by J. R. Ward
Rehvenge hadn’t been all good. Not by a long shot. But she had looked into his eyes and smelled his bonding scent and felt his kind hands on her body. And at ZeroSum, she had seen the pain in him and heard the strain and desperation in his voice. Whereas before she had assumed all that was either for show or out of disappointment that his cover was blown, now she had a different picture of it.
She knew him, goddamn it. Even after all the shit he had left out, even after the lies of omission, she knew him.
Ehlena lifted her chin and stared across the study at a trained killer. “I want to know everything, and you are going to tell me.”
Xhex spoke for a half hour straight, and she was surprised by how good it felt. Surprised also by how much she approved of Rehv’s choice of female. The entire time she was rolling out the horrors, Ehlena sat on one of the silk sofas all calm and steady—even though there were a lot of bombs.
“So the female who came to my door,” Ehlena said, “that’s the one who’s blackmailing him?”
“Yes. It’s his half sister. She’s married to his uncle.”
“God, how much money did she take him for over the past twenty years? No wonder he needed to keep the club open.”
“It wasn’t just money she was after.” Xhex looked straight into Ehlena’s face. “She made a whore out of him.”
Ehlena’s cheeks drained of color. “What do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean.” Xhex cursed and started to pace again, going around the fringes of the gorgeous room for the hundredth time. “Look…twenty-five years ago I fucked up, and to protect me, Rehv struck a deal with the princess. Every month he went up north and paid her the money…and had sex with her. He hated it and despised her. Plus, she made him sick, literally—she poisoned him when he did what he had to, which was why he needed that antivenin. But, you know…even though it cost him a lot, he kept on making that trip so she wouldn’t blow our covers. He’s been paying for my mistake month after month, year after year.”
Ehlena shook her head slowly. “Good…his half sister…”
“Don’t you dare harsh on him for that. There are very few symphaths left anymore, so inbreeding happens a lot, but more than that, he didn’t have a choice, because I put him in the position of being trapped. If you think for one second he would have volunteered for that shit you’re out of your fucking mind.”
Ehlena raised a hand up as if to calm things down. “I understand. I just…I feel badly for you and for him.”
“Don’t waste that on me.”
“Don’t tell me how to feel.”
Xhex had to laugh. “You know, under different circumstances, I could like you.”
“Funny, I feel the same way.” The female smiled, but it was the sad kind. “The princess has him, then?”
“Yes.” Xhex turned away from the couch, because she wasn’t sharing what was no doubt in her eyes. “The princess was the one who blew his cover, not Montrag.”
“But Montrag was going to come forward with that affidavit, wasn’t he? Which was why you killed him.”
“That was only part of what he was going to do. The rest of his plans are not my story to tell, but let’s just say Rehv wasn’t even the bigger part of it.”
Ehlena frowned and leaned back in the cushions. She’d been fiddling with her ponytail, and wisps had come free of the scrunchie she pulled it back in—so that as she sat on the silk couch in front of a lamp, she had a halo around her.
“Must the world always be so harsh, I wonder,” she murmured.
“In my experience, yup.”
“Why didn’t you go after him?” the female asked quietly. “And this is not a criticism—it truly isn’t. It just seems out of character for you.”
The fact that the question was phrased like that made Xhex slightly less defensive. “He made me take a vow not to. He even put it in writing. If I go back on my word, two of his best friends are going to die—because they’re going to come after me.” With an awkward shrug, Xhex took the goddamn letter out of the pocket of her leathers. “I have to keep this with me because it’s the only thing that helps me stay put. Otherwise, I’d be up at that fucking colony this morning.”
Ehlena’s eyes clung to the folded envelope. “May…may I please see it?” Her lovely hand shook as she reached out. “Please.”
The female’s emotional grid was a tangled mess, strips of desolation and fear bound in ropes of sadness. She had been through the wringer these last four weeks, and she was in extremis, stretched beyond her limit and then some…but at the core, at the center, at the heart of her…love burned.
