Ripper (42 page)

Marcus turned as we passed the vampire king. His voice was low, but I heard him over the arguments going on around me. “And Daniel, call her by her proper title. Call her your
Nex Apparatus
. At least Louis was honest about what he was.”

Donovan’s blue eyes flared with what looked like shock and then he registered only a dull kind of pain. He turned and walked back to Quinn, who put an arm on his partner’s shoulder, seemingly to comfort him.

Liv and Nathan were hot on our heels.

“Kelsey,” Liv pleaded, trying to get me to turn around.

“Do you wish to speak with them,
cara
?” Marcus asked.

I shook my head. In that moment, if I never spoke to them again, it would have been fine.

“Go,” Marcus said firmly.

Liv and Nate stopped. Their expressions went blank and they both turned and walked out the door.

I almost made it out of the Council chamber. I almost made it into the hallway that led to my little cell where I could lay down and try to shut out the world. I almost made it…

Joseph Castle burst through the doors, the same doors Gray had run through looking for me, the same ones he’d walked out of my life through.

“That bitch killed my son,” he declared, his clawed finger pointing at me. “She killed my son and I will have my vengeance.”

Chapter Sixteen

Marcus paced back and forth. I watched him from the cot in my jail cell. His long, elegant hand stroked his chin while he contemplated the problem of me.

“I’ll be fine on my own if you want to go back.” I almost hoped he didn’t. I should want to be alone, but I found him comforting even when he was agitated.

His handsome face turned toward me. “They can handle Castle without me.” He laughed bitterly. “Apparently I am not needed at all,
cara mia
. If the king doesn’t agree with my position, he’ll simply have me recused and vote in my stead.” The vampire walked over and sank down beside me on the cot. “I would rather stay with you. Kelsey, you have not cried. It’s fine to do so. I won’t think less of you.”

I shook my head. “I don’t need to. I’m fine.”

His fingers played soothingly with mine. “You don’t have to be strong.”

“I’m not,” I replied. “I just don’t care.”

I didn’t. Since that moment that Gray had walked out, I’d been blissfully numb. It hadn’t hurt that Quinn had delivered a tea that he claimed would flush the drugs from my system. I didn’t care about anything and I found it freeing. I’d always known that it wouldn’t work out. I’d always known I would be alone. It turned out my father, well, the dude who raised me, had been right. I was a freak and a dangerous one at that. My friends and family thought I belonged in a prison under supervision.

I’d realized something important though. The king could put me in prison, but he couldn’t force me to become the
Nex Apparatus
. I would sit here, ignore anything he wanted me to do, and there wasn’t anything the king could do about it.

“I don’t believe you,” Marcus said. “You’re in shock. When the time comes, you will cry and I’ll be there for you.”

I doubted that. It seemed to me the king and Marcus had some serious issues. I doubted Donovan was going to allow Marcus to stay with me for any length of time. He would handpick the people to be around me and I would ignore all of them. I would find it very amusing. The king would never know that the one person who might be able to convince me was the one person he would never allow around me.

The door opened and the king entered.

“We have a problem.” The king looked tired, like the stress of the day was taking its toll. I didn’t feel at all sorry for him. The door opened again and Zack strode through.

“This is not a problem, master,” Zack was saying.

“It sure as hell is,” Donovan shot back. “Castle is demanding full wolf rights.”

“For what?” The question was merely curious. I didn’t really care. “I thought the Council cleared me.”

“They cleared you for the killing of Darren Castle. That’s not what the alpha is demanding rights over. It’s the accusation. It’s a completely archaic law, but my lawyers claim he can do it,” Donovan explained.

Marcus stood up. “You cannot expect her to do that.”

The king shook his head. “We have no physical proof, Marcus. She’s accused him and I believe her, but I can’t convict him without proof. I would let him go and keep an eye on him, but he is pushing me. He won’t relinquish the right. He wants me to prepare the arena for tonight.”

“He wants vengeance,” Marcus declared.

