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The fine hairs on my arms lifted as I finally recognized his voice. Karoly Kral was here. In the penthouse. Less than twenty feet away.
My pulse spiked. I had to leave—now. Tightening my grip on the switchblade, I glanced frantically around, but the only way out was past the living room.
“Hell.” Gabriel’s exhale was loud in the quiet. “All right. What do we do now?”
“I—” Karoly halted. “The woman is here?”
I froze. My fast-beating heart must have given me away.
“So you didn’t send her away,” Karoly said.
“Leave her the fuck out of this,” Gabriel shot back. “You think she’s weak? Out in Montauk, she saved my life. I was bleeding out, poisoned by silver. Too out of it to even think of feeding. She cut her wrist, made me drink her blood. And while I was fighting off Redbone, she staked Stefan.”
I wrapped my arms around myself. God, I loved Gabriel for defending me. But his father was only speaking the truth. Iwasa weakness. A human who’d always be a drag on Gabriel.
But this thing between me and Gabriel was too strong. This time, I wouldn’t run. This time, I’d fight.
Karoly raised his voice. “You can come out now, Mila.”
I started. Then I drew a deep breath, reminding myself I was no longer alone and on the run from Karoly’s cold-eyed enforcers. What’s more, I was blood-bonded to his son. Karoly Kral would just have to learn to deal.
I straightened my spine, pulled back my shoulders and walked into the living room. “You’re right.” It was still hard to speak, my voice a hoarse rasp, but I met Karoly’s gaze head on. “Iama liability.”
“Like hell you are,” said Gabriel.
But his father gave a short nod. His ebony eyes flicked to the switchblade.
The amusement I saw there made me grit my teeth, but I shoved it into my shorts pocket. It’s not like I was going to use it on him in front of Gabriel anyway.
“It’s okay,” I told Gabriel. “It’s what everyone will say behind my back. At least your father’s honest enough to say it to my face.”
Gabriel glowered at Karoly. “What the fuck was up with that anyway? You convinced her to leave. Wasn’t that enough? Did you have to threaten her family? Send enforcers to harass her?”
The Primus raised a slim hand. “Explain,” he told me. The man wasn’t any taller than Gabriel, with the same lean, catlike physique. Still, in his neat pin-striped suit, he seemed to loom over me, his dark eyes like flat black ice.
My nape prickled as a thought occurred. Karoly Kral had never promised not to compel me. I nervously licked my lips. “Explain what?”
“These enforcers. I sent Tomas to pay you off, yes. In exchange, you were to stay away for two years. But you were to be left alone unless you tried to contact Gabriel.”
A stunned silence fell. Gabriel and I exchanged a glance.
“But…they were Kral enforcers,” I said. “I saw the wolf tattoos. They fucking tried tokillme.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes at his father. “You’re saying you didn’t send them?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. She’d done nothing wrong.” Karoly Kral’s jaw tightened. “I’m not a savage beast, to hunt a young woman for sport.”
I blinked. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the cold-as-ice Primus was hurt his son hadn’t believed in him.
“Then who did?” Gabriel demanded. There was a beat of silence. Then he swore. “Tomas. That sonuvabitch.”
My mouth dropped. “Holy crap.”
“What’s this about Tomas?” That was Karoly.
While Gabriel launched into an explanation, I sank onto the couch. I wouldn’t admit it to Karoly or even Gabriel, but I was exhausted.
I leaned my forearms on my knees, fingers tightly interlaced, and listened while Gabriel brought his father up to date on everything that had happened, starting with my years on the run and ending with the events of the past week.