Love burned deeply.
Xhex put the letter against Ehlena’s palm and held on to it for a brief moment. In a choked voice, she said, “Rehvenge…has been my hero for years. He’s a good male in spite of his symphath side, and he’s worthy of what you feel for him. He deserves so much better than he’s gotten out of life…and to be honest, I can’t imagine what that female is doing to him right now.”
As Xhex released the envelope, Ehlena blinked quickly, as if she were trying to keep tears from spilling.
Xhex couldn’t bear to look at the female, so she went over to stand before the oil painting that depicted a beautiful sun setting over a calm sea. The colors chosen were so warm and lovely, it was as if the seascape actually projected a glowing heat you could feel upon your face and shoulders.
“He deserved a real life,” Xhex murmured. “With a shellan who loved him and a couple of young and…instead he’s going to be abused and tortured for—”
That was as far as she could go, her throat closing up so hard she found it difficult to breathe. Standing in front of the glowing sunset, Xhex almost broke down and wept: The internal pressure of keeping all of the past and the present and the future inside of her rose to such a foaming, sizzling combustion that she looked down at her arms and hands to see if they had expanded.
But no, they were the same as always.
Locked into the skin she was in.
There was a soft rustle of paper, the letter sliding back into its envelope.
“Well, there’s only one thing to do,” Ehlena said.
Xhex focused on the burning sun in the center of the painting and forced herself to pull back from the brink. “And that is.”
“We’re going to go up and get him out.”
Xhex shot a glare over her shoulder. “At the risk of sounding like we’re in an action movie…there’s no way you and I can go up against a shitload of symphaths. Besides, you read the letter. You know what I agreed to.”
Ehlena tapped the envelope on her knee. “But it says you can’t go on his behalf, right? So…what if I asked you to head up there with me. Then it would be on my behalf, right? If you’re a symphath, surely you must appreciate that loophole.”
Xhex’s brain churned over the implications and she smiled briefly. “Quick thinking. But no offense, you’re a civilian. I’m going to need a lot more backup than you.”
Ehlena rose from the sofa. “I know how to shoot, and I’m trained as a triage nurse, so I can deal with field injuries. Besides, you need me if you’re going to get around that vow you’re stuck with. So what do you say?”
Xhex was all for the guns-blazing shit, but if she got Ehlena killed in the process of letting Rehv out, that wasn’t going to go over well.
“Fine, I’m going alone,” Ehlena said, tossing the letter down on the sofa. “I’ll find him and I’ll—”
“Hold up, hard-ass.” Xhex took a deep breath, picked up Rehv’s last missive, and allowed herself to be open to the possibilities. What if there were a way to…
From out of nowhere, purpose poured into her, her veins firing up with something other than pain. Yes, she thought. She could see how to work this.
“I know who we can go to.” She started to beam. “I know how we can do this.”
“Who?”
She put her palm out to Ehlena. “If you want to go up there, I’m in, but we
do it my way.”
Rehv’s nurse glanced down before leveling toffee-colored eyes on Xhex’s face. “I go with you. That’s my one condition. I. Go.”
Xhex nodded slowly. “I understand. But everything else is up to me.”
“Deal.”
When their palms met, the other female’s grip was strong and steady. Which, considering everything they were contemplating, boded well for how Ehlena would hold on to the butt of a gun.
“We’re going to get him out,” Ehlena breathed.
“God help us.”
SIXTY-FIVE
Okay, here’s the deal, George. You see these fuckers? They’re trouble, straight-up trouble. I know we’ve done this a couple of times, but let’s not get cocky.”
As Wrath tapped the bottom step of the mansion’s staircase with his shitkicker, he pictured the stretch of red-carpeted on-your-ass going all the way up from the foyer to the second floor. “Good news is? You can see what you’re doing. Bad news is? I go down and there’s a risk I might take you with me. Not what we’re looking for.”
