“Truth Ranges. I wouldn’t need to explain that quote to you if you were a real fan.”
“Take that back.”
“Nope,” she declared.
Standing, Tommy held out her hand. “Come on. Let Fred cover estate jobs today. You’re mine until midnight.”
I slapped my hand into hers, and she reeled away, clutching it.
“Fucker!” she hissed.
Shooting to my feet, my eyes and ears weren’t ready for my new speed. I sprawled across the low table, whacking my hands down as I tumbled over it and landed on the carpet.
I groaned, rolling onto my back to glare at Tommy.
Her shoulders shook as she nursed her hand. “Don’t glare at me, I didn’t make you do that. But I’m so glad you did.”
She tipped back her head and laughed, tears streaming over her cheeks.
Scowling, I clambered to my feet, dusting myself off. Apparently I needed to practice using my senses with the new additions to my body.
“Change of plan,” Tommy announced, taking my hand. “Let’s go to the nut orchard and figure out how to manage your superpowers.”
Baby powers, more like it.
I pursed my lips. “Maybe that’s a good idea.”
16
I stared at the latest Ingenium forecast.
Eighteen days.
That’s how long Clan Sundulus had until Fyrlia triggered the end cascade. They’d purchased two properties in Black yesterday for astronomical prices.
They sensed the kill. They were hunting their enemy—cornering them.
I had to move without delay. Yes, I’d hoped to do this without Sandra being compelled, but I’d also been stalling for personal reasons.
I couldn’t lose these people.
“Basilia? Your thoughts?” Rory broke my reverie.
I jumped and stared around the table. It was Friday and Kyros had returned from King Mikael’s side just after one. The others were here. “On what?”
“On investigating their finances,” he snarled, fangs descending. “They’re throwing ridiculous sums of money into every industry.”
I lifted a shoulder. “So would I if I sensed the kill.”
No one reacted to the statement.
Kyros was quiet.
Whatever Mikael and the Fyrlia royals were doing to him during the Friday get-togethers, it was taking a toll. I knew for a fact he wouldn’t fill me in, but for now, I was just satisfied with his contentedness when we were in close quarters.
And that’s why I had to do this. The thought of him never forgiving me was unbearable, where it never had been before. If I let my lie go any further, that was the risk.
I drew in a breath, settling at his earthy scent.
“What’s the final plan?” I glanced at my phone. The call with King Julius was in five minutes.
Lalitta’s gaze was fixed on the table. Rory looked murderous. Gerome grinned so tightly I thought his lips may snap off. Safina had her arm around Francesca. Neelan was still. Lionel watched everyone else, sadness in his eyes.
Fuck it all.
No amount of research was going to confirm what Sandra’s fate would be. I was talking to business owners. A deal could be negotiated. That was my only option.
She’d emailed this morning asking for more funds and an update. The worry in her short message was clear. Dragging this out wasn’t fair for anyone.
Time to come clean.
Panic pulsed through me.
Clearing my throat, I said, “I’ve found something.”
Kyros was already watching me.
The others didn’t budge.
I took a breath. “Proof of foul play in the Mr Ringly deal.”
A hand was over my mouth.
Neelan cautioned me with his hazel eyes.
I pried his fingers away, nodding to show I understood his warning. “Before I tell you what I know, a deal must be negotiated to protect the human witness from being harmed or controlled in any way.”
Safina pulled out her phone. “Father will want to handle this.”
Kyros held up a hand, and she paused.
He held my gaze. “How long have you known?”
I tilted my chin. “One week.”
His jaw clenched, but I didn’t offer any excuses. I’d already expressed my concerns by opening the negotiation for Sandra’s safety.
Kyros watched me. “King Julius will want to speak to you personally. Are you ready for that?”
Nope.
“Yes.” I hesitated. “There’s more to say when we get out there though.”
The Sundulus royals turned to face me, their faces smoothing, gazes sharp.
I imagined that was the nicest expression I’d encounter once they heard the truth.
Standing, I collected my tablet and handed it to Kyros as I passed him at the door. The siblings filed out after me from youngest to eldest, Kyros taking the rear.
“The announcement will be late tonight,” he announced to the packed Level 66. “Stand by.”
No one made a peep.
I weaved through the monitors, setting my mind on what needed to be done.
Keep Sandra safe. Get rid of your guilt. Protect Kyros and his family.
Just thinking of the pending emotional freedom was a relief. They’d be angry beyond measure—my life would certainly be threatened. This was one situation where I could need Kyros’s protection from his father, but I was bringing them a trump card. The key to putting themselves back in the game. That had to count for something.
We took the elevator down to the garage in two lots, and I felt the eyes of Francesca, Lalitta, Lionel, and Neelan on me.
I made to follow them into one of the waiting SUVs, but Lionel stopped me, pointing to Kyros’s car.
“He’ll want to ride with you,” he said quietly, avoiding my gaze.
Lionel didn’t want to look at me? Ouch.
Safina, Gerome, Dierdre, and Rory filed into the second SUV, and Kyros took my hand, leading me to his car.
