Liam sighed angrily and began to pace. "Look, she knows, but she isn't going to say anything. As for changing her, that isn't going to happen."
"So she's going to grow old and die, and you're just going to pine away, forever young. You're right, you have thought this all out," Jack spat sarcastically.
Liam wanted desperately to punch him in the face. "If that's the way it is," he hissed. "Then yes!"
"I hope she wants that too. To be attached to a young guy, while she grows old. To never be married, to never have children. To constantly have to move, so people won't notice you're not aging. Great life you're giving her, Liam, truly."
His fists clenched as he took a step forward. Mike stepped in front of him and put a restraining hand on Liam's arm. "That's enough!" Mike said firmly. "We're not going to sit here and fight with each other! It's done and over with. Besides, Jack has a point."
Liam whirled on him.
"Hey, calm down!" Doug yelled. "Just calm down, all of you."
Liam forced himself to take a deep breath as he tried to steady his nerves. He wasn't angry at them; he was angry they were right. He turned away from them and walked back to the window. Leaning his head against the pane, he let the cool glass calm the fire in his body. The truth hurt, it always did, but he hated having it slapped in his face.
"Look, Liam," Jack said. "I don't want to fight with you, but you kept us in the dark on this. You purposely left us out. You must have had some concern she would say something about us."
"Maybe at first, but I would have stopped her."
"You would have killed her?"
Liam lifted his head from the glass and turned to face him. "No, I would have locked her away from the world, and from you, but I never would have killed her."
Jack shook his head in disbelief. "Shit, Liam. Shit."
"She's not going to say anything," Mike said as he ran a hand through his tousled hair. "There's more," he glanced at Liam, who shrugged. They might as well know it all now. Liam turned away as Mike filled them in on everything that happened with Jacob.
Jack sat with his eyes closed as he rubbed at his temples. "Are we safe?" Doug asked.
"For now."
"What do you mean, for now?" Jack demanded.
"So far nothing has been mentioned, and I got rid of the body."
"Where?"
Mike sighed and glanced back out the window. "An old stone quarry in Quincy. By the time someone finds him, if anyone ever does, we'll be long gone."
"And if people start questioning his absence?"
"They haven't yet."
"It hasn't even been a week!"
"We'll worry about it then!" Mike exploded. "For now, leave it be!"
"Wait till David finds out about this mess. Or do you not plan on telling him too?"
"I'll tell him," Liam stated. "When he moves out here."
"Fine."
Mike swore and resumed his pacing. "Why didn't you get rid of the marks, Liam?"
He could have gotten rid of the marks, he should have gotten rid of them, but pride and possession kept him from doing so. He liked knowing that, beneath her turtleneck, she was marked as his and no one else would have her.
He wasn't about to explain that to them though. "I just didn't."
Mike closed his eyes and turned away from him. "She knowingly let you feed off her?" Doug asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"Crap," Jack muttered.
"From the cut on your neck, I'd say you returned the favor," Mike stated.
Mike stopped pacing again as the three of them turned to him in disbelief. "Will you change her?" Jack demanded.
Liam closed his eyes. Before, the answer would have been a simple no. But now, now, he couldn't bear to lose her, and he would if she remained human. But he couldn't force it on her; he couldn't make her do anything she didn't want to. He knew he would lose her if he did. "If she asks for it."
"Crap," Jack mumbled again as Mike resumed his pacing.
"Do you think she will?" Doug inquired.
"I don't know."
"I think she will," Mike said.
Liam's eyes went to him as he stopped pacing. "Why do you say that?"
Mike seemed to be gazing at something beyond this room. "She loves you, Liam. She allowed you to feed on her; she fed from you. You two are growing closer by the minute. It's only simple logic she won't want to lose you either."
A spark of hope began to bloom inside him, but he shoved it aside. There was no way to know what Sera would decide to do, and he wasn't going to pressure her. Dwelling on it now wasn't going to help.
"Jesus," Doug muttered.
"Well now, this is getting interesting." Jack climbed to his feet and walked over to join Doug. "Will you at least tell us if it happens?"
"Yes."
"No more secrets Liam, we're all in this together. You should have told us about Jacob sooner. We're at risk too."
Liam turned away from them. They were right, but he had been so worried about Sera, and what they might do to her, he hadn't spared them more than a thought.
"I think it's obvious we can trust her," Doug said.
"Yes, we can," Liam insisted.
"We can," Mike said. "Trust me, I was worried at first, but she won't do anything to hurt Liam. She'll die before that happens."
"Don't say that!" Liam snapped.
Mike stopped pacing. "It's true, Liam. She isn't immortal. If things start to go wrong with Jacob, if the hunters realize we're here, and they come for us, she is the one most closely linked to Jacob. It's her they'll go after."
Liam had been too concerned about everything else to even think about that. Even if they did find Jacob's body, he didn't think the
