Page 8 of Hunted
“Calm yourself, snake,” Robin drawled.“I only said that would be the logical thing to do.”Her husky voice was still calm, unaffected.“But clearly this court no longer functions with any sort of logic.We’re allheart,andemotions.It’s sickening, really.”
Colors and shadows shifted as she took a seat.“As Yukio so aptly pointed out, we don’t need to actually honor the agreement with Acacia.All we have to do is play along long enough to get what we need.Acacia insists she can help us find where the emperor is currently hiding.If that’s true, it will make our hunt for him that much easier.And I’m hoping she can relay some of his weaknesses so we can face him better prepared.”She huffed.“We were already going to kill him, so the agreement with her doesn’t really change anything, it’s just one more nose in our business.But I’m well used to syndicate morons sniffing around court business.If we can use this to our advantage, we will.”
A rattle of ice in a glass, then she continued.“Acaciawillscrew us over though, make no mistake.I think it’s glaringly obvious that her endgame is to insert herself as the new empress of the syndicate.Once the emperor is dead, she won’t need us anymore.If she’s smart, she’ll immediately kill us all once we’ve served our purpose.It would make her look strongerandeliminate a massive threat to her continued existence.”
I sighed.It wasn’t that I wassurprisedby any of this underhanded plotting.Just disappointed, I suppose.I’d had my rose-colored glasses ripped off well before now.But still, I wished the world wasn’t quite so awful and that, for once, people and situations could just be exactly what they seemed to be at first glance.
Dusek’s dark energy curled and twisted, moving a bit closer to where I sat.I reached out a hand and dragged my fingers through the shadows, shuddering at the fear that skittered over me, but wanting to greet him, regardless.The cool kiss of his dark aura made my breath hitch, but I easily reminded myself that there was hardly any difference at all between fear and breathless exhilaration.The shiver that followed was tinged with something more than simple fear.If only Dusek wasn’t soconvincedthat he was a monster....
Sadavir hissed, startling me out of my distracted thoughts.Goddess.There were far more important things going on here.I tried to do a mental calculation to figure out if my next heat might be creeping up on me already and addling my brain.But Sanka spoke, translating Sadavir’s words aloud for my benefit, and I dropped that line of thinking.
“I want to keep Josh safe from that monster, but there is more than just Josh’slifeat risk here.There are worse things than death.This alliance is the only reason Acacia hasn’t taken him back by force.If we anger her or try to kill her and fail, she can call him to her using the maker’s bond.I will not have him become a slave to that monster.Never again.”
“Josh would agree,” Martina said, her tone of voice dry.“But he wouldn’t tell us to hesitate on his behalf.I bet he’d look at things more logically.He wouldn’t want to endanger the rest of the court by trying to save his own ass.”She scoffed.“I’ve been a vampire slave.Trust me.He’d be better off executed by us, or dying from our killing Acacia, than risking life as a slave.”She snorted.“I bet if he was here, he’d tell us to end him right now and take her bargaining chip away.He may beannoyinglynice.But he’s not an idiot.”
Sadavir didn’t like that, of course.But he couldn’t exactly say for sure that she was wrong.
That was the part that gnawed at me.Here we were, talking about Josh’s future, discussing him like he was nothing more than an obstacle or a possession, and he didn’t even get a say.We could ask him what he thought we should do.But then again, I was pretty sure I knew how he’d respond.Ever since he was turned into a vampire, he had been utterly hollow.Like someone had scraped out his insides and left nothing but a shell.
The last time I saw him, he barely spoke with me.His aura had felt paper-thin, but jagged, both...worn and sharply dangerous all at once.He had shied away when I tried to touch him.As if he would cut me.I knew the others sensed it too.But none of us knew what to do for him.
Across the room, Queen Cat gave a little chirp.“Talking, talking, talking.Why are my silly human subjects so constantlychurnedup?”She demanded.Though I was the only one who understood her.
There was a huff of laughter and someone snorted.
She just jumped right up onto Robin’s lap like she owns the place,Cicely informed me via mind speak, his thoughts full of humor.Your pets are brave.
Interesting.Robin didn’t usually tolerate the cat very well.I secretly thought it was because they were too much alike—they both thought they were in charge and wanted to be the center of attention at all times.
The entire room paused as we waited for Robin to react.But Robin didn’t toss the cat off or make a disdainful comment.That, more than anything, confirmed my worst fear.She was cracking.
Always so dramatic,Cicely informed me.Though I wasn’t sure if he meant me, Robin, or Queen Cat.Maybe all three.
“Ruya, darling,” Robin said in a deceptively soft tone of voice.“I think your animals need to see a vet.They seem to have acquired some kind of brain parasite that has robbed them of any sense of self-preservation.This is the second time I’ve been assaulted by one of your strays.”
I opened my mouth to tell her not to start a war with the cat—one she wouldn’t win.But there was a flutter of wings, and a dark blur divebombed from the ceiling before I could speak.Cicely narrated to me mentally, explaining that Vlad had just dropped a small, dead lizard onto the tablet Yukio held in his lap.
Yukio sighed, and the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees with his displeasure.Then the moment passed, a tiny bit of the weight lifting from the room.
“I understand we’re just humoring Acacia until we can get Josh free,” I said, reluctantly bringing everyone back to the topic at hand.“But this isn’t sustainable.We can’t just stay on high alert and hope Acacia doesn’t act on her threats while we prepare to go after the emperor.We need a plan that doesn’t mean Josh has to suffer alone with that monster in his head.At least, not for a single second longer than absolutely necessary.”
Robin’s red aura flared.She was probably pissed that I’d made it sound like she wasn’t doing anything.“We’re working on it,” she murmured.
“With Josh?”I asked.“Have you included him at all in your scheming?”
The heat and power coming off her subtly increased.“It’smyresponsibility to find a solution.I’m the alpha here.”
“Josh is mine,” Sadavir ground out verbally, voice low.His responsibility, he meant.BecauseSadavirwas Josh’s alpha, not Robin.But...Robin had just implied that the vampire was hers to protect.Interesting.
I held up my hands to quell the alpha posturing that I could feel coming.“I know you both want to do your alpha thing and keep him safe.But isolating him isn’t good for him.I think it’s making things worse.”It was driving him mad.I was truly afraid he might go crazy if he didn’t get out of that room and feel like he was contributing to his own salvation.
The silence that followed was...exhausted.
Everyone was tired.Everyone was angry.Everyone was scared, whether they admitted it or not.We all knew Josh was suffering.But we also knew Acacia could use him to spy on every single thing we did.And if we wanted to eventually beat her to the backstabbing...well, we’d need to be one-step ahead.And we couldn’t do that if she knew everything we discussed.We also couldn’t talk to Josh about breaking her hold on him if she was just going to listen in and counteract every attempt.
I let my aura expand again—just a little.A balm over fraying tempers.A gentle nudge toward calm.
“I think we should take some time and regroup,” I said.“Not to argue about what’s been already been done, but to decide what comes next.Together.And I think Josh should be involved.This affects him more than anyone else in this room.”
