I clenched my fists. “Yes, it does. Everything matters.”
“Remember when we fled her party and were trying to figure out where to hide? You mentioned my secret cabin, and she heard you. Lenore doesn’t like secrets. She must have followed me or had someone do it,” he said, pacing. “But I’m always exceedingly careful.”
“Obviously not careful enough.”
His gaze was searching as he rounded the bed and approached me. “What happened?”
Despite my taking a deep breath, my hands were shaking. I folded my arms, not wanting to show Christian how rattled I was. But he must have heard my racing heart and noticed a change in me all the same, because he kept the distance between us.
“He’s her guard.” I shook my head and averted my gaze. “He’s her right-hand man. She left us alone during their meeting.”
Christian dipped his chin. “And?”
I took another deep breath and turned to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I need a drink.”
He lightly gripped my arm. “You can’t drown yourself in the bottle. Viktor needs us, and we have to stay ready.”
“What do you expect me to do? Stay calm? I can’t stay calm! That fucking maniac is living in the lap of luxury, protected by a higher authority member. You made that deal with Lenore, and neither of us can go after her. With him at her side, it’s like she’s daring us.”
“Aye. She wants us to take the bait. And rest assured she has plans for when we do.”
“I’m not afraid of dying.”
“You should be more afraid of living. She’ll put us in Breed jail. Do you know how long those convicted sit in there? Imagine serving a few centuries. They don’t have television or books, and it’s not uncommon for them to impale a Vampire during their entire sentence.”
I covered my face, the rage trembling in me like a feral animal.
“I won’t let him harm you,” he said, his vow threading through my soul like a needle sealing a wound. “So I don’t want to see you lying in the fetal position again.”
“I’ll toughen up by tomorrow, but God help her if she parades him around here. This is the only safe space I have.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
I lowered my arms and took a breath. “Do you know the betrayal I felt when I first realized that Creators were supposed to mentor and protect you? Now that he’s out, he could do it again to someone else. I know he’s been juicing in his spare time. He’s a light addict. I don’t think spending months in chains would get it out of his system. He’s addicted to the power and control he has over people when he’s juicing.” I touched my pendant. “I wasn’t expecting to feel this way. I wasn’t expecting a rush of memories and… things I just want to forget.”
Christian sat on the bed, his hands clasped. “I felt that way the first time I saw Lenore. Unlike you, I had more years to process what she did to me. Fletcher put you through hell every day with no escape for months on end. I’ll never truly understand that pain. Maybe it never goes away. But now you know, Raven.”
“Know what?”
“Why the ancients are so detached. Why the older you get, the harder you become. Sometimes I don’t know if I want to help you build a wall or tear it down. All I know is the best peace you’ll ever get is justice. And that won’t happen in any court of law. Fletcher has full rights to you as your Creator, and the Mageri turns a blind eye to what happens behind closed doors. Creators are rare, and they’re the only ones who can make another Mage. So the laws protecthimmore than you.”
I stalked to the fireplace, my blood burning hotter than the flames. Blinded by rage, I picked up the fireplace poker and beat the wall with it. The stone chipped, and the metal end broke and flew at me.
Christian’s arm shot out from behind me, and he caught it in his hand.
When I dropped the metal poker, it clanged against the floor.
“Hit me if it makes you feel better,” he offered. “I won’t feel a thing.”
“You’re not my punching bag.” On a shaky breath, I wiped away a few hot tears. “I’m just mad. And I don’t even know that I’m mad he’s free. It was the way he smiled at me. Like he still owned me. It’s how he was treated with dignity, like he deserves his freedom. Does she know what he did? My own father doesn’t even know every sordid detail. And if shedoesknow, how could she offer a sadistic pig like him protection? I know she’s a lying bitch, but she’s also a woman. Fletcher isn’t the type who would brag about it to others, so she had to have charmed him. I know she did. She probably knows everything.”
Christian pitched the broken metal into the hearth. “Lenore means to win this war. It’s personal now. She’s throwing chum in the water—Fletcher being the chum—and waiting for the sharks.”
“And I guess we’re the sharks?”
