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Michael Romulus sat at the head of the table, surrounded by eight males. Judging from the way they watched him watch me, they were all members of his pack. Since he’d sent me a beer, I assumed I wasn’t in danger of another challenge, but I knew better than to relax completely.
I met Michael’s gaze for a tense moment. I hadn’t seen him since our fight, and I wasn’t sure how things stood. He didn’t show any outward signs of lingering injury, but I guessed the bruise to his ego still stung. After all, even though Slade declared the fight a draw, we both knew I could have ended him. In my experience, most males don’t enjoy the knowledge they’d been bested by a female.
He rose from the table, waving his companions to stay seated when they went to follow. I took a long draw of beer as he made his way over. I looked for signs of aggression, but he didn’t bulk himself up or stare me down like an opponent. His shoulders were relaxed, and his eyes strayed just south of mine.
He stopped a respectful three feet back. “Sabina.”
“Michael,” I nodded. “Thanks for the beer.”
“May I?” he motioned to the empty stool next to me. His respect of my space helped me relax a tad, but my guard was still up until I knew the reason for this little chat.
“Sure,” I said with a casual shrug.
He motioned to Earl for a drink before looking at me. “I hear that demon of yours is quite a sensation in the ring.”
Ah, I thought, he wanted to ease in with small talk. I mentally shrugged and played along. “He’s something, all right. Do you ever go to the fights? I didn’t see you in there.”
He nodded to Earl in thanks for the drink and took a sip before answering. “No, watching two demons beat the shit out of each other isn’t what I consider entertainment. The world’s violent enough without making it a spectator sport.”
My eyebrows rose. Considering the last time I saw Michael he was trying to kick my ass, I found this stance ironic. But I guess he considered that necessary violence, as opposed to the recreational kind. “So if you didn’t come here to provide me with color commentary on my demon’s fighting skills, why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?”
He’d been rolling the frosty mug between his palms, staring at it as if it held some sort of answers. Finally, he lifted his head and looked me right in the eyes. “You’re right. I need to warn you about something.”
I cocked my head. “Oh?”
“Someone’s got it in for you.”
My initial reaction was to laugh. After all, this wasn’t news. But something told me Michael Romulus wasn’t the kind of male to spread rumors. “Why do you say that?”
“Look, normally I’d shrug it off as not being my business. But since it’s impacted my pack, I can’t let this pass. The night you poached on our territory, my guys didn’t just randomly stumble into you.”
I shrugged, since I’d figured as much. “I figured they’d heard the gunshot when the human shot me.”
Michael frowned. “A human shot you?”
I waved a hand, not wanting to get into it. “You were saying?”
He shifted in his chair. “Someone called me and told me you were poaching.”
He had my full attention now. “Who?” I leaned toward him.
“I don’t know. They just said there was a vampire threat in our territory. Since I had a few young scouts in the area, I called and told them to check it out.”
I scrambled to think of an explanation. I hadn’t told anyone where I was headed, because I just sort of ended up there when I’d left Maisie’s place to clear my head. What’s more, I hadn’t seen anyone in the park that night before I ran into the human with the gun. “Someone must have followed me,” I said half to myself.
“Any ideas who?” His tone told me this wasn’t an idle question. The person who told Michael I was in the park had put his pack in danger. No wonder he challenged me to the fight. He probably felt responsible for his guys getting hurt.
“I’ll admit there’s a list of people who want me dead. But most of those would take a more direct approach than making an anonymous tip.”
“Maybe they didn’t want you dead.”
“What do you mean?”
He placed his elbows on the bar. “What if they were trying to start problems? Rile up some racial animosity?”
“Hmm,” I said, thinking it over. “It’s possible. But that brings us to the question, why are you telling me this? After all, if that was their goal, it worked.”
“Look, I’ll admit when those guys came back beat up, I blamed myself. Then I blamed you, which is why I issued the challenge. But you had the chance to kill me and didn’t take it. That tells me you’re not making some kind of power play for my territory.”
I shook my head. “Of course not. I had no idea about poaching rules when I went there. I just wanted some fast food.”
His lips quirked. “Once I figured that out, I started thinking about that phone call. Someone played me. Us. And I want to know who.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Have there been any other attempts on your life lately?”
“You could say that.” I told him about the assassins at the gas station and the demon attack on the subway platform.
Michael blew out a breath. “Have you considered the idea they might all be related?”
I shook my head. “Doesn’t make sense. The assassin attack was courtesy of the Dominae. The demon was obviously a mage. The phone call? Who knows? But how could they possibly be related if I’ve got both mages and vampires after me? The two races are on the brink of war, so who has the power to unite them against me? And why would they bother?”
“Think about it, Sabina. The phone call tells me someone wanted the weres against you in addition to the vampires and possibly the mages. What if someone’s trying to make sure you have no allies?”
“But to what end? I’m just an unemployed mixed-blood.”
He tilted his head. “You’re also the sister of the leader of the mage race and the granddaughter of the Alpha Dominae. Some people might consider you quite a threat.”
I thought about that a minute. “Okay, for argument’s sake, let’s say someone considers me a threat and either wants me dead or without any allies. Who has the power to manipulate all the races?”
Michael took a long pull from his beer. He set it down slowly and looked me right in the eye. “I have a feeling when you can answer that question, you’ll know who’s out to get you. In the meantime, you better watch your back.”
