“I don’t know what their goal is.” Tony shrugged. “As to your earlier question, I know about the Council’s inner workings because some of my faction are old enough to sit in on the Council meetings. They included me when they decided to interfere again because of my past history here. They figured if you were going to talk to anyone from the Syndicate, it would probably be me.”
I couldn’t fault them for that logic. “So what now?” Tony had given his warning, though it wasn’t one I’d expected. Did that mean I was off the hook now if the Syndicate wasn’t really after me? Maybe it was stupid to want to believe that last night’s attack had been a fluke, but I didn’t like the idea of being followed around all the time by Ussier’s minions, especially if it might be unnecessary.
“Now, your friend here gives us the address in Oakmont,” Ussier said. Tony’s face tightened. Probably more because Ussier referred to him as my friend than out of any worry over betraying his… what? Family? What did they call themselves? “Then we’ll pay them a visit and see if he’s on the level.”
“And in the meantime?” I tried not to show my frustration, but I wanted an answer now. What was going to happen to Tony, dammit?
“You’re still on my watch list, Mr. Corvin, despite what the youngling says. You may not be the target, but you’re still a mark and that’s unacceptable. Tony will be your new bodyguard. If he’s knows these people as well as he seems to, then you can use that to keep one step ahead.”
“I’m not a babysitter,” Tony snapped. “I gave you your warning. At least let me help you get rid of the Syndicate cell instead of following this tool around.”
“Fuck you!” I snarled right back. “I didn’t ask for yer damn help, not last night and not any other night. You can go to hell.”
We glared across the table at each other, fists clenched, and I swear, guilt or no guilt, I wanted to punch that sneer right off his face. “Thanks, but I’ve already been there cuz of you.”
“Enough, gentlemen,” Hugh said in his deceptively soft voice. “We get it. You hate each other’s guts, but Ussier gave you an order, youngling. In his city. There is no argument.”
Tony pressed his lips together then nodded shortly. “Fine. I’ll watch over him.”
“Now just wait one damned minute. Don’t I have a say in this?”
“No.” Both Ussier and Hugh spoke as one and with enough implacable authority in their tones that my intended arguments died in my throat. “Remember what we talked about last night,” Ussier reminded me, his eyes grim.
“I don’t like the youngling being the only one watching him,” Hugh said. “Especially since we’re not sure which side he’s on. We should add someone else.”
“Mr. Corvin can take care of himself,” Ussier replied, and Tony snorted. I shot him a dirty look to hide my attack of nerves. Ussier really did intend for me to use what I could of Kristair’s abilities. Fuck. Not that I liked his goons creeping behind me all the time, but still.
“Besides,” Lisabeth cut in with a cold smile. “The youngling’s own survival depends on the Ancient One’s lover. If one dies so shall the other.” She hopped down from the chair and crossed over to Tony. An expression of fear flickered over his face, but he stood his ground as she caught his head between her tiny hands. I had to give him credit for having balls.
“Jacob Corvin, come here.” I found myself by her side without a chance for thought or refusal. Alarm bells went off; if she didn’t already freak me out, this would’ve cemented it. “Give me your hand.”
Hesitant, I held out my hand and jumped as she sliced my palm with her fingernail, drawing blood. “Hey, what the—” The fierce glance she shot me shut me up. Tony tried to draw back, but the vampire girl grabbed his ear and held him still as she smeared my blood on his forehead. As she muttered softly in another language, the blood became an incandescent blue before sinking into Tony’s forehead.
I took a step back, my skin crawling, my palm throbbing. Vampires were bad enough, but vampires with magic were a whole new set of scary. I’d seen too much to disbelieve anything was possible. I rubbed my thumb over my palm, smearing the blood, and the pain eased. My stomach twisted as the skin knit together before my eyes and was whole once more.
“There now.” Lisabeth released Tony with a satisfied smile. “Now the youngling has no choice but to guard Mr. Corvin’s life as dearly as his own.”
