Page 102 of Thirst
Let him feel what it was like to be misjudged. Doubted.
He met my glare head on, his stark with sorrow. “Because I mean it.”
“We miscalculated,” Brien said. “Based on everything we know about your sire, we expected him to strike at us here on the island. He got to my mother, and he was obviously aware Lamaire kidnapped Eden right outside her parents’ home.” He squeezed his nape. “None of our intel suggested you had anyone in your life he could use against us. That’s on us, and I apologize.”
His apology sliced through the buzzing in my brain. That he, a primus, was accepting the blame? That meant something.
Twilight spoke again. “We’ll help you. You want to rescue your friend, we’ll go in with you. You want us to ransom her, we’ll do that too.”
My gaze swung to her.
“Let us help you,” she said. “For Perla’s sake—and for all the other Perlas that he could still hurt.”
I nodded slowly. Seeing again my friend’s bruises, the empty look in her eyes.
“He’s your sire.” Twilight’s face held a compassion I didn’t expect from a vampire. “We understand that, respect that you owe him your loyalty. But he has to be stopped.”
My throat worked once. She was right.
The hot, buzzing anger contracted, settling cold and hard in my belly.
This time, Nazaire had gone too far, and I was going to take him down. But I couldn’t do it without their help.
I drew a shaky breath. “Ransoming her won’t work. He doesn’t want money. He wants you. All of you, but especially Brien.” I met his eyes. “This won’t end until one of you is in the ground. Permanently.”
“And I’m such a charming guy,” he said, deadpan.
Twilight flicked him an unamused look, which he met with a crooked grin. “Hey.” He ran his thumb and first finger down her shiny brown braid. “They’re not going to get to me. They haven’t yet, have they?”
They exchanged a look that felt like an entire conversation. Envy flashed through me. I couldn’t help glancing at Cain, wishing… Well, it didn’t matter what I wished.
Twilight turned back to me. “Why don’t we sit down, talk this over?”
She gestured at the nearest chair and waited until I was seated before lowering herself with a dancer’s grace onto the couch. Brien sat beside her, and Talon dropped into the other chair.
Cain didn’t sit.
He shoved my phone into a pocket and planted himself behind me, his hands on the chairback like he was aligning himself with me. When I sent him a frowning look, he met it coolly.
Like of course I’m on your side.
I dragged my focus back to Brien and Twilight, forcing Cain and whatever there was between us into the background where it belonged.
“What about your primus?” Twilight leaned forward, her braid sliding over her shoulder. “Does Dussault know about your sire’s vendetta against Brien?”
“Maybe,” I said. “They don’t talk business around me. But I do know Dussault is angry about how the Marine Syndicate’s been throwing its weight around. I wonder if?—”
The pieces slid together, clean and inevitable, halting me mid-sentence.
Brien rested a sinewy arm on the couch behind his mate. “Go on.”
“What if Dussault is using my father, letting him take the blame? If he takes you four out, then Dussault can move on the Maritime Syndicate. Even if he only manages to send one or two of you to your final graves, it still weakens you. The hierarchy would be scrambling, fighting to see who becomes the next lieutenant…or even the next primus. And if my father gets caught, Dussault can swear he had nothing to do with it.”
Brien nodded. “It tracks. Dussault’s the type to hang back, watch how the chips fall, then make his move. An opportunist.”
“Back to Perla,” said Twilight. “Can you tell where she is from the photo?”
“Yes—his lair in Quebec City. He has a cell beneath it.”
