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“Kain has killed Leonidas, and now sits on the throne of the Den. The city has bowed before him.”
I am momentarily stunned out of anger by that piece of news.
“Killed Leonidas?” I raise a brow. “I didn’t think he had it in him. He hardly had the wherewithal to best Nyan in battle, let alone our father.”
“He poisoned him.”
“Oh,” I say. “That makes more sense.”
A cowardly means of bringing death, for a cowardly creature. That is why he now has Ava, because she is practically helpless.
“So. To be clear. You betrayed me, and your pride, and you put every male, female, and cub at risk of death because you were afraid of Kain, in spite of the fact we three outnumber him.”
“We thought we were only betraying you,” Nyan says.
“Oh. Well, that’s alright then, isn’t it?”
Again, Skol attempts to explain. “Kain sent his heavies in to take the remaining females only after we departed. We did not know he was going to do that. He is treacherous and cruel.”
“And now he has my mate,” I say. “Tell me you did not know he intended to take her?”
Skol and Nyan both shake their heads furiously. As much as I might like to tear strips from the pair of them, I do not have the luxury of vengeance. I will need their help if I am to reclaim Ava, and I do not want there to be another obvious rift in our alliance to be exploited at a later date.
“You have been cowardly Leonids,” I lecture. “You have brought our very bloodline into disrepute. Leaving a human woman to fight the battle you yourselves refused to take part in. You would rather submit to a threat than subdue it.”
“Pretty word play, but Kain was not giving us any choice.”
“There’s always a choice. I’m going to give you one right now. Throw your loyalty back where it belongs, and we will spare this planet the suffering that comes with a craven creature like Kain on the throne.”
“Do we have to?” Nyan asks the question. He has no guile, and arguably little intelligence.
“No, Nyan. You do not have to. You can continue to be a spineless wretch who blows with the wind, and you can leave Ava, who has always been very nice to you, to be tortured and killed by our sociopathic brother. Oh, and you can continue to watch the cubs starve, when they could be returned to their mothers.”
“Oh,” Nyan says. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
“I pledge my loyalty, for all is it worth, given the current situation,” Skol says. “I did not know if you would return, and I did not expect you to come back with a mate. The human is not what I would choose, but she has sacrificed herself for our pride as much as anybody, and more.”
“I’d like to help Ava,” Nyan says.
“Good.”
“MAROW.” Buttface winds around my feet, throwing his lot in with us as well.
Saving Ava is not going to be easy. I fear for her safety, and for her life, but I know Kain well enough to know that he does not take a hostage just to sacrifice them immediately. He is many things, but stupid is not one of them. He wants me to come to him.
He’s going to get what he wants.
11
Ava
“I am having trouble deciding which one of you I want to kill first,” Kain says conversationally. “Traditionally, I’d kill you in front of Azlan, but I think a fun twist could be to kill him, so he dies knowing that he cannot protect you from me, and I can draw out your death as long as I want to. You could suffer for years.”
“It’s good to have options,” I say. It sounds smart ass, but it’s actually just the only thing my numb brain can come up with at short notice.
“It is. It’s also nice to have someone to share this with, someone who understands.”
Kain is full-blown, absolutely mad as a proverbial hatter. Not in a gibbering nonsense sort of way, but in a much more dangerous semi-lucid way. He treats me as a prisoner and as a confidante, spilling what passes for secrets to me nearly day and night.
