“I did not know there were any.” Sebastian eyed Shroud. He stood at ease, an ease that only came with the truth.
He fooled us all for how many years . . .
Not an ease Sebastian could trust.
“Specter said Shroud had convinced him to retract his ultimatum,” Sebastian said. “If you are Shroud, then it was you who brought him down on us.”
Shroud – or Alec – tensed. But made no attempt to deny it.
Sebastian seriously contemplated his sword, then had to sigh. “Since you have dispatched Specter, I cannot hold your action against you.” He gazed at the creature that wore Shroud’s face. “But know that the only reason I do not hold it against you is because you have met that obligation.”
The shape-changer relaxed somewhat, but Sebastian did not look away. “It changes nothing. The pack will return. Soon, I am certain. As Shroud, your oaths bind you to call challenge before slaying the leader. As Alec, your outsider status condemns you for even lifting a blade against any of the pack. And I cannot lie for you.”
Josephine lifted his wrist from her mouth. She moved to sit up, winced, and stayed on the floor.
“It will heal,” he reassured her.
She laughed. Weakly. “I know. But it’s not very comfortable right now.”
He left his hand resting over hers. The pack would return, empty-handed, seeking Specter’s next set of orders.
And they will find this instead.
“I could always pretend to be Specter,” Alec-who-looked-like-Shroud offered, meekly. “Tell them to go.”
Sebastian shook his head. “And where would you lead them after that? What orders would you give? Unless you were prepared to continue with that pretense, it would be found out.”
Alec fidgeted.
Sebastian glanced over at Ian. Both she and her sister leaned against each other, watching himself and Alec. Ian’s eyes were hard, fearful – dark.
“We could run,” Alec suggested.
“They would find you,” Sebastian answered.
“They’ll kill us!” Alec said, his voice slightly higher now.
Sebastian shook his head. “I will not allow that.”
“And exactly how are you going to stop them?”
Before Sebastian could answer that he did not know, the phone rang yet again.
IAN
The pack had returned.
I listened to Sebastian give the lobby attendant permission to send them up and hoped he knew what he was doing.
Amanda gave me a frightened look, but didn’t say anything. I hugged her once. “Stay here,” I said, and tried to get to my feet. Tried and failed, due to a horrible ache that ran through my whole body. For a second I wondered why –
Oh, yeah. Climbing up the awning. Getting chased and tackled. And stabbed.
My back and ribs ached, one leg felt weak and painful, everywhere felt bruised. I gave myself a second, taking in the scene around me. Josephine hadn’t moved off the floor, Sebastian was trained on the elevator. And Alec – his face was his own again, but his expression made me pause. His eyes had gone wide, his lips pulled back to expose fangs. He looked more terrified than anyone I’d ever seen. Even Amanda hadn’t looked that freaked out last night when she’d started screaming.
I got up again and this time succeeded. Sebastian shot me a quick glance, then turned to watch the elevator again. I stretched, hoping that if I had to put myself between Amanda and the pack, my body would cooperate.
While I grit my teeth against the ache in my leg, the elevator doors slid open. Only three people stood there. Despite knowing that any of them could have kicked my ass into next week, I felt a giddy relief at how few there were. Only three. The only ones left. I straightened my back while they stepped off the elevator, hoping I put up a strong front.
Three sets of eyes swept the penthouse in under a second, then turned to focus on Sebastian. They didn’t look happy.
“What the shit is this?” the one standing in front of them all demanded. The woman who’d missed Alec and me in the alley.
One of the men behind her drew his sword. Sebastian moved faster and had his out of its sheath before the pack vampire finished his move. He stood still, watching Sebastian, his eyes glimmering faintly.
“Hold,” Sebastian said. He sounded firm. Calm.
The command had an effect on the two men. I watched both their shoulders drop slightly, as if all they’d really wanted was some sort of order to follow.
The woman didn’t relax an inch. She leaned forward, her own hand on the hilt at her waist. “On what authority do you give orders, Cain?” Her eyes shone.
“I am prepared to accept all challenges to my authority.” Sebastian didn’t move a muscle despite the offensive words. Not threatening, just threatening to threaten.
The woman’s eyes narrowed, but she leaned back a notch. I watched her glare at Sebastian, watched a tense battle of wills happen between them before she finally glanced away. “So you killed him,” she said, her voice still hard. She looked back up at Sebastian. “Well, good for you.”
“No,” Sebastian said. Alec’s face got even more desperate, if that was at all possible. He looked like he wanted to run but didn’t know where to go. He glanced my way. Since the only exits I knew of were the elevator or flying off the balcony, I just shrugged.
Sebastian stepped back, giving the pack a decent view of Alec. “That honor belongs to him.”
Alec froze like a rabbit trying not to be seen by a fox. A low snarl that consisted of three voices rumbled through the penthouse. Before they could do more than voice their anger, Sebastian stepped back between them and Alec.
“However, I will be assuming leadership.”
Instant silence. All three of them gawked at Sebastian, as if he had suggested they all take yoga lessons and find their inner peace. He stood firm as the surprised gawks turned to dark glares.
“You?” one said.
