“Like hell you did,” Jenner spat. “You came to finish what you started when you murdered my sire.”
Oh boy, here we go. I somehow managed to resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Let me remind you that Harley came to my city to force me into a blood bond. I had every right to defend myself. I am not sorry, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about what he left behind here.”
Jenner mulled that over, clearly unhappy with my refusal to be apologetic. He fell silent, almost sullen. He pressed Sloane’s hand to his face, thoughtfully staring at me with a devilish spark in his eyes.
At last, he dragged his gaze back to Arys, his expression changing to one of violent accusation. “How could you let her do it? He loved you.”
Arys perched on the arm of the couch beside me, shaking his head. Sorrow flickered briefly in his eyes. “We’ve been over this. I told you last time I came that he brought it on himself. I stopped her once. I told him I wouldn’t stop her again.”
“He was so hard headed when it came to you, Arys,” Sloane said with a sigh. “Nothing we said or did would stop him from going after you once he learned that you’d actually found her.”
I frowned, unhappy with being talked about as if I wasn’t present. Apparently, every vampire in Harley’s little blood-sucking family knew about Arys’s dreams and visions of me from before I was born. I didn’t get the feeling they understood it though.
“Yes,” Jenner added bitterly. “Nothing could come between Harley and his favorite.” He pinned me with a chilling stare. “Nothing except you.”
Sibling rivalry. Typical enough, yet Jenner’s words still sent a chill through me. I’d have thought they would be beyond this kind of thing. I guess hundreds of years only intensified those things rather than erased them.
I leaned forward on the couch, never taking my eyes off Jenner. “What is it that really bothers you? That you weren’t Harley’s favorite? Or that I killed him? Claire and Maxwell failed to take me down. So will you. Think carefully about what you want to do here.”
It was a ballsy thing to say, and I was more than a little concerned it would blow up in my face; however, he had me backed into a corner here. If I didn’t come out swinging, Jenner would have the advantage, and he would know it.
Jenner sat stiff in his chair. He dropped Sloane’s hand and clenched his into a fist. His power filled the room, a growing heat that quickly became scorching hot.
“I like her,” Roscoe said with a nod in Arys’s direction. “This bloodline could use a woman like her. Sorry, Sloane.”
She huffed and stuck her nose in the air, refusing to acknowledge his comment. As far as I knew, she was the only existing female in Harley’s bloodline until I turned.
“This isn’t your city.” Jenner’s voice rose in a near shout. “Harley’s dead, and now it’s mine. Arys, take your wolf and leave. This is not your home anymore.”
“No, it’s not. But I won’t be ordered around. I wouldn’t take that shit from Harley, and I sure as hell won’t take it from you.” Arys exuded an outward calm; though I knew inside, he was roiling. “You think playing on stage with humans is the way to run this place? You can’t just walk away from a blood ring. You’re not ready for this city, Jenner.”
Jenner exploded from his chair. Shoving Sloane aside, he hurled a slap of power at Arys who caught it, neutralizing the attack. The close proximity to the shot caused my body to tingle.
Arys rose, meeting Jenner in the center of the sitting area. They stared into each other, and something unspoken passed between them.
“Three of our vampires, including our sire, are dead because of her,” shouted Jenner. “You are obligated to make it right. So either you came here to do that, or you came to challenge my authority.”
Shaz was tense beside me. We exchanged a look, and I gave a slight shake of my head. It wasn’t time to jump in yet, though the room was overflowing with tense vampire energy. Sloane backed away slowly to linger near the door with Roscoe. Jez did the same, keeping her distance from all vampires present.
Arys was tapping so much power it made me lightheaded. He considered Jenner’s demands with a grave expression. “I loved him too, you know. But it happened, and it’s over. How the hell do you expect me to make something like that right?”
“A life for a life. Put one of your shifters in the ring to fight to the death.”
Jenner’s words rang in my ears, but I had to replay it a few times in my head to be sure I’d heard his insane declaration correctly. The silence was deafening. A tirade lurked on the tip of my tongue as every dirty word I wanted to say came to mind.
“You’ve lost your f**king mind.” The atmosphere pulsed with Arys’s vehement declaration.