Liam broke right, Anton following.
A heavy boom ruptured the air and Liam slid back a few feet, the ball clutched to his chest. Liam straightened, his grin cocky as he held the flattened ball out to the side and dropped it.
Nathan let out a battle cry. "You're out!"
Anton cursed, sending me an apologetic look. "Guess you're on your own."
Lovely thought, that.
Makoto got to his feet and jogged toward the rack. "I'll get another one."
Anton headed for the sidelines.
"How about a side wager?" Liam offered.
I couldn't help my immediate wariness. I knew that silky tone. It rarely boded well for me.
"What kind of wager?" I asked after a pause, even knowing I shouldn't.
Damn competitiveness, it made me reckless.
The way Liam's lips curved in victory, as if he had me right where he wanted me, didn't make me feel better.
"Withstand one full powered throw from me, and I won't tell Thomas about your new admirers," he offered.
Alright, he had my interest.
"And if I lose?"
There had to be a catch. I'd learned the hard way that there was always fine print with him. It paid to stay on your toes.
This time his grin was of the panty-melting variety. In another setting, I'd be tempted to take him up on the offer inherent in that expression.
His next words wiped the smile from my face.
"You agree to stay within the Gargoyle until we've dealt with this issue."
Indignation sparked. "That could take centuries."
The Scattered, like all Fae, were immortal. Waiting them out was a foolhardy plan. If they were after me, they weren't likely to forget after a couple of months. Decades, maybe, but more likely it would be centuries.
I'd go crazy stuck in vampire central twenty-four seven for that long.
Liam's expression was unyielding. "That's the offer. Take it or leave it."
"This is blackmail," I told him.
He knew I had no choice but to take it. If he told Thomas, my sire would do the very thing Liam had threatened as a consequence of losing the bet. No more business. No more friends who weren't vampires.
I'd worked too hard for my less than perfect life to sacrifice it without a fight.
"Fine," I barked. "You have a deal."
There was a chorus of ooo's and aww's from the peanut gallery as Liam caught the ball Makoto tossed at him.
"You lot, hush," I snapped. "You'd think you were a bunch of elementary schoolers by the way you act."
That didn't seem to deter them. Nathan let out a cat call as the others pounded a drum beat on the gym floor.