“Of course he does, but he has the right to face his accuser according to all wolf laws. If I refuse, Castle will use it as a rallying cry to gather the wolves to his side.” He turned to me. “Kelsey, will you take back the accusation that Castle killed those girls? If you publically rescind the accusation, he won’t have grounds to demand a fight. He wants to get you into the arena where he’ll fight you. He has the right to demand tooth and claw. You’ll be forced to go in without any weapons.”

I shrugged. “He did it. I won’t say otherwise.”

Zack kneeled down to get eye level with me. I took in his brown hair and eyes. I could see it, the resemblance between us. I wondered briefly what my bio dad looked like and how he’d died.

“Kelsey, please,” Zack said. “Castle is an alpha, a true alpha. He’s got a hundred and fifty pounds on you. Rescind the accusation and I promise you, I’ll make sure he sees justice. I’ll do it quietly, but as painfully as you see fit.”

“Zack,” Dan warned.

“She’s my niece.” Zack glanced back at his master. “She’s the only blood I have left.”

“Do you think I don’t know that, Zack?” Daniel said bitterly. “Do you think this isn’t costing me? I know everything I owe Lee Owens. Even as we speak, Dev is trying to calm Z down because she is so pissed off at us she’s threatening to kick us out if anything happens to her. Damn it, my son is named for her father. Do you honestly believe I want to hurt her?”

“Then allow me to take her place,” Zack said.

“No.” He had a wife and a little girl. I remembered him talking about her. I supposed she was my cousin. If this guy was such a badass, I wasn’t going to let someone with a kid take my place. “I’ll meet him.”

“No, you will not.” Marcus turned to the king. “Can you not see that she is devastated? She will use this as an excuse to commit suicide. She’s at a delicate stage. I have more experience with Hunters than you do. They’re emotional creatures. You dealt her a blow today that she hasn’t even processed yet. If you allow this to happen, you are killing her.”

“I have no choice,” Donovan said with a sigh. “If she won’t publically take back her accusation, I have no option but to allow the ritual. Kelsey, please, take back what you said. I’ll put everyone I have on digging up evidence and then we can go after Castle. I promise you, I will bring him to justice.”

In this, the wolf inside me and I were of the same mind. There would be no retraction. I wasn’t going to lie. “No. He did it. If he wants to try to kill me, then good for him.”

“You’re so stubborn,” Donovan cursed under his breath. “Do what you can to get her ready, Marcus. This takes place in two hours. Is there anything I can get you?”

I thought about it. There was really only one thing I wanted. “Bottle of tequila?”

Donovan rolled his eyes. “No. I won’t send you in drunk.”

“Then you’re worthless to me, Your Highness.” I sat back and closed my eyes. “I’m gonna take a nap. Wake me when it’s time for my execution.”

Donovan cursed again and I heard the door opened. “Fix her, Marcus. Zack, I need you with me.”

The bed dipped again as Marcus sat back down. “Kelsey? Kelsey, is there anything I can do to talk you out of this?”

I didn’t bother to open my eyes. “Nope.”

I was ready for it to be over with. There wasn’t much to look forward to anyway. I wouldn’t see Gray again. Nathan and Liv had sold me out. The way I saw it, it didn’t matter what Castle did to me. If Castle killed me, then I didn’t have to rot in a cell so it might be a win for my side either way.

“I’m going to speak with the wolves. Perhaps I can talk some sense into McKenzie. I will return. Please reconsider.”

The door hissed open and all was blissfully silent once more. I shifted and let my head find the pillow. Sleep seemed like a really nice thing to do, but it wouldn’t come. I lay there thinking of Gray. I’d been so happy with him. He’d made me feel like I had something to offer a man besides a quickie. Nothing ever felt so right as lying in his arms. It was really hard to believe that it was a lie.

I went over every moment of our time together in my head as time passed. I remembered every touch, every glance, every time I made him crazy. Even though he’d lied to me, I wondered where he was. Was he as lost as I was? He wouldn’t be waiting for me in the parking garage this time, or at least I hoped not. I wasn’t going to come out of this place, it seemed.

