Chapter 22
Balthazar
“If he dies, this is on you, Count.”
I snarled at Connor, my usual calm demeanor falling away, and the vicious monster within raising its head.
He and Ember had arrived for our scheduled meeting just as those mages jumped over the bar.
But instead of leaving immediately, they’d followed me out of the club, interfering where they weren’t wanted.
“Fuck you, Shifter King. He’s mine now. You have no right being here.”
My teeth lengthened to sharp, lethal points, and it took everything I had not to let my second set snap into place and rip his throat out.
Because he was right. This was my fault.
I knew Shane would be a target for my enemies.
So was Sorcha, and I’d still used them as bait.
I’d wanted to see who would come for them.
I hadn’t expected mages, not for Shane. Sor, maybe, but not Shane.
Sorcha had been a target since I’d first taken her from that arrogant dick Nicolai.
I hadn’t considered that my enemies would be so intent on getting to her that they’d poison the plastic of a bank card.
It was a different poison from the one that now infected Shane’s blood.
Were the two attacks coordinated. Had she been a target just because she was my lover?
Or was there something more sinister going on?
If Minerva knew about the prophecy, did others?
Maybe Minerva’s story about finding the scroll was bullshit, just as I’d suspected.
I wouldn’t put it past her to use such an extravagant, well-thought-out lie to save herself.
It crossed my mind that poisoning Sor may have been a distraction to get Shane away from me. But why poison him and then let him go?
Cold fingers of dread grasped my heart. To keep my secrets, I’d killed the old hag who had told me all about my destiny. But what if she wasn’t the only one who’d known?
“He belongs to my House until he says otherwise, Connor. He chose where he wants to be.”
“Did he? Or was he coerced into making that choice?”
“He’s a vampire. He’s not a shifter, not anymore.
He belongs to me.” I made sure my glare was as icy as I could make it.
Yet those words were a lie. It was my heart that belonged to him, not the other way around.
And soon enough, he would hate me, and once he did, he’d run.
Not to the shifters like Connor thought, but to the Mades.
Shane didn’t feel like a shifter anymore.
I’d seen the sorrow in his eyes when we’d been at the compound, and again when he’d turned Connor down.
He didn’t know where he fit in this world, and that was my fault.
I’d deliberately distanced myself. I’d kept him out of meetings.
I hadn’t involved him in the Blood Lust virus outbreaks or training with the squads I sent to quell them.
Being on the outside wasn’t where Shane was used to being.
He’d been an Alpha, responsible for the safety of hundreds of people, and it had been my purpose to make him feel as on the edge of my world as he was of the shifter world.
It had worked. I’d seen the confusion and uncertainty in his eyes every time I’d left him behind, or shut him out of a meeting with Connor and his brothers, or walked away at dawn.
It had been a long time since I’d hated myself for my actions.
And now I was beginning to wonder if my plan was really worth the hurt it would cause the two people who had become more important to me than anyone had ever been.
My nostrils flared, and I squeezed my fist harder and faster, pumping blood into Shane’s lax mouth.
“Dav! Did he say anything before he collapsed?”
“He said hemlock, except that doesn’t make you bleed.”
I dipped my head, working to keep the shock from my face. Hemlock didn’t make supernaturals or humans bleed, though its paralysing effects could be lethal. Yet it was the only thing that could destroy my blood cells. I’d discovered this lethal anomaly in a long distant past.
More blood dribbled down Shane’s chin and neck.
I watched its progress. He wasn’t truly gone, I could feel it.
His energy, his soul, still clung to his useless suit of flesh.
All I needed to do was give him something to fight the poison with—blood, but not mine.
And he needed a beating heart to use it.
Fixing this wasn’t going to happen on the street, not with Connor hovering and the city waking up.
Shane wasn’t safe here. I could feel the presence of those who’d done this nearby, watching us—watching me.
Once I’d saved Shane, I’d hunt them down and end them in the slowest, most painful fashion my ancient brain could devise.
Without looking at Connor again, I heaved Shane into my arms and ran.
Even Connor’s god-like senses wouldn’t be able to track me when I moved this fast. Wind ruffled my long hair, pulling it from the band that held it back.
A door slammed behind me, and I sped up the stairs to the apartment I’d been avoiding and halted.
Shane was dead in my arms. His face was a pale, blood-stained mask, his lips colourless.
Panic tried to drown me, and my arms started to tremble.
No. I had to hold it together. He’d be okay. This had to work.
The door opened, and Sorcha’s scent hit me, unleashing a fresh wave of anxiety. Hell’s teeth! I wasn’t used to caring so much about anyone; now I had two people who were twisting my insides into a godsdamned mess.
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I would save them. They would both live….
“How is she?”
Vito sheathed the gun he’d pointed at my head. “Worried about you guys, and exhausted, but otherwise okay.” He stepped out of my way and gave me a sympathetic look. “Need any help with him?”
“No!” I pulled Shane’s lax body closer.
Vito didn’t react to my snappy reply, just nodded and gave me a reassuring smile. “‘Kay, boss, I’ll be right outside the door if you need anything. More guards are coming to make sure you’re all safe.”
I dipped my chin in acknowledgement. Vito knew Sor and Shane were special to me, even though I’d never expressly said so.
The old crone had said the trifecta would save the world, but she’d only cackled when I’d asked if we would all survive.
Now wasn’t the time to think about such an unclear future.
If I didn’t save Shane, there wouldn’t be one.
And no matter how much they might hate me when I broke them, I wouldn’t be truly letting them go.
Ultimately, they would be mine.
With the way clear, I hurried to the bedroom Shane and Sor shared.
They didn’t know, but I’d watched them as they slept, every night returning from my travels to make sure they were safe.
I’d stationed guards at the apartment doors, and others to follow them.
If they knew the kind of hold they had on me, what they really were to me, my whole plan would fall apart.