Page 42 of Bitter Discord

“Are you going to kill him?” Roland raised an eyebrow.

“No. Apologize.”

Abrahams’s eyes went wide as the scent of his surprise filled the kitchen.

“He said he was leaving,” Roland told me. “He doesn’t know if he’s coming back tomorrow or not.”

Fuck. God fucking damn it.

Maintaining my composure, I walked out of the kitchen. I nodded politely to Ysabel when I passed her in the hall, then Coyotl. I went to the driveway to verify Mason was indeed gone, and his truck was nowhere to be seen.

Just what we needed. Someone leaving on the first day because we argued. Well, Zuri did toss him across the room twice, but fuck.

I didn’t have the patience for anything anymore. When I went back inside, I went up to my room and sat on the bed to wait out the rest of the two hours.

To pass the time, I thought of the different players we had in this strange game. This was supposed to be a chance for me to find allies. I knew I had one with Everett, but he was one of the youngest in the room. I needed someone like Chao or Elissa. Marcia was old, but she was exactly what I said she was—a petty bitch with a dash of jealousy for Zuri. Roland seemed like a good guy, had connections with one of my brothers, and had little problem openly supporting Zuri and me. I could win him, but I didn’t know how he felt about Heath. Some of the group was still too new to me and had been too quiet. Marnar was one of those, along with Andon. Others were too hostile, particularly Lonan and Mason.

I texted Heath when my head hurt too much to think anymore. We exchanged sweet messages, but I was unable to tell him much of anything about how my day was going. I wished I could call him or just go home, but it would have been rude to abandon my gathering on the first day.

Eventually, Zuri walked into my room without knocking.

“I was told Mason left,” she said, coming to sit next to me. “We reconvene in ten minutes. I believe it might be best to let everyone make their orders for dinner and continue the day in a more relaxed setting.”

“He might come back tomorrow,” I pointed out. “He told Roland that.”

“We won’t count on it but leave the option open to him. No hostility if he does return, of course.”

“What if Hasan is right? What if this is impossible, and I can’t bring any of them over to my side? What if I’m doomed to fail and lose Heath and get people hurt?” I ran a hand through my hair. “I mean, if they just gave Heath a chance, they might understand. He’s a good man, Zuri. The only reason they have problems is thanks to his being a werewolf and how they think that might affect me. Maybe they can…” I shook my head. “No, I can’t bring Heath here. He’d be in danger.”

“At the end of this, those who want to try will ask to meet him,” Zuri said. “I don’t think our father is right, not entirely. I think we’ll meet some who are never going to change, but some will, or maybe they’re already receptive to it and have never been given a chance to explore it. Everyone downstairs is here for their own reason.” She got to her feet. “Now, let’s go try to finish this day without another fight. I think we’ll be able to keep the conversation focused on how we’re handling the witches and their new trick. We’ll have dinner and continue attempting to bond with them.”

“Most of them,” I mumbled, standing up with her. “Maybe I should find out where Mason is staying.”

“No. He was due an apology if he’d stayed for it like a man,” Zuri said as she led the way out of the room. “But he ran like a petulant boy. We owed him an apology, but we will not grovel for his return.” Zuri stopped at the top of the stairs, looking at me dragging my feet behind her. “And we’ll never win over Marcia. She’s just a bitch, and she’s here to challenge me at every turn.”

“Hannah, too, I bet. You know she was trying to drive a wedge between us the moment she got here.” I started down the stairs before her.

“Hannah is a little girl who listens too much to Seye. While I can’t prove Seye wrong on my account, you might show her you and Iaren’t the same… and Seye doesn’t know you at all.”

“Why didn’t you get involved when he asked? Just curious. I can come up with a few reasons. You don’t like involving yourself in human affairs.”

“There were a dozen reasons at the time. The werewolves were already involved, as you know. That was a risk Jabari and I were uncertain of taking, getting in the middle of their own civil war over the issue. Also, we…” Zuri stopped me before we reached the bottom. “We felt like hypocrites, and we were ashamed.”

“What?” I was surprised by that.

“Jacky… slavery has existed longer than our father has been alive. While the family doesn’t condone it any longer… doesn’t mean we never participated. We might have stopped nearly two thousand years ago, but we were active participants for a long time before that.”

“Oh…”

“Judge me if you like. I have spent centuries judging myself for it.” She kept walking, her head held high. “I was Queen. That isn’t always something to be proud of.” She stopped at the bottom, waiting on me.

“Do you regret not helping?” I asked, walking down slowly.

“No, because I approached the battle from a different front, recognizing the need for it.”

“How so?”

“Father officially declared it illegal among our kind at my behest, and I killed any werecats caught still participating in the barbaric practice once that decree was penned and signed,” she answered. “Seye fought his battle, and I fought mine.”

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