I snatched the knife from her hand and strode over to her husband, straddling him. Then in one fluid motion, stabbed the dagger into his stomach.
A gurgled sound escaped his throat and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. “You won’t die for a few minutes yet. But you will die. It’s a fatal wound.” I lowered my voice and leaned closer. “Enjoy the pain.”
“Let’s get out of here, man,” Quill said.
I wiped the blood from my dagger on my khaki cargo pants then put it back in the sheath before I stalked to the girl, grabbed her hand, and then hauled ass to the wall.
JEDRIK FLIPPED OUT THE moment I walked through the door into the Toronto Talde house. Actually, flipped out was too mild of a description. More like he seriously freaked and was one pissed off Scar.
By the time I left Liam’s, it had been sunrise, and instead of going home to Danni’s gallery where I currently lived, I came to the Talde house to use the state-of-the-art gym in the basement. Even though Jedrik lived here, along with the other Toronto Scars, I’d expected him to be either in bed sleeping or in the bed of his flavor of the week.
He wasn’t.
He was up raiding the fridge.
“This is flippin’ bullshit, Delar. Are you shittin’ me? Liam? I can smell the bastard all over you. Goddamn stupidest thing you’ve ever done. Okay, it compares to hooking up with hothead Edan—fuck, what are you doing? Liam? A goddamn vampire?”
“Okay, you’ve said that,” I muttered as I leaned up against the wall in the foyer.
Jedrik paced the Persian runner, head low, blond curls bouncing with each furious step. “A vampire? A bloody vampire?” Jedrik repeated himself when he was angry. Maybe because it was so unusual he ever lost it that he needed to double up on the rare occasions he did. “Waleron hears of—”
“He won’t,” I interrupted.
Tac, aka Waleron, finding out I was sleeping with a vampire would be the kicker to my already screwed-up extracurricular activities. That controlled cool he exuded might just crack. Or he’d have to pop a few more of those fucking pills. Either way, it wouldn’t be pretty.
Maybe in some masochistic way, I wanted Jedrik to find out. I needed him to yell and scream and tell me how stupid I was being.
“He found out about Edan. What the hell is with you lately? You take off for two years, no email, no text, no nothing, and then reappear as a Wraith’s sex toy. And now you switch gears and you’re a vampire’s sex toy.”
I stiffened. “This doesn’t concern you, Arrow.”
“Yeah, it does concern me because you’re my best friend.” Jedrik shook his head, hands clenched at his sides. “Liam. Fuck.” He snorted. “It’s Waleron. This has something to do with him. Right? Of course, I’m right. It always has to do with him.” He didn’t give me a chance to answer as he continued. “You’re using these guys like he does Trinity for her visions. Except with you, it’s more than that, isn’t it?” I tensed at how close he was to the truth. “Is it working for you? Well, I sure as fuck hope it has worked its way out of your ass, because I’m not going to stand by and lose you again. Liam finds out you’re using him, he’ll kill you and screw the truce.”
Maybe, but I doubted it.
I was, however, pushing it this time. Hooking up with a Wraith was taboo, frowned upon, yeah, even against the rules, but the Scars and Wraiths were on the same side. Liam might have a truce with the Scars, but he was still the enemy, even if I was doing this to attain info.
“I’ll cool it,” I said, avoiding his eyes as he stepped in front of me.
“Say it again,” Jedrik demanded. “And bloody well look at me, Sass.”
Well, at least he was back to using my nickname. “I’ll cool it.”
“Too broad.”
“Christ, Arrow.” But he knew me too well. “Fine. I’ll stop fucking Li—” I abruptly stopped, eyes widening as the familiar scent plowed into me.
Jedrik grabbed my arm and propelled me toward the kitchen. “Waleron. Shit. He’ll scent Liam in the foyer and have this house in an uproar within seconds. Get the fuck out of here. Go home.”
He dragged me through to the kitchen and yanked open the back door. The cool breeze swept through the room, causing the curtains on the windows to dance.
I hesitated. “Jedrik. Don’t you dare take the hit for me.”
He shrugged.
I glared. “This is my shit. Promise me or I’m staying.”
“Yeah. Fine. Whatever,” he said then shoved me out the door.
I turned and ran.
I heard Waleron shout my name a hundred feet from the house. He never raised his voice unless he was livid, and even that was rare, considering he was the master of control over his emotions.
“Delara!” he shouted again.
I stopped. No point running. It wasn’t like I could avoid him and I didn’t want Jedrik covering for me.
I sighed and headed back to the house, the shrapnel in my heart digging a little deeper.