He didn’t know what Marcus was thinking, but he couldn’t believe the overprotective vampire was going to allow his fledgling in this fight. Philippe’s own conscience wouldn’t allow Ethan, or even Gideon into this looming battle, but he had no idea how to voice that thought without offending at least several people in the room.
Hell, he didn’t want anyone in this room involved in this fight. There was no way they were all going to come out alive and unscathed.
Philippe looked around the room and found Aiden sitting in a chair off to the side, a shadow of a smile playing on his lips as he watched the four brothers gathered around a table where Winter had unrolled plans for MacPherson Hall—not that he was admitting how the hell he got them in the first place.
Aiden’s eyes darted to Philippe, and he tilted his head to the side, indicating the empty chair next to him. Philippe crossed the room at the silent invitation and sank into the floral cushion.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to have this moment?” Aiden asked, his voice low, as if he didn’t want to attract the attention of the Varik brothers.
“I don’t understand.”
“This. Watching them bicker…over anything. Watching them together. Seeing how their brains work and how they react to each other. I feel like I’ve been waiting a lifetime for this moment, and it’s even better than I imagined it would be.”
Philippe looked over at the quartet, taking in how close Rafe and Bel were standing together. Rafe’s placating and gentle tone when he spoke to his twin and the biting sarcasm he chose for Winter. Then Winter would come back, sniping at Rafe and Marcus but not at Bel. And then Marcus bossing them all around like a bull elephant plowing down anything that might dare stand in his way.
But there was a routineness to it all. As if they’d been acting in just this manner for decades. Lifetimes. There was frustration but also so much love.
“I’m proud of what you created, Philippe,” Aiden said, jerking his gaze to his handsome face. Aiden continued to watch the brothers even as he spoke. “You tried to create something warm and beautiful.”
“My gift gave me no choice.”
“You did have a choice.” Aiden’s voice was unyielding. He sat up a little more in his chair and turned to pin Philippe with his narrowed eyes. “Even if you couldn’t ignore it, you could have moved. You could have turned your back on all those who were lost and in pain, focused only on your own wants and needs.”
“But it all blew up in my face. I brought in someone who betrayed us all. I was still alone. I’ve put your family in danger.”
Aiden stunned him by reaching over and patting the top of his hand. “I see you’re more like Rafe than I expected. He likes to take the blame for every horrible thing that happens, whether it is his fault or not. He’s convinced himself he’s going to be the downfall of the Variks because he doesn’t like to toe the line. I say he’s going to be what keeps us alive.”
“But—”
“You’ve got to give people credit for the choices they make. Ezra chose to betray you. And the Variks are choosing to fight the MacPhersons. You have no control over either of those choices, so you can’t lay claim to any guilt that might go with it.”
“I love him. I don’t want anything to happen to him. To happen to his family.”
“I understand. But if we never take chances, we never have an opportunity to achieve something great.”
“If you’re done waxing philosophical over there,” Winter drawled, “we could use a hand with the planning.”
Philippe’s eyes jerked up to find all four men staring at them, different expressions of amusement lightening their features.
“I was simply waiting for you to come around to the most obvious choice,” Aiden replied with a smirk.
“And what’s that?”
“That we don’t face them in MacPherson Hall.”
Mouths hung open in speechless silence. It was an obvious answer. Facing them in MacPherson Hall was a death sentence. Short of blowing the place up, they would be at an incredible disadvantage no matter what they did.
“But they have Jullien. It’s what they want,” Philippe said, finding his voice first.
“They also have us outnumbered. Why hand them all the advantages? Just because someone presents you with two options, it doesn’t mean you can’t come up with a third. Don’t accept their limitations. There’s always another choice.”
“You’ll think they’ll agree to a new venue?” Marcus inquired.
“Nolan won’t pass it up. He wants Philippe, and he wants to crush the Variks. His ego won’t allow him to walk away.”
Rafe folded his arms over his chest and leaned his hip against the table. “Then where do we meet them? Here? Blush?”