Page 3 of Huntress and the Thorn Court
“It was an accident,” I admitted, seeing injustice in his request.
He ignored me continuing to speak solely to my father. Perhaps it was because he only deemed the leader of the Order worthy to speak to. Or he was chauvinistic. I hoped, for his benefit, the latter wasn’t the case. I wasn’t the type to sit quietly and be ignored.
“It’s your choice. You can either honor the life debt with a hunter of your choosing—” My father would never agree to that. “Or I take the responsible party as my prisoner.” Gideon sent a purposeful glare my way. I couldn’t help but send one back. He wanted blood or me. Only one of those I could live with.
My father stood there silently pondering the offer. I gaped at him. He couldn’t seriously be considering giving up a life? The hunters no longer pretended to work as they all watched with interest.
“How long?” I inquired taking another step forward.
Gideon pivoted to stare skeptically at me. It seemed hecouldhear me over his own virile maleness. “Excuse me?”
I spoke slowly so he might hear me. He probably wasn’t used to listening to women speak. “How long would I be your prisoner?”
“Isabel,” my father interjected but neither the Alpha’s attention nor mine broke from the other. I couldn’t count on my father to do the right thing. He hesitated over Gideon’s offer.
“What is a life worth? Should it not be a lifetime, for that is what you robbed Cyrus of?”
It took everything in me not to roll my eyes. He was needling me and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. “It was an accident. He leapt in front of me taking the bullet I had aimed at his uncle, who would have survived by the way.”
Gideon cocked his head to the side studying me. What did he see? Was he hunting for a weakness? Greater men than him had tried. “Ten years.”
I scoffed at his offer. “At best, his death would be considered manslaughter.”
His lips tugged up in the corner. For a moment I thought he might be fighting off a smirk. How unbecoming for the Alpha. “Under the federal sentencing guidelines, the base penalty for manslaughter is twelve months of incarceration with a maximum penalty of eight years.”
I glanced around the room as I struggled to regain my composure. Clever wolf had just provoked me into a trap. Perhaps I underestimated him. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. How had he known that off the top of his head? I’d have heard if he had a law degree.
“One year then,” I offered, holding my hand out for him to take. I could be jumping the gun. It wasn’t often that I was bested, but one year was nothing in the scheme of things. Shaking hands was the fastest way to bind the deal, something all supernaturals were honor bound to observe.
“Isabel!” My father tried to interject again, but Gideon was already sauntering his way across the floor.
“A year,” he agreed clasping his hand with mine. Tingles spread up my arm almost like there was real magic binding our deal. Warmth flooded my body at the contact that neither of us seemed in a hurry to break. I met his green eyes, which sparkled wickedly causing me just the briefest hint of panic.What had I just agreed to?
3
“How could you be so stupid, Isabel?” My father hadn’t ceased his raving since we departed the assembly chamber. His brown eyes that matched mine in color and shape, shimmered with rage. The metal in the weapon vault glimmered as I bent over removing the hidden blade from my boot and threw it onto the table where my other knives already sat. Weapons of every variety, from blades to guns to bows, hung from the wall creating a uniquely realistic wallpaper. A crate sat just feet away filled with broken knives in need of repair. Black filing cabinets had been repurposed, now filled with foam to hold guns and magazines. Hunters had their own drawer. Mine currently sat empty.
Unholstering my gun, I slammed it onto the table making the weapons rattle. Someone would need to clean it before it was put away. Normally I’d do it myself, but I didn’t have the time.
Gideon had given me until dawn to get my affairs in order, which was more than I expected. My father had asked that since the full moon was happening in just over twelve hours, and the wolves would all be forced to change, that perhaps the Alpha might consider waiting until tomorrow to collect me. The answer had been a resounding no. Gideon wouldn’t risk giving me time to escape, not that I would. I did volunteer after all. I was to bring nothing except the clothes I was wearing. Anything I needed would be provided upon my arrival at the wolves’ stronghold.
“What would you have me do, father? Sacrifice another innocent life just so I wouldn’t have to spend a year as a prisoner?” I jerked open my left bracer and a small knife clattered onto the table.
“Of course not.”
“Really?” I snubbed tossing the bracer onto the table. “Because you seemed to have considered it awfully hard when he presented you the option.”
His face turned red proving to me that he had actually considered killing one of our own just to keep me out of the werewolves’ grasp. He’d deny it if I pressed, so I let him tell his lie. “Of course not. I was trying to think of an alternative, but you just offered yourself up so quickly.” I was proud that I had managed to refrain from rolling my eyes.
“It was you who taught me that my life wasn’t worth anything more than someone else’s. How could I do anything different?”
“We could have offered him a less prominent prisoner,” he whispered not risking anyone overhearing him. I balked in disgust. “Hear me out. You are my daughter.My daughter,a princess of the Order. Who’s to say they’ll follow through at the end of the year and release you? You’d make an excellent bargaining chip.”
“If they do, it’s because you showed your hand tonight instead of treating me like any other hunter who made a mistake. You treated me like the daughter you love. I killed that kid, Dad. Me. Not some lower ranking hunter. I should have seen his intention, but I was so focused on Malcolm that I was distracted from the world around me and it cost both of them their lives. It’s just as much my fault that he died, as it is Malcolm’s or even Cyrus himself. My finger pulled the trigger.”
“Are you sure you’re not just offering yourself up because you feel guilty?”
Was I? Even if I felt justified in the killing, and Gideon had come demanding retribution, I’d still offered myself up refusing to let anyone else suffer for what I’d done. It was a point of honor.
