I blew out a long hard breath. So denial it was. Wonderful.
“How was your date?”
This time it was my turn to be confused. “Uh… it was fine. Great even, until it was interrupted by a murder.” I ended with a hard note and a pointed look.
Kyren hummed and turned the page. “How unfortunate.”
“Yeah, you know it kind of was, Kyren.” I huffed, tired of his games. “What were you even doing there?”
Leaning his face on his hand, he leisurely turned the pages of his book, not even reading the words anymore. “Can’t I miss my lover?”
He always said I was the one who liked to cause a fuss and make a scene, but out of the two of us, he was far more the dramatic one. Especially, it seemed where Jack was involved.
“You knew I was going to be with Jack today. Were you trying to come see her, too?”
This question Kyren didn’t answer. He snapped his book closed and lifted his eyes to the fireplace where the wood crackled and popped. He didn’t need the fire, he didn’t even feel the cold, and yet he always wanted a fire going.
The shift in his expression had my own softening. “Kyren, baby.” I shifted forward and reached for him, placing my hand on top of his on the armchair. “It’s okay to miss her. No one will know if you choose her over vengeance.”
“I will.”
Blowing out a breath, I stood and went to the side of the room where Kyren kept the alcohol and tumblers. I popped the lid off the crystal bottle of rum and poured a generous amount into the glass.
When we first got together, I listened to Kyren complain about the Durands and how he would make them pay for killing his sire. It was all he could talk about most days unless I distracted him in some way. Over the years, I thought I’d done a good job getting his mind off of the Durands and vengeance. Until Jack showed up in our lives.
Now, he was about to let his grudge not only ruin his own happiness but my own and I wasn’t going to have it.
Swallowing a large gulp from the glass, savoring the burn going down my throat before I turned back to Kyren, I stated plainly, “I’m done.”
Kyren’s eyes lifted to mine. “What?”
“I’m done fighting with you about Jack. Be with her, don’t be with her, but you’re not fooling anyone with this act you have going on here.”
Anger flashed through Kyren’s eyes, his jaw tightening. “What act?”
Holding the glass between my hands, I walked over and sat on the arm of his chair my side pressed against his. “Why did you kill that vampire?”
Kyren’s gaze turned back to the fire. “She annoyed me.”
I snorted. “How about a real answer now?”
His eyes didn’t move from the fire for a long moment before he answered. “Why do these imbeciles think just because I’m not with her at the moment that I wanted to help them kill her or take out the Durands?”
My brow lifted. “And you don’t?”
A low growl rumbled against my side. “I do not want her dead.”
“And the Durands…?”
Kyren grunted. “I guess I could see where they were coming from. If someone had kidnapped and threatened you or… Jack, I wouldn’t show any mercy either.”
I huffed a laugh. “I think your little display today proved that.”
He shot me a flat look before taking the glass from my hand. “She kept insultingla mia.Wanted me to join their little group of anarchists to take down the council.” He tipped the rest of the glass back and drained it.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. “Why didn’t you just tell her no?” I asked, my hand dipping in to pull it out.
“I did. She wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Kyren continued and then noticed that I was staring at my phone. “What is it?”
