethan here pretends to be something he's not most of the time."

Ethan's smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Careful, Marcus."

I stand slowly, unable to stop myself from crossing the room toward Ethan. He straightens slightly as I approach, but doesn't move away. So alike. I stand in front of him.

"You wear a mask," I say quietly, before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, before blowing the smoke into his face to test him. He remains neutral, absolute control. My voice is barely above a whisper, intimate in a way that has nothing to do with warmth. "I can see it in the way you smile, the way you speak. The careful construction of normalcy."

Ethan holds my gaze. Something dark flickers behind his eyes that matches what lives inside me. I’ve never met someone like me before and it’s fascinating.

"Everyone lives in a disguise," he says.

"No." I take another step forward, my voice dropping even lower. "Not everyone, some of us justare. But you…you hide and pretend. You bury what you are beneath the charm and sophistication to fit in. I bet you even practice how to act in public." That last comment gets a harsh smile in response.

"And what do you think I am, Noah?"

I tilt my head, studying him the way I'd study a puzzle. "The same thing I am. A monster that doesn't feel the way humans feel. Something that hunts."

The air between us feels thick and demonic. In my peripheral, Marcus has gone very still at his desk, watching this exchange with the wariness of a man who knows danger when he sees it.

"Remember you don't know me," Ethan says, but his voice lacks conviction and his posture has shifted, engaged in the conversation.