He was still holding my hand even though he had to feel the guilt, anxiety, and fear coursing through me. I wasn’t sure if I’d been more grateful to him than in that moment. I smiled at him, but he didn’t return the gesture, dropping my hand to enter the driver’s door.
Tuning in to his mood, I found fear to be the predominant emotion. Fear about his father’s reaction or what I’d done?
Kyros navigated out of the garage and drove in the direction of his parents’ mansion. I listened in on his mood as the minutes ticked by, respecting his desire not to speak.
He broke the tension. “The trip to Frankton Gorge?”
“Yes,” I answered.
His hands gripped the wheel. “Is there other information you’ve withheld?”
Where do I begin? “Yes.”
Kyros indicated, pulling over on the freeway shoulder. He breathed hard, eyes closed.
I watched his struggle to regain control, sending soothing vibes his way.
“I am about to take you into the territory of a stronger Vissimo,” Kyros said in a guttural voice I could barely understand. “It goes against my instincts to allow that when I’m unsure of the outcome.”
“You’re afraid things will go wrong,” I said.
So am I. But only at the thought of losing you.
Kyros turned to me, and I blinked against the brightness of his eyes.
“Are you certain about the hand you’re about to play?” His voice rumbled through me and my heart squeezed.
“As sure as I can possibly be.”
He searched my face. “Then I suppose I’m meant to let you proceed.”
It would be funny if he wasn’t so torn apart inside. “Yes, Kyros. That’s how you’ll protect me this time.”
A wrinkle appeared between his brows.
I paused. “You’ll be there to protect me physically too. Even if it’s unnecessary.” His father couldn’t kill me without causing his son to lose control.
It w
as an insurance I didn’t want but could need.
Kyros’s eyes dimmed to near-normal wattage as he pulled out onto the freeway again. Silence returned until my thundering heartbeat formed the drumroll for our drive into the property of King Julius.
Fuck.
I could not screw this up. Kyros was important to me. That was indisputable after what we’d shared.
Apparently, so were his siblings.
“That doesn’t make this easier,” he said, glaring at my chest.
Yeah, my heartbeat was an inconvenient sign on my discomfort. “I know.”
Kyros took my hand when we exited the car, squeezing it this time.
I stopped him, looking up. “Thank you.”
Then I untangled my fingers, heading into the house before him. I marched through the halls and through the interior courtyard, climbing the stairs toward the chamber where I’d first met King Julius.
I listened to the shuffling of the Vissimo within.
Everyone was there.
I inhaled, scenting the saltiness of my perspiration. Gathering myself at the top of the stairs, I strode through the iron and wood doors.
King Julius sat in his throne, dressed in his usual coarse sarong—Queen Titania was seated beside him in a robe.
The royal siblings stood four at the base of the stairs, leaving an opening for Kyros and me.
I stopped in the middle and curtsied. Kyros stopped several steps behind me, obeying my wish to do this alone. I was alone in appearance only, perhaps, but that distance was driving him to the edges of his control.
“Human.” King Julius greeted me.
The last few times he’d spoken to me, I’d been Basilia or Miss Le Spyre or mate of my heir if he was feeling really nice.
He held up a letter. “King Mikael sent a letter tonight after his time with my heir. It is addressed to you.”
The king held it out, and after mentally checking Kyros for confirmation, I climbed the ten steps to take the envelope, dread filling me.
The wax seal wasn’t broken.
“Why is my enemy sending you mail?” he asked in a soft voice that shot fear through every fibre of my body.
I inhaled. “For the very reason I plan to reveal tonight. I’d like to discuss information surrounding the Mr Ringly deal and the background to what pushed me to investigate it personally.”
When I sealed the fate of you and eight of your children.
The king hummed, leaning forward. “Open the message.”
I stared at him, my palms growing slick with sweat. No, I had to start with the information.
“Now.”
My chest seized at the icy promise behind the word. I pried my finger under the seal.
It wasn’t a message; it was a photo.
I drew it out, and choked on my inhale, covering my mouth as the photo tumbled from my grip.
Sandra.
What remained of her.
The picture was of her severed head, her mouth twisted grotesquely and her eyes wide and glassy.
Bile surged up through my throat and I battled it, listening to Kyros’s quiet growl at my back. I retreated two steps toward him as his father swooped down and regarded the picture.
He flipped it over, reading aloud. “Good try.”
Oh my god. Sandra. “They caught her.”
How had they known? I took twenty-five Indebted with me. My team would have noticed anyone following us from Bluff City or within listening distance.
King Julius straightened, his face hard. Queen Titania rested a fleeting hand on his knee.
“Explain,” he boomed.
I jumped. “It’s a picture of Sandra Hoyt. S-She’s dead.”
“I can see that, human.”
“Father, she’s in shock,” Kyros murmured from the bottom of the stairs.
And that meant jack shit to the Vissimo king before me. I shook my head, grabbing at the tatters of my ruined plan.
“She was the councilwoman assigned to Mr Ringly’s case until June last year. She transferred to Frankton Gorge and his case was then transferred to Julia Dinh. I tracked Miss Hoyt down a week ago and questioned her.”
