“My sister,” he said, after a few minutes, “deserves the chance to step away—”
My gaze flashed to his.
“What?”
“Ris,” Rhoan warned again.
I glared at him but shut up.
“She started the Directorate,” Jack said. “And she has spent centuries protecting this world
and
its people. I cannot and will not go up against her without giving that history the respect it is due.”
“Whatever good she’s done here and elsewhere in the past doesn’t give her a pass for unleashing known killers on innocent people,” I said. “That’s the premise the whole Directorate was built on, wasn’t it? Protecting humanity from supernatural predators?”
“I’m
well
aware of what the Directorate stands for.” Jack’s voice was mild, but there was a note in it that chilled. “My sister may have founded the Directorate, but
I
helped build it to what it is today.
Never
forget that.”
I wouldn’t, but I had to wonder if Hunter had. Had to wonder if, in the end, it came down to a choice, whether Jack would side with his sister or the organization he’d helped build.
His comments earlier suggested the latter, and I certainly hoped that was the case. I very much suspected Jack was, in his own way, as dangerous as Hunter. The two of them together might be nigh on unbeatable.
“Besides,” he continued, “there was no confirmation that the vampire who killed Jak was sent there by my sister. Rhoan interviewed him when he was first captured, but a formal interview never occurred and the suspect died while being transported here. I will not move on her, officially or otherwise, without definitive proof of wrongdoing.”
“Oh, how convenient,” I muttered, though I had to admit, the news
did
surprise me. I really
had
thought Hunter would use that vampire to lure Rhoan into doing something rash—like confronting her. Instead, he’d confronted me and had probably saved his life by doing so. Of course, once her plan was so obviously foiled, Hunter had simply erased the evidence by erasing the vampire.
I contemplated Jack for a moment, then slowly said, “I guess it’s fortunate that I taped his confession, then, isn’t it?”
“You did?” Rhoan said, expression annoyed. “And why didn’t you hand it over when I confronted you about Jak’s death?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Would you, given the situation? The woman who runs this place is your boss, and she has god knows how many people under her thumb. Even if you didn’t do as she wanted—confront her—I’m betting the taped confession would soon have disappeared.”
“I want you to hand over that confession to
me
,” Jack said. “That is evidence, and you should not—”
“I’ll send you a copy,” I cut in. “But I’m keeping the original as a security measure.”
Jack smiled, and there was something almost sad about it. “Do you think, for a second, that one vampire’s confession will be enough to curb my sister’s activities? If you do, then you have no real understanding of her.”
“I understand her
plenty
.” I met his gaze, judging him as he undoubtedly was judging me. Seeing not only the remaining embers of fury in his eyes, but the growing fires of resignation. He knew a war was coming; he knew the time had come to make a stand. “But she hasn’t got the key yet, and she hasn’t taken over the council yet, and the existence of that tape might well force her to at least place her plans on a temporary hold. And
that
might just give us the time we need to find the key and stop darkness being unleashed on the world.”
Whether that darkness was hell itself or Hunter didn’t really matter.
Jack drank some coffee as he contemplated me. Eventually he said, “She will know where the confession came from. That might well place you in a difficult situation.”
“It
couldn’t
be any more difficult.” My voice was grim. “She’s given me twenty-four hours—of which there are now just under twenty-two hours left—to find and hand over the next key; otherwise, she’ll start picking off people close to me.”
Jack closed his eyes. Rhoan swore and said, “Which is the reason you told Riley and Quinn to get the hell out of town.”
“And why I need you out.” I held out a hand to halt his almost instinctive refusal. “I know, I know. But you could at least get Liander somewhere safe. She may value you too much to actually kill you—no matter what she’s threatened otherwise—but Liander is another matter entirely.”
That
hit home. Liander was, after all, his soul mate,
and very few wolves could survive such a death. Riley
had
, but then, she’d also had Quinn. “Done,” he said, and jumped up. He moved across to the other side of the room and made the call.
