Page 108 of Night's Fall
Then again, regrettably,Iwas seeing where he was coming from when it came to his brothers.
And it was a very dark place.
I was also seeing why the queen had been so anti-male last night.
Soseeing it.
“Lex—”Germainestarted.
He swung his fury at her.
“Do not ‘Lex,’ me,Maine.Andmark this.Laura, norI, are available for you to trot out to cover for his juvenile, and nowcriminalbullshit.”
“Says the male who murdered another male last night,”Timotheesaid under his breath.
Aleksei swung back toTimothee.
“ThePR60sthose assholes were carrying were modified.Ifhe’d hit me with the beam, even with me as my creature, there’s a very good chance he would have stopped my heart.”
I gasped.
That was news too!
Boy, it had been a really bad idea to conk out during the briefing last night, that much was certain.
But this wasn’t really a surprise, consideringIthought the same weapon had killed my beast.
I told him that last night, but onceIlearned she was with me, it didn’t occur to me to discuss how that same weapon actually would have been able not only to kill my beast, but to killhis.
Which made me wonder, did they not have that same laserpower when they attacked me?Ordid they not intend to kill my beast?
“He was there to killLaura, and/or me, butIkilled him first,”Alekseiclipped. “Sodo not equate what befell my mate andIlast night with dipping your wick into yet another female who you conned into bed with bullshit promises and total lies, did so wrong by her, you didn’t protect her from pregnancy, and then you drugged her without her knowledge.Allyour shit descends to worse shit every time we have a family meeting, andI’mnot covering for you anymore,Tim.Finda gods-damned moral compass, for all of our sakes, but mostly the beings whose lives you tear through, so you’ll stop tearing through them.Ifyou don’t, there will be nothingGermainecan do for you.Thebeings of theFallwill call for your head.Andthese days, that means being stripped of your titles, your accommodation, and your allowance.Dadmight throw you a few marks, but the life you know will be gone.Takethis as the final wakeup call.Andgrow.Thefuck.Up.”
Back toGermaine, and with just an intake of breath, he carried on.
“You are very good at what you do.Releasea statement.Getthem to back off.Explainthat the prince and his mate need time to recover from their ordeal.Wethank everyone for their well-wishes, and to assuage their concerns about us, we’ll appear what?”Helooked down at me. “Tomorrow?Thenext day?”
“Whichever you feel comfortable with,drahko,”Isaid gently.
“Tomorrow,” he decided, aiming thatGermaine’sway. “Noquestions.Photoop only.Westgarden at thePalace.Fifteenminutes.Andfind someone you trust to do an interview for next week.Justme.NotLaura.I’llspeak very briefly on what happened at the gallery last night.Bookit.Thenbook another photo op for the unveiling of the engagement ring the week after, and one interview, the both of us.Ifthey don’t back off from my door today, none of that is happening, and the media freezeout that will ensue will be very fucking cold for a very fucking long time.”
“Seems he’s covering your ass anyway, bro,”Errolnoted towardTimothee.
“This isn’t forTim,”Alekseibit. “Thisis because you threwLauraright under the bus this morning, and nowIhave to pull her out.Lastnight, she faced a threat, andItook a male’s life because of it.Rightnow, you sit in the shelterIprovide for her, and you guided an onslaught right toour door.Thisis aboutmy mate.Getused to this, all of you.Fromhere on, it’s going to be all about my mate.Unlessyou find yours, you won’t understand, but that’s the only way it can be.Buteven if it wasn’t,I’mdone with this bloody fucking circus.”
And with that, he disengaged from me and stormed out of the room.
There was complete silence after his exit.
No one said anything for a long time.
SoIdid.
I looked toGermaineand suggested, “I’mso sorry.ButIthink it would be best to carry through with his requests.Idon’t think he’s going to change his mind.”
“Would you—?” she started.
“I would very much consider,”Mr.Truelockcut in coldly, “what you’re about to ask next.”
