Balen walked over and sat on the bed beside his maite, caressing her cheek as Danni opened her eyes.
Fuck, please, let her be okay. Let me do this right.
Danni was quiet a few seconds; then her eyes went to me. “She’s in Liam’s penthouse.”
I crossed my arms and braced myself. My heart was telling me to go after her, but my instinct, for once, was to stay. To listen. To be patient. But it took a hell of a lot to do that when I knew where she was.
“She says there are at least twenty vampires around at any given time. Liam and the Lilac are planning something together.”
“Is she okay? Is she hurt?” That’s all I wanted to know right now.
Danni shook her head. “I don’t think she’s been hurt. She speaks clearly, but I have the feeling she was being careful with what she said to me. I’m uncertain whether Liam can intercept our telepathy.” Danni slipped her hand in Balen’s then locked eyes with me. “She says to not give him Abby. No matter what Liam says, don’t give him Abby.”
“Did she say anything else?” Anstice sat on the opposite side of the bed as Balen.
Danni cleared her throat and my eyes shot to her. “What?”
“Shit,” she muttered.
My eyes narrowed and my heart pounded. “What?” I repeated.
“She says to leave her. Don’t give them what they want,” Danni said quietly.
“Abby does not leave here.” All eyes shot to Damien standing in the doorway. He looked like fuckin’ hell. But it was his voice that summed up he was one fucked-up, angry Scar. “Non-negotiable.”
“Damien…” Keir began then stopped when Waleron appeared in a mist behind him.
“Why are you still here, Damien?” Waleron asked.
“You can’t give her to him,” Damien said.
Waleron’s jaw clenched. “Abby is a vampire. It’s too late for her. You know this. She will go with us tonight, but Trinity has agreed that Abby will be—”
Fuck, Abby was a vampire? Not that I really gave a shit, except I knew the danger to all of us with her ability.
“No!” Damien shouted, and everyone tensed.
Waleron said, “Tye, take him to the airport.”
Shit, this was not going to go down well. Tye didn’t move and I knew why. Damien was on edge, and if anyone touched him, there was going to be a reaction and not a good one.
Waleron’s words concerning Abby meant fuck all. It was what he didn’t say that spoke volumes, because Waleron had no intention of handing over Abby and her ability to Liam. He would never give a vampire that much power. We all knew it. Damien most of all. Abby would go with them, but she wouldn’t be leaving alive.
Damien’s eyes burned and swirled with wild rage. “Not fuckin’ happening.” Damien began to call to his Ink, but Tye and Keir leapt across the room and took him to the floor.
A wave of familiarity came over me—the day I lost my shit and Waleron put me in Rest. Damien was headed in the same direction.
I’d never cared about Damien, but I saw it and understood. Damien’s expression of pure horror and anger and desperation all mixed together into a whirlpool of rage.
I shielded my telepathy from everyone except Damien. “Don’t make the same mistake I did. Fuck it up, and you will be put in Rest.”
“They can’t kill Abby.”
“You’re no good to her in Rest. You give a shit about her, then stay out of Rest. Get out of here. Walk away. Fuck, go run around the block. I don’t give a shit, but calm your shit and stay out of Rest.”
Damien stopped fighting Keir and Tye, but his breath heaved in and out and his eyes stormed.
“I’ll keep you in the loop,” I said. “You do what you have to with the info. But you need to stay out of Rest to do that.”
“Why the hell would you help me?”
I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t have an answer. I didn’t know why. He wasn’t my friend. Barely knew the guy. But the black and white I lived in for over a century had shifted.
“Get your ass on the plane now, Damien,” Waleron stated.
“I won’t be getting on a plane,.” Damien said.
“I know, but for now, you need to give.”
Damien turned to Waleron. “Let me say goodbye to her.”
Waleron paused then gave an abrupt nod. “Your Scar’s Ink will be covered so he doesn’t rise.” He looked at Tye. “Accompany him.” He turned to the rest of us. “We meet Liam in two hours.” Then Waleron turned to Delara who came down the stairs and everyone tensed.
I didn’t know what was going on, but Delara was pale as fuck and there was a haunted look in her eyes. Waleron was pissed at her, that much was obvious.
“You will come tonight because Liam has demanded your presence,” Waleron said, his voice harsh. “But I expect you gone when this is over. You will go to another Talde.”
Delara opened her mouth, about to say something, her expression filled with pain and horror. The friction between them—and it wasn’t the usual sexual electricity—was catastrophic. Everyone in the room felt it, tasted it, or scented it. I had never seen Delara so meek and fearful before.
She lowered her gaze from Waleron and nodded.
What the fuck? Waleron wanted Delara to leave? Leave the Toronto Talde? Jesus. Every face in the room was stunned into silence, except Jedrik who was stupid enough to protest.