AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Awfully defensive for someone talking to the mutineers,” Raf said softly into his drink.
“What?” she turned on him and demanded.
“You heard me,” Raf said with a grin.
Laura turned toward me. “I’ve given you how much loyalty, and this is what I’m returned with?”
“Which is why it’s so disappointing you do it now.” A glint of amusement showed in Raf’s eyes.
It turned my stomach.
Laura’s chest swelled, and she set her jaw. “I do not deserve this. Not from you, Dominic, and certainly not from someone below my rank.”
“Rafael, you will be silent,” I snapped.
Laura never took her eyes off me. Rage boiled in them. But was it rage for the accusation or because she was caught?
“Fine,” Raf replied.
“Is it true?” I asked.
“Is what true, Dominic? I speak to everyone in the pack. Loyal or not. It’s my job,” she said the last through her teeth.
I searched her face, knowing I couldn’t come back from this. Not if I said the wrong thing. This would always be a chip in our relationship. It would color all future interactions between us. How deep was my trust?
The door was thrown open, and we all spun to face it.
Vin stood in the doorway. “I have news.”
“Can we do this another time?”
“I think you’ll want to hear it.”
“He’s busy,” Rafael snapped.
“I don’t think you should speak,” Vin said in a snarl at my brother, ratcheting up the tension in the room.
“Vin,” I warned.
“Dominic, please don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
Slowly, I turned toward him. “Speak.” It came off short, but I had no patience for this today. I was here to accuse one of my oldest friends of plotting behind my back.
“Someone is plotting your demise…but it’s not who you think it is.”
THIRTY-FIVE
VINKETTIN
Something gnawed at me. A memory, images, some connection my subconscious mind attempted to make, but it wasn’t yet realized in the neurons. I had to get to my office. Instinct told me there would be something there to trigger the recessed memory. If not, I would have to try other means to extract it.
The desperation building in my chest told me it was urgent. The connection with Dominic was tense. He carried stress, but I couldn’t make out more. I didn’t have time to turn around and ask him, either.
He’d have to deal with whatever it was. Neither fear nor danger was present in his mind, so I had to ignore it. I couldn’t be there to fight all his battles, so on I drove. How little I knew when I committed to this. I didn’t know how hard it would be to leave his side. To actively drive away from him.
My office sat in the middle of a seemingly abandoned street outside the heart of the old logging town that was slowly dying. A place tourists would never venture on their own, not without the right invite. The wards protected these places for people like me. There weren’t many of my kind, but we had our own places in the world.
My key cleared the ward, and I pushed open the old wooden door, the creak reminding me I needed to bring in some oil for the hinges. Keys went on the entry table, and I ducked under the web strewn across the entryway. Another note. I should get here more and at least keep the place up. I hadn’t realized it had been so long since I’d ventured into the city.
