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The thought of leaving him behind has drifted to the forefront of my mind.
I know he only means to help me, but it’s not working. It makes me feel weak and helpless to be anywhere near him. I refuse to be either.
I’ve worked too damn hard for nearly two centuries to be made so vulnerable. He hasn’t lived my life and he’ll never know what I’ve endured. There’s no fix or cure.
His simple mind thinks love alone will fix this. I pull away from him, but he grips me harder and turns his head to face me. His silver stare bores into me, but I refuse to look back. My fingers tingle with the itch to touch him; my body wants me to crawl into his lap, but I won’t. I shift in my seat so I’m sitting sideways. The move breaks the contact his hand had on my thigh and settles my back to him.
I look toward Devin, defying my mate and my own needs. His exhale is long and slightly shaken. My heart sinks knowing I’ve hurt him. I don’t care, though. He knows what he did. He can deal with the consequences. He knows the immense pain he caused me. What happened in the room was too fucking much for me to give him my love right now. There’s nothing but silence and damage between us now. I should have known this would happen.
The last of the wolves, Jude, filters in and the atmosphere changes instantly.
“I want to make this fast and simple.” Devin takes a long breath, both of his hands resting on the edge of the counter. His shoulders flex and Caleb stops mid-conversation. “Save your questions until the end.” He looks pointedly at his mate and she huffs, not quite in annoyance, but then gives a short nod. She’s quite brazen for a little human. I rub my wrists again and look down remembering yesterday morning. Remembering how weak I was yet again for sharing something so personal, too personal, with her. I have no idea what made me want to talk to her. I wish I hadn’t. They know too much and I don’t like it.
The name Natalia catches my attention and my eyes fly to meet Devin’s as he speaks. “It appears Natalia and several of the vampires from the Authority are on a mission to eliminate any vampires opposing them.”
A chill flows through me. I’ve suspected that for decades. I’ve felt she wished to reign over our species, to become the one true holder of authority. To have it spoken by someone else sparks a slight fear that my dreaded thoughts could become reality.
“What’s the endgame there?” Dom asks.
“From what we’ve been told, Natalia wants to destroy their immortality,” Devin replies.
A crease forms between my brow. Destroy their immortality? How is that even possible?
As if answering my unspoken question, Devin continues. “They’re poisoning the blood from the donation centers and most likely the blood being sold to the covens.” A mixture of fear and shock widens my eyes as I stare back at Devin’s serious expression. His mate glances up at him, looking very much out of place.
It takes great effort to keep my lips shut tight although I want to bombard him with questions of how these allegations came to be. My gaze falls to Grace’s laced fingers she’s struggling to keep still as Devin delivers exactly what I want to know.
Her heart races and it doesn’t escape me that she may feel what I feel in this moment.
“The shifter that attempted to take our mates told us they made a deal with a vampire. That they were going to cede control of Shadow Falls in exchange for a steady drug supply. Sarin’s pack will deal with the consequences of their actions. But for now, Alec has asked for our help in proving the dead shifter’s allegations are true.
“Veronica’s coven wanted to make a deal with us to have a blood bank built in Shadow Falls.” Devin’s gaze settles on me and everyone else follows suit. “You’ll go to your queen and let her know that we’re willing to grant that request. No one will mention anything about what we’ve learned.”
My lips part to object. I can’t allow my coven to continue drinking tainted blood. Devin speaks before I can, though.
“No one, Veronica. Not one fucking word.”
Vince stiffens beside me, but Devin doesn’t hesitate to add, “If Natalia or any of the other vampires who are in on this find out that we know what they’re up to, we’ll be in danger. They will come to kill us and attack the allies we have within the Authority, or they will run. This is the best chance we have at stopping them.”
Pressing my lips tightly together, I nod. I don’t fucking like it, but I understand and I will obey because without his help, I have no way of knowing what is true and who to trust. Most don’t adhere to the law anyway. I cling to that knowledge.
“What about Sarin’s pack? Days have passed since the offering and we haven’t heard anything,” Caleb says.
“You’d think they’d give a shit that we killed four of their members.” Jude’s response to Caleb earns a nod from Dom.
Lev huffs and snorts before saying, “Yeah, right. Like they care.”
“How are we going deal with them?” Dom’s voice comes out hard.
“I should’ve ended him rather than let him run,” Devin says, his brows pinching together as he drums his fingers along the table.
“What do we know of their pack?” I ask as I realize I don’t know a single thing about the rival pack.
“They fled to a stronghold they have in the mountains. Maybe ten men remain; a few women too, I think,” Devin tells us.
“They’re weak now. We could easily take them,” Caleb says.
Devin’s fist slams on the granite countertops, forcing his mate to take a step back. “I will not risk our pack.” He calms, softening his voice to add, “We cannot take on too much at once. Understood?”
