Page 9 of Bound in Blood
Marco watched the defeat play across his brother’s features, anger quickly simmering down into acceptance. Deep down, maybe deeper than Mateo would admit out loud, Marco knew he was feeling relief. His eyes flicked between Marco, Logan’s still body, and the blood smearing Logan’s too-pale lips. His jaw worked, but he didn’t speak. What was the point?
The air in the room was thick with tension when Logan began showing the first signs of change.
Marco hadn’t ever witnessed the process before, personally. He and Mateo had been turned at the same time, and Mateo had woken before him. The shift wouldn’t be perceivable by human senses, not at first, but to Marco, it was unmistakable.
The blood running through Logan’s veins began reacting with the bit of Marco’s that he had ingested, his human blood trying its best to fight the sickness that was overtaking him. If Marco were to touch Logan, he knew his skin would be scorched with fever.
“I can’t sit here and watch this,” Mateo snarled with renewed anger. “He’s going to need to feed when he wakes.” He’d been cradling Logan’s head on the couch, but now he stood, almost too abruptly, causing Logan’s head to bounce.
Marco glared. “Where are you going?” he asked, catching his brother by the wrist.
“I doubt he’s going to want to drink from a live source, but he’ll drain the entire building if we’re empty-handed when he wakes.” Mateo jerked out of Marco’s grip. “Gonna go compel a nurse to give us blood bags.” He snatched his coat off the ground where Logan had dropped it. God, had that only been an hour ago?
Marco vaguely heard the apartment door click shut, but his eyes were transfixed on Logan as his body continued trying to fight what Marco had done to him. He wouldn’t wake up alone, not like Marco and Mateo had. Marco would make sure of it. He remembered the fear of being a Newborn, the piercing hunger that never quite sated those first few days. Everything had been toobright,tooloud,and the fact that they’d only had one casualty between the two of them was considered so rare it was almost unheard of.
Two casualties now, Marco corrected himself shamefully.
Marco exhaled, running a hand through his hair as he observed Logan for any signs that something was going wrong. He looked so fragile, curled in on himself, skin still pale from blood loss. The fever hadn’t yet settled, hadn’t broken into the second stage of the transformation, and Marco could feel the heat radiating off him from several feet away.
He couldn’t leave him like that. Twisted at an odd angle on the couch, his face contorted in the beginning stages of what would be excruciating pain, the smell of blood and death, and Marco’s mistake permeating the room. No, his Logan deserved better.
HisLogan. Mateo was going to hate that.
Gently, Marco scooped Logan into his arms, the heat from Logan’s skin feeling like it might leave burns. He was weightless, even to Marco’s vampire-strength standards, causing Marco to swallow down new pangs of guilt. This was all his fault, after all.
Marco scanned the small apartment, looking for the most comfortable place to put Logan. Shoved into the corner was a twin-sized bed, the cheapest piece of furniture Marco had ever seen, but it had a mattress and was relatively adult-sized, so it would have to do. Marco gently set Logan down on the bed, covering him with blankets and fluffing the pillow. If you didn’t look too closely at his face, Logan almost looked like he was taking a nap.
Marco sat down on the floor next to Logan’s head, reaching for his hand under the blanket. He stared up at this man that he’d drained and claimed, trying to figure out exactlywhyhe’d done it. He felt a pull in the center of his chest, like a thread had wrapped around his heart and guided his actions. When he thought too hard about it, he only confused himself more. Marco had never thought twice about the humans he’d interacted with in the past, but Logan had some hold on him that bordered on insanity, seeing as he’d only met the guy a few hours ago.
Mateo was going to fucking kill him, he was certain.
Mateo, who had accepted Marco’s decision a lot quicker than Marco thought he would. Mateo, who was out getting blood for Logan unprompted. Mateo, whoinsistedthey target the cute bartender that night, for reasons he wouldn’t disclose.
Hm.
As if summoned by Marco’s thoughts, Mateo swung the front door to Logan’s apartment open, a duffel bag slung over one shoulder. His expression was unreadable, but Marco could practically feel his anger, his… anticipation? No, that couldn’t be right.
“Any change?” Mateo asked, dropping the duffel bag on Logan’s kitchen counter and opening the fridge.
Marco shook his head. “No. I was told it could take days, once.”
Mateo exhaled sharply, loading the blood bags he had collected into the fridge, then glancing up at Logan’s still frame. “Youtucked him in?
Marco bristled. “He was uncomfortable.”
“How thefuckwould you—” Mateo took a deep, calming breath, “Never mind.” His eyes lingered on Logan’s body, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “It won't be so bad, I suppose. Having someone new around. That is, if he can stand looking at us.”
Marco swallowed, grip tightening ever so slightly around Logan’s limp fingers. “He will. He’ll have to,” he murmured, voice barely above a whisper.
Mateo studied him for a long moment. Maybe Mateo was being so calm because he’d never seen Marco act like this before. Mateo was the irrational one who made snap decisions, not him. “I hope you’re right, Marco.”
The room settled into silence as Mateo finished putting away the blood bags, closing the refrigerator, and sitting down on thefloor next to his brother. They said nothing, letting the emotions between them speak for themselves. Once Logan woke, they would determine their next steps. But for now… all they could do was wait.
Chapter
Four
LOGAN
