“And exporting our tech to humans.” I nodded when he did a double take. “I didn’t know that until right before I was kicked out, I swear it.”
“You’re still going to expose that later, right?” he whispered. “Even the mob doesn’t do anything that fucking stupid.”
“Yes, once I get the women out of range, I’ll hand it all over and let them explode,” I promised, already having planned to tell Theresa since I knew it would be a big win for her firm.
So yes, after that, things blew up. Apparently, I wasn’t as stupid as I’d always been told and had remembered a great deal of information because damage control was being done all over the place. The next weeks were full of news broadcasts of finger-pointing and people denouncing things while denying they knew anything about it.
Some resigning and others being arrested. I cried when my father was dragged out of his castle for what he’d done to me the past fifty years. The maps were discovered in his study just as I’d said, the fool believing that no one would dare touch him even with the interview.
But people also wanted to make it go away so the damage couldn’t spread.
Alexis was given a full “inventory” of women the Graves family owned. She, Theresa, Ellie, Ha-joon, and Creed all looked ill hearing it be described that way when the attorney came to give it over.
Unfortunately, I was used to it.
I immediately grabbed it up and glanced it over. “What is the current cute phrase this generation says? ‘Play stupid games and win stupid prizes?’” I met his gaze and let him see how serious I was. “Do you want to win stupid prizes?”
“I don’t know what you mean and I’m tired of—”
“My disrespect?” I mocked. “Child, I changed your diapers. Never forget that. Your father was actually fairly decent and probably died of a broken heart that you entered employment for my father of your own free will. He was tricked into it and did it for the money to save your mother’s life.” I waved the paper at him. “I immediately see four names missing.”
He bared his teeth at me, his fangs even coming out. “You were locked in a room in that castle, you stupid whore. You don’t know as much as you think and—”
I gasped as Ellie was suddenly there and backhanded the man hard enough that his fang snapped.
“Speak to her like that again and it will be the last thing you say.” She smirked at him when he let out a wail. “Report it. I dare you. Your president will put you in the ground over upsetting me. Get us the full list within the hour or ASH will stop selling blood to all of France. And I will tell themwhy. Don’t make us go looking for more women and blame the Graves.”
A new errand boy came back within thirty minutes with a list that was over two pages. I looked at it closely and started nodding. “I cannot be sure. There needs to be wording saying weneed to do our own investigation. The first was right that I was locked in a castle.”
“More than fair and their president agrees. They’re getting us records but also for the charges against your father,” Theresa said, smirking when the new errand boy went pale.
I wanted to smirk too, but I knew things would get worse before they got better.
And in my life so far, things generally only got worse, so I didn’t have any hope left.
Ever.
10
Creed
Aurora was like a different person when she was fighting for others. If she could channel a fraction of that drive and persistence forherself… I wish she would.
But she was still fighting and there hadn’t been any more situations like on the roof. She heard people and believed now that the shame wasn’t hers. She was dedicated to the sessions with the shrink and her group though she was pretty wrecked after both.
“Are you sure you want to do this today?” I asked her as we headed to meet with that super warlock, Monroe. “I can go alone. I know it’s hard—today is always hard for you.”
“I don’t have much else on my calendar, so I can rest tomorrow,” she told me, always putting herself last.
I accepted it because I didn’t want to go alone again. The last time I’d felt more like a specimen than going to see a doctor. I was glad the warlock had taken an interest in both of our cases and was working with doctors to figure it all out, but that also meant what was going on with me was complicated.
And I was pretty sure it had to something to do with the fact I wasn’t a normal lion, one that wasn’t found in nature. Not even one that had gone extinct.
No, red lions were something of a myth to many and that was why there were so few of us. We couldn’t hide in the wild like other shifters, and if humans ever saw us… Albino animals were hunted for their rare qualities too.
Yeah, make sure to kill something so only you could have it, assholes. That made perfect sense.
Fuckers. Really, too many people were just fuckers.
