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ChapterEleven
“What are you going to do?” Jelani slid onto the narrow bench on the other side of the minuscule kitchen table.
Sometimes Isaiah wondered why the motorhome companies even bothered. They were barely big enough for a couple of plates.
“Isaiah?”
What was he going to do? A question with no suitable answer.
Cassie stood in the kitchen, Tanner to her right. His massive shoulders blocked the hall to the bedroom.
Harvey sat in the living area, filling most of the couch.
It was a joke, like the kitchen table, with the only saving grace being long enough for someone to sleep on.
As long as they were under six feet.
Jelani said Isaiah’s name again.
To Cassie, Isaiah said, “How long do we have before the next dose is ineffective?”
She wrapped her arms around her ribs. “I don’t know. Eliza never missed a dose as far as I know.”
“You’re going to have to decide.” Jelani reached across the table and clasped Isaiah’s wrist. “I’m sorry. You only have two choices now.”
“I’ll do it.” Tanner stood straighter.
Rage pushed Isaiah to his feet and in Tanner’s direction. The massive man shrank into the corner.
“Do what? Hurt Nash? Piss off Luca? Break the trust of the only Cana we’ve seen in a thousand years.” Isaiah balled up his fists. “You’ve done enough, Tanner. You’ve done waaaay too much.”
The man lowered his gaze and dropped his chin to his chest. Even then, he towered over Isaiah.
“My duty is to—”
Isaiah swung his arm, catching Tanner across the face with the back of his hand. “Your duty is to obey me. Your duty is to obey the delta leading this pack. Cassie told you to stop. I told you to stop. Harvey told you I had invited him. Instead of listening, you destroyed everything I’ve tried to accomplish.”
“Nash is dangerous.”
“Hewasdangerous. Past tense; otherwise, he would have killed you.”
“And you think I care?” Tanner lifted his chin. “Because I don’t care if I die. I care if you die. I care if the others in our pack die. I was there, Isaiah. I saw what that thing in him can do.”
“We all lost family.” Cassie looked at Harvey when she said it. He had his elbows on his knees, his eyes closed. Sadness weighed down his shoulders as heavily as it radiated through the tie Isaiah had with his people.
Yes, they’d all lost family to the Anubis, but betas like Harvey had lost everything.
“It’s not gone,” Tanner said.
Isaiah turned his attention back to Tanner. “It was gone enough not to manifest and kill you. It was gone enough that it was undetectable.” Tremors ran down Isaiah’s arms. “It was gone enough that one more dose, two maybe, would have ended this.”
“It was there. I felt it.”
“You felt a millennium of anger.”
“Wrong. I felt fear.” He glanced at each of them, then the full weight of his gaze fell on Isaiah. “Fear for you, them, everyone. Fear that at any moment, it would resurface.” He stepped forward, forcing Isaiah back. “And it wouldn’t have just killed. It would have destroyed. Like it did then. Like it will in the future. It knows only one thing, and that’s death.”
The counter stopped Isaiah’s retreat.
