Marcus' POV:

Nico surprisingly and thankfully didn't ask a lot of questions after my request. He just took me into the room where most of the cleaning supplies were held and instructed me in making a special concoction of chemicals that nullified my scent.

He made it so fast, that I barely even remembered what was put in it.

Then he handed it to me in a spray bottle, telling me that he had no idea what I was planning, but that he would be eternally grateful if I found out what he wanted to know.

He then told me that a vampires sense of smell was the first thing they relied on when noticing something, then their hearing, then their sight.

Which he basically summarised with, as long as I stayed as quiet as I possibly could, I'd be fine.

Nico wanted to know the Who and Why. nothing less. Both or nothing.

Of course, I already knew the Who, but I still had no idea why.

Luckily I knew when I could find out.

So, I wandered innocently around the Lord and Lady's floor with the concoction on my skin.

The liquid dried my skin quite a lot, but I guess that was the sacrifice of hiding your scent from one of the most powerful beings on earth.

I had eavesdropped enough to know that Carlo was supposed to meet with Lord Vanderwood at 2:00 pm.

And by eavesdropped I mean I got him to spill it during a conversation a couple of nights ago.

Despite his current situation, we still hung out, although never with the girls.

I guess now I know why.

Peeking around the corner, I spotted that he was right on time.

I watched as he approached the door that the Lord was behind, his hands fidgeting nervously by his front.

He was nervous.

That fact became even more so when he paused in front of the door for a few moments.

He was usually so calm when it came to meeting with the Lord, his nerves usually only showing after the fact.

He finally built up his nerve, knocking twice on the door before I barely heard the voice of the Lord telling him to enter.

I made my move as soon as the door shut behind him, making my way to the door as quickly and quietly as I possibly could.

I placed my back on the wall beside the door, shutting my eyes as I focused only on listening to what was going on inside.

"So you failed," The Lord said, sounding anything but pleased.

"She wouldn't talk my Lord. I asked her all of the questions you wanted, but her answers were never on topic and only barely understandable." Carlo defended.

He even sounded nervous.

Which was fair given that he supposedly failed the Lord.

And that for some reason filled me with both relief and set me on edge.

"Did you administer the drugs in the correct proportion?" The Lord asked.

"Yes," Carlo replied almost immediately, desperately even, "I measured them six different times before mixing them with the drink."

"And you still got no information whatsoever?" His voice was low, challenging even.

It sent cold chills down my spine and I could only imagine what it did to Carlo.

Judging by his silence, it couldn't have been good.

"No," He finally said, the word sounding like defeat itself.

I heard nothing but the faint tapping of what sounded like claws on a wooden desk.

Each tap sent my nerves higher and higher.

"I see," He grumbled, his calm tone denying what I already knew was there, "Then I guess our deal is off."

Despite not even knowing what the deal was, his words sent me into a panic.

It did the same to Carlo judging by his next words.

"Wait! Give me another chance!" He pleaded.

"You had your chance but you failed," The Lord began, "Now, knowing my son, he's going to be on his guard at all times and you won't even be able to get close to his pet."

"I can figure something out! I can get you the information that you need I just need time to figure something else out," His desperation was evident.

The faint tapping resumed after his statement.

I just hoped my heart thundering in my chest wasn't loud enough to be noticeable.

"You have by the end of next month," The Lord concluded, "Get it done by then, or else our deal is off. This is your last chance, Carlo. Don't mess this up."

The end of next month... that was practically a full two months...

I heard a soft relieved exhale.

"Thank you My Lord. I won't, I promise!"

"Good. You are dismissed."

I took that as my cue to speed walk as far away from that door as I could before Carlo left, slowing myself down to a steady walk once I deemed myself far enough away.

That conversation gave me nothing about Why Carlo did what he did. Literally nothing.

It only told me that there was more to come apparently.

But I had to agree with the Lord. Even I could tell that Nico wasn't going to forget about this anytime soon and his guard was going to be at an all-time high.

