“Damn you, Rhiannon.” He released me and started to pace. “What you’ve done will cause a chain reaction. I’ve told you what happens when you alter what is meant to be.” Rounding on me, he snapped, “Gabriel was supposed to die tonight. He wasn’t supposed to make it home. What you’ve done… You have no idea, you have no concept. But you will. Very soon, you will.”
“I’ve seen the future, remember?” I reminded him softly. “What I’ve seen is nothing is the worst possible outcome imaginable. Nothing that happens to me could be worse.”
“You might think that now, but when the reckoning comes, you’ll wish you had listened to me.”
I was so tempted to take it further, to tell him exactly what had transpired between us in the future as a result of my actions. Fortunately, something told me to hold back, to keep it to myself. The first person who deserved to know was waiting for me upstairs. It was his reaction I feared the most. I had to learn exactly where it put Disco and I before I placed Paine in the line of fire.
“You’re right, maybe I will. But then again, you could be wrong. Ever think about that?”
Sidestepping him, I headed for the doors, when his ominous warning stopped me. “Have you considered the future that awaits Gabriel now? What will happen to you as a result? Have you even considered how much worse it will be now that you’ve challenged fate?”
Had I thought about it? Yes, I had.
Perhaps it made me a selfish and prideful bitch, but I couldn’t help but think that with me at his side, nothing would have the power to harm him again. Not only was I a necromancer who had yet to learn her full potential, but with Marigold’s amulet, I could head off anything that came his way.
I kept my back to him as I answered. “If anyone or anything comes after him, they’ll have to deal with me. Considering how much things have changed, only a fool would try it. If you don’t believe me, ask Goose.”
Goose’s guilty face greeted me as I exited the room. I had felt his presence the moment Paine had closed the doors behind us. One call from him to Gabriel, and it would have caused a permanent rift in the house. Thankfully, it wasn’t necessary.
“Tell him what you saw at the warehouse,” I told Goose as I stepped into the hallway. “I’ll fill you in on everything later. I have to get upstairs.”
“It’s that thing.” He motioned distastefully at the amulet. “Isn’t it?”
I wrapped my fingers around the stone, barring it from view. “There was something about this that made you uncomfortable. You haven’t liked the amulet from the start. There’s a good reason for it.”
“You shouldn’t dabble in dark magic. It’ll get you killed.”
I smiled, shaking my head. “Seems like everything I get involved with these days might kill me.”
His jaw ticked. “You’re not funny.”
“I suppose some things never change.”
“You and I are going to talk in the morning. I’m staying in one of the guest rooms. Meet me in the kitchen as soon as you wake up. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Done deal, just do me a favor.” At his questioning look I said, “Be sure to bypass breakfast. I’d hate to upset that weak stomach of yours.”
Before he could say anything else, I was walking past the rest of the family, ignoring their curious and angry stares. I’d been gone for a couple of weeks, without any explanation, and I understood their inquisitiveness and outrage. I would be angry too. Vampiric households survived on the strength and solidarity of their bond. As one of their own, I could have betrayed them in the time I’d been gone.
I heard quiet footsteps behind me as I climbed the stairs, and I waited until I was nearing the hall with the bedrooms to stop and turn around. It was Nala, beautiful as always, with an expression I couldn’t read.
“Everyone has a right to know where you’ve been. They’re going to want answers.”
Again, another truth. I did owe them all an explanation. Unfortunately for them, there was one person who had to hear what I had to say first. He ran the house, his word was law, and it would be his decision that kept me here or sent me packing.