Pietro threw his head back and screamed into the air. “God damn that bitch to hell! May each moment she lives as a human cause her never-ending torment, the same torment she has subjected me to! May her nightmares never ease, as mine do not.” He turned from the Vârcolac and slammed the bathroom door behind him, the sound of muffled weeping clear to Kothari’s enhanced hearing.
The Vârcolac watched the bathroom door, a calculated expression on his face as he considered how hard it must be for Pietro to know that the object of his torture was so close and yet untouchable. He felt a kinship with the vampire, he hadn’t lied about that. However, Liam would always come first and he was glad the vampire had seen sense quickly and not provoked a response from him. He would have used force to stop Pietro if he’d tried to harm the woman. It would have been regretful if he’d been placed in that position.
The barest of sounds was enough to alert Kothi to the approach of others, no doubt brought on by Pietro’s enraged scream. The bedroom door swung open and Andrei Romanov appeared, eyes black as midnight, talons and fangs elongated as he flew into the room. The vampire paused when he saw the empty bedroom, his gaze turning to the bathroom as he let go of him vampiric side. Brown eyes turned troubled as he stood on the other side of the door to the weeping man within.
“Pietro, do you have need of me?” Silence greeted his words for a long moment and then his friend responded in a subdued tone.
“Kothari told me what happened, and that she is here. I need some time to come to terms with this, Andrei. I’d prefer to do that alone. Please make sure she is never anywhere near me or I may lose control and kill her. Make sure everyone knows this. Should it be a problem for the Weres, let me know and I will find somewhere else to recuperate.”
Andrei sighed, his arm extending as his mate slipped into the room beside him and he held her close to his side. Mallen was downstairs but he doubted his friend would want to speak with the doctor. He glanced at Loretta and they shared a concerned look.
“Very well. Mallen is here but I’ll inform him to reschedule the appointment. Unless you want me to send him up?”
“What’s the point of him even coming, Andrei. There is nothing he can do. He’s tried cutting out the scar tissue three times, each time going deeper but it always heals back scarred. Tell him not to come back. I have no need of him.”
Loretta and Andrei shared another concerned glance before they turned to leave the room. “Leave him alone, Kothari,” Andrei said quietly into the empty room. “Guard his window if you must but stay away from him until he has time to process what has happened.”
A soft chuckle greeted him and Andrei and Loretta glanced back as the Vârcolac released his shadowing ability, appearing in the chair in the corner of the room.
“That was pure guess work on your part, Andrei.” Kothari knew they hadn’t been able to see him, his ability to mask himself from sight and scent was the strongest among the Vârcolac.
“No, that was knowledge, Kothi,” the vampire returned, a faint smile hovering on his lips, a smile that didn’t meet his cold brown eyes. “Do not let overconfidence be your downfall, boy. I may not have been able to see you but I know you and know that you’d never pass up a chance to revel in the mischief that you’ve caused. Your cruelty will never change and therefore, you will always be predictable. You will be wise to heed that.”
Kothari growled low as he watched them leave, his monster furious, urging him to track the vampire and rip him to pieces. So soon the rage had returned, hot and cloying, baying for crimson blood to ease its hunger. Pietro still wept quietly, and didn’t appear ready to exit the bathroom so he turned and leapt from the window, swinging graceful arcs through the trees. He needed to get away, to appease the monster quickly, before it called out for the blood of those he cared for the most.