change."
Her voice gentled. "You lit him on fire. You burned him alive, Davy. I was there and don't act like you were doing it to save yourself. You were doing it to hurt him. You wanted him dead."
"I didn't kill him. Those hunters—" My voice trembled.
"Those hunters ripped him apart, but he was dying anyway. He was already on fire when they got him. You killed him; they just made it go faster. You're going to have to do worse. You know that, right?"
Could I deal with what I'd done in the past? Craig had been obsessed and a vampire stalking me had made me go crazy. I won't ever deny that, but to acknowledge that I'd made the decision to kill him… I wanted to hide from that reality. I knew it was there. I'd made the decision, but what sort of a human was I if I could do that and then pretend I was still normal? What did that say about me?
"Davy, this is just the beginning." Kates sounded shaken. "I thought you were ready. I thought Roane had been prepping you this whole time, but he hasn't. You aren't ready for anything."
"I'm ready for what I need to be!" I shouted at her, but stopped when someone else knocked on my door.
Emily poked her head inside. "Can we come in?"
"We?" Kates laughed under her breath.
Pippa and Brown followed behind. All three of them looked around the room.
"You have a better room than me," Brown exclaimed. "You could have two bedrooms in this room."
"Three." Pippa gave me a shy smile.
Emily was quiet, but she glared at Kates before she sat in a far corner.
Kates' eyebrows went up. "Could you find a seat farther? In the next room maybe?"
"Kates."
"What?" She looked at me. "The girl's got a problem with me. I'm just pointing out the nonverbals."
"Nonverbals?" Brown's eyes danced between us.
"She glared at me and then sat as far away as possible. You know what that's called? Passive aggressive. I've heard that's not good."
"Leave her alone." I felt a headache coming on.
"Tell her not to glare at me."
"She didn't say anything."
"That's the point. Passive aggressive. She's being passively aggressive with me and it worked. She's got you doing her dirty work."
"That makes sense," Brown murmured as she sat beside me on the bed.
"Thank you."
"I don't like you. You know that." Emily glared again.
"It's like you're blaming me for this. I had nothing to do with it. If you want to blame someone, blame your wolverine, not me."
"What are you talking about?" My roommate stood. "Not all werewolves are connected to each other. They don't all know each other."
"No, but when your honey runs to the Mother after meeting Davy for two seconds and she sends a pack after her, I'd say he had something to do with it."
"Pete had nothing to do with that. And what does this have to do with Davy?"
"Please. Everybody knows it. Even the witch knows."
Brown gave Emily a tentative smile. "He was there."
"Pete would never hurt anybody. He's not like that."
Pippa's eyes went wide and Kates snorted in disbelief.
"What?" Emily looked around. "He wouldn't."
"Do you know that he changes into a werewolf?"
"That doesn't mean he hurts people."
Kates laughed. "I just want to make sure you're not denying that too."
My roommate's face twisted into an angry scowl.
"Ask her." Kates gestured to Pippa. "Weren't they friends since the cradle or something? She's the one who warned Davy."
Emily gasped. "Pippa? Is that true?"
The wolf squirmed. "I think there are things about Pete you may not know about right now."
"Did you warn Davy about the attack?"
Pippa nodded.
"Pete was behind it?"
"I really shouldn't say anything. Pete wants to be the one to explain things. It's not my place."
Kates snorted again. "Way to take the pussy way out. You're not running for office."
Pippa snapped her mouth shut and her cheeks flamed.
"I agree." Emily's eyes were accusatory.
"Hell's frozen over," Kates muttered under her breath with an evil grin on her face. "I think you two should clear the air. It's obvious something's going on between you two."
Both girls grew quiet and glanced at each other, but the door burst open and they shrieked in the next moment.
Kates groaned, "We were just getting to the good stuff."
Wren strode inside. "I could care less. You and you." She pointed to Emily and Pippa. "Come with me."
"Davy?" Emily looked at me in fear.
"It'll be fine. You haven't been kidnapped this time. You're just here for our safety."
My reassurance fell on deaf ears as Emily went pale when Wren and Tracey both grabbed an arm on each girl. They were lifted into the air and carried out the door. The two looked like dolls from the ease each vampire moved them.
When the door closed again, Kates spoke, "I wonder if we'll see them alive again?"