He absently stroked the dog’s head. “Shall we?”
He gave the forward signal and started stepping up. George stuck right with him, the dog’s slight roll of the shoulder transmitted through the handle as they ascended. At the top, George paused.
“Study,” Wrath said.
Together, they walked straight ahead. When the dog stopped again, Wrath oriented himself by the sound of the crackling in the fireplace and was able to walk with the dog over to the desk. As soon as he sat down in the new chair, George took a seat as well, right next to him.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Vishous said from the doorway.
“Tough shit.”
“Tell me you want us in with you.”
Wrath ran his hand down George’s flank. God, the dog’s fur was soft. “Not at first.”
“You sure?” Wrath let his raised eyebrow speak for itself. “Yeah, okay. Fine. But I’m going to be right outside the door the whole time.”
And V wasn’t going to be alone, no doubt. When the call to Bella’s phone had come through in the middle of Last Meal, it had been a surprise: Everyone who could have been hitting her up was in the room. She’d answered the ring, and after a long silence, Wrath had heard a chair get pushed back and soft footsteps approach him.
“It’s for you,” she had said in a tremulous voice. “It’s…Xhex.”
Five minutes later, he’d agreed to see Rehvenge’s second in command, and though nothing specific had been discussed, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why the female had called and what she was going to want. After all, Wrath wasn’t just king, he was gatekeeper to the Brotherhood.
Who all thought Wrath was nuts to see her, but that was the great thing about being the ruler of the race: You could do what you wanted.
Down below, the vestibule’s door opened and Fritz’s voice echoed up as he escorted the two guests into the mansion. The old butler was not alone as he came in with the females, having himself been escorted by Rhage and Butch when he took the Mercedes out for the pickup.
Voices and many feet came up the stairs.
George tensed, his haunches pulling up, his breathing changing subtly.
“It’s okay, my man,” Wrath murmured to him. “We’re cool.”
The dog eased immediately, which made Wrath look over at the animal even though he couldn’t see anything. Something about that unconditional trust was…very nice.
The knock on the door brought his head back around. “Enter.”
His first sense of Xhex and Ehlena was that they emitted grim purpose. His second was that Ehlena, who was on the right, was particularly nervous.
Going by the slight shifting of clothes, he imagined they were bowing to him, and the pair of “Your Highness” es that came his way confirmed the intuition.
“Take a seat,” he said. “And I want everyone else out of this room.”
None of his brothers dared to throw out a grumble, because the protocol button had been punched: If they were around outsiders, they treated him as their sovereign lord and king. Which meant no fucking around and no insubordination.
Maybe they needed visitors more often in the fucking house.
When the doors were shut, Wrath said, “Tell me why you’re here.”
In the pause that followed, he imagined the females were probably looking back and forth at each other to decide who went first.
“Let me guess,” he cut in. “Rehvenge is alive, and you want to get him out of the shithole.”
As Wrath, son of Wrath, spoke, Ehlena wasn’t at all surprised the king knew what they’d come for. Sitting on the other side of a delicate and lovely desk, he was exactly what she remembered from when he’d nearly plowed her down back at the clinic: both cruel and smart, a leader in his physical and mental prime.
This was a male who knew how the real world worked. And was used to having the kind of muscle you needed to get hard things done.
“Yes, my lord,” she said. “That’s what we want.”
His black wraparounds shifted over to her. “So you’re the nurse from Havers’s clinic. Who turned out to be Montrag’s kin.”
“I am, yes.”
“Mind if I ask how you got involved in this sitch?”
“It’s personal.”
“Ah.” The king nodded. “Got it.”
Xhex spoke up, her voice grave and respectful. “He did a good thing for you. Rehvenge did a very good thing for you.”
“You don’t have to remind me. It’s the reason you two are sitting here in my home.”
Ehlena glanced over at Xhex, trying to read in the female’s face what they were referring to. She got nothing. Not a surprise.
