Chapter 5

Five

brAN

I can hear my little mouse’s heart beating over the shit music playing through the diner's meager sound system.

I think she thinks she's excited about the prospect of me starting a new house, but I know better.

She's running.

My little mouse has always been running from something.

It's why she wanted to leave Midnight. She didn't fit in and she didn't want to try and it was just easier to leave.

She doesn't think she has a legitimate place in Duval House. But I'm not letting her get off so easy.

I have too much to lose and so much to gain.

She peers up at me with wide eyes.

I love her when she's like this. When she's just a girl full of raw hope.

It makes crushing her that much harder.

"Maybe we could rescind that deal with Julian," she tries. "We could use your lake house as your house and?—"

"Mouse."

She's learned to bend to the sound of my voice and she stops rambling immediately.

"I can't leave my brother."

The line of her brow sinks. "But you already have. You did when you moved in next door to me."

"That was always meant to be temporary."

“Don’t you want to be out from under your brother’s control? You said?—”

"I know what I said." I take a drink of the coffee but it's no longer bitingly hot and the tepidness does nothing to hide the bitter taste of the cheap grind.

Mouse takes a breath and organizes her thoughts again. "I think diversifying a house is a good idea and?—"

"I obviously agree, but I can't afford to dilute my power by splitting Duval House. It puts us both at risk."

Her dejection tastes almost as bitter as the coffee.

I would give my life to protect her, but we have a much better chance of surviving if I have Damien by my side.

I need my brutal brother.

But I can't be second in rank any longer.

I do need to lead if I'm to shield her from the worst.

"Finish up," I tell her. "I need to speak to Damien."

"Why? What are you going to say?"

"All of the right things."

My little mouse is quiet on the ride back to the house. I sense her trepidation growing. She's stuck on a tidal wave, crashing toward a destiny she doesn't want and isn't ready for.

I want to reassure her, but I need to see my brother first. I take her to the Anneliese and deposit her inside so she's safe beyond the threshold. "Stay here. Do not leave."

She crosses her arms over her chest and her tits swell against her shirt. She screws up her tight little mouth. I like it when she acts like a brat. Makes me hard as fuck, makes me want to punish her.

"For how long?" she asks.

"As long as I tell you."

Damien is mid-conversation with Sky when I enter his office.

"Look what the cat dragged in," she says.

I grab the pack of cigarettes from my brother's desk and steal one, then his lighter. The tobacco crackles when I put the cigarette to flame and inhale, the smoke filling my lungs.

"Did you make that transfer?" Damien asks Sky.

"I did. It's in the account now."

He gives her a nod, taps at something on a tablet, then hands it back to her. "Leave us. Shut the door behind you."

"Sure thing." Sky comes over to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. "Is it ironic that the cat dragged in something that smells distinctly like pussy?"

"Don't be vulgar, Sky. It does not become you."

She smiles at me, fangs sharp against her full lips. "Everyone's talking about her, you know."

I take a deep breath before I lose my fucking shit. "Then clearly you're not doing your fucking job."

"I can't stop all gossip."

"Then try harder."

She smirks. "I'll see what I can do."

Fucking Sky. I almost think I need to worry more about her than I do Julian.

When the door clicks shut, Damien says, "She's not wrong, you know." He stands at the bar pouring us each a drink. "Did you really have to fuck her at the human court?"

"That's what they're talking about? That didn't take long."

I'll admit, it was a moment of weakness, fucking that tight pussy out in the open, making her come loudly while everyone was out in the office listening.

My cock grows hard, recounting it in my head. Everything Mouse does, every second she's on my dick makes me hunger for more of her.

Damien hands me a tumbler and I pour half of the bourbon down my throat. The alcohol is a different burn from the cigarette, but a welcomed one just the same.

As the bourbon warms my gut, I push away the thoughts of Mouse and her wet pussy. There will be plenty of time for that.

"She wants me to start my own house," I tell Damien.

That's my opening move. The first right thing to say.

Damien goes rigid. His reaction doesn't register on his face, but I've known my brother long enough to know when he's weighing his options, half of them bad.

I take a long hit from the cigarette and it burns like a wick between my fingers.

"And?" he finally asks. "Are you considering it?"

"Maybe."

His jaw flexes. "Don't condescend to me."

I take another hit. Smoke curls in the light.

"What do you want?" he asks, resigned, as he goes to the balcony doors and pulls them open. "Name your price."

If I wasn't so desperate to protect Jessie, I might have considered her idea. I might have left my brother for good and established my own house, been the king of my own keep. It does hold a certain appeal. Damien has always been the proverbial older brother, too stubborn for his own good.

"Co-Head of House."

His attention cuts to me like a whip. "Absolutely not."

My brother has always been insufferably predictable.

"Then I guess we're leaving." I start for the door and make it barely three steps.

"Wait."

I bury a smile.

It feels a little unconscionable, using Jessie as a bargaining chip, but I knew before I walked into this office that Damien wouldn't want to let her go. He's just as desperate as I am to control her, for different reasons, in different ways.

The difference is I'd die for her.

And Damien wants to control the shiny new toy, the one that glimmers in the light.

"Is that it?" he asks.

I turn back to him. "I think we should revisit the idea of bringing on a few witches."

He snorts.

"Now who condescends?" I counter.

"Why?" he asks.

"Because we're going to need magic. We're not going to understand all of the intricacies of having a fae in our house. And I don't know if you noticed or not, but we're shit at protecting what's ours in the daylight."

He knows I'm right.

He lights his own cigarette and flicks his wrist, snapping the lighter shut with a resounding clack.

"You really think you can find a witch who would leave their house for ours?"

"Half this town would abandon their post to be a Duval."

"Who would you approach first?"

His gears are turning. The chess player has pulled up a chair.

"Bianca."

"Mulligan? Why?"

"She's ambitious."

"She's young."

"Young enough to mold."

"Mmm." He takes another hit and paces out to the balcony. "The shifters will lose their fucking minds if we take on a witch. So will the other vampire houses."

"The other vampires will begin recruiting the day after the news breaks."

He sighs. "You're probably right." He goes to the balcony railing and leans against it looking back to me. "It could be a dangerous move."

"I don't think we have a choice at this point."

He takes a hit, lets the smoke cloud from his mouth before sucking it in through his nose. "You never wanted to lead with me before."

"I never had a reason to want it."

"You're different with her."

"You want to go down that road? You want to rehash all of the stupid decisions you've made for her sister's pussy?"

Damien darts back into the house and stops just a foot from me. Rage cuts into the fine lines around his mouth. "Careful, little brother." His voice is sinister and dark.

"Then let us both agree to tread carefully when it comes to our MacMahon sisters."

He rakes his teeth over his bottom lip, annoyance plainly written across his face. Damien doesn't want to admit just how much Kelly gets beneath his skin and it pisses him off when I force him to show it.

"Fine," he says and shifts away again, this time for the door. He stops with his hand on the knob. "We'll make the announcement tonight. From this day forward, Duval House is ours, together. Well played, little brother."

Well played, indeed.

Looks like I said all of the right things.

And as much as I like the fantasy of starting my own house with Jessie, my gut is telling me this is the right decision.

In fact, I think it might be the only one we've got.