I was going to die here. Would anyone tell him? Would he mourn for me?

The door hissed open and I sighed because I didn’t want to listen to Marcus beg me again. I tried to pretend to sleep.

“Lady,” a voice several octaves higher than Marcus’s said.

I opened my eyes and Lee Quinn stood there holding a key card and a bottle. Despite the seriousness of my situation, I had to smile. “You’re a good little thief, aren’t you?”

He grinned. One of his teeth was missing. He was going to be a looker when he grew up. Now he was one sweet-looking boy. “That’s what my granddad says.”

I sat up and studied the kid. I should call his dads. Neither one of them would want their baby boy in here with me, but I found myself curious. No grand desire to pummel the child rushed through my veins, so I thought we were safe. “Who’d you steal the card from?”

He plopped down on the chair his dad had previously occupied. He was surprisingly self-possessed for a kid his age. “I swiped it off Trent. He can be easily distracted. I stole this from the bar down in Ether. I just grabbed it, though, so it’s not tequila. Is rum okay?”

I laughed, the first amusement I’d found in anything all day. “What do you do? Eavesdrop?”

He passed me the rum, which would work nicely. I held it in my lap as he replied. “I snuck into the security room. Almost every room in the building has cameras in it. Lots of people say Papa is paranoid, but I don’t know what that means.”

“It means he’s careful. It has to be getting late. Shouldn’t you be in bed? Tomorrow is a school day.”

Lee set his feet up on the coffee table and stretched his arms out behind his head. “Don’t have to go. Got suspended.”

He said it with no small amount of pride. His parents were going to have so much trouble with him.

“What on earth did an eight-year-old do to get suspended?”

“Punched a guy in the face,” Lee admitted. “He called Mia fat and made her cry. Mia’s my friend. I had to stand on a chair though. He was a lot taller than me. I’m in third grade. He’s in fifth.”

Oh, I liked Lee. “Sounds like you had good cause. Did he punch you back?”

“No, I was faster than him, but not faster than Mrs. Nichols,” he allowed. “Actually, I am faster than Mrs. Nichols. She snuck up on me. Are you going to drink that? Papa always drinks when he gets really upset. He calls it Papa juice, but Mama drinks it, too. I think it’s one of those things adults say when they don’t want you to do something because you’re a kid.”

I nodded. “I think you’re right.”

He got very serious. “I’m named after your dad. He died saving my mom and my papa.”

No wonder he was practically a saint to these people. “Lee is a nice name,” I said because I didn’t know what else to say.

“Are you gonna fight the alpha?”

“Yes. He did something really bad and I know about it. I could lie and then I wouldn’t have to fight, but he would get away with hurting some girls.”

Lee’s little jaw firmed. “He killed them. He should pay for that. My dad thinks you shouldn’t fight him though. Mama is mad.”

“Sorry.” I didn’t much care about Quinn and Donovan, but I liked the kid. I didn’t like causing him trouble. It was hard enough being eight. “I think she’ll probably get over it.”

“I don’t know about that,” a voice said from the doorway. I looked up and the queen stood there. A harried looking Trent started toward Lee, but the queen put a hand out. “Stop that. She’s not going to hurt Lee.” She gave me a wry smile. “Are you?”

“I think he’s probably safe. He brought me liquor after all.” I showed her my pilfered rum.

The queen held up her own bottle and I noted it was a damn good tequila. “He’s not the only one.” She walked into the room and affectionately ruffled her son’s hair. “Go to bed, little ruffian. You might have gotten suspended, but Papa found you a tutor. He’ll be here at 7:30 in the morning.”

Lee sighed. I got the feeling he was used to being outmaneuvered by his mom. He stood up and walked to her. He threw his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. “Night, Mama. I love you.” He turned back to me. “Bye, Kelsey. I hope the alpha doesn’t kill you.”