Page 42 of The Vampire's Guide to Wooing a Scholar
But if you choose to stay, I will agree to any terms you set. Consider, for example, that the journals I provided were not written by my grandfather, but are my own words, and there are many more. You may have them all, and as much of my time as you wish to devote to research.
Do not fear me, Winifred. I would gouge out my heart before I would allow any harm to come to you.
Yours,
Marcus
The tears she’d successfully forced back dripped down her cheeks. The emotion in his writing tugged at her heart, even as she acknowledged the bait he’d set on the hook. If she understood him correctly, Marcus had lived for hundreds of years. That meant he possessedfirsthand knowledgeof significant historical events and might share that knowledge with her. It was an opportunity that would have made any scholar salivate, and she was no exception.
All she had to do was continue to live with a vampire.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Marcus was sittingon his bed, pressing a piece of clean cloth against an oozing sore on his shoulder and considering what to do about the fact that his wife probably wanted to kill him, when Cordon burst through the door, nearly sending it flying off its hinges.
“Brother, you must—” Cordon said before his expression twisted in horror.
Marcus removed the cloth from his skin with a wince. “So. Now you know.” He hadn’t wanted his brother to discover his worsening condition, but it was too late. The symptoms that had abated after consuming Winifred’s and Smith’s blood had returned. He’d allowed himself to be careless, setting aside his experiments in favor of Winifred’s well-meaning but pointless exercises in stoicism. Now there was no doubt.
He was dying.
“How long have you been hiding this?” Cordon asked.
Marcus buttoned his shirt. “It doesn’t matter.” His suffering would soon be over. Anything that followed was none of his concern.
Cordon crossed the room in a flash. He grasped Marcus’s shoulders and shook. “Don’t you dare give up.”
Marcus felt hot and cold at the same time. This was exactly why he’d kept the secret. He maneuvered out of his brother’s grasp. “What did you come here to tell me?”
Cordon scowled. “You haven’t changed.” His irises glowed blue. “When will you stop pretending to be like Marguerite? You’ll never be able to replace her.”
Ice formed around Marcus’s heart. He’d given his brother more than enough chances. His continued disrespect was unacceptable. He rose to his feet, withdrew his fangs, then lunged, fully intending to force the younger vampire to his knees. Instead, Cordon caught him about the waist and slammed him to the floor. Marcus channeled his blood into his shoulders until a fierce pain bloomed in his head and made him cry out.
“Stop, brother,” Cordon whispered. “Please. You cannot beat me.”
Marcus gritted his teeth and bared his neck. Only then did Cordon release him. Marcus curled into a ball, unwilling to see the disgust on his brother’s face. The façade was over. He had lost his authority, and it was only a matter of time before his family imploded and his siblings killed each other or were absorbed into other nests.
“Helena searched the archives,” Cordon said. “You were right. There is a line of hunters associated with the sun symbol. We tracked them through Lucius Sorrow to a family of at least thirty. Brother, you should know that the countess—”
“Is one of them.” Marcus crawled back to his bed and pulled himself into a sitting position. “I know.”
He assumed her family had carefully inserted her into his life as a distraction while they poisoned his animals and slaughtered the birds in his aviary. The only thing he didn’t understand was why her family hadn’t simply killed him. They’d had plenty of chances.
Perhaps they wanted him to suffer first.
“She’s not a hunter,” Cordon said.
Marcus stared at his brother. “What?”
Cordon scratched the back of his neck. “She never completed her training. From what I discovered, there was a violent argument between Mrs. Belltree and her brother. A few weeks later, the Belltrees fled to Toronto. The countess was only a girl when it happened.” He sighed. “I owe you an apology, brother. Whatever else has occurred, your wife is innocent.”
Marcus felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Cordon shifted. “However, Imighthave given her your letter.”
As if she’d been waiting for a cue, there was a loud knock on his door.
“Come in.” Marcus said, while glaring at his brother.
