“I’ve told you that to vampires we’re less than pets, we’re belongings.”
Belongings that could be easily disposed of. “So you have.”
Goose hesitated. Then he said softly, “He knows about you and Paine.”
I wanted to hang up and pretend I didn’t hear him. “Knows what about me and Paine?”
“Everything.”
Oh Christ. It was bad enough Goose and the family knew. “Disco told him?”
“Probably, although he didn’t necessarily have to. Vampires can usually tell when a human is...uh...intimate with another of their kind.”
“Technically, I haven’t been intimate with anyone since I returned. The Paine of the future isn’t the Paine of the present.”
“No, you haven’t.” Poor Goose, it was obvious he was extremely uncomfortable with the conversation. “But you share a connection with Paine now. Once a familiar bond has been created, it can’t be broken.”
And wasn’t that the kicker? I did have a connection to him, a weird sense of calm when he was around. Of course, that was also partially due to him keeping our mark open, allowing me access to his emotions. So far it had been fine. Paine was a friend, nothing more. But with Disco’s recent behavior, and now with Marius coming home, things were only going to become more complicated.
I sighed. “Go ahead and say it. You’re trying to tell me something.”
“The next few days aren’t going to be fun for you, Gabriel, or Paine. All of you are going to have to put your differences aside and get along. Gabriel called me and asked that I make you aware of how it might be and what you should expect.”
“Go on,” I said, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“The three of you...well...the three of you will have to be close.” Goose coughed and cleared his throat. “Extremely close.”
“How close you are talking?” It was wrong to goad him, to make him continue, but his embarrassment amused me. “Will I have to get down and dirty in front of the family? Are you telling Marius wants some ménage action to keep him happy?”
“You know that’s not what I meant.” The embarrassment vanished, leaving me with an angry Goose—exactly how I wanted him. Mission accomplished. “Stop being difficult and start being serious,” he snapped. “This isn’t funny.”
“Do you hear me laughing?” I asked, suddenly tired. The past couple of days really had stressed me out. Just when I cleared one hurdle, another appeared to take its place. Admitting that to myself was oddly deflating. When Goose didn’t respond, I said, “I know it isn’t funny. I’m just trying to take the edge off.”
“I’m afraid you don’t have that luxury.”
Of course I didn’t have the luxury of blowing off steam. Getting into a proper head space and finding my balance would make things easy. Couldn’t have that.
Fuck my life.
“So I’m going to have to make Marius believe I’m fine about having marks from Disco and Paine? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you.”
“I’m pretty sure I can pull that off, so long as Disco and Paine behave. If they start acting like assholes, there isn’t much I can do about it.”
“Don’t worry about that; they know what we’re dealing with.” His tone changed, becoming somber. He cleared his throat—the way he did when he was about to deliver bad news. I braced myself, waiting for his impending prophecy of doom. “It’s not Marius they’re really concerned about.”
I crossed the street, almost halfway to The Black Panther. “Care to enlighten me?”
“Marius is dangerous, but he’ll listen to Gabriel. They have a strong connection, one Marius doesn’t want broken. Even if he doesn’t believe the three of you, he’ll let it slide.”
I didn’t see the harm in that. “So what’s the problem?”
“Revenald.”