Page 68 of Siege of Blood and Betrayal

In fifteen minutes, when the sun finally sets, we’ll be free to ascend to street level. Until then, Huntley and I weave through the throng, our steps quick but deliberate. The humans pass us by, oblivious to the dangerous currents swirling beneath their ordinary lives.

If only they knew the power struggles happening right under their noses.

As we move toward the exit, my hackles raise. Tension gnaws at the back of my mind. Leaving Scottie behind will either piss her off or hurt her feelings.

I don’t like either of those options. Over the years, I’ve longed to make things right with her. I always swore I’d never hurt her again. She won’t appreciate me protecting her—she never has.

But Huntley’s right. At least for now, Scottie is out of her depths and is safer at home watching over Jack and Tucker.

Not that Tucker needs tending to.

I grip my fingers into balled fists and try not to think about all the ways she might tend to him. Scottie doesn’t even know the man. There’s no reason to think that something will happen between them before I can turn her head and rekindle what we lost.

We have history.

“Do you need to kill someone else?” Huntley is watching me, his sandy blond brow arched with amusement.

“Careful or it might be you.”

He chuckles. “You know I’m happy to be your outlet when you want to get rough, but with your house guests, your proclivity toward blood play won’t go unnoticed.”

“That you can joke about the clusterfuck that is currently my reality proves what an asshole you are.”

He laughs harder and steps onto the escalator just ahead of me. “I admit it. It’s fun watching you twist yourself up in knots over Scottie after pining for her for years. She’s not the same woman who ran away from us, Z, and we’re not the same men.”

“You think I don’t fucking know that?” I can tell by the glint in his eyes that there’s more, and he’s gauging how much he should say.

Say nothing. When in doubt… say nothing.

“What do you think good old Scots will say when she finds out how we passed all those long, lonely nights?”

And there it is. Why does he insist on prodding me?

“Well, luckily I’m your king and you’re bound to keep my confidences, so that won’t be an issue.”

We emerge from the underground into early evening, the golden hues of the sunset just barely visible on the horizon. “She knows you better than that, Z. She’ll see it.”

I shake my head. “No one has ever seen it or caught us. There’s no reason to think anything different. Discretion is the better part of valor.”

He reaches around me as we get to the glass doors of the office lobby. When I move to step past him, he drops his head and warm breath brushes my ear. “I don’t mind being your dirty little secret, but if you think you can sweep me under the rug and play Scottie’s sweet prince after all these years, you’re fucked in the head.”

While that little kick to the sac settles over me, the two of us emerge onto street level and stride down the steps of the First Canadian Place.

Jaxon is waiting beside the car down at the curb, his expression unusually neutral as we approach. He seemed put out when he wasn’t invited back to the safe house, but Scottie and I agree that the fewer people who know where we are staying, the safer we all are.

It was hard enough to get Huntley a pass, and he’s my right hand. I know how to pick my battles. “How are things with the family? Is everyone settling in?”

Jaxon opens the door to the back seat for me and I slide in. “Everyone’s fine, considering we’re living underground in a fallout shelter with the rats and cockroaches.”

The door slams shut behind me and Jaxon and Huntley circle around the car to get in on the driver’s side. The two pause for a moment before coming inside and Huntley’s deep voicemurmurs what I can only guess is a warning for Jaxon to watch his mouth.

The two of them slide in and then Jaxon starts the car and pulls us away from the curb.

“Where are we headed?” Jaxon adjusts the rear-view mirror, his gaze flicking between me and Huntley sitting in the back seat. “Are we off to reclaim the infamous diamond dagger?”

I straighten, my entire body going rigid as the words leave his mouth. Slowly, I lean forward, pinning him with a glare that could peel the paint off the car. “Why would you ask me that?”

Jaxon’s expression shifts and his demeanor shrinks. He shrugs awkwardly, lifting his hands in a defensive gesture. “Sorry. Someone’s after your crown, and the way to prove you hold the power is to hold the dagger. I just thought?—”

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