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No, I’ll be fine.Nasir would need everyone loyal to Eden to locate the missing vampires. Felix could take care of himself.
Stay safe.
Then Nasir was gone.
Eden was falling apart around him, the House he’d built with his sweat and blood, but everything was meaningless without Gabby.
Felix again contemplated chasing down Jiaren and ending his life, but the punishment for killing another vampire was to go aground for a century. Alistair wouldn’t change the law just because Jiaren threatened his mate. Felix couldn’t afford to leave Gabby alone, not with Jiaren and his House coveting her territory. He also had no interest in murdering Julian, the law’s enforcer.
No, he’d have to let Jiaren live for now.
He only hoped the threat Jiaren posed didn’t drive him over the edge and destroy whatever chance he had with Gabby.
Gabby sensed something was off the second Felix entered the building. However, Stephen rushed into the second session when everyone was seated. It was impossible to concentrate on the discussion with the thundercloud hovering next to her.
What’s wrong?
We can talk later.
A burst of fury at the curt dismissal, at him shutting her out. Again. Fine. If he didn’t want to talk, then she wouldn’t bother. Besides, a pounding headache was winding up at the back of her skull from too much information overload. She was eternally grateful for Nikolas staying at her side, offering her insight whenever others asked her any questions. In the earlier meeting, she’d processed and internalized everything Nikolas told her. Now, after a few hours, she’d reached her limit.
Lucky for her, Stephen ended the session early when neither party could agree on the length of time for imprisonment. The vampires, including Devon, insisted it be a life sentence with no possibility of parole. The humans insisted each state had the right to determine the number of years.
“Now, will you tell me what the matter is?” Gabby asked when the session broke up. His tempestuous emotions hadn’t helped with her headache.
“Yes. Let’s go to our room to talk. Nikolas, you too.”
The three of them returned to her room in tense silence. Then, Felix said without preamble, “Jiaren approached me this evening.”
From the way he looked, ready to spring into action, it was nothing good. More interestingly, Nikolas tensed beside her.
“What did he want?” Wariness pervaded Nikolas’ question.
“He wants me to convince Gabby to give up parts of Haven. It sounded like his previous overtures were unsuccessful.” A pointed stare in Nikolas’ direction, his pupils ringed in red.
Because she’d had a long night already, it took Gabby a few seconds to process Felix’s meaningful stare.
She whirled on Nikolas. “You knew who he was? Why did you not tell me?”
“I didn’t want to trouble you.”
“I do not need to be coddled.”
“No, but you had more important things to worry about.” Nikolas shot an equally meaningful and challenging glare back at Felix. “I didn’t know he’d be at the Gathering.”
She would be mad at him later, Gabby decided. “What did he want?”
“He wants a part of our territory to create an extension of his House. I told him no.”
“What did he offer you?” Felix asked.
A rare, vicious smile graced Nikolas’ stoic face, revealing the predator beneath. “They would support my claim to the Council and help me win either some of your territory, or Malika’s, whichever one I wanted. I told them I wasn’t interested.”
“And what about Gabby? They must know you’re not the official Head of the House.” Felix’s gaze narrowed. Gabby didn’t like where he was going with this.
“They didn’t care. Since Gabby was asleep and I’ve been watching Haven for the last few centuries, they considered her obsolete. She wouldn’t wake without help and there are only a handful of us who knew her location. They thought if they could convince me, then I would convince the others. Gabby would never enter the picture. I don’t think it ever occurred to them the Council would order her waking.”
No one could’ve predicted that. Not to mention Nikolas would never betray her. “And now?” she asked.
