And now I had to leave her and turn myself into the Deaconry.
I deserved whatever punishment they decided. Loyalty. Honesty. Allegiance. All had been drilled into my head since I was a kid. Then, with a few words, I’d betrayed my own blood. Some fuckin’ allegiance.
And the worst of it, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
I’d trade the location of my sister to the vampire Ryszard in exchange for Danni’s freedom. I should’ve found another way, fought harder, done more. Except the conclusion was always the same—Danni would’ve become Ryszard’s slave if I hadn’t made the deal.
Now I’d stand before the Deaconry to face my punishment. And I was okay with that. I accepted it. What I didn’t accept was leaving Danni alone without the protection of the Scars. They had to bring her in. But I knew the rules—no humans can know about them.
I slammed my fists into the metal recycle bin and the sound vibrated through the alley. “Fuck.”
I SHIFTED ON THE tree branch, trying to get feeling back in my butt. It had been hours, and the only movement at the house was Jedrik’s BMW leaving. Being Jedrik and this late at night, it was probably a booty call.
I was high enough to see over the massive stone wall and still hidden by the few oak leaves that refused to give way despite the early winter winds. Like me, barely hanging on, waiting for that one gust of wind that would break my hold on sanity and send me crashing to the ground.
The front door opened.
I leaned forward as a guy I didn’t recognize walked out. He was taller than Keir and broader. Even from this distance, he looked intimidating from the way he stood confidently in the doorway. He hesitated on the second step and I saw him tilt his head to the side as if listening for something. Suddenly, his head jerked in my direction and his eyes flashed a bright golden color.
“Shit.”
I scrambled down the tree as fast as I could. Keir finding out I was spying on them was not something I wanted to stick around for. And I certainly didn’t want that guy coming after me. Keir had some seriously scary-ass friends.
I yelped when I grabbed hold of a sharp broken branch and it dug into my palm. I teetered for a second and reached for another, but my balance was already off and I skidded through the branches until my abdomen hit hard, breaking my fall. I managed to hook my arms over the limb as my feet dangled.
“Jesus, Danni.”
“What the—” I lost my grip and fell the rest of the way, making a loud oof when my back hit a branch as I tumbled.
I braced for the hard, cold ground. What I got was hard, but warm as hell.
I instinctively hooked my arms around his neck as he held me. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Balen’s furious tone cut through my shock and I struggled in his arms, shoving at his chest. “Put me down.”
The green in his eyes dissipated and they shaded black as he glared at me. For a second, I thought he was going to ignore me as his arms tightened. He slowly let me slip from his arms, but his hand remained locked on my wrist and he was so close it was as if he was on top of me with his towering height.
“Get off me.” I tried to tear from his grip, but he refused to budge.
“I’m not on you and if I was . . . you’d sure as fuck know it.”
My stomach cartwheeled and my sex clenched as I imagined him on top of me. I gritted my teeth as unwanted desire rose and I had no way to stop it.
“Why are you here?” I tried again to dislodge his hold, but Balen was strong as hell and currently pissed off, although he had no right to be. I was the one pissed off that my friends were hiding shit from me. “Are you following me? Stalking me?”
He remained silent, but I noticed the twitch in his cheek and his lips pursed together harder.
“What? Suddenly mute?”
He tilted his head down and tugged me closer so his mouth was inches from mine. “I saw your car parked on the street and decided to look for you. Good thing, too, otherwise your ass would be pretty damn sore right now.”
My lips parted as my heart raced and tingles sprinkled my skin. All I could think about was him slamming me back into the tree and fucking me when I should be freaked out that this guy was stalking me. I narrowed my eyes and curled my hands into fists. “That’s a bullshit answer and you know it.”
“Fuck, Danni. You don’t get it. Wasn’t the asshole at the bar enough?” He abruptly let me go and ran his hand through his hair. “I warned you to be careful and then I find you in the middle of the night sitting in a fuckin’ tree.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t need a babysitter and I sure as hell don’t need a stalker. I gave you a chance to explain what happened. You walked away . . . sorry, I mean ran away. So, stay the hell away from me.”
He shook his head and it dropped forward as he said in a ragged tone, “I can’t. I fuckin’ can’t.”
My mouth dropped open as a range of emotions shot through me all at the same time. I didn’t know what to say. It was so fucked up. This was fucked up. My life was quickly crumbling into a mess of broken puzzle pieces and I felt as if I was jamming them together and they wouldn’t fit.
Except Balen. He fit. Everything about him was wrong and yet it felt right and that was so messed up. But he was holding shit back from me just like Anstice, and I was sick of it. “I don’t need you or anyone else fucking up my life.” I turned to leave when his arm hooked around my waist, pulling me back to land up against his chest. Common sense told me to fight him, but when his eyes softened and he cupped my chin, his thumb caressed back and forth, all my resolve went shooting out the top of my head.