Yet another thing I’d take up with Forge as soon as we got out of this. The bigger issue was I hadn’t yet discovered anything that might help us. Maybe I should have stuck with making whisky, since I kind of sucked at this spy stuff.
Still, the night was young.
“I believe I was summoned,” Forge said, straightening his blood-flecked cuffs, which I noticed had gold links that matched the necklace around my neck. “I was curious, I suppose, to see what my kind had devolved into these past centuries. I must say, you’re an even worse lot than I expected.”
There was death in Forge’s face as he calmly pointed out, “As you can see, I can reduce your numbers considerably, should any of you lot piss me off.” He leveled his cold stare at the Elder. “Including you.
“However,” Forge went on, as if he hadn’t just threatened everyone with death. Bloody death, from the look of his three victims. “I came here in good faith to get an explanation. Now, I expect an apology for attacking me on neutral ground. Once I have it, I’ll return to America, never to set foot on Scottish soil again.”
Only I caught the note of regret in that statement, a sure sign that I was finally starting to figure him out. It pissed me off that this pompous group of assholes had set their sights on Forge, going to all this trouble just to settle some old score. I shifted slightly in my chair, a move the Elder—and Dobson—tracked closely.
“Apology?” The Elder’s voice was shaking. “I owe you nothing of the sort. The fact is, the old laws must be adhered to. This is simply a reckoning.”
“This is simply bullshit,” Forge shot back, and I mentally applauded his jab. “Either challenge me like a leader, or apologize, and we’ll go home. I have other business to attend to.”
You bet you do, buddy, I thought. Like explaining what this Chosen bullshit all about.
When the Elder did nothing but glower, Forge offered me his hand, and I dutifully took it, regretting I hadn’t been much help. “Fine, then, we’ll be off,” he said.
“Sit down, Bastian.” The Elder’s voice vibrated with rage, the temperature in the room plunging to near-freezing in an instant. Phantom shadows swirled behind him, and the table in front of me began vibrating seconds before the air did. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe.
“Forge…” I said, his name turning into white mist.
“How do you propose we settle this bullshit, then?” Forge asked, no hint of emotion in his voice. “Fight to the death, or do we come to another agreement?”
The Elder’s eyes narrowed. “Death it is.”
In my head, the vampires’ voices rose in a chorus of bloodlust-fueled anticipation. It was difficult to single anyone out of the chaos, but after I sifted through them a second time, there was one voice that stood out. The Elder was finally speaking my language, and once I heard him, I wished I hadn’t.
Forge wasn’t here to settle a debt—he was simply standing in the Elder’s way.
Meyer the Elder hadn’t brought Forge here to settle an old score. He’d set this all up for…
“My champion.” The Elder indicated the vampire stepping into the room with a casual wave. “I believe you two know each other.”
This vampire was every bit as big as Forge, and bulkier, his arms bulging beneath the utilitarian blue coat. Everyone in the room broke the silence by talking at once, while I sized up the newcomer, doubt gnawing at me. He was huge, and his eyes glittered with something other than anticipation; they were full of anger. Around his neck was a thin white scar that he fingered while staring down Forge.
Cade. Even in my head, Forge bit the name off, as if it tasted sour. Nobody to be concerned about.
Really? Because he looks really scary.
Everyone here looks really scary, Selena. I have this under control, so don’t panic.
Well, he really, really wants you dead. The rest of them are just here to watch. He’s here to see that it gets done.
Selena.
Forge, you brought me here to listen. That’s what I’m doing. And I’m telling you, you have to watch out for this guy.
Forge turned his gaze away from the Elder and fixed it on Cade, who returned it with a blackness that I hoped was never turned on me.
I snapped my shield firmly into place, relieved when Forge reinforced it with his, and watched the evil smile slowly disappear from the older vampire’s face as Forge softly said, “It’s been years, Cade. You don’t look a day older than when we last met.” Several vampires chuckled at what I supposed was standard vamp humor.
The Elder had reverted to his native language, but there was no mistaking his confidence. He’d set tonight up perfectly, and once Forge was out of the way, he’d get everything he wanted. And I wouldn’t have time to explain, not while Forge and Cade were almost nose to nose.
“The only thing I care about is that after tonight, I will never think of you again,” Cade said.
“Why do you think of me at all?” Forge asked softly. “Unless you still hold what happened to Mara against me.”
“I would have protected her.” Spittle flew out of Cade’s mouth as he added, “Better than you.”
“You would have died along with her.” Forge shook his head sadly. “That’s what this is all about? Some long-held grudge for something that happened so long ago it should have been forgotten?”
He stood, bracing his hands on the table so he stared straight at Cade, but his words were for all of them. “I killed the Elder’s bastard. He murdered my Maker, and I invoked the right of blood to avenge her death. All of which was perfectly within the laws of Assembly. There’s a good reason I’ve stayed in America all these years. You’ve never kept up with the times. Maybe it’s time you let go of these outdated customs. Catch up;
