Page 66 of Hunted
“She’s neutral,” Robin said.“She hasn’t gotten involved with the syndicate in fifty years.”
“She’s also powerful,” Dusek said.“And respected.Acacia wouldn’t want her suddenlydecidingto get involved when the vampire bitch makes a move for the syndicate throne.”
“So we kill her for what shemightdo?”Ruya’s voice was rising.“You can’t be serious.”
It hurt watching her, hearing the frustration in her voice.I knew what it was like to try to keep your softness and moral compass in a world that was constantly trying to destroy them.Being a beta at the Naga court wasn’t without its trials...but my time spent serving the syndicate vampires was what had really killed that hope.The nightmare of living in the vampire coven had instilled a healthy dose of cynicism in me.Ruya’s insistence made me sad for the hopefulness and faith in goodness that I had lost along the way.
Robin’s jaw clenched.“We’re not having this argument every time.”She carefully avoided looking at Ruya, rocking her head side to side to crack her neck.
“We should,” Ruya snapped.“Because every time we say yes, we help her.Every time we say yes, another person dies.”
“And every time we say no,” Dusek said quietly, with a sad nod toward me, “Josh gets hurt and one of us bleeds.”
That silenced the room.
I stared at the table.The words weren’t wrong.But they still carved the wound even deeper.My very existence was pain, for me and everyone around me.
Robin exhaled, and I glanced up to find her gaze pinned on me.Her golden eyes glowed faintly, and the pupils were slightly elongated as her dragon side tried to push forward.“We’ll go,” she said evenly, with the alpha confidence that her word was law.
“Just like that?”Ruya demanded, but her voice had lost some of its fury and insistence, with the reminder of my pathetic situation.
“Just like that.”Robin’s voice was flat.“Because it’s us or them.And I am not losing any of the people under my protection.”She glanced at me again, raising a perfect brow and giving me a look that said she wouldn’t be defied.“And that includes you, Joshie darling.Next time she makes some absurd demand, bring it to me immediately.”
My voice came out a cracked whisper.“I’m sorry.”But Robin had already looked away as the others bombarded her with questions and practicalities.No one heard me.
Only Odin, perched in the rafters, turned his black eyes down toward me.He let out a soft caw.
A second later, Ruya came to me, as if the crow’s call had alerted her I was in need of her attention.“It’s not your fault,” she whispered, reaching for me, taking my cold hands in her warm ones and letting a gentle slip of her healing magic work its way into my aura, healing what it could.
Her touch thawed some of the pain wrapped around my heart.But it didn’t change what I was, or what I was doing to this court.
Chapter 23
Robin
The air in the workroomhad the thickness of a storm about to break.After delivering his message, Josh had retreated to his locked, warded room in the guest wing, as if that would keep Acacia from using him again—or keep him safe from everyone’s judgement.The moment he left, the rest of the court had erupted into chaos.