Shit. I wouldn’t blame Tony if he killed me himself, just out of pure spite.
Chapter 8
THE NIGHT was bitter cold, the wind whipping between the buildings to lash at us as we left Pooh Corner. Tony didn’t say one word to me until we had walked the entire way back to campus. Not that I could blame him. My thoughts were pretty troubled too, and every time he fingered his forehead I was struck with another little stab of guilt. He shouldn’t have that extra burden. If he was out to betray me and did, then they could hunt him down clean. It just didn’t sit right that they used hoodoo shit on him.
“You didn’t say anything,” he finally said.
Frowning, I turned toward Tony. “What?”
“You didn’t speak up for me again. You didn’t try to stop her.” Once more Tony touched his forehead and for a split second his expression became haunted before it returned to the now familiar cold indifference. “Guess all your talk about being sorry was bullshit.”
The accusation dug the thorn in my conscience that much deeper. Truth was I hadn’t even thought about protesting at the time. It had happened so fast and I wasn’t expecting it. I should’ve said something. It wouldn’t have stopped Lisabeth for a second—I knew that, at least—but I still could’ve tried even if she had scared the shit outta me.
Last time, not only had I not tried to stop them, I’d encouraged them with my own disavowal of Tony, my own cruel words and bitter, angry indifference to what was happening to him. What goes around comes around, and it was biting me in the ass. “I had no idea they could even do anything like that. That it was even possible.” I paused and shook my head. “But you’re right. I should’ve said something. I’m sorry.”
“Bite me.” Another time, a comment like that from Tony would have me on the ground laughing.
“What do you want me to do? Do you want me to call Ussier and demand he have it removed? It won’t do a damn bit of good. They don’t trust you. According to them you’re an outsider.”
“What about you?” Tony shot back.
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Ignoring the wind and my desire to just get inside so I could give Steve the news and take one more step to moving on, I stopped to face Tony. Obviously, there was something he was working toward.
“Do you trust me?” Tony demanded.
I hesitated a second too long and his expression hardened and he began walking again. “Fuck it, Jake. Never mind.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you.” Fuck, he could read me too well. I wasn’t very good at hiding things and the quirk of his brow told me he read my hesitance loud and clear.
“Really? Enlighten me then.”
“I don’t think you’re out to see me dead, but I don’t think you’d grieve for very long if I was killed. And I couldn’t blame you.” It was a fine line, but it still was a distinction, an important one in my mind.
“Damn right, I wouldn’t cry over you.” The slash cut quick with the bitter edge of Tony’s voice. “But then I’ll be dead myself and I’m not ready to lie down and give up yet.” That was a sentiment I could appreciate. “You don’t really think she used magic, do you? I mean it’s just—”
“Crazy?”
He nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”
“I don’t think she’s the kind of person to fake at anything. If she threatens you, it’s real.” I eyed him uneasily, wishing the damn mark was gone. “Besides, I’ve seen too much shit to disbelieve anything.”
Tony shut up again and it wasn’t until we turned toward Kayla’s dorm that he spoke up. “Where are we going?”
&nb
sp; “I promised Kayla and Steve an update. They’re waiting for me in her room.”
“Motherfucker.” I glanced back to where Tony had halted and stood glaring at me. “You said you wouldn’t say anything.”
“That was last night and I didn’t tell them anything.” Kayla finding out was not my fault at all. The chick was too smart for my own good. “Tonight’s different. You said you wanted to see where things stood. Now you know.”
“Jake, I don’t want them finding out I’m here.”
“Why the hell not?” I continued on, figuring if Tony was serious about his assignment, he’d follow. “Steve doesn’t deserve this bullshit. He’s been going nuts over you, jackass. Unless this is another way of punishing me. Well, it’s not going to work. I’m done with keeping secrets.” Silently, I cursed my conscience for panging right then. The knowledge planted in my head from Kristair was a whole other issue, unconnected with this situation, and telling would cause more problems than keeping my mouth shut would.