Hands shaking, I drew out my phone, locating the video.
I pushed Play.
“At first, I started receiving a list of my family’s addresses in the mail. It took me a while to realise I only received them after a phone call with Mr Ringly. First the letters turned up in my mailbox, then on my desk when I returned from the printer or the bathroom. Once, the letter was left on my pillow in my bedroom. I went to my supervisor for help…”
The video was ten minutes long, and I held the phone aloft, wondering if ten minutes had ever seemed so long.
“Miss Hoyt,” my voice sounded as she trailed off, “why do you believe you received the letters? Why do you think your supervisors and the police wouldn’t help? And why do you think the man with brown curls and hazel eyes was following you?”
“I wouldn’t approve Mr Ringly’s DA. Agricultural land is of greater need to Bluff City than more residential land. What’s the point of building more houses if our ability to feed the population doesn’t also increase? The people threatening my family, myself, and my career wanted me to approve the rezoning plan. I’m certain of that.”
The video ended.
“You found her one week ago,” King Julius said, resting back.
“Yes, King Julius.” I kept my gaze on the armrest of his throne.
He held the picture out to me.
Hands shaking, I took it, bracing myself before looking again. There was a date on the picture. Yesterday.
“The recording of her testimony is useless,” he said, blue eyes never colder. “Now she is dead.”
The feeling of falling overcame everything else. It swamped my horror over Sandra’s fate. Because I could feel Kyros’s fear and his struggle not to join me on the stairs.
He was trusting me to handle this, and that was so hard for him to give.
His siblings were barely breathing.
The king’s hand curled. “Arrogant human,” he spat.
My gaze dropped further.
“Why was this note addressed to you?” Queen Titania asked in a steady voice.
She wasn’t any easier to look at than the king. Not when she was the mother who would survive, minus a husband and with only one of her nine children. Even if she hadn’t given birth to all of them herself—which is something I’d never insult her by asking—she would die for any one of them.
My heart thudded pathetically. We all heard it.
And still Kyros hoped… hoped this was part of my plan.
I’d betrayed him and the only people he cared about.
Taking a breath, I said, “Because when the Tonyi triplets took me hostage, I made a deal with King Mikael.”
Even the king hadn’t expected that.
I continued. “I told him about the bluff you played with the Mr Ringly deal so Tommy would live.”
Lalitta gasped, and yet I couldn’t turn to face her because Kyros’s pain froze me to the core.
Disbelief. Anguish.
“Acceptance,” I whispered as Kyros’s disbelief dissipated to be replaced with bitter betrayal.
My insides shook as hardness overcame him. I was left reaching for his emotions, fingernails scratching at a rock wall.
Queen Titania closed her eyes.
“You couldn’t be compelled though,” Kyros whispered. “You offered the information freely.”
I swallowed three times before recovering my ability to speak through the emptiness of his absence in me. “Yes. I honoured the deal once Tommy was delivered to a hospital.”
The king’s blue eyes bored into me, but the pain bursting from the vampire at my back was of greater importance. I had the presence of mind to back down the stairs before facing Kyros.
I flinched at the hatred on his face.
“You sacrificed the lives of my entire family for one human,” he spat.
“She’s my family.”
“I’m your family too.” His roar was terrible to behold.
None of the siblings looked at me aside from Safina.
I jerked back at her burning hatred.
“You’ve killed my daughter,” she whispered, voice shaking with loathing.
Kearra.
I sucked in a breath. The entire bloodline would be executed aside from the queen and Kyros. That included her daughter.
Horror suffused every part of me.
Torment filled Kyros’s voice. “Why?”
I’d already told him.
But he wanted to know why I’d hurt him this way. Why I’d gone after the one thing he valued in life—his family.
“There was no other choice,” I told him simply.
“The choice was seeking my help when the triplets first contacted you,” he growled in my face.
I tried to breathe through my reaction, clamping down on the urge to collapse in a heap.
“The choice was telling me what you did as soon as you woke.” Kyros’s hands clawed. “The choice was coming to me when you discovered the possible discrepancy in the council papers. Mr Ringly transferred his bank loan to one of Fyrlia’s banks. We thought they were protecting their investment. The debts of his drug dealer were suddenly paid. Every planning breach we’d taken note of was cleared up overnight. We thought Julia Dinh was playing us.”
I lifted my gaze to his meadow-green eyes and part of my soul chipped away.
“You were stabbing us in the back,” he said. “Is this your fucking revenge for what I did then?”
The lump in my throat made my voice hoarse. “No,” I whispered.
Kyros strode past me, and I turned to watch as he knelt at the base of the stairs. “Father, please forgive my lack of judgment.”
Lack of judgment.
That’s what I was now.
I took the hit, telling myself it was just hurt from his words and not my heart shattering.
“Your idiocy will be discussed at length, but not in front of human trash. Get rid of her.”
It took Kyros less than a second to accept the order.
“Leave,” he said, his back to me. “Do not return.”
I’d expected this.
I’d known he’d be angry.
What I hadn’t expected was to feel like a speck of dirt on the bottom of his Freens and to deserve being there.
Death Game: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 3) Page 17