"Kates, shut up!" I pushed her off the bed. "Get out."
She laughed and shook her head. "Come on, Davy. That's a little funny."
"Out." I pointed to the door.
After she gave me a sarcastic eye-roll, she grabbed Brown's arm. "Come on, witch. Let's go find Gregory and see if we can get the Jolly Green Giant to find us some food. I checked the kitchen and it's bare."
Brown followed and I heard her say before the door shut, "Vampires don't eat food."
My headache had gotten worse. I had no idea where Roane was or when he would come to the estate, if he would come to this place, but I knew I couldn't do anything at that time. When I closed my eyes, I wasn't sure if I could fall asleep. Maybe I'd rest. So much had happened that day.
Roane dropped to the ground after the last werewolf bounded across the field. When Gavin dropped beside him, he turned and held his best friend's gaze for a moment. Neither spoke. Then Bastion sidled up to his other side and threw a cigarette on the ground. His heel ground it out and he spoke, "It's been ten miles. They're gone for good."
Gavin grunted. "Let's hope."
Roane watched over the field. They'd gone, but he knew they'd be back. The Mother Wolf knew about Davy. He wasn't sure what she knew, but she knew she was connected to the Immortal. The Alpha's alarm would've piqued her interest. Even he had felt it as they had fought. The Alpha had hid in an alley, there to make sure his mate went unharmed, but his fear of Davy was strong underneath his fury and concern for Emily.
Roane knew the wolf had been given strict instructions not to join the fight. If the Alpha had fought, then the truce between the Benshire wolves and Roane would've been destroyed. But he hadn't and the Mother Wolf knew sending her own wolves from a different pack wouldn't violate the truce. She had only agreed that Benshire wolves wouldn't claim his territory. The truce had been mediated years ago and Roane hadn't given it much thought since. He'd been too concerned with the impending vampire army, but the number of wolves had been increasing. Their pack still didn't match the vampires' numbers, but it was a two to one ratio now. If they succeeded in getting Davy's powers it could've been a five to one ratio and it wouldn't have mattered. Her power mixed with the Alpha's magic would've made the werewolves unstoppable. The Roane army with Jacith wouldn't have been enough.
"What are you going to do about the Alpha?" Bastion asked. His eyes were cold. "He'll figure out who she is."
"We need to strike first."
Roane knew they were both correct. It was why he had Wren take the roommate and the wolf with Davy and the rest. He wanted them away, far away. If the Alpha came for his mate, the more secluded the better. He wouldn't travel with his pack, he wouldn't dare. Roane wanted to choose when the Alpha would find out Davy was the Immortal and not a thread-holder.
"We will," Roane spoke with an icy calm in his veins.
"He's going
to come for his mate. That's the plan."
Gavin didn't blink, but he looked at his best mate in surprise. "That's what you want, isn't it?"
Bastion grinned. "Seems like a good plan to me. He'll come for her—"
"And he'll come alone," Gavin added.
"Then we'll kill him. Even the Alpha can't be a match for the six of us. We're too strong together."
Gavin glanced at Roane. The mask he wore to the world had classic handsome features. Gavin had watched many times as vampires and human alike had fallen prey to the mask Lucas showed to the world. Noble. Honor. Determination. Those were some of the traits that Roane's conquests had loved about him, but it wasn't often when they glimpsed the darker side of the hunter. He saw it now and knew their own speculations weren't at all close to what Roane had in store for the werewolf. Gavin also knew he'd be wasting his time if he tried to guess more. Roane always surprised him, but this time he worried what the price would be.
"She cares about her roommate." Roane looked at him. His gaze was emotionless, but Gavin still felt fear tug in his gut. Even so, he kept talking, "She's still a human."
Bastion's eyes skirted between the two.
Roane narrowed his. "And your point is?"
"She cares as a human. She won't understand about casualties."
"Anyone who is mated to the Alpha is a casualty. She has to die." Bastion moved back a step.
"Davy's not just a human."
"She hasn't been for awhile, but there's a part of her that still feels like she is. She's going to hold onto those friends tightly because they preserve that side of her. She feels like a human when she's with them."