“It’s not your story to tell. Jake, I’m fucking warning you,” Tony growled, grabbing my arm in a hard grip.
“Or what?” I turned around and snarled, my eyes going to the invisible mark on his forehead. “What? Ya gonna kick my ass? Go ahead and bring it.” My fists balled up and it was an effort to keep them in my coat pocket. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tell them, for chrissake.”
We glared at each other for a long minute while Tony seemed to struggle with it. Then he scowled and stalked past me. “Fine. We’ll do it your way, as usual.”
I gritted my teeth until pain stabbed through my jaw and then counted to twenty. Not trusting myself to speak I just began walking again before we ended up brawling in the middle of the quad. The remainder of the walk did nothing to blunt the edge of my anger and I was still fuming when I knocked on Kayla’s door.
“Are you coming? Don’t be such a friggin’ coward,” I snapped at Tony, who was hanging back. His face tightened.
Kayla must’ve been listening at the door or else I was louder than I’d meant to be because the door popped open then. “Jake,” she said, with enough reproof that she didn’t need to say anything else. Her eyes flew to Tony and she gave him a smile that lit up her face before glancing over her shoulder back into her room.
“I assume Steve’s here. Let’s get it over with.” I gestured for Tony, though I was no longer impatient. We both were going to have to deal with the fallout in one way or another.
As I stepped into the room, a grin broke out over Steve’s face. “Good to see you, man. So fess up. What happened?”
Stomach jittering I stepped to the side, allowing Tony room to come in behind me. A quizzical look crossed Steve’s face and then his eyes widened. “Tony? Tony! Holy shit!” Laughing, Steve jumped up and caught Tony in a bear hug. “Damn, it’s so fucking good to see you!”
Their exchange hurt to watch, especially when Tony hugged Steve back, but I made myself do it anyway. The strained relationship I had with them was entirely my own doing, not theirs. Kayla caught my eye and gave me a small smile of sympathy. She always seemed to know just what I was thinking, sometimes before I did myself. I shrugged and she rolled her eyes as Tony and Steve continued their reunion.
Damn, it was good to see Steve all excited like that though, and for a moment Tony almost looked like his old self. If it wasn’t for this aching hole inside of me or feeling like I was an outsider peering in, I could almost believe this was a year ago. “When did…?” Steve started, then turned to me, his eyes narrowing. “You knew, last night…. This was what you wanted to meet with Ussier about. This is what you said you couldn’t talk about.”
Oh god, here it came. Steve’s expression had already darkened even before I started to speak. “Yeah, but—”
“But what?” All the coiled tension I’d been holding inside for the past twenty-four hours stretched taut to the breaking point as Steve stepped up into my space, forcing me to tilt my head up to look at him. “Jesus, Jake, why didn’t you tell me? You looked at me right in my eye, knew Tony was back home, and you didn’t say a word.”
The sick expression on Steve’s face, like he was staring at someone he didn’t even know, made me shrink inside and the tension broke, ripping through me in a haze of rage and bitterness. What I was going to say died in my throat. Fuck him. I didn’t owe him an explanation. I didn’t owe any of them anything. Not any fucking more.
Shaking inside, I took a step back, not trusting myself to speak. I just needed to get the fuck out of there before I did something I regretted. “Jake. Don’t,” Kayla said softly.
Her, I could acknowledge. She wasn’t one of the ones constantly poking and prodding me, seeking a reaction or new ways to cut at me. I shook my head and she nodded, giving me my space. She was the only one who understood.
“Wait, we’re not done yet.”
Even as Steve reached out to grab my shoulder, something inside me snapped. “Back the fuck off,” I snarled, shoving him hard enough to send him hurtling back to land on his ass on Kayla’s bed. “I don’t owe you a damn thing.”
My glare took in Tony as well, who was staring wide-eyed with surprise at the both of us. “Neither of you.” Something flickered over his face, maybe regret, but I didn’t care, not anymore.
Out of the corner of my eye Steve leapt up and his punch landed on my face before I was even aware of what he was about to do. “You’d lay hands on me, boy? Come on, Jake, let’s go.”