“By what right –!” the woman squawked. “By what right do you think –”
“No,” the other man said, as if it were that simple.
For one startled moment, I found myself scared that reuniting with his pack had had more of an effect on Sebastian than I’d thought. My shoulders tensed and I waited.
“I ask again,” Sebastian began as the pack members actually began to advance on him. “Do any of you care to challenge me on this point?"
They stopped dead. The hatred on their faces didn’t fade, but they stopped even thinking about jumping on Sebastian. The three glanced between each other as if they all expected someone else to answer. None of them did.
Sebastian inclined his head. “Then this matter is at an end. Specter took on an opponent he could not defeat and since no one is willing to challenge me, I shall assume leadership from him.”
The woman of the group looked at Sebastian like she wondered how he might taste. She twisted her lips and saluted sarcastically. “What’re your orders?”
Sebastian had it planned. “Forget this matter. Leave.”
Relief deflated me. The woman dropped the salute, frowning.
Sebastian didn’t so much as twitch. “I am not interested in leading you. I am not interested in any of you any longer.”
The group shifted uneasily.
“Whaddya mean, you don’t wanna be leader?”
The rest of them looked at Sebastian. They wanted to know the same thing. So did I.
“Exactly that,” he said. “I left the pack some time ago. I will take it over now long enough to see you gone from my life, as well as Kent’s childrens’ lives.”
From the puzzled looks, I guessed this was not an answer they understood.
Sebastian opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again, tilting his head to one side. No one else caught it. I cocked my head and focused on him, looking at his posture, his hands, the placement of his feet –
He knew something. Something about the pack, from the way he looked at them. Something he had thought ab
out telling them, then decided not to. I wondered what it was – if it was the same thing I had learned earlier tonight.
I blinked and suddenly wobbled on my feet, which got Alec to glance at me. I tried a reassuring face and probably failed. He frowned, but didn’t try to come over to me. Still calculating escape strategies.
“Do with yourselves what you will.” Sebastian let his sword slowly lower. “I will not lead you. Ian and Alec are no longer your affair, and neither am I.”
All three of them stiffened. Their faces were confused, angry and frightened.
Sebastian remained icy. “Leave this city by nightfall tomorrow. Seattle is not large enough to support so many without attracting attention.”
And he turned on his heel and left them standing at his door, so off-balance I almost thought I could blow on them and they would scatter. No one moved for several tense seconds.
Finally, the woman shrugged. “Well, you heard him. He doesn’t want it. Let’s go.” She reached for the call button.
“But –” one of the men faltered. “Since when do we worry if anyone notices us?”
The woman looked sharply at him. “Our leader’s final orders are to leave. We leave.” Her eyes followed Sebastian back over to Josephine. Then she looked back at Alec, her eyes hard and dangerous. “Unless you’d rather try to take the old man.”
The younger one made a shocked face, but kept quiet. The woman turned and hit the call button. The other two fell in behind her. I glanced at Alec, who shook his head. Telling me not to move or speak. My thoughts exactly. The elevator arrived and the three of them boarded, giving both Alec and I the coldest looks I’d ever seen. I shivered. The doors closed them in, and they were gone.
Alec let out a sigh, turning to face me. I met his eyes, thinking of Kent throwing his arms around me after saving my life. Realizing it was just Alec. Thinking of him telling Specter where to find us, that Sebastian would not turn me in. Thinking of him shooting Sebastian.
I turned my back on him and hobbled back to Amanda. She watched me, her thin frame hunched in on itself, afraid, in need of protecting. Too scared to open her mouth and ask for a hug. I sat down beside her and hugged her, as much for me as for her. I could see Sebastian beside Josephine, holding her hand, bringing it to his mouth for a kiss.
“Ian,” Amanda said softly. I looked at her. “I’m hungry.”
“We’ll fix that,” I said. “So,” I began, looking back up at Alec –
But he was gone.
As I looked around, I heard the elevator doors slide shut again. Apparently taking my older brother away with it.
“Alec?” I said, but the elevator had already started on its way down. I thought about shouting – took a deep breath to do it –
If he doesn’t want to be here, is my yelling for him really going to change his mind? And if it did, do I really want him back?
I let the breath out in a heavy sigh. Fuck him anyway. He’d saved me from Specter, sure, but it was his fault I’d needed saving. We’d all come out okay, but if Alec had kept his nose in his own business tonight wouldn’t have happened at all.
He dropped in on me announcing himself to be family. If he were really any sort of brother, he would have tried to help from moment one, not hiding until he thought he could grab me and run. Hell, if he were any sort of brother, Kent wouldn’t have abandoned him and I would have known him for a lot longer than this.
Amanda hunkered down under my arm and shut her eyes, an uneasy relief on her face. I leaned my head against hers and let myself rest. Specter was dead, the pack was gone, and fuck Alec DuMond. My family was okay.
For the first time in weeks I felt like I really could just rest. I closed my eyes, held my sister, and rested.
