I healed Lethe, and through her, saved the baby, giving the unborn child a boost in the process. Much like Boaz and his regenerated leg, we had no clue what long-term effects to expect, but it mattered more to all of us that there would be a long term to worry about in the first place.
“I understand Hood made you pack because of the debt he feels is owed to you,” she said, “and that Lethe and Midas agreed to this unorthodox arrangement.”
Squaring my shoulders, I sat up straighter. “I am a member of the Kinase pack, yes.”
“A member of the Savannah Kinase pack at any rate,” she murmured. “Midas?”
Her golden child loped into the seating area from the forest with a reassuring smile for me.
She patted his arm when he came to stand beside her chair. “You claim this woman as pack?”
“I do.”
“No, you don’t.” Steel entered her voice. “Rebuke her. Sever her ties to the Atlanta pack, here and now. Her allies belong in Savannah, with her, not in Atlanta, with me.”
A tremor worked through his jaw, the damning words threatening to spill, but he held them in.
“Enough.” I leapt to my feet. “I’ll sever ties with the Atlanta pack if you want, but you leave him alone.” I couldn’t stop from glancing at his arms, those crosshatch scars that would never fade, from his skin or his memory. “I won’t let you inflict more pain on him, not on my account.”
“You won’t let me?” A surprised laugh escaped her. “I suppose you’ll have the potentate take my head?”
“Grier fights her own battles,” Linus told her, sliding into his darker persona. “She’s a powerful necromancer in her own right. She doesn’t need me to shield her.” He placed a hand over his left pectoral, where I had drawn his sigil for the day. “In fact, she is often mine.”
“I require absolute loyalty from my heir, however temporary the designation may be in your case,” Tisdale growled at Midas. “You can’t serve two packs or live in two cities. You must choose.”
Sweat beaded on Midas’s forehead, but he held firm. Eyes on mine, he shook off her order. “No.”
Tisdale stood slowly, unfurling to her full height, and circled in front of him. “No?”
“Grier is pack, and pack bonds don’t break. You taught me that. Atlanta is my home, but if Savannah needs me, if Grier needs me, I will go.” A crimson sheen veiled his eyes. “And then I’ll come back, with or without your permission, and take my place within our pack.”
Expecting an explosion of teeth and claws, I rocked forward onto the balls of my feet, ready to intervene if she drew first blood and didn’t stop there. But rather than snarl and snap, Tisdale threw her arms around his shoulders.
“My sweet, sweet boy.” She drew back, grinning wide. “I knew you had it in you.”
Leaning in to Linus, I whispered, “What did I miss?”
“The passing of a mantle, it appears.” Intrigue pried up the edges of his mask, a testament to the rarity of the event, let alone the fact it had been witnessed by outsiders. “Midas disobeyed a direct order from his alpha while holding her stare. That makes him the new heir. Lethe will have to fight him for second in the pack when, or if, she returns.”
When Tisdale turned back to us, Midas closed his eyes, his expression more desolate than usual.
Awe might have been the appropriate response, but I couldn’t stand how his shoulders bowed under the full weight of his choice.
“You used me.” The words shot out before I could call them back, and I wouldn’t have even if a do-over were possible. “You brought me here to provoke Midas.” A pitiful excuse for a snarl rattled in the back of my throat. “You forced this on him.”
“You cost me one heir,” Tisdale said, shrugging. “And now you’ve provided me with another. I would say this makes us even.”
Rage vibrated through me until I shook with the itch to open a vein and paint terrible retribution on my skin. But that would make me the same as Lacroix, and I refused to follow in his footsteps.
“Even,” I repeated, awed by her gall. Midas had sacrificed his autonomy, for me and for Lethe, while she looked like the cat who ate the canary. Since she valued frankness, I laid it on her. “What about Savannah?”
With Midas keeping her in the loop, she knew exactly why we had come here.
And now we knew why she had agreed to this meeting and demanded it take place in person.
“I’m not sending more of my people to Savannah.” She attempted to soften the blow by rearranging her features from smug to smug-lite. “You’ve got my daughter, my son-in-law, and over a dozen gwyllgi who defected to join her, including some of my best fighters.” She toyed with the locket around her neck. “That’s all I can spare.”
