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“Where are we going?” Octavius asked.
Saint pulled the car back onto the road. “Somewhere safe before dawn. How long have you been with Mikalis?”
“With the Brotherhood? A few thousand years.”
Impressive that he’d been devoted for so long. “And just like that, Mikalis turns on you. That’s how he rewards devotion.”
“He’s been betrayed before.” Octavius glared pointedly. “One of the Brotherhood ripped it all apart from the inside. Sound familiar?”
Hm, so that was the version of events Mikalis had told them. It wasn’t untrue. “I didn’t betray him. Although, he likely doesn’t see it like that. You and I appear to have much in common.”
“We havenothingin common. I am Brotherhood. I do not enslave feeders, I do not run around doing whatever I please, causing chaos because I can, and I do not make more nyktelios. You are everything I despise and have spent the majority of my long life trying to erase from this existence. So tell me again how we’re fucking alike.” He panted, waiting, after ordering Saint to answer.
Saint pinched his lips together, trapping the smirk. “So fiery.” All that angst and devotion wrapped up and tied down by thousands of years of lies, in a firm little body wired so tightly he might combust if he ever let himself go.
“Fuck you.”
Saint chuckled. Jay was right. There was something charming about Octavius’s viciousness. He’d make an enjoyable distraction as the end of the world approached. Perhaps Saint could convince Octavius to join them. He’d clearly enjoy it, once he got over his mountain of Brotherhood hang-ups. “So you believe Mikalis is going to reward you when you kill me or when you hand me over in chains?”
Octavius kept his gaze on the road ahead and opted for silence. Although the tic in his cheek answered for him. Subtle, he was not. Of course Octavius was hoping Saint was his answer to regaining his place among the Brotherhood. Why else would he still be with them? “Such devotion. What did he do to earn your love, Octavius?”
“It’s not love,” the little wolf snarled.
“He claims none of you are permitted to love, yet he demands you love him unconditionally.”
“It’s nothing like that. It’s…” He paused, searching for the right words. “Mutual respect.”
Saint laughed. “I was Brotherhood. I know exactly what it’s like, and trust me, it’snotmutual.”
Octavius twisted in his seat and angled toward Saint, as though he might lunge and try to take the wheel. If he did that, they’d plow off the road into the trees and end up fighting again, which would lead to Jay bleeding, Saint threatening to kill Octavius, and another suit ruined. Octavius was smarter than this, Saint was sure of it, beneath all the neurosis. “Why did you turn on him?”
“I didn’t turn on him,” Saint explained. “I told him the truth, and he didn’t much like it. Mikalis has a complicated relationship with the truth.”
“You’re deluded. You’re just another blood-sucking nyk. I don’t know why I’m wasting my breath speaking with you.”
He had passion, although misguided. “Except, I’m not like the other nyks you’ve encountered, am I? I have the silver eyes, and I fuck a feeder, and apparently I don’t give a shit about anything besides my own needs, so that makes you and I enemies? Do you not see how shortsighted and absurd your beliefs are?”
“They’re not beliefs, they’re facts. Absurd is me listening to a nyk’s bullshit.”
“You’re listening because under all that Brotherhood neurosis you know I’m worth listening to. I’m the oldest nyk you’ll ever meet, Little Wolf, and right now, I’m all that stands between you and certain death. Memento fuckin’ mori, Octavius.”
Octavius laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Your pathetic attempts to turn me against Mikalis and the Brotherhood are ridiculously transparent. I’m embarrassed for you. An ancient and mighty nyktelios, reduced to fucking an addicted twink and hiding in the woods. Bravo, you must be so proud of yourself.”
Saint gripped the wheel until it creaked under his knuckles. He could slam Octavius into the hillside and dust him. He had that irritating ability to get inside Saint’s head, but Saint was physically stronger. He certainly sounded as though he wanted Saint to kill him. But the little wolf might be useful should Mikalis track him down again.
The little wolf just might earn Saint one last chance to speak with Mikalis.
One last attempt to say he was sorry.
CHAPTER6
Octavius
The Sleepy LionMotel sign had a few neon letters missing, which was probably an indication of the quality accommodation Saint had brought them to. Three other cars were parked out front in the lot, and there wasn’t another building in sight.
Saint pulled his car to a stop and eyed the lobby door. “You and I are going to go in there, and you’ll do your little persuasion trick on the staff to get us two rooms.”
Octavius frowned. He wasn’t Saint’s pet to order around. That was Jayden’s role. “No.”