I nearly yelped the second someone grabbed my forearm, pulling me into the nearest room, and slamming the door shut.

The muscles in my legs tightened as I prepared myself to fight whoever dragged me into this pitch black room.

At least that was my plan before that certain someone flipped on the light, revealing that it was Carlo.

And that this was apparently an empty storage closet.

How he caught up to me without me noticing was actually pretty impressive.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked, relaxing myself.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, dodging my question.

The hurt look on his face told me that he already knew the answer.

So, I stayed silent.

I really didn't like that this whole fiasco was putting us against each other.

Even though neither of us really had a choice.

Luckily we didn't let it get too much in the was when we hung out during the day, but times like this really stung.

He ran a hand through his hair as he blew out a sigh, reading my silence as my response.

"Marcus..." he groaned, "Look, whatever you heard, can you please just keep that between us?"

He acts like I actually understood what was being talked about during half of that conversation.

"Yeah," I replied, "I didn't hear the answer Nico was looking for so..."

He leaned his back against the door looking a bit relieved.

"What answer is he looking for?" He questioned a small bit of fear in his voice.

He was scared of Nico. Which he definitely should be.

"He wants to know why you did it," I replied.

"Id love to know that too."

His answer surprised me.

"You don't know why the Lord had you do it?"

He shook his head.

"I don't even know why Lord Vanderwood is targeting the Prince's pet. Even the questions I was supposed to ask her while she was all drugged up were strange." He explained.

"What did you ask her?"

He sent me a look that was a mutually understood response between the two of us.

Classified.

"So from what I understand, your goal is to get info from Khloe?" I asked.

He nodded, sucking in his bottom lip as he glanced to the side.

He didn't like this at all.

I took a step towards him.

"I'm telling you this as your friend, Carlo, there's no way in hell Nico is going to let that happen," I admitted.

Carlo rubbed his eyes, his defeat already showing as his back slid down the wall until he was sitting.

"I know," He said in barely a whisper.

"And even if you did get that far, Id have to stop you if I happen to see it."

"I know,"

I just looked him over as he sat there, staring straight ahead as if he was trying to come up with some impossible plan.

The look on his face could only be described as utter defeat before he leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees and his hands in his hair

After a few moments, I went and sat beside him.

He really didn't want to do this, but he was doing it anyways because of some deal.

Whatever he was getting out of this deal must be worth it...

"Do you really have to do this?" I asked.

He barely turned his head towards me, looking for more of an explanation.

"I mean," I began again, "This is all because of a deal you made right? If you gave that up, then you wouldn't have to deal with this."

He stared at me for a moment, before returning his gaze straight ahead.

"I don't think I want to give that up," he stated quietly.

I crossed my arms, setting them on my knees.

"What's your deal about?" I questioned.

He drew in a very long breath but didn't say anything.

I could tell by that alone that the topic bothered him to an extent I didn't even consider.

So, given my immense curiosity, I started to guess.

"Is your life on the line?"

"No."

"Your job?"

"No."

"Some kind of punishment?"

"No."

"Is it-"

"It's you."

"Wait what?"

I stared wide-eyed at the brunette.

Did I just hear him right?

"It's you," He repeated, still keeping his gaze straight, "The day you brought that letter to the Lord, he said that he may just send you back anyways because given you're closeness to Prince Nicolas, you may be problematic,"

I stared unblinking at him as he gathered his next words.

"After seeing the fear on your face from just seeing a letter from Lord Bronwyn, I got the feeling that sending you back would lead to your death if not worse..."

I felt my breath catch in my throat as the memories of that place came back to me.

"And I didn't even think before I begged him not to since you and I hit it off so fast and that wasn't something I wanted to give up. That's when he formed this deal with me."

My mouth suddenly felt too dry to speak.

He finally turned to meet my eye.

"So basically, If I don't get this done by the end of next month, Lord Vanderwood is sending you back into the hands of Lord Bronwyn."