Page 8 of Blades and Bone

Hamish blinked, sure he’d misheard.

Him? His lips parted before he remembered the warning not to speak and glanced at Garrick instead. Garrick didn’t look at him.

Vivian was talking. He whipped his attention back to her. “We offer Brodie Ashby to formalize the union.”

Hamish stared at the vampire opposite him. Brodie had known what was going on. Garrick had known.

And he still had no fucking idea. Was he about to be killed?

Brodie inclined his head.

Should he have done the same? Fuck that. He hadn’t agreed to anything. Except that he had offered Ann his life every time he swore and got the fresh ink of the Reids on his wrist. He’d thought it a symbolic relic of the past.

The Ashbys were all looking at him now. Was he supposed to do something?

Vivian smiled, the tips of her fangs visible. “Hamish looks a little confused.”

Elizabeth glanced at him. “You’re getting married. Smile.”

“What?” The word fell from Hamish’s lips.

Garrick sighed.

Ann began to turn, and Hamish wanted to grab the word and shove it down his throat.

“You didn’t tell him,” Vivian demanded.

Ann’s attention returned to her. “No. He didn’t need to know until everything was finalized. I do not share decisions with underlings. When you have as many as I do, you will understand the chaos that can cause.”

Underling? He was her great-nephew. She couldn’t drag him to the other side of the country to marry him off to a stranger from another family. This wasn’t the Middle Ages, or even the eighteenth century.

And if he refused?

The deal would be off, and both families would be vulnerable.

His mind raced to find solutions, but there weren’t any. Anything he did beyond agreeing gave the Orlans an advantage they didn’t need. While he didn’t give a shit about the Ashbys, he didn’t want the Orlans taking over Reid territory or becoming stronger on the east coast.

Vivian arched an eyebrow. “And will your underling obey?”

“He will unless he wants the blood sacrifice to be more literal and final,” Ann said without looking at him.

Would she really kill him, or let the Ashbys kill him?

“Well,” Vivian said, staring at him. “Do you intend to marry my brother or be my supper?” Her hand slid to her stomach. “I am rather hungry these days.”

Vivian was pregnant.

Ann drew in a sharp breath. She hadn’t known. Was the deal about to break?

He felt Garrick’s gaze on him. More use alive than dead.

He was never talking to Garrick again. Garrick should’ve told him. But if he had, Ann would’ve known, and they both would’ve been in trouble.

His heartbeat was heavy and loud as everyone waited for him to speak, but now that he’d been given permission, he didn’t know what to say. In that moment, he had the power to destroy two families and his own life. Or would Ann simply move on to the next one? Would she step over his body and offer Garrick to make amends, ruining Garrick’s life? What would happen to his human boyfriend?

Oh…in that heartbeat, everything clicked into place. This was punishment for raiding the house and saving Trent. He looked at Garrick. Not being able to tell him had been part of it, another loyalty test for her son to perform.

Garrick gave him a slight nod.