Fractured (Deep In Your Veins, #5)(50)

“There are different kinds of hurt,” I said, paraphrasing her. “We could just torture the info out of him.” I was up for that.

She shook her head. “Imani told us that his gift is to shut off pain, remember?”

I cursed. “Coach, I can’t condone this. The sick f*ck will sense that she’s vulnerable, and he’ll leap on it.”

“Probably,” said Sam, grim. “But it still has to be her decision.”

“And if she decides to do this and he f*cks with her, we pull her out of there,” Jared vowed.

There was no ‘if’ about it. Imani would do this, Marco would mess with her, and she’d been through enough the past few nights. Still, I nodded, because I knew it was the best deal I’d get. I just hoped Imani declined.




(Imani)



I was just making my way back from the bathroom—and I was not about to admit to anyone that the simple act took a fair amount of energy out of me—when the front door opened. Seconds later, Butch strolled inside the bedroom with Sam and Jared close behind.

As Butch’s anger crashed into me, I tensed. “Did you find out which one of them did this to me?”

“They’re still maintaining their innocence,” said Butch before smacking a kiss on my mouth. “Tait says she’d happily see you dead but claims it wasn’t her. Juliet says she doesn’t care enough about your existence to bother trying to end it. And Marco swears you’ll always be safe with him.” Butch gave a snort of derision. “There’s something else that Juliet said. She claims Marco didn’t abandon you; that Lazarus sent him away from you to punish him. I don’t think she was lying, baby.”

I frowned. “But why would Lazarus lie to me about it?”

“I don’t know.”

“There’s one other thing we need to discuss,” announced Sam.

Cursing, Butch cupped my neck. “You don’t have to do this.”

Sam spoke again. “We never mentioned this before because we didn’t think it was significant, but there is a small symbol on the blog that’s blabbing about our kind. Marco claims that it’s some kind of insignia and it means something. He offered us a deal. If we let him live, he’ll talk. But…he’ll only talk to you.”

“There’s a very high chance he’s just playing games,” Jared warned me.

As I took in Jared’s expression, I said, “But you don’t think he is.”

“He had every motivation to hurt you,” Jared conceded. “But from all accounts, Marco isn’t a messy killer. He covers his tracks. We can’t link a single kill to him. If he was going to hurt you, it doesn’t make sense that he’d do it in a way that put him under suspicion.”

Though I was loathed to admit it even to myself, Jared made some good points. “I’ll talk to Marco.” Because whether he tried to kill me or not wasn’t the issue here; it was whether or not the insignia truly meant anything.

Butch froze. “Imani.”

“You can be there,” I told him. “You’ll know I’m safe. He can’t reach me through the glass.”

“Which is why he’ll play with you,” said Butch. “Even if he’s telling the truth, he’ll still play with you.”

“I know. But what do we have to lose?”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I do.”

“You can take Fletcher along as well,” said Sam. “He’ll give us an idea of Marco’s emotional state. I want to know whether he’s pissed with you or as obsessed as he seems.”

“It’s probably a little bit of both,” grumbled Butch.

Seeming in agreement with that, Sam and Jared headed for the door. Just as they were about to leave, she turned and said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Lazarus and Annalise have been asking to speak with you. Obviously, it would be via teleconference since Lazarus doesn’t leave his castle and none of us are comfortable with you going there. Will you be up to speaking with them tomorrow after meeting with Marco?”

I nodded. “Sure. I’d like to talk to them.” I’d like to know whether Juliet was telling the truth.

“All right. Take some time to wind down and recover your strength. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Once the pair was gone, I asked Butch, “Do you think Marco even knows anything about the insignia?”

His mouth twisted. “I think it’s unlikely. But I also think we shouldn’t talk about it or that f*cker. Sam’s right; you should wind down. After the rough time you’ve had, you need it.”

“We both need it.” Being with me during the transition had to have been hard for him.

He surprised me by running a bath; filling the bathroom with the scent of jasmine. As he slowly stripped me, his touch was caring and soothing, not sexual or invasive—dammit. His eyes glittered with possessiveness as they raked over me. My nipples tightened under that heated gaze, but the bastard ignored that and helped me into the tub. After shedding his own clothes, he slid in behind me.

Resting against him with a happy sigh, I caught sight of his toothbrush next to mine. It was only then it occurred to me that a lot of his stuff had found a place in my apartment. I kind of liked that. “So are you just planning to move your things in here, little by little, hoping I won’t notice until suddenly bam you’re all moved in?” Butch could be sneaky like that.