Page 73 of Moon Kissed

I snorted. “She tried, believe me. Lucia took quite a while to warm up to me. So long, it still hasn’t happened. But...” I shrugged. “In the end, there’s no such thing as enemies when there’s a bargain to be struck. I have something she wants. She has something I want. It’s a dysfunctional relationship but it work—”

Badr’s hand flashed out, throttling my throat. “Enough,” he gritted. “Fucking enough of your lies!”

I blinked lazily under his spittle.

“Tell me who and where she really is! Tell me now!”

All around us, our audience watched in stunned disbelief. No one was going to step in and stop this.

But one fucking should.My eyes narrowed on Edric. “This is the part where you open your mouth,” I rasped through my clenched throat. “Edric found out everything on Lucia a long time ago. He didn’t say anything because he didn’t want me to tell everyone he breaks into girls’ rooms at night and sniffs their panties.”

“That’s not why!” Edric shouted.

“But you did know?” Orion shot back. “You knew about this chick the whole time and didn’t say anything?”

“Because I didn’t know if it was true, and I wasn’t about to go there to prove it,” he cried. “She’s got our balls in a vise, and she knows it. This Lucia is untouchable. There’s nothing we can do.”Edric turned hateful eyes on me. “We can’t stop the video... so we can’t stop her.”

“Finally,” I said, peeling Badr’s fingers off my neck one by one. “You’re getting it.”

“It’s not true!”

Badr really wouldn’t let a single damn thing go.

“Allying with a vampire is worse than the worst offense against Wolf Nation,” he carried on. “She’d be an outcast. She’d have her ears cut and be thrown out. She wouldn’t go that far, and if she did, she wouldn’t come right out and admit it!”

“Ugh, I didn’t come right out with anything,” I reminded. “Edric was the one creeping on my sim card, and you were the one shouting and bawling for me to tell you where Lucia is. I give you what you want, and now you’re mad and calling me a liar.” I heaved a sigh. “Some people are never pleased no matter what you do.”

His snarl raised my wolf’s hackles. It was taking too long, but I think she was finally starting to see Badr for what he was.

A threat.

“Besides,” I went on, not afraid of him in the slightest. “All the no-good, naughty things I’ve done over the past year and a half would get my ears cut. What’s a vampire friend on top of that?”

Badr’s face changed. He looked at me with such seething hatred, I swore he was going to do it. He was going to leap across and rip my throat out.

Stepping out from behind the table, Badr planted himself in front of me. “Why?” His voice shook as hard as his body. “Just tell me... why.”

I faced him head-on. “I already told you.” My voice was soft, but serious. “I told everyone.”

“That wasn’t the reason.”

“It was—”

“No, it wasn’t! You didn’t kill my brother because you didn’t want to be forced to be the mother wolf, or you would’ve killed us all!”

The barest flicker of surprise popped my brow. Badr picked up on that, did he? Well, I guess someone eventually had to probe that obvious hole in my motive.

“You want something.” His words were arrows through my chest. “You have some kind of plan, and you’re holding the fate of Wolf Nation hostage to get it, and you know what, it’s working!” Emotion bled into his voice. “No one can touch you. No one can kill you. No one can stop you.

“So just tell me.” He flashed out, grasping my shoulders—shaking me. “Tell me why you killed him.”

I didn’t speak for a long spell. No one did. A heavy, smothering hush filled the room as they all waited to hear my response. The truth of what happened that day.

My lips parted.

Crash!

We spun around, all eyes flying to Holly and the plate of steak and pineapple salsa she dumped at Nia’s feet.

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