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Bones let out a short laugh. “Noah? Not anymore.”
Rodney nudged him. “I wasn’t talking about Noah.”
Bones looked away to meet Rodney’s eyes. No judgment marred their depths. Only empathy.
“Hell, I don’t blame you,” Rodney went on, his tone lowering. “Max hired someone to blow Cat’s head off. That’s more than enough motivation, but there’s more to it, isn’t there?”
A humorless smile twisted Bones’s lips. Rodney knew him too well. “Yes. Max might be the only thing that Cat can’t refuse.”
She left you once, and she’ll do it again…
Annette’s words taunted Bones despite him trying to forget them. Cat loved him, but needing vengeance against her father was as much a part of her as her glowing green eyes and red hair. If Ian offered Cat that-and Ian was more than ruthless enough to do it-then Bones wasn’t sure if Cat could refuse. Furthermore, Bones couldn’t snatch Max up and deliver him to Cat himself without tipping off Ian that Bones had betrayed him.
But if Bones killed Max, and claimed it was self-defense because Max inexplicably attacked him…Ian might believe that. Cat might, too. War would then be avoided, Cat would get her revenge by proxy, and Max could no longer be used against her, all with one twist of his blade.
Bones looked away from Rodney to stare at the silver knife holstered in his belt. Had the legendary Eve felt this tempted when she looked at that apple…?
“Movement,” Rodney whispered.
Bones’s head snapped up. A car parked at the end of Noah’s street, and the hum from the still-running engine wasn’t the only thing sending vibrations through the air. A vampire was behind the wheel, his red hair gleaming in the setting sun.
Max.
Bones moved toward him without thinking. He was at Max’s door before the other vampire could open it, and a pair of gut-wrenchingly familiar gray eyes met his.
“The fuck?” Max yelped.
The blade was now in his hand. Bones didn’t remember pulling it out, but the knife’s sharp edge bit into his skin from how tightly Bones gripped it.
Kill him.
“Oh, it’s you,” Max said, visibly relaxing. “Didn’t recognize you at first. Bones, right? What, Ian didn’t think I could handle picking up one human on my own?”
“You know Ian.” The rasped words barely made it through Bones’s clenched jaw. “Always a contingency plan.”
Max glanced at his door, which Bones still blocked. “Mind if I get out?”
“Not at all,” Bones said, and moved aside, shielding his knife with his body.
Max got out and stretched as if relieving a kink. Bones stared as Max’s chest thrust toward him with the movement, nearly begging to be his knife’s new sheath.
Kill him, kill him now!
Cat’s face flashed in his mind, her jaw set as she glared at Tate.I trust him. Bones wouldn’t say they were clean unless he was sure, and that’s enough for me…
Bones sheathed his blade in its holster with a muttered curse that made Max’s brows shoot up.
“Is something wrong?”
Yes. I can’t murder you where you fucking stand because the woman I love trusts me, and I won’t betray that.
“Nothing,” Bones gritted out. “Leave. I’ll get the human.”
Max’s gaze narrowed. “That’s my job-”
“Not anymore,” Bones cut him off, his power slicing into Max in all the ways he couldn’t allow himself to. “I’ve got it.”
Max backed up while frustration bubbled from his sugar and sandalwood scent. “That’s nice, but Ian toldmeto do it.”
