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“We don’t need her anymore if you got a confession,” I said.
Adora inclined her head, but there was a glint of malice in her eyes. She reached down and cut the rope binding the vampire’s hands. Katie jumped to her feet, not wanting to waste a second.
“Go,” Adora told her, a sharp tone filling the command.
Katie took off, making it a solid twenty yards away until a knife sailed through the air, planting itself in the notch of her neck where her spine met her head.
Everyone turned to Adora, who shrugged. “What? I was just taking out the trash.”
Danni pressed her face against my chest in a show of exasperation. Adora went to retrieve the knife, but before she took it out, my mate said, “Finish the job. It’s rude to play with your food.”
“I’m not gonna eat her." Adora snorted, then pointed around us. “Have you seen this place? You and Nova did a number out here. If anyone played with their food . . .”
Danni smirked. “Fine. Torture isn’t ladylike. Better?”
Planting a foot in-between Katie’s shoulder blades, she then looked up at her sister. “Pots and kettles, sis.”
In a swift move, she grasped Katie by the hair, then turned the knife to the side like a lever, first left, then right. A sickening crunch sounded, and Adora pulled Katie’s head from her body before dropping it to the ground and kicking it like a soccer ball.
“Happy now?” she asked, flicking the blood off the blade, and then wiping it on her tunic. Nova huffed loudly, seemingly happy this was over.
“Thrilled,” Danni answered.
Not for the first time, I wondered about these two. I knew Danni as my mate, but who she was with Adora was another side of her. One I also wanted to know.
Shade cleared his throat. “We need to get going. Will we be taking Markus with us?”
I looked at Markus with a disinterested glance. “That’s up to him.”
“I want to stay in Blood and Beryl,” he said immediately. He glanced at Danni, then back to me. “But, with your permission, I’d like to transfer to a different territory. Somewhere I can start over.”
I nodded. “Consider it done. Bianca will make the arrangements.”
Markus lowered his head in a show of respect. He’d come a long way in a short amount of time. I knew what he’d done here tonight had mostly been for Dannika, but his desire to be his own man was what would create a lasting change.
“Very well,” Shade said, awkwardly shifting. He clearly wasn’t sure what to make of this scenario. Whether it was Nova growling at them, the way Adora was eyeing Andreas like he was going to be the next one she threw a dagger at, the carnage of Dannika’s wolf, or the scent in the air giving away what we’d been doing just before he’d arrived. I didn’t care. “If that’s all, we’ll be going . . .”
“His body stays,” I said, making both him and Andreas pause.
“Whose?”
“Mathis’s. Ysabeau will be adjusting the scene to fit the story. I’ll notify you when it’s done. After the other Houses confirm the story, you may collect your dead, provided Dannika and Adora’s moms and Rowe have been delivered to my border unharmed by sunrise.”
Andreas’s jaw tightened, and Shade shook his head. “Their moms are safe, but Rowe stays in Fire and Fluorite. She isn’t a Kresley, and she doesn’t belong to them. But I’ll keep her protected.”
“You can’t do that,” Adora ground out.
Shade looked at Adora, but it wasn’t harsh. It was almost sympathetic. “I can, and I have to. We have a story we have to follow here. The Alpha Supreme is dead, and he did have followers. Supporters loyal to him. You and your family are still cast out and exiled. As far as we’re concerned, your mothers escaped. But if they take Rowe? Then it looks like your family has kidnapped a non-member of your family. Human or not, she’s under the protection of Fire and Fluorite, and by laws, we would respond to that act against the treaty. How will that look if I don’t respond? Understand?”
Danni and Adora met each other’s gaze, sadness filling their eyes. It was almost as if they shared an unspoken conversation.
“Promise you will keep her safe,” Danni said, authority filling her tone.
“You have my word,” Shade answered. “I’ve had your moms in hiding since Mathis abducted Adora. You’ll have to pick them up. If I’m seen escorting them, our cover story is blown.”
“Where are they staying?” Adora asked, standing taller despite her petite height.
“No Man’s Circus,” he said.
