Chapter 4: Marcus
1095 Words
Watching the door close, Marcus stayed rooted to the spot, momentarily stunned by all that had transpired in the last hour. He rose from his desk and went to the window, drawing the blinds so that he could see the street below.
He watched her exit the building with Mara just slightly behind. Gideon was nowhere to be seen.
They stood on the sidewalk speaking for several minutes. Likely catching up or making plans to see each other again. From what he knew of Azmaria Belvoir, she had not been back to Tamaran in over 5 years. Based on what he had heard from Gideon, she had left in the dead of night without explanation and left her newly turned little sister behind. Mara was promptly ostracised from the family after that. Her big sisters influence no longer there to protect her from their family of bigots.
He returned to his desk with a content little smile on his face. Replaying the last few minutes in his mind.
He had been furious when Mara had come up to retrieve him, as he had literally been right in the middle of a something. This something, in his usual style, consisted of two beautiful red headed werewolf twins who he had met while walking through the club to go to his office. Eager and willing, he had seen no reason to not show them what more than 1,000 years of life looked and felt like between the sheets. Experience really does trump all natural endowments and basic instincts.
In honesty, he had only agreed to meet with a member from the Council as a pretence of keeping up appearances. He never had any real intentions of going to their aid once again, content to simply let them deal with whatever shenanigans they had gotten themselves into this time. The actuality of it was that he had grown bored with being the Council’s lap dog to come when called upon, and he long ago decided he would never do anything that bored him. He had lived too long a life to allow it to be a boring one decided by pomp and circumstance.
But Mara had been incessant, unceasingly yammering about his duty to his people and insisting that Azmaria Belvoir would speak to no one else but him. She finalised her point by stating he risked making enemies with the Council, and making fools of the coven by refusing to meet with her.
Incensed by being accused of essentially ruining the coven’s reputation, he had thrown on what clothes were available within arm’s reach. He decided, while he took his time dressing, that he would give Gideon a piece of his mind for failing to keep his lover and fledgling in check. Everyone needed to know their place, and he was about to tell Mara as much, but infuriatingly she had already left the room to wait for him outside. He followed her out but not before making sultry promises to his riled up she-wolves who were still in the bed pouting about their ruined night.
He stormed downstairs behind Mara, who kept close enough to make sure he was following, but far enough away to be out of reach of his anger. Like a sheep dog herding its wayward sheep. The imagery only served to enrage him more.
He had himself so worked up by the time he reached his office he had convinced himself that he didn’t actually need Gideon’s service anymore and would simply destroy him and return to bed. But that was before that calm, brilliant voice pierced straight through him to what was left of his soul. The moment he met her eyes, he had problems remembering why he was upset in the first place.
For the first time, in nearly 1, 100 years, he was well and truly shocked to his core.
At first he couldn’t quite place what attracted him to her, she was not pretty by conventional standards, but she was somehow visually stunning none the less. Her piercing blue eyes boldly stared straight into him, almost through him, and he was sure that if he wasn’t careful she would be able to see every secret he kept hidden from the world. She held a worldly wisdom within her aura that he hadn’t seen in a very long time, even in some of his oldest vampire comrades. There was a sense that she was shrewd and wise, and had a strength to her that not many other creatures possessed.
When he found himself in that small battle of wills with her, he actually marvelled at her determination to get her way, but was perplexed that she was seemingly unaffected by him. How could she not be affected when every man and woman, regardless of race or abilities, had been throwing themselves at his feet for a millennia?
When she left his side to go to his desk and begin the matter of their business, his self-perception and self-control was practically rocked as his body nearly screamed in protest at her loss.
He knew that she was Mara’s mortal sister, but there was clearly something more to her that everyone else was not aware of. How else could she meet the eyes of a vampire elder so readily and resist his pull so easily?
She was dangerous to him and for him. Incredibly dangerous to his senses and supremacy. For the first time in the very long time, he had found another being in the world that actually intrigued him. A puzzle he did not understand, a situation he had never encountered before.
He was beguiled and excited to say the least.
There was power in her blood of some sort, of that he was sure of. He was also sure that he was going to solve the mystery of the elder Belvoir sister.
He would have Mara call her back here tomorrow evening to give his answer. He was certain that they both would be pleased with it. There was still the ridiculous business of her leading the next attack, but he would deal with that situation with the Council themselves. He was not going to allow the first thing to catch his interest in over 500 years to die foolishly, whether she liked it or not.
But for now, he had promises to keep and two impatient she-wolves to take care of. And everyone knows you do not cross she-wolves.
- Writer
