Over the next few days, my routine became one of sitting with Dad in the mornings as he showed me how to do the books and keep everything as easy as possible for his accountant to do his job. Then I'd spend the afternoons helping to finish off the rooms. Sophie would cook tea which we'd eat side by side on his bed, then we'd watch two or three episodes from his Midsummer Murders box set before falling asleep.

Joanna had become quite chatty and I wondered if this was her attempt for us to be friends. To be honest, having a friend up here wouldn't be a bad thing. I missed Hannah, my mum, and everything back down in Dorset a lot. Hannah had been bugging me to come up for a shopping trip but I didn't want to leave Dad's side for any longer than necessary, despite him telling me he had no problem with it.

Marcus stayed in my apartment most of the time. I had no idea how he hadn't gone mad but with his 'abilities' he could hear anything within about a mile radius. Spooky but cool. I tried to convince him that I'd be fine and he didn't need to babysit me but he wouldn't have it.

He came to me one afternoon as I finished up hoovering on the top floor. I immediately thought something must be wrong. He'd turned himself into something of a hermit staying in my apartment almost exclusively.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, trying to ignore my heart suddenly leaping into a faster rhythm.

"Not at all," he said, giving me a warm smile.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Marcus, you've barely come out of my apartment this last week and now you're suddenly coming up here to what, watch me hoover?"

He pulled his lips into a thin line and sighed. "Gordon is getting a little impatient."

I resisted the urge to facepalm myself. I'd forgotten all about him wanting to give me an apology face to face. "I forgot about him," I said, trying to stop the smirk that wanted to pop up out of nowhere.

Marcus grinned. "He's easy to forget about."

I giggled. "Well, I've finished up here earlier than I thought. Is he free now?" I looked at my watch. "I've got a couple of hours before tea."

He walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders, looking me square in the eye. "Are you sure you really want to do this?"

"All I've got to do is listen to him say he's sorry and then it's done with. Right?"

"It's never that simple with Gordon. He's a scheming, slimy toad."

I rolled my eyes. "Marcus, your history with him shouldn't influence my decisions. What happened between you two is your business, not mine. This is exactly like the whole thing with you and Luke. I'm going to make up my own mind about people based on how they treat me."

"I understand that, Caitlyn, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to protect you from the inevitable. Luke will betray your trust and Gordon is up to something." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips. As he pulled away, his eyes twinkled with mischief. "Just promise me I can say I told you so when it all goes wrong."

I laughed. "But it won't go wrong so you've no reason to get too excited about saying it."

He sighed. "Ok, Miss Snaps. Let me make a call."

Marcus called his delightful cousin as I tidied away all the cleaning equipment. I couldn't help but think over what he said. However, I stuck to my guns—until someone did me wrong, I wouldn't judge them based on their history with someone else.

"He's heading over to mine now," Marcus said, taking my hand in his. "Are you ready?"

I smirked. "Do you mean 'ready' as in acceptably dressed or ready for Gordon?"

"I'm going to refrain from answering that," he said, kissing my forehead.

Before we left, I popped my head in Dad's room. Soft snores filled the air as he laid flat out on his back. He had lost even more weight this last week, despite eating more regularly. He'd become almost nothing but a skeleton. His skin had become loose and saggy and it pained me to see him looking so ill. With his mouth wide open and his skin still a sickly shade of grey, a chill ran down my spine. He looked...dead. If it hadn't been for his snoring, I would have gone to check his pulse.

I closed the door and sucked in a deep breath. "How much longer has he got?" I whispered.

Marcus lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. "Days."

My breath hitched in my throat. I fought back the wall of tears threatening to rise and walked outside to Marcus' car.

"Are you ok?" he said, opening the car door for me.

I nodded and took a shaky breath. "I'll be fine."

After I sat down, he closed the door and came around to the drivers side, seating himself in utter silence. I felt like I'd said or done something wrong even though I knew I hadn't.

When we hit the main road, Marcus said, "I'm sorry," as he reached over and took my hand in his.

"For what?"

"For what's happening with your dad."

I smiled and patted his hand. "It's ok. It's not like it's your fault."

He squeezed my hand and then returned his to the steering wheel. I stared out of the window, my mind blank, enjoying the beautiful views. I suddenly remembered out of nowhere that I hadn't replied to my mum's text this morning. I'd been so busy with Dad, I read it, told myself to reply later, and forgot.

I dug around in my pockets, trying to ignore my rising panic as the realisation I'd potentially lost my phone hit me.

"What's wrong?" Marcus said, pulling into his driveway.

"I've lost my phone. I need to text my mum back. What if Dad needs me?"

"Calm down," he said, bringing the car to a stop and switching off the engine. "I'm sure you've left it in one of the rooms somewhere. It'll still be there when we get back."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You know people. Who's going to happily hand over a brand-new phone?"

