“Whether you’re guilty of this or not, you deserve to die,” I said. “You stole her human life from her.”
“Perhaps, but you really shouldn’t kill me,” said Marco, smiling. Freak. “I have information you’ll want to hear.”
“Is that so?” Sam snorted. “I think you’ll say anything that you believe will keep you alive.”
“You could be right. But you could be wrong.” He cocked his head. “Would you like to know what the little insignia is on the blog that’s leaking info about our kind?”
Jared stiffened. “How do you know about the blog?”
Marco’s smile widened. “You’re not the only one who keeps a lookout for such things.”
“There is no insignia,” said Sam.
“You didn’t notice the ‘O’ that had a ‘T’ running through it?”
There is a small symbol on the blog, but I didn’t think it meant anything, Jared told me.
“What do you know about it?” Sam asked Marco.
He took a step back. “Can’t say I’m tempted to help you. I don’t like you much. But there is someone I’d like to speak to.”
No prizes for guessing who he was talking about. “Fuck that.”
He ignored me. “Bring my Imani to me. If she wants to hear about the insignia, I’ll tell her.”
“You’ll toy with her,” I corrected.
Again, he ignored me. “It’s a fair deal. You let me live, and I’ll tell Imani what the insignia means.”
“If we let you live,” began Jared, “it would be inside this cell.”
“At least I’d be alive. Bring her to me. Or don’t. The choice is yours.”
Before I could tell him to go fuck himself with a jagged blade, I found myself standing in Sam and Jared’s office.
I immediately began to pace. “He doesn’t know anything. The bastard’s just buying time and playing games. He’d say anything to see Imani. He’s obsessed with her.” Not that I was in a position to judge.
“I agree,” said Sam.
I heard a ‘But’, and I didn’t like it. “But…?”
She sighed. “But this has to be Imani’s decision.”
“No,” I bit out.
“Butch, think about it—”
“He’s bullshitting us, Coach. We can’t ask her to let him play a fucking game with her. He’s hurt her enough.”
“I know, but I will not make decisions for her. It would insult and disrespect her. You know that, which is why you’re not going to pressure her into making the decision you want her to make.”
Inwardly, I snorted. Sam didn’t know me well if she thought that. I was as overprotective of Imani as I’d warned her I’d be. During the transition, she’d been in so much pain, so crazed, and so close to death, that there had been several moments when I’d been sure I would lose her—and it had been fucking excruciating. Whenever I thought about it too much, anxiety chafed the edges of my consciousness until I wanted to punch something.
It had been so fucking hard to watch her in such gut-wrenching pain; to feel so helpless because there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to take it away. The only way I’d been able to help was to feed her. Sam, Jared, and Antonio—being the most powerful on the island—had also acted as regular donors. I’d be eternally grateful for that.
Although a whole lot of people had stopped by to see Imani during the transition, I hadn’t allowed any inside; aware that she wouldn’t have wanted everyone to see her that way. The only vampires I’d let inside that hadn’t been donors were Chico and Lena.
Of course, Fletcher being incredibly dramatic, had staged a protest outside her apartment; marching with huge ‘We want to see Imani’ boards. One deathly look from me had sent him scampering.
Taking a calming breath, I unclenched my fists. “You saw her, Coach. She’s not at full strength yet. And we have no fucking idea what ‘full strength’ will even be now for Imani.”
“I know, and I hate that as much as you do. But there are different kinds of strength. Imani will never be weak. She can do this. Marco can’t hurt her when there’s an impenetrable glass wall between them.”
“There are different kinds of hurt,” I said, paraphrasing her. “We could just torture the info out of him.” I was up for that.
She shook her head. “Imani told us that his gift is to shut off pain, remember?”
I cursed. “Coach, I can’t condone this. The sick fuck will sense that she’s vulnerable, and he’ll leap on it.”
“Probably,” said Sam, grim. “But it still has to be her decision.”
“And if she decides to do this and he fucks with her, we pull her out of there,” Jared vowed.
There was no ‘if’ about it. Imani would do this, Marco would mess with her, and she’d been through enough the past few nights. Still, I nodded, because I knew it was the best deal I’d get. I just hoped Imani declined.
(Imani)