Sebastian abruptly stood up, control in every line of his body, the rigid, iron self-discipline that the other clan leaders hadn’t witnessed because they wouldn’t have valued it.They had wanted a raging beast, and he’d given them one, because it would have been worse if he hadn’t.If some of them had mistaken control for weakness at the worst possible time, it could cause their loyalty to waver.
But that wasn’t who Sebastian was.
People discounted Weres because they saw us as hulking brutes who could be dangerous in the right circumstances, but weren’t a threat in the way that some other groups were.We weren’t famous for the long-term planning of the vamps, or the practical ruthlessness of the Circle, or the inscrutability of the fey.We were considered valuable allies, good fighters, but as far as anything else…
Nah.Those dumb beasts were nothing but muscle.And before Sebastian, there had been some truth in that.
But he didn’t fit that profile.He could rage when he needed to, and fight as savagely as any of them, but the cold calculation in those blue eyes spoke of a sharp mind behind it all.And so did his next words.
“We’re focusing on the tool, not the wielder,” he said.“Someone—and it wasn’t that fool Bleddyn—convinced the Black Circle that they could gain an advantage by helping tonight.But it wasn’t the mages who caused half of the room to stand there, doing nothing.Or worse, to fight against us.”
“I heard what the others said, saw the security footage, and so did you.Rand wasn’t taken by surprise—they planned this.They fell on Lia as soon as she left the protection of that shield, knowing she was the only one who could move against their mage allies and even hope to find me, andthey didn’t want me found.”
“Farkas,” Cyrus said.“That oily bastard is smart enough to know that if he removes Bleddyn or puts him in a position to destroy himself, he could take over Rand.Bleddyn is only just mated and has no children yet, so the title would be up for grabs—”
“His deceased younger brother has a child,” Ulmer protested.
“Who is barely five.And the only other contenders are a couple of cousins who never met a fight they didn’t like.Bleddyn dies, and it gets ugly in Rand.”
“Possibly.”Sebastian didn’t look convinced.“But I think this is more complicated than an internal power grab, and it doesn’t have to have originated with Rand.Whoever is behind this would be wiser to use them to take the heat and reserve their own strength.It could even be someone who was just here, pledging me fealty while planning to slip a knife between my ribs—after we’ve been suitably weakened, of course.”
His voice never changed, but I saw the anger in his eyes.Because yeah, this was about real people, wasn’t it?Clan brothers and sisters who would die; that was practically inevitable, even if we won.
And if we lost…
God, how had it come to this?
He looked at Ulmer.“But this is speculation.I need toknow.Is it stupidity on Bleddyn’s part, a power play by Farkas, or something more?Do I have a knife to my throat that I can’t even see, held in the hand of a friend?”
“Maybe,” the big man said.“Or maybe you just don’t want to accept the more obvious answer: that Rand and the others are being played.That the knife isn’t in one of our hands at all, but the Black Circle’s, who don’t want us in alliance with the Corps—”
“Are we back to that again?”
“Yes!We’re back to that again!”Ulmer’s eyes flashed gold for an instant before he reigned it in.“We never left it.Not with the war coming down to bodies—who has more of ‘em, and who can protect what they have while inflicting casualties on their enemies.And the Silver Circle is bigger and stronger than the Black.
“They’ve taken a beating lately, and the dark knows it, but they have, too, and their ranks were smaller to begin with.Us helping to support the Corps is devastating for them, and they wanna stop it at all costs.”
And then he and Sebastian looked at me.
And yeah, I should have seen this coming.“I’m not an expert on the Black Circle,” I told them.“No one is.Secrecy is their biggest weapon—”
“And you’re ours,” Sebastian said simply.“Ulmer is in charge of finding out who is behind the Were part of this, but we have another enemy.”
“And they’re my beat.”I didn’t make it a question because it clearly wasn’t.
“I’m afraid so.If we find out what the Black Circle wants so badly, we might be able to peel them away from Rand.This is going to be an ugly enough fight as it is.I do not need them involved in it.”
“It would help to know who’s wielding whom,” Ulmer agreed.
“What difference does it make?”That voice, angry and impassioned, came from the foyer.Before I could wonder who had stayed behind, Sienna came in.
She was in her early forties, but in her case, the extra years had given her only added presence, the kind that turned heads and would long after the good looks faded.If they ever did.Because hers weren’t about mere beauty, but the intelligence in those dark eyes, the experience attested by the faint lines beside them, the passion in the color that rode high on her cheeks.
Sienna quiet had a simple dignity that glimmered like the metallic threads woven through her gown’s embroidery, but Sienna angry and impassioned—
Was stunning.
Enough that we all paused to look at her.