He grinned. "Ok, point taken. I'll go back and fetch it."

"Thank you."

As Marcus helped me out of the car, I spotted a bright red sports car parked at the other end of his driveway. It looked awfully expensive but also rather old.

"Gordon likes to be rather ostentatious. He has to have people admiring him constantly."

"What is it? I've never seen anything like it."

"It's an AC Cobra. Terribly expensive, rather rare, and should be painted blue."

His tone of voice gave me the feeling that he really didn't care for Gordon's taste in colour on old cars.

"Each to their own, Marcus. We can't all be the same or it'd be a dull world."

"Wouldn't be any less dull without him in it," he said, muttering under his breath.

I smirked. "Stop it and play nicely."

With a deep frown creasing his forehead, he led me to the house and into the living room. Gordon had sprawled himself all over the sofa, his long legs stretched across the corner. He propped his head up on his hands and sighed when we walked in.

"Clearly the Cobra is still faster than your Italian rubbish."

"I didn't realise we were in a race," Marcus said. He walked up to his cousin's feet, grabbed them, and then threw them off the sofa with such force, I swear I heard a bone snap. "Sit up properly. You're making the place look untidy."

A lazy smile unfolded over Gordon's face. "You know, nothing in life gives me more pleasure than seeing my dear cousin show some emotion. It's been a while, hasn't it? Say around three hundred years."

"Right," Marcus said, his voice suddenly deep and booming. It actually made me jump. "Get out. Now."

Gordon laughed and held his hands up in a surrender sign. "I'm only messing. Although I do have to say, Caitlyn wore the dress so much better."

Marcus had his hand around his cousin's throat in an instant. I didn't even see him move.

"Marcus, no!" I yelled.

His entire body seemed to be quivering. I couldn't see his face but I could take a guess the expression wouldn't be particularly friendly. Gordon didn't seem phased though. He still wore his stupid grin.

"Don't react to him, Marcus. This is exactly what he wants."

"You should listen to your little pet there, Marcus."

With a mere flick of his wrist, Marcus flung Gordon back on the sofa.

"Could you go and fetch my phone please?" I asked, putting my hand on Marcus' back.

"I am not leaving you alone with this piece of s—"

"Marcus, I'll be fine. It'll take you, what, ten minutes?"

He visibly relaxed as he became more engaged in our conversation and turned around to face me. "Not if I go as the crow flies. More like two."

"And what can he do in two minutes?"

Marcus turned around and glared at his cousin. "You touch one hair on her head and I'll decapitate you with my bare hands."

Gordon sat on his hands. "I'll be as good as gold. Scouts honour."

"You were never in the Scouts."

"No, but I ate the leader so that's kinda the same thing, right?"

A low growl rumbled from Marcus.

"Don't," I whispered to Marcus. "Don't react."

"I will be two minutes." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips. "If he does anything, stab him in the eye. Takes us a while to heal from that."

I didn't know whether to laugh or be worried. Before I could reply, he'd gone, the draft he left behind moving my hair.

"Isn't this nice? Just me and you, all alone for two whole minutes." He turned his wrist and looked at his fancy silver watch. "Let's time him, shall we?" He pressed a button, making the watch beep, then stood up grinning. "I'm saying he's going to be three minutes at least. What do you say?"

"I think you should be apologising to me, which is what you wanted to do, remember?"

"Ah, yes. My dear dear Caitlyn, please do accept my most sincere apologies for what happened at the ball. I am truly very sorry."

His dark eyes were gleaming with anything but sincerity. The smug smirk tugging at his lips told me that whatever this was, Marcus had been right. I tried to ignore the dread churning around in my stomach.

"What are you doing?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. "You're not sorry at all."

"The only thing I'm feeling sorry for is you, Caitlyn," he said, taking a few steps towards me.

I frowned. "You feel sorry for me? I find that hard to believe."

"What he did to you at the ball, letting you wear his ex's dress, it was rather cruel."

I folded my arms over my chest and glared at him. "We've moved on from that, Gordon."

"I'm guessing he finally fessed up to his history with Tatiana, did he then?" he said, now circling me like a shark.

I nodded. "He told me everything and I'm still here. Whatever plan you had didn't work, Gordon. Just go home and leave us alone."

He grinned at me, baring his teeth like a wolf. "I had no plan when I came here, dear Caitlyn. So suspicious. Still, it's only natural for your kind. It's in your DNA to be suspicious of those who can drain you dry for their own gain."

Rolling my eyes, I said, "It doesn't bother me, what you have to...eat to survive. It's no different to a lion needing to a savage a gazelle. It's cruel but that's Mother Nature for you." I shrugged my shoulders. "So try again."

He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to one side. "He hasn't told you, has he?"

