My brows arched. “Darius’s Creator? That’s a little awkward. I thought we’d be on his hit list or something for the embarrassment we caused after turning his progeny over to the police.”
Viktor stroked his beard. “Do not be so quick to judge. He no longer has to worry about what Darius is doing behind his back to sully his name. Patrick is not a man to be trifled with, and we have saved him from more years of embarrassment. Perhaps he realizes this and wants to make amends. He has a position with the higher authority; we could use friends like him.”
“Here’s your eggs,” Blue said, circling his chair and handing him a plate.
We had a rule about eating at the table, but it was mostly to keep us all together as a group. Since three of us were already in there and Viktor was the leader, it wasn’t worth bringing up.
“What would I do without my Blue?” He graciously took her offering and began to eat.
Blue had a proud look on her face as she neared the hearth with her hands outstretched to embrace its warmth. The edges of her long, silky hair caught the light, but everything about Blue was dark, from her tank top to her cargo pants. The tomahawk hung from a sheath affixed to her belt. Blue was pretty badass, even by my standards, but more aloof than the rest of the crew.
Gem laced her fingers together, her voice calm. “So what’s the ruling on the party?”
Viktor stabbed several chunks of scrambled eggs and swirled them in what looked like hot sauce. “We go.”
Gem sprang to her feet. “I’m going as a sorceress!” A ball of light formed in her hand, and she whirled in a circle, showering sparks all around her.
Viktor choked on his eggs. “Not in the house!” Then he spouted off in Russian.
The light dissipated. “I have it under control,” she said with a worried glance.
Viktor was sweating bullets. “You know how that makes me uncomfortable.”
Gem sulked and left the room, but I could tell by her shifting expression that her thoughts were already switching to the ball.
“What was that about?” I asked.
A small piece of egg stuck to his beard as he finished his meal. “Gem’s unique gift as a Mage is also a destructive one. Sometimes she does not respect the power and wields it like a toy.”
That made me curious, but we didn’t discuss other people’s gifts or personal business when they weren’t present. Gossip created mistrust. If you wanted someone to know about you, then you invited them into the fold.
Blue collected his plate and pinched the egg off his beard. His cheeks pinkened as he groomed it and turned his gaze to the fire.
“What about Christian?”
Viktor lifted his glass. “I never want any of you to think you don’t have a safe haven here. I’ll send him another message, but I suspect he will ignore my request. When you speak to him, assure him that he has my protection. I am not luring him home to have him arrested. No one searches or enters Keystone without a warrant, and Regulators will require more substantial proof than a candy wrapper.”
“I thought that was enough?”
“It’s enough to point a finger. In addition to motive, the higher authority has always required substantial evidence to convict.”
I worried my lip. “I don’t know, Viktor. Christian’s scarf on her neck, a ton of witnesses at the club, the bite marks, the fact that Glass and I saw them together—that’s a lot of evidence.”
He rubbed his face. “I’m grateful I’m not a human—I’d have an ulcer.”
Chapter 20
The candleon the bedside table flickered when I turned a page in Penny’s diary. I was curled up in bed with a warm blanket over my feet, reading by candlelight.
Over the course of the past two hours, I’d become immersed in her life, her thoughts, and her dreams. It gave me a glimpse of my own future as an immortal—the struggles I might one day begin to experience with loss, regret, time, and change. The difference between us was that my life had a purpose. Penny seemed to be adrift in the immortal world after she lost Lachlan. Hewasher world—the reason she wanted to live forever. Not to conquer nations, not to amass a fortune, but to love a man. And when the love disappeared, she was left to fend for herself, discovering just how cruel and unforgiving the Breed world could be.
She’d made money through human investments, and it required a lot of coordination with experts in the Breed world who made sure the money would stay with her through the centuries without anyone discovering her identity.
So many of her thoughts were mine. I turned another page, reading about the remorse she felt after hunting down and murdering the man who’d killed Lachlan. She had acquired a stunner to render him paralyzed, left him in his home, and set it ablaze. I thought it was sweet revenge, as did she, but over time, the murder had consumed her. She wondered what kind of monster she’d become to commit an act so brutal. Penny struggled with her inner demons for a long time, and it made me reflect on my own choices. The men I’d killed were all guilty, and yet I didn’t feel a sliver of remorse. Was I missing a crucial piece of my humanity that I could kill so easily without regret?
I turned to the next page. Penny reached the age of technology and bought herself a computer, where she discovered a new friend through a Breed website for lonely immortals seeking companionship. By then, she’d become a recluse, but suddenly her world opened up through intimate conversations with strangers.
There’s one man I can’t stop thinking about. He’s different from the others because he’s not asking me superficial questions about what I do and who my Creator is. He’s searching for someone to fill the emptiness in his life—to brighten it with a smile and a kind word. Someone he can cherish, who can see the man that others don’t. He’s searching for someone with an open heart, and something tells me he’s a little broken. We can send pictures privately, but he’s guarded about his looks. I never wanted to believe that love might be possible after Lachlan, that I could have a life after losing everything, but I’m beginning to hope. I’ve never done anything like this before, but I agreed to meet Willard. He’s insecure about his name and asked me to call him Will, but I won’t. I want him to know I’m not like other women.
