“You can’t give her to him,” Damien said.
Waleron’s jaw clenched. “Abby is a vampire. It’s too late for her. You know this. She will go with us tonight, but Trinity has agreed that Abby will be—”
Fuck, Abby was a vampire? Not that I really gave a shit, except I knew the danger to all of us with her ability.
“No!” Damien shouted, and everyone tensed.
Waleron said, “Tye, take him to the airport.”
Shit, this was not going to go down well. Tye didn’t move and I knew why. Damien was on edge, and if anyone touched him, there was going to be a reaction and not a good one.
Waleron’s words concerning Abby meant fuck all. It was what he didn’t say that spoke volumes, because Waleron had no intention of handing over Abby and her ability to Liam. He would never give a vampire that much power. We all knew it. Damien most of all. Abby would go with them, but she wouldn’t be leaving alive.
Damien’s eyes burned and swirled with wild rage. “Not fuckin’ happening.” Damien began to call to his Ink, but Tye and Keir leapt across the room and took him to the floor.
A wave of familiarity came over me—the day I lost my shit and Waleron put me in Rest. Damien was headed in the same direction.
I’d never cared about Damien, but I saw it and understood. Damien’s expression of pure horror and anger and desperation all mixed together into a whirlpool of rage.
I shielded my telepathy from everyone except Damien. “Don’t make the same mistake I did. Fuck it up, and you will be put in Rest.”
“They can’t kill Abby.”
“You’re no good to her in Rest. You give a shit about her, then stay out of Rest. Get out of here. Walk away. Fuck, go run around the block. I don’t give a shit, but calm your shit and stay out of Rest.”
Damien stopped fighting Keir and Tye, but his breath heaved in and out and his eyes stormed.
“I’ll keep you in the loop,” I said. “You do what you have to with the info. But you need to stay out of Rest to do that.”
“Why the hell would you help me?”
I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t have an answer. I didn’t know why. He wasn’t my friend. Barely knew the guy. But the black and white I lived in for over a century had shifted.
“Get your ass on the plane now, Damien,” Waleron stated.
“I won’t be getting on a plane,.” Damien said.
“I know, but for now, you need to give.”
Damien turned to Waleron. “Let me say goodbye to her.”
Waleron paused then gave an abrupt nod. “Your Scar’s Ink will be covered so he doesn’t rise.” He looked at Tye. “Accompany him.” He turned to the rest of us. “We meet Liam in two hours.” Then Waleron turned to Delara who came down the stairs and everyone tensed.
I didn’t know what was going on, but Delara was pale as fuck and there was a haunted look in her eyes. Waleron was pissed at her, that much was obvious.
“You will come tonight because Liam has demanded your presence,” Waleron said, his voice harsh. “But I expect you gone when this is over. You will go to another Talde.”
Delara opened her mouth, about to say something, her expression filled with pain and horror. The friction between them—and it wasn’t the usual sexual electricity—was catastrophic. Everyone in the room felt it, tasted it, or scented it. I had never seen Delara so meek and fearful before.
She lowered her gaze from Waleron and nodded.
What the fuck? Waleron wanted Delara to leave? Leave the Toronto Talde? Jesus. Every face in the room was stunned into silence, except Jedrik who was stupid enough to protest.
“What are you talking about?” Jedrik looked at Waleron, who gave no answer. Then he turned to Delara. “Delar? Why? What does he mean?”
“Leave it,” Waleron ordered.
Jedrik opened his mouth to retort and Waleron raised his hand and slammed Jedrik with a bolt of energy, sending him across the room and right through the drywall into the next room.
“Jedrik,” Delara cried. She took two steps toward him then stopped. With one look at Waleron, she turned, walked past all of us, and went upstairs.
TYE PROPPED HIS SHOULDER up against the steel door, ankles and arms crossed while he stared at the floor, giving the impression he was casual. He wasn’t. Lowered brows and the twitch in his jaw told me he was anything but.
A fuckin’ guard. That’s what Tye was. Probably smart. No, not probably, it was smart.
He’d snapped a steel plate over my Ink. That argument hadn’t gone down well, but it was a battle I wouldn’t win, and I had to see her.