I met Jack’s gaze again. “You said you were keeping some control over the situation—is there any way at all you can protect Rhoan?”
“I will talk to her,” he said heavily. “And make it known that all Directorate personnel are off-limits. That by touching one, she sets the guardian division on a collision course with her.”
How much protection that would provide was anyone’s guess, but given that Hunter appeared to value her brother’s opinion—or rather, she did if comments she’d made in the past were anything to go by—it was better than nothing.
“And the keys? Or her takeover attempt of the high council?”
He half shrugged. “I have never gotten involved in high council politics, and have no intention of doing so now. I do not care, one way or another, whether it is ruled by a committee or a force of one.”
“Others don’t quite see it that way.”
“I’m well aware of that.” His expression was grim. “I have been on this earth for a very long time, young Risa, and I have
not
survived by keeping my head in the sand and being unaware.”
Duly chastened, but still not backing away, I said, “Will your sister listen to you? She’s . . . well, she’s gone a little off the deep end since the death of her lover.”
Though I personally suspected she’d well and truly jumped into the crazy pool
before
that death. Her lover’s murder had just made it more obvious.
“I have not seen her much since then, so you could well be right.” Jack drained his coffee, then tossed the cup in the bin and rose. “I’ll arrange a meeting with her
immediately. In the meantime, do nothing to antagonize her.”
“I have no intention of contacting her until the twenty-four-hour deadline is near.” Whether she’d contact me—antagonize
me
—was another matter entirely.
If you don’t bite back at her, it should not provide a problem,
Azriel commented.
Easier said than done, I’m afraid.
Not if you recall the faces of those she might destroy out of sheer spite.
I glanced at him. He raised an eyebrow, as if daring me to contradict the statement. But I couldn’t, because it was true. I simply
had
to control my temper. No ifs, buts, or maybes.
“Good,” Jack said. “But be careful, Risa. Those who oppose my sister are no angels, either.”
“Something
I’m
well aware of.” But if push came to shove, I’d use them—and anyone else, for that matter—to protect my friends and to stop the crazies from ruining the world.
Jack walked from the room. I released a long, slow breath, then downed my coffee in several quick gulps.
That
had turned out a whole lot better than I’d hoped—but it could have very easily gone the other way, and I knew it.
“Liander is, as we speak, jumping in his car and heading to parts unknown,” Rhoan said, as he returned to the table. “He won’t contact me for the next forty-eight hours.”
“What about his phone and the GPS in his car? They can both be used to trace him—”
“He’ll disable both. He has not been the soul mate of a guardian for so long without picking up a trick or two.”
“Forty-eight hours is long enough,” Azriel commented. “One way or another, things will be sorted by then.”
I shot him another glance.
I thought you said we had a week?
No, I said we had no more than a week.
His expression gave little away, but I could feel the turmoil in him, the uncertainty, and that scared the
hell
out of me.
That timetable has since been revised.
Meaning our actions have revised it?
But what actions? Finding Jantz, blowing up his apartment, or talking to Rhoan and Jack?
It doesn’t matter,
Azriel said.
The timetable is what it is now. And, at the very least, it gives us a shorter period to survive.
And you’d better survive, reaper,
I said, mental tones fierce.
Or I will not be happy.
You can be assured that I would be decidedly unimpressed with anything short of survival myself.
“I get the feeling,” Rhoan commented, “that there’s a completely different conversation happening right now.”
I glanced at him and smiled. “Yeah, sorry.” I slid the phone we’d found at Jantz’s across to him. “Can you let me know the minute you find any information about who owns this?”
“Can do,” he said. “And I’ll watch my back. I’ll even ensure I have people I trust around me at all times. Will that assuage your concerns?”
“Some,” I admitted.
“Good.” He studied me for a minute, and something in his eyes hardened. The guardian, rising once more to the surface. “Then you need to assuage mine. You will
not
tackle Hunter without outside help, will you?”
I licked my lips. “Look, I know you mean—”
“This
isn’t
a request,” he cut in, voice flat. “And there
is
no refusing. There is only yes, or there’s me walking out of this room right now and confronting her myself.”
