Page 27 of Benicio

David looked up at Benicio. “If I turn into doggy chow, just remember you sent me into the belly of the beast.” He frowned, not liking the reference he’d just made. Loki was a beast, and he didn’t want to end up in the dog’s stomach.

“You have my word you are safe here,” Eleazar said. “No one is going to touch you.”

No one was going to touch him. That wouldn’t stop them from talking shit to him.

“You!” Andrew stormed into the office, his finger pointing right at Benicio.

Oh hell no. David wasn’t going anywhere. He wanted to see what was going to happen, and if he had to, he’d slap Andrew down if he thought to touch Benicio.

Benicio simply gazed at Andrew.

“I know a lot of shit has gone down in this city, but you can’t place all the blame on Eleazar. He’s a good guy with a big heart. So, maybe two coven leaders disappeared. That cop targeted Sonny. That wasn’t Eleazar’s fault. Slater formed a hate group. How did Eleazar know he would do that? And—”

“You’ve helped enough,” Eleazar said, cutting Andrew off. “Please let me handle this from here.”

David agreed, but Andrew was not helping Eleazar’s case. If anything, he was making things sound worse.

Andrew glared at Benicio. “He’s my entire world, and I’ll kick your ass if you hurt him.”

David was stunned as Andrew stormed out of the office as quickly as he’d come in.

Benicio arched a brow as he looked at Eleazar.

Eleazar shrugged. “He’s my pit bull.”

“He definitely has a vicious bark,” David mumbled as he walked out of the office to follow Stone, though he wasn’t so sure he wanted to join the mates in the kitchen. Not as long as Andrew was that livid.

* * * *

As soon as everyone walked out, the pain returned. Benicio’s knees buckled, and he gripped the corner of the desk so hard the polished wood cracked beneath his hand.

“Is everything all right?” Eleazar moved a chair until it was behind Benicio. “Please, sit.”

It wasn’t so much sitting as it was falling into the chair. His legs were on fire, and it felt as if someone was beating them with sledgehammers. “I’m fine.”

“Do you need blood?” Eleazar looked toward the closed office doors. Of course he was probably wondering why Benicio needed blood if he was mated.

“What I need you can’t give me.” Benicio gritted his teeth. The pain climbed up his spine, spanned out to his left arm, and crawled over his shoulder. He had to be in a lot of pain if he’d let that slip. He didn’t want anyone knowing he’d been reduced to a weak babe. Not when he was there to pass judgment.

But was he? After telling David about his past, about what his father had done, for the first time—and Benicio wasn’t sure why it had never dawned on him in all this time—he realized that, if his father was the creator of vampires, that made Eleazar, in a roundabout way, his brother.

Which meant Benicio’s father had succeeded in replacing him. God, if only Benicio hadn’t been so filled with the need to prove himself, with the burning desire to prove he was worthy of his father’s love.

It hadn’t dawned on him when he’d released that vampire two thousand years ago that he was releasing his brother. That was how Benicio looked at Eleazar now that he was seated across from him. Regardless of Benicio’s feelings toward his father, if he’d created vampires, then, yes, Eleazar was Benicio’s brother.

And he refused to kill him, regardless of what the council would do to him for not passing judgment.

“We have a lot to talk about.” Benicio was sweating, the agony so intense he feared he would pass out. His heart was beating too damn fast, and the room seemed to tilt slightly.

“I assumed we would.” Eleazar’s voice was cold. “You are here because of the state of this city.”

“No. Yes. No.” Fuck, Benicio couldn’t think straight. “That was my original reason for coming here.”

Eleazar looked cautiously at him. “And your reason has changed?”

God. It was like having muscle cramps, but a thousand times worse. Benicio was unable to stop his legs from jerking. The movement was involuntary, and he hated that Eleazar was witness to it.

“Are you sure there is nothing I can do for you?”

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