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I wouldn’t, but I had to wonder if Hunter had. Had to wonder if, in the end, it came down to a choice, whether Jack would side with his sister or the organization he’d helped build.
His comments earlier suggested the latter, and I certainly hoped that was the case. I very much suspected Jack was, in his own way, as dangerous as Hunter. The two of them together might be nigh on unbeatable.
“Besides,” he continued, “there was no confirmation that the vampire who killed Jak was sent there by my sister. Rhoan interviewed him when he was first captured, but a formal interview never occurred and the suspect died while being transported here. I will not move on her, officially or otherwise, without definitive proof of wrongdoing.”
“Oh, how convenient,” I muttered, though I had to admit, the news did surprise me. I really had thought Hunter would use that vampire to lure Rhoan into doing something rash—like confronting her. Instead, he’d confronted me and had probably saved his life by doing so. Of course, once her plan was so obviously foiled, Hunter had simply erased the evidence by erasing the vampire.
I contemplated Jack for a moment, then slowly said, “I guess it’s fortunate that I taped his confession, then, isn’t it?”
“You did?” Rhoan said, expression annoyed. “And why didn’t you hand it over when I confronted you about Jak’s death?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Would you, given the situation? The woman who runs this place is your boss, and she has god knows how many people under her thumb. Even if you didn’t do as she wanted—confront her—I’m betting the taped confession would soon have disappeared.”
“I want you to hand over that confession to me,” Jack said. “That is evidence, and you should not—”
“I’ll send you a copy,” I cut in. “But I’m keeping the original as a security measure.”
Jack smiled, and there was something almost sad about it. “Do you think, for a second, that one vampire’s confession will be enough to curb my sister’s activities? If you do, then you have no real understanding of her.”
“I understand her plenty.” I met his gaze, judging him as he undoubtedly was judging me. Seeing not only the remaining embers of fury in his eyes, but the growing fires of resignation. He knew a war was coming; he knew the time had come to make a stand. “But she hasn’t got the key yet, and she hasn’t taken over the council yet, and the existence of that tape might well force her to at least place her plans on a temporary hold. And that might just give us the time we need to find the key and stop darkness
being unleashed on the world.”
Whether that darkness was hell itself or Hunter didn’t really matter.
Jack drank some coffee as he contemplated me. Eventually he said, “She will know where the confession came from. That might well place you in a difficult situation.”
“It couldn’t be any more difficult.” My voice was grim. “She’s given me twenty-four hours—of which there are now just under twenty-two hours left—to find and hand over the next key; otherwise, she’ll start picking off people close to me.”
Jack closed his eyes. Rhoan swore and said, “Which is the reason you told Riley and Quinn to get the hell out of town.”
“And why I need you out.” I held out a hand to halt his almost instinctive refusal. “I know, I know. But you could at least get Liander somewhere safe. She may value you too much to actually kill you—no matter what she’s threatened otherwise—but Liander is another matter entirely.”
That hit home. Liander was, after all, his soul mate, and very few wolves could survive such a death. Riley had, but then, she’d also had Quinn. “Done,” he said, and jumped up. He moved across to the other side of the room and made the call.
I met Jack’s gaze again. “You said you were keeping some control over the situation—is there any way at all you can protect Rhoan?”
“I will talk to her,” he said heavily. “And make it known that all Directorate personnel are off-limits. That by touching one, she sets the guardian division on a collision course with her.”
How much protection that would provide was anyone’s guess, but given that Hunter appeared to value her brother’s opinion—or rather, she did if comments she’d made in the past were anything to go by—it was better than nothing.
“And the keys? Or her takeover attempt of the high council?”
He half shrugged. “I have never gotten involved in high council politics, and have no intention of doing so now. I do not care, one way or another, whether it is ruled by a committee or a force of one.”
“Others don’t quite see it that way.”
“I’m well aware of that.” His expression was grim. “I have been on this earth for a very long time, young Risa, and I have not survived by keeping my head in the sand and being unaware.”
Duly chastened, but still not backing away, I said, “Will your sister listen to you? She’s . . . well, she’s gone a little off the deep end since the death of her lover.”
Though I personally suspected she’d well and truly jumped into the crazy pool before that death. Her lover’s murder had just made it more obvious.
“I have not seen her much since then, so you could well be right.” Jack drained his coffee, then tossed the cup in the bin and rose. “I’ll arrange a meeting with her immediately. In the meantime, do nothing to antagonize her.”
“I have no intention of contacting her until the twenty-four-hour deadline is near.” Whether she’d contact me—antagonize me—was another matter entirely.
If you don’t bite back at her, it should not provide a problem, Azriel commented.
