AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We bumped fists, a leftover ritual from when we’d been two neglected, half-feral ten-year-olds united in our anger against the world. Habit kept us doing it even now, nearly thirty years later.
“You have any trouble in New York?” he asked.
I slanted a look at Diane, the wiry, black-haired dhampir monitoring the video feed nearby. “Nothing unusual.”
“Let’s take this into my office,” Cain said, following my gaze.
I nodded and led the way. “Brien’s not around?” I asked as we passed the primus’s office.
“He’s with Twilight.” Cain closed the door behind us, his hard mouth edging up in a half-smile. “You know.”
“Ah.” We exchanged he’s-a-newly-mated-man-so-what-d’you-expect smirks.
Cain leaned a hip against the edge of his glossy black desk. Whenever possible he stayed on his feet, another remnant of when we were kids. If he kept moving, his abusive SOB of an uncle couldn’t catch him.
“So you knocked up Eden,” he said.
“I did.”
Cain pressed his lips together. “What about that promise we made each other?”
I met his glare with one of my own. “Things happen.”
He scraped a hand over his short blond hair. It fell back into place, every strand perfectly aligned. That was Cain—precise, controlled, polished—from the buttoned-up collar of his crisp cotton shirt to the hem of his perfectly pressed pants. “You sure it’s yours?”
Anger flared in me. First Brien, now Cain.
“Yes,” I said shortly.
“You’ll have her tested anyway.” Cain’s office was too small to pace in. Instead, he put his hands on his desk on either side of him, jiggling his right leg.
“A paternity test? No. The spawn’s mine. She told me straight out. She was telling the truth—there were no ambiguities or half-lies.”
For me, lies came entwined with curlicues and embellishments, and even a half-lie had an oily twist to it. A troubling vibration in my gut.
“You’re trusting that—?” Cain halted mid-sentence, and I realized my fangs had elongated.
“She’s the mother of my spawn,” I gritted out. “And before you say anything else, she accepted my blood bond. Adrian and Nathan witnessed it.”
I waited for him to tell me she was playing me. Hell, maybe he was even right, although I didn’t think so. She wanted this baby—that came through loud and clear.
Even if she had some hidden motivation, I could handle her. She was only a human, after all.
“Sorry,” muttered Cain.
I took a deep breath. Retracted my fangs. “I believe her, yes. A human has to be trained to lie to us. You know that.”
He snorted. “She conned you into thinking she was a fun, party-loving thrall who only wanted to fuck you, didn’t she? When all the time she was a greedy you-know-what spying on us for pay.”
Uneasiness settled in the pit of my stomach. Cain was forcing me to face my own fears, and I kind of hated him for that.
But damn it, Eden seemed to genuinely want to make things right between us. Her apology had been sincere. She was truly sorry.
I just had to establish a clear boundary and make sure she kept to her side: Vampire and his blood-bonded thrall.
Boundaries were good. They kept things…safe. Unemotional.
They didn’t screw with your head.
