If she had been pale from tension before, now she turned chalk white. She whispered, “They’ve been engrossing.”
“You know they’re just a taste of what I can do if you really cross me. Tell me you haven’t really crossed me, and you can have your old job back. It’s all there waiting for you—the six-figure income, your nice apartment and all your nice things. The bad dreams will stop. All will be forgiven.” Malphas pulled his lips into a smile and opened his eyes wide. “I promise.”
Xavier moved directly between Tess and Malphas, turning to face the Djinn with reddened eyes and fangs fully descended. Every predatory instinct he possessed urged him to attack, and he had to fight to control himself.
“The Vampyre seems to think he might be able to do something to stop me.” Malphas gave Xavier a vicious look. “How terminally misguided of him. Do you think I should let him try something to make him feel manlier, or should I stake him now and be done with it?”
Julian blurred to Xavier’s side. The Nightkind King’s fangs had descended too. “Attacking one of my subjects is an act of war with the entire Nightkind demesne.”
“If you insist,” snapped the Djinn. “I can stake you too.”
“You know what, Malphas?” Tess said suddenly. “I am so done with you. Do you hear me? I am done. I’m done with your snotty attitude, and your petty cruelties and threats, and this persistent belief you have that you’re untouchable. I’m done being afraid of you. I’m done giving you real estate in my head. I’m getting you out of my life, and burying you in the past where you belong.”
She strode to Soren and held out the sealed envelope.
“What is that?” Malphas said. The open viciousness in his face ebbed and a different kind of tension took its place.
Tess ignored him. She said to Soren, “Will you strike a bargain with me?”
After a long glance at Malphas, Soren smiled. “Why yes, human, I believe I will. What kind of bargain did you have in mind?”
“I want you to take this envelope and keep it safe,” Tess said. “As long as Malphas does nothing to harm me or anyone else in the Nightkind demesne, I want you to promise this envelope stays sealed and unread. But if anything happens to me, or to anybody else I’ve ever known or cared about, I want you to send copies of the contents of this envelope to Senator Jackson, the Elder tribunal, the Nightkind King, the governing body for the Djinn, and every gaming commission in the United States.” She cocked her head. “Actually, please make that every gaming commission for every government worldwide. I would also like for you to send it to every Elder Races and human news outlet. Would you be willing to do that?”
“The terms of this bargain are easily met,” Soren said. “I would. What do you offer me in return?”
Tess’s gaze never wavered. She said steadily, “I hadn’t gotten that far in my thinking. Anything you like.”
“No!” Xavier snapped. Making an open-ended bargain like that with a Djinn was incredibly foolhardy. She was effectively throwing away her life, and Soren would own her.
Julian gripped him by the arm, preventing him from lunging forward.
Soren glanced at the Vampyres then at Malphas, who vibrated with impotent rage. Soren turned back to Tess. “For my end of the bargain, as long as Malphas does nothing to harm you or anyone in your life, you will never reveal the contents of what is inside this envelope to anyone.” He paused, lifting one white eyebrow. “Be careful, human. This bargain is binding. You must never speak of it again.”
The rigid tension eased from Tess’s shoulders, and she took a shaking breath, and Xavier could tell that she knew Soren had given her a reprieve. “I agree.”
“We have a deal,” Soren said. He took the envelope, held out his hand and Tess shook it. He said to Julian, “I’m done here.”
“Thank you for coming,” Julian said.
Soren nodded and vanished.
Julian turned his red gaze to Malphas. He growled, “Leave.”
Malphas ignored him and walked over to Tess, who stood her ground. Oddly, the pariah’s fury seemed to have vanished, to be replaced by fascination.
Malphas said, “You always said you weren’t a gambler, but you just gambled everything on Soren keeping his word. What was in the envelope, Tess?”
She said, “I’ll never tell.”
“Whatever it is, you think it’s worth sending out to every gaming commission in the world?” His gaze was like twin laser beams.
“Malphas, I know for a fact that if the gaming commissions knew what you were doing, no one would ever let you run a respectable casino again.” She leaned forward. “That might not stop you from gambling somewhere, somehow, but it would severely curtail your activities, wouldn’t it?”
After a long moment, he said, “Fine. I don’t expect to see or hear anything from you again.”
She lifted her chin. “Nor I, you.”
He studied her unblinkingly then gave Xavier and Julian one dismissive glance. Without another word, he vanished.