She placed her brown hands over his. “I would never do anything to jeopardize Keystone.”
He stood upright and glared at Wyatt and Shepherd. “I thought you were leaders and not followers. I’ve always been fair to each of you, and I care for you as one of my own. There are moments when you have to make quick decisions, and I try to support you where I can and teach you the right way. Raven killing the Mage was a decision forced upon her by circumstance, and for that reason, I had to accept it, just as I’ve accepted many of your actions. But this… this was premeditated,” he said, turning on his heel to face me. “It is not easy to have so many lives dependent on me, and now one is lost. If you deceived me once, you’ll do it again and again. I gave you a probationary period as a second opportunity to prove to me that you were willing to change, but you did not. For that reason, you must leave.”
I waited for the punch line that never came.
“But nothing happened. We just confronted him.”
“Nyet. You turned my men against me and devised a plan without my knowledge. How is that nothing?”
“If I hadn’t done it, you would have never known what happened to Christian. You would have just assumed he took off and left Keystone. Darius should know I’m watching his every move; sometimes that’s enough to make a man play by the rules. He’ll be too afraid of getting caught.”
Viktor folded his arms, never removing his eyes from mine. “Without a Vampire on site, I cannot scrub your memories of what little you know. I’m certain you won’t be waiting voluntarily for that to happen, and I do not wish to hold you by force and hurt you. I will reach out to an associate, and he will complete the task by nightfall.”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell someone your secrets before then?”
“To whom? You do not have friends.”
Niko rose to his feet. “You can’t do this, Viktor. He’ll kill her. She doesn’t have protection, and without her memory, she’ll be a target.”
“She’s no longer my responsibility. I have opened my home to her and given her more opportunities than I gave to any one of you. I took a chance because of her uniqueness, but I am not willing to sacrifice this organization or any of your lives for an impetuous rogue. You are all gifted, but when it comes to choosing people for Keystone, I only want those who are willing to die for their brethren, not be the cause of their death.”
“Give it time,” Niko pleaded.
Viktor shook his head. “We have lost a good man. I’m out of time.”
I stood up, the welcome mat having been ripped out from beneath me. “No hard feelings, Viktor. Obviously I wasn’t cut out for this kind of work, but just so you know, if you send a Vampire to scrub my memories, don’t be surprised if he turns up missing. I don’t voluntarily give up anything that’s mine.”
No one tried to stop me, and while I packed my bag with the things I came with, my only regret was having let Darius walk out of that shop. Killing him could have led to my arrest, but how bad could Breed jail be? At least I’d have a warm bed.
Damn if I didn’t cry while Blue was driving me back to the city. I turned my head so she couldn’t see the doleful look in my eyes as I watched my future drifting farther away. Life had taught me to be cynical, and even though I’d been skeptical about Keystone from the start, I couldn’t deny that I’d become attached to the idea. Gem and Niko had grown on me—a reminder of how much I missed having friends. Even something as simple as sitting at a table filled with laughter and conversation had given me a glimpse of a life I’d never had. Some of them might have thought I had set my sights on living in a big mansion, but I was happy just to have had a bath. Most of all, I was going to miss the view from the rooftop.
Once again, destiny screwed me over.
“Do you have a place to go?” Blue asked.
“There’s a diner up the road called Ruby’s. That would be great.”
After a few more turns, she pulled up to the diner and parked in a fire lane. We watched a young boy standing outside, washing one of the windows with a squeegee.
“Viktor’s not a bad guy,” she said. “I can’t imagine the kind of decisions he has to make and the pressure he feels having our lives in his hands, so I trust his judgment. I’m a Shifter like he is, so maybe I understand his ways a little better. Loyalty is everything to our kind, so we have to respect him as a leader. I haven’t gotten to know you very well, but you seem like a strong woman. Maybe too strong an influence.”
I gripped the door handle. “Yeah, but what did Viktor say earlier to Wyatt and Shepherd? That he wanted leaders, not followers. Take care, Blue. Maybe we’ll run into each other again someday.”
“Yes, but you won’t remember me. So long, Raven.”