Bloodlust

Threat

— VENICE —

For the rest of the evening, I stayed in my room. Tension from the moment with Liam still lingered in the air and I was not mentally or emotionally prepared to take that on.

The house was eerily still. Given how boisterous Isaiah and Marvin typically were, I knew they weren't feeling quite back to normal yet either.

Despite my unease, my rumbling stomach finally propelled me out of my room around nine o'clock. I poked my head through the door, glanced around the hallway, and decided the coast was clear.

The thought of having to converse with either of them after the way they'd behaved toward Liam made me sick. Not only were they incredibly rude to him, but neither of them would give me an explanation as to why.

It all seemed quite sketchy to me.

When I reached the kitchen, I beelined for the fridge. The cold shelves were barren, stripping like a tornado had just plowed through.

I sighed. Isaiah ate like a vacuum and Marvin was probably no better. I should've known the two of them together would mean no food.

After digging around in the pantry, I found a bag of bagels. God knew if they were stale or not, but I had to try.

The sound of socks sliding across the tile floor startled me. I spun around and squinted through the darkness.

Shit. Why didn't I turn the light on?

A tall figure loomed in the darkness of the kitchen, towering over all the furniture. I sucked in a breath and tried to gather my thoughts, my mind immediately going back to the encounter with Liam earlier.

As my brows furrowed, the figure stepped into the patch of light emanating from the fridge. The soft yellow glow illuminated the hardened planes of Marvin's face.

He stared at me, his gaze intense despite his tired face. My heartbeat quickened.

Images of how he reacted to Liam earlier replayed through my mind. I shivered, wishing with all of my night that he would just leave.

He didn't, though, and the silent staring got awkward.

"Hey," I said. "Whatcha doing?"

"Came to get a soda," he mumbled.

"Oh, nice." I shuffled away from the fridge so he could access it.

Turning my back to him, I popped my bagel out of the toaster and walked back toward the bedrooms.

"You're going to eat that plain?" Marvin asked.

I paused and glanced down at the bare bagel halves. They did look rather sad.

"We don't have any cream cheese," I replied, my eyes flicking up to his.

"Where are you off to so fast anyway?" he said, crossing his ankles and folding his arms.
"You're not avoiding me, are you?"

"No," I said too quickly. "I'm just going back to my room."

"Stay out here and eat. We can talk."

That caught my attention. "About Liam?"

He heaved a sigh. "No. About other things. Normal things."

"I'm good," I muttered and turned away. 

"Venice, wait."

Marvin's large, warm hand clamped onto my wrist—the same one he'd used to shove me behind him earlier. Pain radiated from where his finger pads pressed into the forming brushes.