“Here’s my question,” Wrath said. “We bring him back, how are we going to get around the e-mail that came in to us? He said it was nothing, but clearly he lied. Someone from up north threatened to ID your boy, and if he gets loose…that trigger’s going to be pulled.”
Xhex spoke up. “I will personally guarantee that the individual who made that threat will not be able to use a laptop after I’m through with her.”
“Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.”
As the king smiled and drawled out the word, he leaned to the side and seemed to be stroking…With a start, Ehlena realized there was a golden retriever seated next to him, the dog’s head just barely peeking up over the top of the desk. Wow. Odd choice of breed, in a way, as the king’s companion was as kind-looking and approachable as its owner was not—and yet Wrath was gentle with the animal, his big, broad palm moving down its back slowly.
“Is that the only hole that needs to be plugged in his identity?” the king asked. “If that leak is eliminated are there any other parties who could threaten to expose him?”
“Montrag is good and dead,” Xhex murmured. “And I can’t think of anyone else who would know. Of course, the symphath king could come after him, but you can stop that. Rehv is one of your subjects as well.”
“Damn fucking straight, and let’s hear it for the whole ‘possession is nine-tenths of the law’ thing.” Wrath’s smile returned briefly. “Besides, the leader of the symphaths is not going to want to fuck with me, because if I get testy, I could take away his happy little home up there in freeze-your-nuts-off territory. He’s under my privilege, as they used to say in the Old Country, which means he rules only because I let him.”
“So are we going to do this?” Xhex asked.
There was a long silence, and as they waited for the king to speak, Ehlena looked around the pretty, French-inspired room to avoid Wrath’s eyes. She didn’t want him to know how anxious she was, and was afraid her face reflected weakness: She was totally out of her element here, sitting before the race’s leader, presenting a plan that involved going into the very heart of an incredibly dark place. But she couldn’t risk his doubting her or excluding her, because no matter how nervous she was, she wasn’t backing down. Fear didn’t mean y
ou turned away from a goal. Hell, if she believed that, her father would be institutionalized right now, and she might well have ended up as her mother had.
Doing the right thing was scary sometimes, but her heart had taken her here to this place and was going to carry her through…whatever came next, and whatever it took to get Rehvenge out.
Ehlena…are you there?
Yes, she sure as hell was.
“Couple of things,” Wrath said as he shifted around with a wince, like he had a fighting injury. “The king up there—he’s not going to like us coming onto his turf and walking off with one of his own.”
“With all due respect,” Xhex cut in, “Rehv’s uncle can go fuck himself.”
Ehlena’s brows popped up. Rehvenge was the nephew of the king?
Wrath shrugged. “I happen to agree, but my point is, there’s going to be conflict. Armed conflict.”
“I’m good with that,” Xhex said evenly, like they were talking about nothing more than what movie to go see. “Very good.”
Ehlena felt the need to interject herself into the conversation. “And so am I.” As the king’s shoulders stiffened, she tried not to be too forceful, because the last thing they needed was to get booted out the door for disrespect. “I mean, I would expect nothing more, and I’m prepared for it.”
“You’re prepared for it? No offense, but a civilian hanger-on is not a good thing if there’s going to be fighting.”
“With all due respect,” she echoed Xhex’s words, “I’m going.”
“Even if it means I pull my men out?”
“Yes.” There was a long inhale, as if the king were thinking of how to shut her down nicely. “You don’t understand, my lord. That’s my…”
“Your what?”
On impulse, to give her position some added weight, she said, “That is my hellren.” In her peripheral vision, she caught Xhex’s head whipping around toward her, but she’d jumped into the pool and couldn’t get any wetter. “That’s my mate and…he fed from me a month ago. If they’ve hidden him, I can find him. Also, if they’ve done what they”—oh, Jesus—“probably have to him, he’s going to need medical attention. And I’m going to give it to him.”