AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brien moved between me and the lieutenant. Talon and Cain moved to flank him like broad-shouldered bookends, one dark, one light.
“She’s my thrall,” said Brien. “I’ll determine her punishment.”
“You released her from the cuff,” Prosper said with a pointed look at my ankle. “That ‘thrall’ has got you by the short hairs.”
My heart sank. He was going to use Brien’s treatment of me against him, make it seem like Brien was weak.
“She’s a human,” Brien replied. “She has no weapons. What can she do even without the cuff? Or are you afraid she’ll attack you, too?”
Jasper snickered and Prosper’s gaze swung to him. The spiky-haired soldier dropped his eyes but moved closer to Brien, Cain and Talon, making his allegiance clear.
“She staked the primus,” Prosper told Brien. “She’s lucky I didn’t rip her head off.”
“No,” he said, “you’relucky you didn’t rip her head off. The woman is mine—and Jules attacked her. If I’d been there, I would’ve staked him myself. But what I want to know is how Jules got out of his apartment in the first place—when you swore you’d keep him contained.”
Brien seemed to have gotten larger—his shoulders broader, his spine steel-straight. The other vampires shifted uneasily.
Only Prosper didn’t look away. “I don’t know,” he admitted.
A corner of Brien’s upper lip lifted, showing a fang. “I don’t believe you,” he said flatly.
Prosper straightened. “Careful,” he said in ice-cold tones.
“We had a deal,” Brien shot back. “I’m not the one who broke it. If he got out, this is on you.”
Jasper, Matthew and the other vampire had turned into statues, their gazes darting between the two men.
“I agree,” said Prosper. “And I intend to look into it.”
Brien folded his arms over his chest. “You do that.”
“But as for the woman,” Prosper continued, “just so everyone here understands—you’re taking responsibility for her?”
Cain winced, and Talon murmured, “Brien…”
Brien ignored them, his focus on Prosper. “I do.”
I took a step toward Brien. “Please don’t do this.” I was pretty sure I knew where this was going, and I had to stop it. I swung back to Prosper. “Brien had nothing to do with this. I told you, I was sent here to stake him. He didn’t even know I had a switchblade.”
Brien flicked me a look. “Stay where you are, Twilight.” A command that had the force of compulsion.
I halted as if it had worked. No one here knew that I couldn’t be compelled, and I wanted to keep it that way.
It wasn’t like Brien would listen to me anyway. I knew how syndicates worked. This wasn’t really about me; it was a showdown between two dominant vampires. If Brien backed down now, the lieutenant would ascend to primus without striking a blow.
“She’s mine,” Brien repeated. “She agreed to accept my blood bond. Didn’t you, Twilight?”
Startled faces swung in my direction—except for Talon and Cain. They didn’t appear surprised; they looked resigned.
All the spit left my mouth. I was so screwed.
Accepting Brien’s blood bond in front of witnesses would make me his slave in truth. It was like a thrall contract, but permanent—he’d own my body and blood for as long as he chose. And if I broke my word and tried to escape, he’d be legally allowed to hunt me down and force me to return.
But if I said no, I’d be calling Brien a liar in front of his syndicate’s top men—and signing my own death warrant.
“Well?” Lieutenant Prosper asked silkily. “Did you agree to accept his blood bond?”
I moistened my lips. Lord knows, I didn’t want to die.