IAN
“Well, there it is.” I waved a hand in the doorway of Kent’s studio, Gypsy held in the other. Amanda stepped through the door, eyes wide. She looked like someone had just thrown open an old pirate’s chest of gold coins. I stayed in the doorway and watched while she examined the sound board, the mics, the amps. Her face lit up when she found Kent’s favorite guitar. I didn’t know what was so valuable about the thing, but Kent had always been very protective of it and never took it to gigs. Amanda lifted the instrument out of its case reverently, gazing at it for a silent minute. Then her face fell.
She set the guitar back in its case and turned back to me, frowning. “Are you sure?”
I shrugged. “It’s just stuff.” Gypsy mewed, and I set her down on the floor.
Amanda set a hand on the guitar case. “This is not ‘just stuff.’ Do you know what this is?”
“No,” I said. “And I don’t really want to. That’s why I’m giving it to you. You’ll value it for the same reason Kent did – because you both love making music, and it’s a rare and wonderful instrument. I’d only love it because Kent loved it. That seems like a stupid reason to hang on to something like that.”
Amanda frowned, one hand still on the case. “I guess.”
“The whole studio’s yours, and the room downstairs,” I said. “Better get used to it.”
She shook her head, but didn’t say anything else. In another minute she started looking over more of the equipment, slowly forgetting to feel unworthy of the gift. I let her, turning down the hallway to call Mom and Dad. I wasn’t looking forward to talking to them, but someone had to tell them Amanda wouldn’t be coming home. Since that was my fault, I felt like I should be the one to explain it.
No one answered the house phone. Surprised, I checked the time, then tried Mom’s often-ignored cell phone. Dad picked up on the second ring. I said hello, asked him how he was doing, lied to him about how I was doing, then asked him where they were. Just out of curiosity.
“We’re in Seattle,” Dad said.
I almost dropped my phone.
“You’re where? Why?”
“Jenny, your best friend just died. Where else would we be?”
I felt my throat close a little at that. I didn’t always get along with my folks. Didn’t always feel like they understood me. I forgot – too much – that that didn’t mean they didn’t care.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said.
“Of course, honey. Now that I have you, can we meet up somewhere? We’ll buy you dinner if you haven’t eaten.”
“We’ve eaten,” I said. “But we can meet somewhere. I’ve got an errand I have to run, but how about after?”
“Sure,” he said. “Any time.”
“Dad, I think Amanda’s gonna stay here with me,” I blurted.
Silence. I hadn’t thought they’d take it well, but I was sort of glad I’d gotten Dad and not Mom. He wouldn’t throw a holy hissy fit – probably.
“We can talk about all that when we get together,” he said at last. “We’re at the Inn at Queen Ann. Why don’t you come over when you’re done?”
“Sure. It’ll be a couple hours, so –”
“Here’s your mom,” Dad yelped it suddenly, so I knew she’d snatched the phone away from him.
“Jennifer, I’ve been trying to call all week! Where have you been? What’s Dad talking about, what are we going to discuss when you get here?”
I held the phone away from my ear until I heard silence, then held it for a moment longer to be sure the silence stayed. “Hi, Mom,” I said. “Sorry we haven’t been around, the funeral’s been a bear. Amanda’s been a huge help, though. I don’t know what I would have done without her.”
“Why didn’t you call and let us know when it was, Jen? We came up to see you.”
I glanced at the ceiling. “I’m sorry Mom. I’ve been avoiding my phone. I really appreciate you guys coming in, though. We’ll be over in a bit, okay?”
“Well, I guess I can understand that. We’ll see you soon, right?”
“As soon as we can,” I promised. I hadn’t wanted to explain the new living arrangements in person, but I supposed I owed them that much. They came all the way here for me, after all.
We excha
nged “I love yous” and got off the phone. I let out a deep sigh.
Amanda laughed at me from the living room doorway. “That sounded like it went well.”
I tossed my phone on an end table and sighed. “Yeah. Great. Maybe we should stop and pick Sebastian up before we go over to see them.”
“You’re mean,” Amanda said, but she smiled along with me.
“I suppose. I do consider Sebastian a friend.”
“Ouch.”
I chuckled, but I’d started thinking again – about Sebastian, about Specter, about Kent and Alec. How everything had gotten so screwed up because of a few hurt feelings. Well, a few hurt feelings and a century or two to dwell on them. And that was what I had to look forward to. If I wasn’t careful and ended up upsetting someone, they just might wait around a hundred years or so and then try to get back at me. Ugh.
I liked to think I had a good start at not upsetting people – except that I had probably royally pissed Alec off. And quite possibly the pack.
Alec. He and the rest of the pack should be gone by the time the sun rose this morning. I wondered if I’d ever see him again . . . if I wanted to.
We’ll see, I finally came up with. I didn’t want to, but someday that might change.
He was an ass. Worse, he was a dangerous ass. It didn’t change the fact we still had something in common. Kent.
I shook my head. Whatever. We had two different versions of Kent in common. I couldn’t help feeling mine was more accurate . . . but at the same time, I had to admit Alec’s had been more accurate a hundred-odd years ago.
“Ian,” Amanda said, gently. I looked up and she gave me a half-smile. It was the best expression I’d seen on her face since she got dragged into this mess. I tried to smile back and found I could only offer the same – a half-smile. We were both going to be a while recovering from this.
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