Roane shook his head. He knew what Gavin warned wasn't to be taken lightly, but he didn't know Davy. He didn't see how she had faced the Alpha in the park. She wanted to fight him and she wanted him to know that she wasn't scared. That confrontation was inevitable, but he hadn't wanted it to happen then. If it had been his choice, the Alpha would've been kept in the dark for another month, maybe more, but Davy had ended those chances. No one stood up to the Alpha unless they had power inside of themselves. No human would consider staring down the werewolf and since Davy had, the Alpha would know there was power in her. She let him look inside of her. She wanted him to see that power, but she hadn't shut him off quick enough. The werewolf had sensed more than she realized, but Roane knew. A flare of shock in the Alpha's eyes had been enough for Roane to know. The Alpha already knew she was the thread-holder.
"When he comes, he's not coming just for his mate. He's coming for Davy too."
"The truce," Gavin reminded him.
Roane faced him. His eyes were fierce. "The truce means nothing. We killed too many of her fighters. They'll rise up now. They were going to anyway. It was just a matter of time."
"But the Roane Army—"
"—is the perfect timing for their revolution. They want this land and they want the thread-holder. Now they know who she is. We'll be divided against the army and the wolves. It's perfect timing on her side."
"They'll have to fight the Roane Army then," Bastion spoke.
Roane shook his head. "No, they won't. The army doesn't want this territory. They'll search for the thread-holder. When they won't be able to find her, they'll leave. We'll be destroyed by then and the wolves will stake their claim."
"Why won't they wait it out? Let the Army destroy us and come in afterwards?" Bastion itched for another smoke. He gritted his teeth against the craving. No vampire should be dependent upon something men invented.
"They'll move soon. They know where she is now. And they won't want me to move her where they can't find her."
Gavin knew how Roane cared for Davy, but he wondered if he cared more about keeping the Immortal from his enemies. When the Roane elders hadn't listened to Roane and instead had sent a hunter after him, he knew his best friend had been shattered by the betrayal. Roane had always been loyal to his Family. He had lived and breathed by what the Family wanted. His post as the hunter and then protector of the Family had been the creed that he lived by. When they didn't listen to him and decided to try and destroy the thread-holder, Roane had taken it as a personal attack. Gavin wondered how much his best friend's ego was mixed with protecting Davy.
Then a different enemy popped into his mind and Gavin asked, "And your brother? I know you haven't forgotten about him."
Roane turned cold eyes on him. "I haven't forgotten."
Bastion remained quiet, but he was aware of their tension.
Gavin kept quiet and Lucas instructed, "We'll go back to the estate. Keep on patrol when we're there. I expect Davy's roommate will call her mate soon. I want to be there when he arrives."
Then the three turned as one and sped away. In the night sky, they blended with the ground and were only shadows among the darkness.
I woke to darkness. When I sat up, I knew someone else was in the room with me and I could hear him undressing.
"Roane?"
"Yeah?" He pulled back the covers and slipped underneath. I felt him slide in next to me and then his arms wrapped around me. He tucked me close. I relished the feel of his body against mine. It calmed me.
"Why were you angry with me before?" I yawned as I asked him.
"Because you showed yourself to the Alpha. He knows too much now."
My mouth was pressed against his shoulder as I mumbled, "I'm sorry. I was so angry."
He tightened his arms around me. "I know."
"Did I mess up?"
"A little, but we'll be fine. We can handle it."
"Did they go away? Those wolves?" I tried to keep my eyes open. I wanted to see him, but it was a struggle. They were becoming too heavy.
He kissed my forehead and smoothed my hair back. In a gentle voice, he soothed me. "You can go to sleep. The wolves are long gone by now."
I reached for his hand and entwined our fingers. "What about you? You don't need to sleep that much."
"I'll stay with you for awhile. Go to sleep, Davy. You need it." He pressed another kiss to my forehead and then my shoulder. His arms turned me and he shifted so he spooned me from behind. I felt protected and sheltered in his arms.
"G'night, Davy."
I tried to return it, but I couldn't. My mind had already ventured into dreamland.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
When I woke again, Roane was on the edge of the bed. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his hands cradling his head. I scooted beside him and looked at his back. Not long ago, I would've itched to caress it. This day, I felt nothing.
"I'm numb."
He looked at me. "I know."
I lifted haunted eyes to him. "I should feel something. I've tried to fight this. I try to feel something and sometimes I do. I feel guilty. I look at my friends and a part of me doesn't feel