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“Don’t be so sure he hasn’t. ”
“What’s a fatal flaw?” Brigit asked.
“In Shakespeare it’s the fault in a character that leads to their inevitable downfall,” Calliope said before I could answer. “Pride, jealousy…the most basic human emotions, all amplified until they take over the character’s whole life. ”
“And what’s Secret’s fatal flaw?” She playfully jabbed me with her elbow. “Lust?”
“No. ” Calliope looked down at me, and her face was frighteningly serious. “Secret’s fatal flaw is that the only thing keeping her good is her desire to be human. ”
I stared at her, my pulse hammering while I digested the words.
“And last night…she let her humanity slip. ”
Chapter Thirty-Three
I woke up absolutely sure I was going to vomit.
As a Tribunal leader, there had to be a way I could start keeping people out of my head. They were my underlings, weren’t they? Since when did underlings get to call the shots? The problem was, the way Holden had explained the connections to me, the more powerful the vampire, the stronger the connection. So, unfortunately, my being a Tribunal leader actually made the mental bonds I shared with Holden and Brigit stronger.
I’d have to ask Sig if there was a way to shut the mind-jacking down. Having weird dreams about my loved ones soaked in blood was bad enough. I didn’t need to have conversations with my condescending fairy godmother about my sex life.
As the whirlpool in my tummy began to settle and I was convinced I wouldn’t throw up immediately upon rising, I sat up. Still topless in real life. Holden was lying next to me in the bed—though how we’d come to be in the bed I couldn’t remember—and he watched me the way Brigit had in my dream.
“Do you always wake up like that?”
I tugged the blanket up to cover my boobs. “I usually fall asleep less naked. ”
“No. I meant do you always wake up like you’re coming out of a nightmare?”
“Oh. That. ”
“Yeah, that. I’ve seen agitated cephalopod thrash around less than you did waking up. ”
“A what now?”
“An angry octopus. ”
“Did you just compare me to a fish?”
“Technically, a moll—”
“No technically, professor. ”
“Sorry. ”
I pulled the blanket closer to me, stealing it away from him entirely. This had the unfortunate—or very fortunate, depending on how you looked at it—side effect of exposing his fully naked body to me. Even though he wasn’t in a state of arousal, his body was still incredible. I had to avert my eyes before I lost track of what was going on.
“Why is it you never sound sorry when you apologize to me?”
“Probably because I’m rarely actually sorry. ”
My reply was cut short by a snarling outside the door and a confused human-sounding voice. Someone had tried to enter the foyer, and wolf-Desmond was apparently in the process of trying to dismember them.
I jumped off the bed and pulled my pants on without bothering to find my underwear. Likewise I tugged my shirt back on braless. I had a pretty small chest, so I wouldn’t look too floppy if I let the girls free for a minute or two. Once I’d saved some poor fae messenger’s life, then I could worry about undergarments.
I’d put my gun and sword on a small table next to the door when Desmond and Holden had decided to make me wait in here, and I was grateful now to have them within reach. Had they been out in the foyer, I’d have had to vault over an angry werewolf to get at my gun, and frankly that didn’t sound like too much fun first thing after waking up.
I didn’t want to shoot Desmond, but I knew how to wound without killing, and if it came down to it, I’d do what I needed. At least that’s what I told myself as I clicked off the safety and chambered a round. The gun might have been ready to shoot, but I wasn’t so sure I was. I opened the door and slipped into the foyer noiselessly, not announcing my presence until the door shut with a click behind me.