I stared at him. “That’s blackmail.”
“Too right it is, and I don’t care. I want your word,
Risa, that the minute you even
contemplate
contacting the forces that oppose Hunter, you’ll also contact me. I know that you’ve already made this promise to Riley and Quinn, and you will damn well extend it to me—and keep it. Otherwise, I’ll do as I threatened.”
He would, too. To keep me safe, he’d risk his own damn life. “You’re fucking crazy, Uncle Rhoan,” I muttered, then flung myself into his arms. “And god, I love you for it.”
His arms went around me and held me tight. After a moment, he kissed the top of my head and said, “I can take that as a yes?”
“You can.” I stepped away, then thrust a hand across my eyes, wiping away a defiant tear. My phone rang, and the tone told me it was Ilianna. My stomach flip-flopped, though I wasn’t sure whether it was fear or just pregnancy reasserting itself.
I dragged the vid-phone out of my pocket, hit the Answer button, and said, “Is there a problem?”
“Other than you and then Azriel making quick exits and not getting back to me to let me know you’re both okay?” she said, voice mild but holding a hint of censure.
“Yeah, besides that,” I said, voice contrite. “And I’m sorry—”
“I know,” she cut in. “I’m just feeling tired and stressed, and bitchy because of it. Anyway, you need to get your butts over here. We have to talk.”
“How urgent is this?”
“Very, if you want to protect the people you care about.”
“Then I’ll be right over.”
“See you soon.” She hung up.
I put the phone away, then gave Rhoan a smile. “Gotta go. Talk to you soon.”
“I damn well hope so.”
I half stepped toward Azriel, then stopped and turned
to face Rhoan again. Clairvoyance wasn’t one of my stronger psychic skills, but when it hit, it wasn’t often wise to ignore it.
And right now, it was hitting hard.
I hesitated, then said, “I don’t suppose I could borrow that ring Liander gave you for your anniversary last year, can I?”
He glanced down at the small, unobtrusive ring on his left hand. “Why?”
My hesitation was longer this time. “Because, as of this minute, I have a horrible feeling I might need it to find you sometime in the future. And while I hope to
god
I’m wrong, given everything that has happened over the last few days, I just don’t want to take any sort of chance.”
“If something went wrong, and I went missing, Riley would find me.” He eyed me for a minute, his expression thoughtful. “You know that.”
“I know, but the twin connection
can
be disrupted by magic
or
drugs—and you know
that
.”
“True.” He studied me for a moment longer, then tugged the ring off his finger and dropped it into my hand. “Just don’t lose it. Liander will kill me—and you.”
“I won’t.” I shoved it onto my left thumb—the only place it was secure given that his fingers were thicker than mine. Plus, it was safer than merely putting it in my pocket. “But if either our sorceress or Hunter decided to snatch you—and there
was
no way we could find or rescue you—then Riley would likely kill
me
.”
Amusement filled his tone, though it failed to break the concerned glitter in his eyes. “But only after she’d rescued me—and you wouldn’t be the only one on the receiving end of the lecture.”
I half smiled. Riley’s lectures had become somewhat infamous over the years, but they were born from both fear and relief, and we all knew that. They usually ended
with a fierce hug and a plea not to scare her like that again, anyway, so it was all good.
I stepped forward, dropped a kiss on his cheek, then said, “Just be careful. This is one case where I’m more than happy to have instinct proven wrong.”
“As am I. Go. I’ll get the phone information to you the minute I can.”
We went. A heartbeat later we were once more standing within the halls of the Brindle. The magic reacted immediately, crawling across my skin like electric gnats, its feel sharp. Probing. Kiandra might have recently woven some exceptions into the barrier that protected this place to allow for our comings and goings, but the Brindle wasn’t about to let us enter unchallenged any more than it would evil. And while I wasn’t evil, I was no longer flesh and blood, and the magic was always going to react to that, regardless.