“You would have told me to wait,” I hissed back, which only made Ian laugh harder.
“Oh, indeed he would have, Cat. You see, you just acknowledged that you consider yourself a vampire. You know what that means, Crispin, as does everyone else here. As a vampire, Cat, you are therefore mine, and I’ll thank you, Crispin, to get away from one of my people.”
“But I challenged Max,” I said angrily. “So he has to accept. And if I kill him, then I’m my own damn vampire, and no one has claim over me!”
Ian laughed more as Bones gave me a look that said he was tempted to throttle me.
“Oh, poppet, you’ve got a few things wrong. You could challenge Max for your freedom—if he was the head of his own line. But he’s not. He’s still under my rule, and you, as a brand-spanking-new member of my line, can’t challenge me for a year. That law was put in place to prevent rash baby vampires from taking on more than they could handle in their first year,” Ian kindly explained. “So as it turned out, I didn’t need to kidnap your men at all, because you’ve just delivered yourself into my hands. And I’m afraid you’ve got three hundred and sixty-five more days before you can issue that same challenge to me. I wonder what we’ll do to fill the time.”
Ian’s grin said he had a few choice ideas picked out already. Inwardly I cursed. Goddamn, why hadn’t I made sure to find out more about lineage and lines before deciding this was a good idea? Why had I let my blinding need for revenge against my father trick me into hiding this from Bones? Mencheres had said revenge was the emptiest of emotions. Apparently it motivated people to do the stupidest things as well.
“Except I’m already Bones’,” I said, using the property card as a last resort. “He’s bitten me and done things in bed with me that are illegal in a few states at least!”
“Lineage trumps property, my dear Reaper,” Ian said silkily. “So while Crispin will no doubt have fond memories of your time together... memories are all he’ll have of you.”
“I beg to differ, Ian,” Bones replied, straightening. “You’re right, lineage does have a higher claim than property. But you have no claim over her if she’s my wife.”
Ian looked as confused as I felt. “But she isn’t,” he stated the obvious.
Bones pulled a knife out from his pocket. I tensed, assuming this meant we were starting the free-for-all. But Bones just drew it once across his palm and then clapped his bleeding hand over my own.
“By my blood, you are my wife,” he said in a clear voice. Then he said more softly to me, “I rather envisioned something more romantic for this, Kitten, but circumstances don’t allow for that.”
“You must be mad!” Ian raged, snatching his own blade from his pants.
“Do not move!” a voice thundered down at once.
Ian froze, and Bones, in the act of whipping his own knife toward Ian, froze as well. A dark-haired figure glided down the aisle, people moving aside to let him through. I didn’t even need to see his face to know it was Mencheres. The unadulterated power washing over me told me that.
“Mencheres,” Bones said, with an inclination of his head. “Am I correct in my assumption?”
“In all ways but one” was the vampire’s smooth reply.
“You have ever taken his side over mine!” Ian snapped, losing his quiet deference.
Bones rolled his eyes. “Not this again.”
“It is not a matter of sides,” Mencheres stated calmly. “I said Bones was right in all ways but one. Cat has not yet claimed him as her husband.”
Ian snatched at that. “You don’t know what that means, Cat. This isn’t like a human marriage, where divorce is as common as breathing. If you agree to this, you’d be bound to Crispin for the rest of your life. No changing your mind, no release from it, until one of you was truly dead. If you even shagged another man, he’d have the right to kill him for it without retribution.”
Mencheres smiled, but it wasn’t cheery. “Yes. Once this is declared, it can never be retracted.”
Brown eyes met mine when I looked away from Mencheres. Bones arched a brow, waiting.
“Don’t you think it’s time you met your father?” Ian baited me next.
That got my attention. I swung back in his direction, and my hand clenched over the knife I’d just accepted from Bones.
Ian pressed his advantage. “I’ll make you a bargain, Cat. A vastly different one from what I’d first intended. You can leave here tonight with my assurances that I won’t press my claim over you, or trouble your men again. Furthermore, I’ll give you Max, to do with what you will. All I require in return is that you refuse this offer and part company with Crispin permanently. Your word on it.”
My mouth hung open, fingers whitening over the handle of the blade.
“Maximillian, come here!” Ian trumpeted.