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All three of them seemed to hear me enter at the same moment. The wolves looked at me, but Holden remained still, speaking first. “Secret, if you needed guard dogs, I’m sure Sig could have arranged something for you. ”
Desmond growled at him, but Lucas just kept looking at me, his jaw set tight.
In the pit of my stomach something twisted. I was anticipating I would feel guilty for what Desmond and I had done, but instead I was overcome with a relief so strong it washed away everything else I might have felt.
“You’re okay. ” I let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding.
“Yes. Marcus and some of his men got away. Genevieve’s club is a little worse for wear, and there were casualties on both sides, but I think he has been subdued for now. ” His eyes flickered from me to Holden. If he knew about Desmond, which he must considering the whole apartment smelled like us, he wasn’t going to say anything about it here. “Mr. Chancery here insisted he has business with you. ” There was something disbelieving in the way he said business.
Chancery? Wow. I hadn’t heard someone say Holden’s human surname in years.
“Um. ” Having all three of these men with me in one small room, I felt naked in spite of layers of clothing. “How long has everyone been here?”
“Desmond, as you know, has been with you all day. ” Lucas’s tone was smooth and unreadable. “I called him when things were secure, around seven this morning, and he assured me you were safe. ” Desmond was staring at me, and I didn’t dare meet his eyes. “He told me you were exhausted, reasonably, and suggested we allow you to sleep through the day. He stayed with you to make sure you were protected. ” This time a little anger seeped in with the last word.
I looked at Desmond and smiled weakly, unable to put the warmth into it I would have liked. He didn’t smile back, but his eyes had lost the hard edge they used to have around me.
“I arrived after sundown, letting myself in,” Holden added, “and found both your wolves here. ”
Desmond made a noise of disgust when Holden said sundown. Of course they were perfectly aware he was a vampire. The hostility was evident. I couldn’t tell which part bothered Lucas more—that I’d slept with Desmond or a vampire having such easy access to my apartment.
“Holden is my liaison with the vampire council. ” I figured honesty here couldn’t hurt. Lucas already knew I worked for the council. “They wouldn’t allow just anyone access to them, and because of what I do I need to be able to communicate with them directly. Holden…” I indicated the stone-still vampire, “…uh, Mr. Chancery? He’s my guy on the inside. ”
I looked at Holden, trying to ignore the twist of a smirk on his lips and his small derisive snort. I hoped he was not willing to out me as a half-vampire for the sake of it. I’d trusted him for six years and had to believe I could trust him still.
“Close enough. Who are the dogs?” He validated my explanation, then negated any goodwill I had garnered him all in the span of a few seconds. I was surprised they hadn’t made some sort of introductions since Holden had obviously told them his name. He must have just arrived. I was also impressed he was asking for introductions at all considering he was already aware of who they were, having watched them kidnap me two nights prior.
Holden was a snob like most vampires. He believed werewolves were at the bottom of the supernatural totem while he and his kind were at the top. Vamps wouldn’t even feed on weres if they could avoid it. They considered lycanthropy a contamination in the blood. Sig had told me that, one of his little side comments that made me wonder how much he knew.
“Lucas Rain is the werewolf king of the Eastern states. ” I inclined my head towards the grumpy blond werewolf in the chair adjacent to the loveseat.
Holden nodded to Lucas. “Your highness. ” I had never heard a royal address sound so belittling. It’s amazing what two hundred years can allow you to do with inflection alone.
“And Desmond is…” I struggled for a moment, searching for the most appropriate way to introduce him. “Lucas’s second-in-command. ”
“Well, well…” Holden met my eyes, “…quite the lupine social climber these days, aren’t you?”
“At least one of us is making an advance. ” I instantly wished I hadn’t brought up his stunted progression in the council. I was largely to blame for his stasis, and drawing attention to it in front of those he considered lesser beings was a low blow.
Lucas and Desmond watched the exchange without interruption, and then Lucas rose to his feet. He came to stand in front of me, looking down with a small smile.
“You’re okay,” I said again, hardly able to believe it even with him this close.
“Of course. ” The warmth of his tone made it seem like there had never been any doubt, and perhaps there hadn’t. What I didn’t know about werewolves could fill volumes. Was last night’s fight to the death tantamount to nothing more than a big-dog pissing contest?
No, I couldn’t believe that. Marcus’s intent had plainly been to kill Lucas. That Marcus was crazier than a Batman villain and had murdered his own daughter didn’t make me feel any better about the rivalry. He would stop at nothing to take the throne away from Lucas, and maybe my soul-bonded wolf king was being foolish not to take the threat more seriously.
I ground my teeth but didn’t know if it was out of frustration or worry. Holden was watching only me, dismissing the wolves’ presence as if they were nothing more than furniture. I tried to catch Desmond’s eye again, but he had decided to use the vampire as an excuse to ignore me and was putting his role as my bodyguard first.
I sighed more heavily and looked at Lucas again.
“Can I have a word with you?” I said, which caught Desmond’s attention, his eyes flicking a quarter of an inch towards me. “In private. ”
Lucas’s gaze traveled to my bedroom door, and I shook my head. “Out in the hall. ” The smell of the bedroom would be a dead giveaway. It was one thing to suspect Lucas already knew what had happened last night, but there was no sense in literally rubbing his nose in it.
“Okay. ” He opened the door and stepped back to let me exit first. Holden edged partway out of his seat, and Desmond took a half step towards him and growled.
“Boys, do you think you can call a truce for three minutes? I’ll be right outside, and I doubt he and I are going to kill each other. ” I cast a wary glance at Lucas. Nothing in his face supported or contradicted me.