I tried to ignore the instant ball of fear that lodged itself in my throat. My stomach flipped over, churning with nerves. "Told me what?"

"The real reason he's leading you on, keeping you close, playing this little pretend game of love."

I should have known Gordon had more cards to play, that it didn't just end with Tatiana. Marcus had a past; I knew that. The fact Gordon had more things to divulge crippled me with pain. It killed me that Marcus had more secrets he'd kept from me. Why couldn't he just be honest with me?

"What now?" I whispered, trying to keep the despair from my voice.

"Tell me," he said, smirking. "Have you ever thought about someone that you've not had contact with for a long time, then suddenly you hear from them in some way?"

I frowned. "Yes. And?"

"Don't you find that a little odd?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's just coincidence."

"Is it? What about...I don't know...say we've had a heatwave and you're secretly wishing for a thunderstorm. Does one happen that day or the next?"

My mouth started running a little dry. "Coincidence."

"Ever fancied watching an old film and it then just happens to be on TV? Ever needed a little boost of cash and something pops through the post like a tax rebate?"

"Coinci—"

"How many incidents can you attribute to coincidence before you start wondering if you're actually influencing these things happening around you?"

"I don't understand what you're saying? What are you trying to tell me?"

"You know we need blood to survive. Made vampires and born vampires can exist forever, but there is a distinct difference between the two. Did he tell you?"

"He said that vampires, when they drink the blood of a human, are passed on that human's remaining life. So if a forty year old man had another forty years to live, then the vampire gets that forty years."

"Correct," he said, nodding. "But did he tell you that's not how it works for us? For those of us who are born vampires?"

Fear pricked my heart. I knew whatever he said next would not be something I wanted to hear. "I...I presumed it worked the same way..."

"It does, kind of. You see born vampires aren't the evolutionary leap that he likes to think we are. We were born from magic, Caitlyn. It's magic that allows us to procreate, to exist, to pass on our gifts to others, either through offspring or..." he exposed his canines, flicking his tongue over their sharp points "...through other means. That magic still runs through our veins. We need it to continue living."

I stepped back, trembling. My head was whirling at a sickening speed. "Magic? What? I don't understand..."

"Witches, Caitlyn," he said, all but hissing. "Born vampires need the blood of witches to survive. Regular human blood does nothing for us. Well, I lie. It does. It makes us lethargic, slow, like humans and junk food." His eyes glazed over, no doubt with his talk about blood. He focused back on me, his black eyes gleaming once more with dark secrets. "You have that blood, the food source that sings to us like a beautiful siren."

My knees went weak. "Witches? Blood? My blood?" I tapped my chest with my index finger. "I'm not a witch."

He chuckled. "Oh, but you are, dear girl. I can hear the magic running through your veins, it calls to me like nothing else on Earth. I know that sound, I've hunted it for nearly five hundred years." He bent down, placing his head near mine, and inhaled deeply. "That scent...ahhh...it's so sweet, so fruity, so delicious. I'm almost drooling just at the thought of tasting you."

"Do it then," I said, determined to show him he didn't scare me. "I'm not afraid of you."

A sinister smile spread over his pale face. "If only it were that simple. You see, there's a slight complication with witches and vampires. If a witch happens to fall in love with a vampire, her blood sings only for him. Should another vampire dare to..." he reached out and traced his fingertips over my neck, making me jump "...take a bite, her blood will kill them. Burn them up from the inside out like a fireball."

I faltered, not really knowing what to say. What the hell was this? I needed to sit down. My entire world was spinning at a rate of knots all around me, like a carousel out of control.

"Unless I wanted to die, which believe me, I really don't, then you, my dear Caitlyn, are utterly safe. You see, where it concerns born vampires and witches, it's really quite the case of survival of the best. Any vampire who has the heart of a witch will live for a long time."

"Because she's what, a constant food source? What about when she dies?"

"You're being very gender specific here. Witches are male, too. As for your question, well, it's quite simple, really. When the witch dies, the vampire simply moves on but sixty years of ingesting a witch's blood, all that magic, will last a thousand years at least."

"What...what if the witch doesn't fall in love with the vampire?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Then it's just another regular meal."

I stifled a gasp. "What are you telling me? That he's just keeping me as some sort of pet, some sort of blood donor?"

"I have no idea. It may well be that he has grown fond of you but for certain, he's just ensured his own life by another thousand years, as well as guaranteeing no other vampire can feed from you."

"What if...what if I fall out of love with him?"

"It doesn't matter. Once a witch has fallen for a vampire, her blood will only ever be for that one vampire. Whether you stay with him or not, no other vampire can ever touch you for as long as you live."

I let that sink in for a moment. That meant I was protected, for life. No fangs could ever pierce my skin except for Marcus'. He knew all the lore. Had he made me fall in love with him to protect me? Or was it all for his own selfish gain, safeguarding his next thousand years if I stayed with him until I died?

