Page 16 of Blood that Burns
Marcellus might not have said those exact words when he told me they were coming, but he’s said it over the past year.
Operation Get the Bellamy Brothers Back on Solid Ground has begun.
“Bad blood?” Law chokes on the words. “We have more than bad blood, sunshine. We have irreconcilable differences. The kind that men—and vampires—kill for.”
My eyes roll. “You have a horrid misunderstanding. One that you will sit down and discuss like adults.”
He barks a laugh. “You’ll have to convince our oldest brother of that, and even then, I can’t promise I won’t kill him myself.”
I hold his stare for a few tense seconds. “Why, Law? Why can’t you just hear him out?”
His head moves back and forth and for a moment, and I think he’s going to evade the question until he says, “He’s responsible for so much hurt.” The words are nearly whispered. “There’s too much blood on his hands to save him.”
My stomach drops because Marcellus said as much. “He’s made some very wrong turns, Law, but he’s not a lost cause. He needs you and Julian.”
He offers a sad smile. One that tells of the pain Marcellus has inflicted. “Your efforts are valiant, Mags.” He blows out a breath, shaking his head. “There’s a lot to talk about, but right now, I just want to get you home.”
My back straightens. “Home?”
His hands lift to halt my growing panic. “Julian’s home. I’m taking you to Marina.”
My head bobs, shoulders relaxing. “Okay.”
I grab his hand and lace our fingers together. Those familiar sparks race up my arm, playing games with my head. Law stiffens beside me, and I wonder if he feels them too.
“Let’s go,” I say, pulling him along behind me, never breaking contact again until we’ve reached his car.
It might be wrong, but right now, I need to feel that pulsing energy... if only to know he’s really here.
The silence in the car is peaceful. Nothing like the pregnant silence of Marcellus’s palatial mausoleum. Maybe it’s because I’m not alone. Law is beside me, and with him I’ve always felt safe. Crazy as that is, considering he’s a vampire.
“I wasn’t trying to block you out back there.” His eyes remain fixed forward, hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel. “I just needed to get you out of that place.”
My stomach twists in that way that it’s only ever done for him as my eyes roam his profile. Straight nose, chiseled cheekbones, square jawline with just a touch of day-old scruff. He’s easily the most handsome creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. He’s like a god.
Always my protector.
“What are you smiling about?” he asks.
I didn’t even realize he’d turned toward me.
My head falls back against the headrest, eyes meeting Law’s. His are narrowed in on me.
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, contemplating what to tell him.
“I was thinking about pizza.”
“Pizza... That’s what has you smiling like a loon?” His incredulity is adorable. I wonder what he thought I was going to say.
Instead, I chuckle. “I haven’t had any in a long time.”
His jaw clenches and his head snaps forward, but even from this angle I can see the questions circling in that beautiful mind of his.
“Truth for a truth?” he asks.
That question is one I’ve heard many times over the years. It brings me back to the night before everything fell to shit.
“Truth for a truth?”