“Why should I believe you?” Carter sounded more than annoyed—he sounded fed up. “You’ve been nothing but trouble since you got here.”
“I warned you to let me go before the novelty wore off. I told you I shouldn’t stay here.” I lifted my head, opened my eyes, and met his steely gaze. “But if you need proof, track down Delores. Marianne said she heard Jackson discussing her plans with the bitch. I’m sure she can fill in all those empty blanks.”
“He was telling the truth, then?” Quinn demanded with a note of hope in his voice, holding his son’s limp body tightly to his chest. “Marianne is still here?”
“She was here.” I shook my head and winced at the throbbing in my temples that occurred as a result. “The tie has been severed. Marianne crossed shortly after she-bitch over there on the floor ate lead.” Their skeptical expressions pissed me off and I snapped, “I think if you take a good look around, you’ll see I’m not lying. Jackson tried to kill your son because he got in her way.”
Carter studied me quietly before he yelled, “Cam! Collect Delores and escort her to the hold for questioning.”
A distant, “You got it,” drifted from the doorway.
“You look like shit,” Carter informed me in a brisk tone, swiping his fingers across my forehead. They came away streaked with blood and gunk. He lifted his hand to display the pink mess. “You’re covered in blood, brain and skull fragments.”
My witty retort vanished when he shook his head, and cleaned the nastiness from my cheeks with tender passes of his fingers. I wasn’t in the mood to fight, not after I’d had my ass well and truly kicked. Every combatant in a fight to the death deserved time to recover if they made it out alive.
“I’d rather be wearing it than displaying it, thank you very fucking much.” I sighed and closed my eyes again.
“Why did she do it?” he asked. “Did you provoke her?”
“Provoke her? Please. I’m not standing in line to be a breeder. Could you imagine? Me as a mommy? That wouldn’t be too warm or fuzzy. I don’t think so.” I chuckled at the utterly ridiculous statement, but stopped when the amulet shifted over a blistered portion of skin on my chest, causing me to wince.
“You’re not making sense,” he grumbled as he carefully inspected the wounds on my thigh.
“Sure I am. You’ve got yourself one hell of a male drought, and Jackson didn’t want to share. It’s a fundamental flaw of Mother Nature. Apparently, she didn’t deem it fit to make enough males to go around. That’s why we have Heinz 57s of all kinds in the world.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you intentionally being stupid?” I clucked my tongue and slowly rotated my head from side to side. “I’m talking about breeding—the natural process by which similar creatures mate and procreate. You know. It’s that whole circle of life thing.”
His hands went still. “She fought you because you wanted to mate with me?”
“No, Mr. Ego.” I moved my head from side to side, although doing so hurt like a bitch. “She fought me because she wanted to mate with you. Huge difference.”
“Denying the attraction that exists between us doesn’t matter. Eventually, you’ll have to face the truth.”
The words—though entirely ridiculous in comparison—were shockingly similar to ones Disco said to me in a time not so long ago. The reminder of those words—and of our lost time together—created grief to go along with my physical misery.
That alone kept me silent. I planted my lips together.
Memories of Disco were too painful.
Especially when I realized I would never see him again.
Channeling my inner Scarlett, I decided I didn’t want to think about that shit today. I’d think about it tomorrow.
“Jax could have killed you,” Carter informed me, tugging at the thin pants to get a better look at my wounds. He cursed at what he found and ripped apart the material.