"You're in love with him, Caitlyn. One sip of your blood will last him a year. That's the power that runs through your veins."

"At what cost to me?" I asked. I regretted the question as soon as the words passed my lips.

"The golden question. When a vampire feeds from someone, it's a very intimate experience. As your blood passes through our bodies, it enables us to reach your mind. We get inside your head, speak to you, show you things, create a bond...a personal connection like no other. The more we feed from you, the stronger that union becomes."

The penny dropped then. "That's why made vampires get through so many human girlfriends?"

He nodded. "Indeed. They have to cut the ties before it consumes the human completely. Three months is about the max. For us born vampires, we spend our time hunting for witches that haven't been claimed."

"Is there many?"

"Oh yes. If you know where to look. It can be quite challenging at times."

"I thought our blood sang to you 'like a beautiful siren'?"

He grinned. "Oh, it does. But we have to be within a couple of miles to hear it."

"How do you know when one has been 'claimed'?"

"Scent. If we smell another vampire on them then we know they're off limits."

"But what if they've just been fed off of?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't work like that. There's a stark difference between the kind of scent left from a brief interaction and the kind of scent left from something more. There's also a theory, although it's widely disputed amongst our kind, that the blood of a witch who is in love sings sweeter than the blood of a witch who isn't. I personally think it's true. I haven't heard blood sing like yours for a long time." He leaned down and whispered, "In my world, a long time is a long time."

I shivered as his breath skimmed over my neck. Despite what he'd told me, I still didn't feel any safer around him. For all I knew, there was something else he was holding back from me.

He perked his head up and stared behind him, like something had caught his attention. "We have company." He backed away from me and stood by the bay window, gazing out over the landscaped gardens.

Seconds later, Marcus rushed in. He glanced at me, briefly, then narrowed his eyes on his cousin. His entire face hardened, dark shadows falling over his handsome features.

"Hello, cousin," Gordon said, turning around and grinning. He glanced down at his watch. "Two minutes and fifty-four seconds. I'm disappointed. When was the last time you fed?" He flickered his gaze over to me.

"What did you say to her?" Marcus said. He flew across the room in the blink of an eye and grabbed Gordon by his collar. "You snake. What did you tell her?"

"Marcus," I said, rushing towards them both. "Let him go. It's not his fault."

His knuckles strained white where he had hold of Gordon's shirt. He shoved his face right into Gordon's and said, "I should kill you for this."

Gordon flashed him a wily grin. "For what? Telling her the truth? Why you're keeping her around like a little pet?"

A low growl rumbled around the room. It seemed to almost vibrate right through me, shaking me to my core. In the blink of an eye, Gordon flew through the air. He landed against the living room door with a resounding thud. Almost instantly, he jumped back to his feet, his dark eyes glinting at the promise of a challenge.

"Stop!" I yelled, as Marcus went for him again. "Just stop it. You can't blame anyone but you, Marcus. This is on you."

He stopped, his chest and shoulders heaving as he looked at me. "And how do you figure that?"

"You lied to me. Again."

"No, Caitlyn. I was protecting you. You didn't need to know any of that. None of it makes any difference as to how I feel about you and I didn't want you to think otherwise."

"So what? You were just never going to tell me? Did you expect me to live a life half in the shadows based on what you felt I needed to know?"

He pulled his lips together into a thin line. That was all the answer I needed.

"Do you think that's fair? Don't you think I deserve to know the full depths of what I'm getting myself into?"

"My world is very complicated, Caitlyn."

"If what he said is true then it's also my world too, Marcus."

"The less you know, the better. Plausible deniability and all that."

"Really? Plausible deniability. To who? Who would I even need that for?"

Gordon started chuckling. Marcus punched him square in the face, sending him back across the room.

"Marcus! Stop it. Stop it now or I'm leaving."

With his fists clenched he turned his back on his cousin and faced me squarely. "Do you trust me?"

"I...I...what kind of a question is that to ask after finding out I've been lied to, again? I can't answer that, Marcus, and it's unfair of you to ask me."

A laugh came from the other side of the room. I ignored him. Gordon seemed to like nothing more than stirring up trouble, but he had been the one to fully enlighten me to my predicament.

"Don't you start," I said, turning to Gordon. "You needn't think you've scored any brownie points by creating all this. Get out." He raised an eyebrow. "Now."

"You can walk out of your own free will or I can throw you out," Marcus said, coming to my side. "You heard her. Get out."

Gordon let out a sigh and then held his hands up. "Ok, chill out. I'm leaving." He moved towards the door, flashed Marcus a beaming smile, and said, "I'll see you soon."

"If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."

Chuckling, Gordon slipped out of the door and out of our lives. Hopefully for good.