“I’m already mostly dead,” Clive said.
I looked up and found him watching me, his eyes crinkling. He’d used my old joke to take the sting out of Cadmael’s words. The cramping in my stomach relaxed.
You and I know better, he told me.
I kissed him and then turned back to Cadmael. “This last year has been nuts. I’ll give you that, but most of it has had nothing to do with me. Leticia had been causing trouble in the nocturne long before Clive and I got together.”
“Because he’d killed Leticia’s mate for not protecting you,” Cadmael countered.
“Oh, someone’s been listening to gossip. Clive killed Étienne because he made a habit of ignoring Clive’s orders. What would you do if one of your vampires consistently rolled his eyes at your wishes and did whatever he wanted?”
Cadmael didn’t respond, but we all knew the answer.
“Étienne was killed after he blew off guard duty and I was almost killed by a kelpie. That part’s true. But is it why he was killed, Clive?” I asked.
“I gave him his final death because a girl—a seventeen-year-old who’d been brutalized and dumped in a city where she knew no one—was under my protection. I’d informed the nocturne of her status and he ignored my orders to guard her, as he had done before, because he believed a scarred little wolf wasn’t worth his time.”
“That wasn’t his decision,” Cadmael said.
“No,” Clive agreed. “It was not. The only reason she survived was because I heard her scream when the kelpie crushed her and began taking bites out of her. Leticia, Lafitte, Aldith, Garyn can all be traced back to me killing the Atwood men for what they’d done to my sister a thousand years ago. I will point out the one who’s stood by my side through every battle this past year, fighting enemies much older and stronger, is this one right here. As Sam says, you don’t have to like her, but I won’t have her disrespected.”
Cadmael was silent, studying me. I felt him push on my mind, trying to read it, but I smacked him away and slammed down the mental barriers, my candy-coating keeping him out.
The anger disappeared from his face, but I didn’t believe it. I still felt a strange tangle of emotions radiating from him. “My apologies,” he said.
“Accepted,” I shot back. “Good. That’s done.” I turned to Vlad. “What were you saying?”
Shaking his head, he crossed his arms over his chest. “So glad that’s been settled. I asked Clive if he’d been approached by anyone wanting the Guild to loosen our restrictions.”
“I have,” Clive said, wrapping an arm around me. “In subtle and not so subtle ways. I’ve had people refer to the recent battles in San Francisco, wondering if the Guild had responded, if I thought the Guild had the right to censure us. It was done in a way that could have been mere gossip, but the gleam in their eyes told a different story. I believe they wanted to know how far they in turn could go before the Guild would step in.”
“One said it was nice for Clive and Russell that Eli was such an absent Counselor, as neither had to deal with any Guild reprisals,” I volunteered.
Clive nodded. “As though we had been the aggressors, bringing in a legion of vampires and starting brawls in the streets. We did what we could to mitigate the spectacle, altering the memories of those who saw us.”
“If anyone deserved to be punished, it was that whack job Garyn,” I added.
“I believe we took care of that for the Guild,” Clive said.
“Yeah, we did.” I put up my hand and he high-fived me.
Cadmael looked pained by our exchange.
I leaned into Clive. “Sorry. I think I’m losing you your street cred with the other vamps.”
“I’ll survive,” he replied.
“Will you?” Cadmael asked. “Someone poisoned you tonight.”
“Yes,” Clive said. “We discussed that on our walk tonight. Was it the Guild, as far as either of you know?”
“The Guild?” Cadmael asked, his brow furrowed.
“We wondered,” I said, “if Clive was getting slapped down by the Guild for, well, the stuff we’ve just been talking about.”
Vlad scoffed. “Have you any idea how many dead can be put to my name?” He shook his head. “Garyn should have known who she was going up against, the alliances you’ve forged. Stupid vampires deserve final death.”
“A faction within the Guild?” Clive asked.
