Bloodlust

Stalemate

— VENICE —

As soon as I stepped through the door, Marvin swarmed me like a crazed wasp. He grabbed my arms and held me against the closed door. A sheen of sweat covered his face.

"What the hell?" I demanded, throwing my arms up to dislodge him from me. "Marvin, get off!"

"Why would you go over there?" His eyes were wide and his voice high in fear. "Venice! You could've been killed!"

I leveled his glower with my own. "Still alive, aren't I?"

His eyes narrowed and I internally panicked for a moment. Could he tell from my face that I knew all about vampires and Hunters and Princeps?

But then he huffed and pulled away. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing," I said, heading to my room as casually as I could.

Marvin stalked after me. "I don't believe that," he scoffed. "You were livid earlier and now you're not. He told you something."

"Has it occurred to you that maybe I just enjoy his company?" I said. "He didn't tell me anything."

"Did he touch you?" Marvin growled.

I rolled my eyes. "That's none of your business, honestly. Why do you care so much anyway?"

"That pussy ass motherfucker—"

"You kissed me, Marv," I snapped. "Not because you like me, either. Because you wanted me to shut up. I really don't think you're in the position to judge."

"I told you that isn't why I did that."

"You've never been into me a single day of our lives. I'm not into you either. But don't bullshit me just because you don't want to tell me the truth."

The tendon in his jaw flexed. "You're like family to me, Ven. I want to protect you and Isaiah."

And it's also your job, I thought, annoyed that he was trying to romanticize all of this.

This had nothing to do with me or Isaiah. His aggression toward Liam was literally coded in his DNA.

When I made a weak attempt to cram him out again, Marvin caught the bedroom door and forced it open.

"If he said anything to you, I need to know," he stated.

I threw my hands in the air. "You know what he said? That if you hurt me again, he's gonna go apeshit."

"I didn't hurt you! Not on purpose," he sulked. "I'm sorry."

Ignoring him, I plopped down on my bed. This position probably made me look like a beached whale, but I was too annoyed to care.

The whole super strength thing made sense now, after seeing the damage on my wrists. He probably had no idea how hard he was gripping me. Not that it excused anything—he should have never touched me to begin with.

"Venice!" Isaiah hollered from down the hall.

"Yeah?" I shouted back.