is, I don’t know why you picked me and why you won’t ever let me go, but please don’t kill him.”
The elder vampire grabs Finn by the front of the shirt and jerks him forward. “I’ve tried to be nice, but you’ve tried my patience again and again. I want to keep you safe and still you insist on this nonsense. I’m trying my hardest to keep myself from killing you. And I know you’ll be safer with me watching you at a distance. But if you won’t listen, I’ll be forced to keep you by my side, and I can’t promise what will happen to you. Do you understand?”
Finn nods. “I do.”
“Then you will end this nonsense. I appreciate that your… pest is determined to keep my doll safe but if he goes against me again, I will kill him and find you someone else to care for you, understand?”
Finn nods again while standing over me as I realize that I have failed again to keep the person I love safe, and it’s driving me crazy. It’s making me rash and stupid, but this monster has made me feel so weak.
The man reaches out and cups Finn’s face and I want to jump to my feet and smack his hand away, but I know that I’m nothing compared to this monster. “Good. You’re my precious little doll. You need to stop being so reckless, okay?” he asks.
“I will. I’m sorry.”
“If either of you come hunting for me again, I will take you with me, doll, and kill him. There will not be a third time that I spare him. I can only be kind so long, even if it benefits me.”
“I understand. Thank you,” Finn says, voice sounding so hollow that it kills me that I can do nothing to protect him.
And just like that, the monster is gone.
“I’m sorry,” I say as I grab onto the metal piece and pull it from my chest before throwing it. It fucking hurts, but it should heal within minutes.
Finn quickly turns around and drops down onto me, like his legs have given out. “For what? For trying to save me? For loving me and ending up in this fucking mess? What do you have to apologize for?” he yells.
“For being useless. What kind of vampire am I if I can’t even protect the person I love? What kind of useless fucking person am I? I would have just died because I can do nothing for you, Finn.”
“Nothing? Marcus, you’ve done more than anyone else could have.” He grabs onto my shirt with his right hand, fingers balling it up as he pulls on it gently. “Stop beating yourself up over this shit. Clearly, we have to raise the white flag, Marcus. This isn’t going to end in anything other than our deaths. So we need to stop now. It was foolish to even get started in this. It was extremely stupid, and I’m sorry to have done this to you. I’m sorry for involving you in this. I’m sorry you got hurt. I’m sorry this ended up the way it did. I could just apologize all day long and it wouldn’t be enough.”
I sit up and wrap him in my arms. Even though I feel disappointed in myself, I’m angry that I couldn’t keep him safe. I’m furious that I couldn’t stop this monster, but I know I need to keep myself from falling into that pit of self-hatred when I have Finn to worry about. So I push those horrible feelings back and hold him tightly, glad we’re still together. “I don’t care, Finn. I will go through anything for you because I love you. Okay?”
He nods as he leans into me. His fingers run over my torn chest that’s already healing. “We’ll just do everything he says. It was stupid being stubborn. It was stupid trying to fight him. I’m sorry.”
I wrap my arms tightly around him and rub his back. “Stop apologizing,” I say, and that’s when I realize I smell blood on him. “Did you get hurt?”
“My arm got busted when I was thrown into the side of the car. I’m fine, but Watson’s not going to be happy.”
“He’ll be happy you’re safe. And that’s all that matters.”
I have to force myself to believe the same thing. I won’t be able to save him from his monster, but I will do everything I can to protect him. Right now, it seems like protecting him means staying by