“When?”
“The day you came to see me.”
“But that would mean…” I broke off, completely at a loss. “Explain.”
“I’m part of a…call it a loose society of like-minded vampires. Not all of us are savages like Dobson. Some of us have a vested interest in helping humanity.” He drew an audible breath. “Humans like you.”
I felt the floor fall out from beneath my feet. “What do you mean like me? Like people who own distilleries, or people who can read vampire minds?” What was he implying? That this wasn’t just a business deal?
“Yes, Selena, special humans who have abilities, mental, physical…any humans we deem special enough to offer our patronage and protection.”
“Protection?” I scoffed. “I don’t need protection, Forge.” My temper began to heat up as I added, “Especially from you. I’m perfectly capable of handling anything that comes my way.”
“You were,” he easily agreed. “Until you showed up at my house with a bottle of whisky and a proposal. Now you’re in my world, and you need me, Selena, like it or not.”
He lifted his eyes to the ceiling, then looked back at me, his gaze hard. “The truth is, you aren’t ready for this meeting. Maybe with more practice…or more time. But I can’t allow you to walk in there to be eaten alive by those monsters.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked. I should have seen this coming. Mercurial changes in plans were what Forge was best at. “Someone should have told you that the worst possible beginning to any relationship is with a bunch of secrets. Shit, practically everything you’ve told me was a lie.”
“Not a lie, just not entirely the truth.”
“Which in my world is also known as a lie.”
For a minute, we were at a stalemate, until the driver cleared his throat behind us. He said something in Gaelic, Forge said something back, rather snippily, I thought, and then we went back to staring at one another.
Did Forge think I was only doing this for the money? Of course, this had all started with the loan, but now…now I wanted to help him beat the Assembly and that creeper Dobson.
I wanted to be part of a team, like Batman and Robin, me being a smarter and more kick-ass partner than Robin ever could be. Besides, it turned out—now that I actually knew about him—Forge and I were a lot alike.
Shitty circumstances, general lack of trust in our fellow species and…well, having a death sentence hanging over your head was definitely worse than crushing debt, but everything else was the same.
So why was he kicking me to the curb right before the big event? A shiver of doubt ran through me. Maybe he really didn’t think I could do it. Maybe he thought I wasn’t good enough.
Not good enough. I snorted to myself. I’m always good enough. I had to be, especially when I followed after Brandon, who was a perfect fuck-up. To counteract my brother’s badness, I became the best, as if that might somehow fix Brandon.
At least it made Dad happy.
My brother spent his teenage years stealing, lying, wrecking cars, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Then he graduated to bank robbery and heroin, finally finding a home in compulsive gambling. It wasn’t long before his drug and gambling habits spiraled out of control. Cue the loan shark, and cue putting the company up as collateral.
Cue Selena trying to fix it all.
I was left juggling the company and trying to figure out how Dad got involved in Brandon’s mess in the first place. Then came the debts, and the hostile board, and that was when I went to Forge, figuring at this point, what did I have to lose? A lot, as it turned out.
“Don’t you have anything to say?” I didn’t know what I hoped for, maybe for him to beg me to stay, to which I’d spin on my heel and leave him hanging like the righteous bitch I was.
“When I met you—when I realized you could read my thoughts—all I thought about was how I could use you to outmaneuver my old clan. But you have no place in our world, and now, you’re going home.”
Not the answer I’d hoped for, and that probably would have been the end of it.
I might have gone home, forgotten about Forge and gone back to running my company.
Until there was a wet, rasping sound behind us. I turned just in time to see the driver—bleeding from the neck—drop to the floor in a heap.
A stream of blood ran down Dobson’s chin as he grinned at us.
15
Dobson’s pale eyes flickered over me as I raised my shield and immediately felt Forge close the space between us. Then he pressed me to him, an arm across my belly.
“If you touch her, you’re dead,” Forge warned Dobson in a low growl, his arm tightening around me.
“Of course,” Dobson said easily, blood dripping from his chin onto the front of his shirt as his weird eyes remained fixed on me. He really is an asshole, I thought, as my gaze strayed to the dying driver twitching on the floor. “I’ll get my chance…sooner or later.”
“Damn it, Forge…” I murmured, sinking further into Forge’s embrace. Right now, he was my only chance of survival, and I damn well knew it.
“Later. Take my hand and don’t let go.” He wrapped a hand around my forearm, and I shifted closer to him, no intention whatsoever of letting him out of my sight.
“Transportation will be here in a moment. The Elder prefers to do things the old way.” Dobson’s fangs dripped. “I will meet you there.”
What in the hell does that even mean? I thought, Forge’s hand sliding down to clasp mine.
“He only means we will be taking a car, Selena,” Forge murmured. “Remember our lessons, and don’t—for even a moment—forget the sort of monsters that surround you.”
I wouldn’t. Not after seeing
