Page 13 of Blood that Burns

I shake my head back and forth. “I’m pissed off. I should’ve gotten here faster.” My head turns and I look over my shoulder to Maggie, who’s wearing a small smile.

She bends down so that her mouth ghosts a kiss to my ear. “You found me. That’s what matters.”

My eyes open and self-loathing jabs a spear through my chest. This time, she’s wrong. I didn’t find her. I thought she was dead. I’ve been to interrogate Marc since she was taken. I was under the same damn roof as her and I never had a fucking clue. How is that possible, given our connection?

I’ll fucking kill Marcellus.

He’s a dead man. He may be my brother, but this is unforgivable. She was young and deserved a better life.A life free of monsters.

“You’re not hurt?” I ask, eyes scanning over her again.

“I’m not hurt.”

Those three words soothe my battered soul. I don’t know why Marcellus didn’t harm her, but I’m grateful. For that alone, I might spare his life—after I torture him for taking her away in the first place.

Julian barks a question at Maggie, and it brings me back to the here and now. She cowers a bit at his aggressive tone, and I want to throttle him. Her light blond eyebrows are tilted in, forming a single crease in her forehead, curious as to who he is, I’m sure.

“Maggie, look at me,” I say soothingly. “That beastly creature is my oldest brother, Julian. He’s... with your sister.”

I complete that sentence with a scrunched nose, feigning disgust, falling back on old habits. When uncomfortable, revert to an entertainer. It’s always been my MO and is the very reason I’m rarely taken seriously by members of the Council.

She doesn’t so much as laugh. Her eyes fly to my brother, who stands there with wide eyes, rocking back on his heels, looking incredibly uncomfortable. I’m sure the last thing he expected to occur today was meeting Marina’s sister—who was thought to be dead.

His attitude quickly turns from discomfort to something like indignation when Maggie doesn’t immediately swoon at the idea of him with her sister.

He doesn’t know her. Doesn’t realize that she’s always been just as protective of Marina as Marina was of her. Their biggest flaw was their inability to trust that the other could handle their truths. If they’d worked together as opposed to constantly putting the other first, maybe they’d have bypassed this whole mess.

Maybe.

There’s also the whole business about Marina being adamantly against the idea of vampires the last time Maggie was with her. I’m sure the idea of Marina in a relationship is alien enough, let alone a relationship with a vampire.

“Is Marina here?” Maggie’s entire face lights up at the possibility, and Julian appears to relax when Maggie’s only concern is for her sister.

“She’s back at Bellamy Manor,” Julian says, and Maggie jumps from the bed, darkness falling over her eyes as though she’s preparing to battle the world.

“Law, we have to save her.”

I want to scoop her into my arms and chase away the anger plastered all over her porcelain features. But I can’t for so many reasons.

I offer her the only thing I can give. My vow of safety for Marina and for her.

“She’s safe, Maggie. I promise you. Madame Shante has placed a barrier around the estate, keeping everyone out,” I say, gesturing at the witch who’s accompanied us.

Shante has been one of my biggest allies, and although Maggie has never formally met her, she’s aware of who she is.

Our eyes meet and I don’t dare break the contact, trying to convey that what I say is true. She shouldn’t worry about her sister, but I know full well that’s an impossibility.

Marina has always been Maggie’s Achilles’ heel. Marina thinks she was saving Maggie the whole time, but Maggie was trying to do the same for her in the end.

“You need to take her and go,” Julian says, motioning with his head toward the door. “If Marcellus returns, he won’t allow us to leave with her.”

My back stiffens at the thought of having to kill my brother today. When we’d come here, I’d been prepared for a fight, but the plan was to bring him out alive. I’m not sure I could do that now.

I nod once, grabbing her hands and moving us toward the door, but she stops my movement.

“Wait,” she demands. “Why are we running from Marcellus?”

My jaw drops and eyes narrow in confusion. Her head tilts to the side. She’s serious.

“Maggie, he kidnapped you and left your family to believe you were dead. He allowedmeto believe it.” My voice takes on a deadly edge.

The devastation that settled over me, that day she jumped and all the days after, assaults my memory, taking root and replaying in one agonizing reel after another. The drinking. The women. The intense desire for it all to end. For my life tofinallyend.

Maggie’s voice is the only reason the hellish movie in my mind stops.

“No. Hesavedme.”