Unable to control my temper, I snapped, “You’ve spared plenty to roam the streets of Atlanta.”
“The reason there’s a stronger enforcer presence in the city is I have more cause than ever to see our current potentate retain his position. Our pack has enjoyed several years of peace with other supernatural factions thanks to his careful handling. I would like that to continue. And, with Midas as my heir and you under his protection, there’s not a single objection anyone can raise.”
Tremors set my fingers twitching in the outline of sigils with purposes I didn’t know or want to know. I made a fist to keep from giving them life. “This meeting is over.”
“Grier…” Midas took a step toward me. “I didn’t know this was why she brought you here.”
“I’m an old pro at being manipulated by a parent.” Maud had been a master of the art. “I won’t hold this against you.” I cut my eyes toward his mother. “Don’t wield my friendship as a blade to cut him again, or you’ll find out there are few actions in service to a friend that I regret.”
Make no apologies for surviving.
I wasn’t about to start now.
“Your fiancée just threatened me.” Tisdale arched a brow at Linus. “That’s hardly diplomatic of her.”
“You baited this trap,” he said coolly. “I can’t help if you didn’t snatch your hand back fast enough.” Taking my elbow, he tipped his chin at Midas. “Congratulations, or condolences. I’m never sure which is the appropriate response in these situations.”
The skin around Midas’s eyes crinkled in the promise of a smile that never made it to his lips. “Thanks.”
I noticed he didn’t claim victory or defeat, but I could see what this interlude had cost him.
His freedom.
While he might have forgiven me for the role I played, I wasn’t so sure Lethe would be as understanding when I had just cost her the position of second in the Atlanta pack, a title she had killed to maintain.
Fiddlesticks.
There might not be enough donuts in the world to make up for this.
Six
After leaving the gwyllgi pack home, me with my tail tucked between my legs, we secured more supplies and directed the distributors to offload them at Woolworth House.
Finally, finally, it was time to return home. As soon as we picked up Clem, who had been using Bishop’s setup to watch cartoons, from Base Four.
Ignoring the bowl of cereal that made my stomach growl, I searched the blank tracking screen. “Vampire watch got boring?”
“There’s no longer a vampire to watch unless your sigil turned this one flame retardant. He took a long walk right into the sun. I’m guessing his assassin buddies finally got around to cleaning house.”
And if they were busy erasing leads, they would make sure there was nothing to find in his apartment, even if we made a pit stop on our way home to search it.
“There goes that lead.” The more we caught, the faster they slipped through our fingers. “Great.” Pushing what had been a long shot out of my mind, I focused on my friend and what was best for him. “Are you sure you want to go back to Savannah?”
“It can’t be more dangerous than Raleigh,” he pointed out. “I should be safer there.” He turned off the monitor then walked his dishes into the kitchen. “Maybe Boaz can help me get a commission with the sentinels again, as Clem.”
As loathe as I was to ask for favors, I would make an exception for him. The Grande Dame drove tough bargains, but she might be his best chance for reinstatement if Boaz struck out. “Let me know what he says.”
While Mr. Hacohen was drawing up contracts for my household, I could draft Clem as personal security if the sentinels wouldn’t take him back on agreeable terms.
Gratitude on his face, Clem let a shrug roll through his shoulders. “I’ll do that.”
“I’ll grab our bags.” Linus started for the bunkroom then turned to Clem. “Give me a hand?”
“Sure.”
Once they left, I claimed Bishop’s seat. “Anybody home?”
“For a few minutes,” a disembodied voice replied. “I pulled dayshift this week, so I have to get jumping.”
I tallied her position to come up with a name. “Lisbeth, right?”
“Yep.” Keys clacked in the background without missing a beat. “What can I do you for?”
Checking to make sure the guys were gone, I explained what I needed in exact detail. “So, can you help me?”
“Oh, you came to the right girl. I got you.” A printer came alive nearby and spit out two sheets filled with names, phone numbers, and various other information. “These guys—and girl—are the best in the city.”
“Thanks.” I snatched the papers, folded them tight, then shoved them in my pocket. “Can I ask for another favor?”
“I won’t tell him.” Her arm raised in a vague gesture. “My lips are zipped.”
“I have to go.” I backed away from the monitors. “Thanks again.”
“See you around, Grier.”