I touched my tongue to my lip, tasting blood, something feral and ugly clawing inside me as I started toward Steve. He wanted a fight, fine. I’d be fucking happy to give him one.
“Don’t you dare,” Kayla spat, leaping between us and glaring at us in turn. “Don’t you two start on each other.” She put her hands on our chests and nudged the both of us apart. “Both of you get a grip.”
Tony stepped forward and grabbed Steve’s bicep, leaning in to whisper something to him. I didn’t even bother to wait around and find out what it was. Next thing I knew I was out the door, running. Who needed friends anyway? They either sat around and judged or became targets. Either way, I wanted nothing to do with it, nothing to do with them.
Behind me I heard them shout my name. I ran faster, the walls flying by me in a blur of color and texture. I ran the entire way back to my dorm, my chest burning, and locked myself inside. I didn’t need anybody.
Chapter 9
MY FRUSTRATION overwhelmed me. I could feel Jacob. He was so damned close and he was hurting. His pain lashed out at me, tearing into my psyche. The epiphany I had in the warehouse was a mockery now. I couldn’t do anything. The Ascended blocked my efforts with damning ease.
If only I could reach him. Then what? What would I do? Follow him around like a ghost? Reassure him that I was okay? Say goodbye? None of those options were palatable. I wanted to be with him. Simply that.
Our time had been so short and neither of us had been given any peace during it either. If it wasn’t the Syndicate hounding us, it had been my degeneration, though I suppose I really should say evolution. Though at the moment it didn’t matter how powerful I was, not when I wasn’t in control of myself.
I couldn’t see Jacob and the whispering unintelligible voices of the Ascended drowned out his thoughts until all I was left with was his pain, ripping at me. I was trapped by those who I was a part of now, but who also avoided me, as if I carried a taint. The double isolation was keen.
Then my prison walls changed. Instead of nothingness, I now stood amidst the vastness of the universe, a multitude of stars around me, below and above, some bright and strong, others flickering out of existence. The Ascended were gone, their voices mute. The new silence was deafening and far lonelier than my mere isolation had been.
I concentrated my psyche on taking form, nebulous as it was, of how I used to look. Did this mean I was free? Were they finally letting me go? Hope dawned as I stretched out my awareness, searching for Jacob. My connection with him had
become tenuous as well, barely a wisp of emotion.
Again, I was blocked, and the anger that whipped through me frightened me with its immensity. I wanted to shriek out all my fury, storm and rage until everything around me lay in ruins. Again and again I hurled my thought and will against the invisible adamant tethers, searching for a weakness, some flaw I could exploit so I would have voice and means to retaliate.
“You have no concept of the power you have at your fingertips. You can do anything and, like an ignorant babe, you will destroy without thought of the consequences. Your blunders could have erased your very existence from the fabric of time.”
Next to me, my old Mistress appeared, as hazy and wan as I was. I remembered her now. I remembered everything from the moment the Ascended seized me. She was the one who kept beckoning me back in when I was almost free. Once again, she was the instrument of a change I did not want.
“What would have happened to your precious Jacob if he had never met you?” she asked, looking around at the vista spread out before her, though I sensed every bit of her attention was on me.
“He’d probably be much happier.” The thought was crushing, though true. I wouldn’t be plagued with his torment had I never interrupted his life with my own problems.
“What about Kayla?” my Mistress persisted. “Would she have submitted to the perversions of her father if she hadn’t known of you?”
“Don’t pretend as if you care about them. You don’t!” I snarled, turning to face her and meeting her calm gaze.
“No, but you do.”
Her matter-of-fact tone cut through my fury and I laughed sardonically. “Jacob used to accuse me of manipulation, but I learned it from my Mistress.”
“We’re trying to teach you responsibility, Kristair. Your old life is over with. Jacob and Kayla’s existence is only a wink of an eye. In the grand scheme of the universe, they don’t matter.”
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