His face sagged slightly, his eyes glinting with resentment as he sliced his palm open with a knife.
“You will stay away from me and mine. Forever.” Our hands met, the blood making our handshake slippery. He was old, but his grip was strong, and I knew I’d be a fool to underestimate him. But a blood oath was a start.
“Schan svu,” he agreed.
I turned to go, then changed my mind.
“Something else. The girl is under my protection, and the protection of the Ouroboros Society. I am her Immortal Keeper, and if you dare…” I leaned closer, well aware I was covered with the blood of at least four vampires. “Touch her, I will kill you and take your place as Elder.”
“Tresset culde ment.” You can try.
“If you think for one second I want your shitty little job in this backwards clan, you can think again. The world changed centuries ago, and you missed it.”
I left him stewing in his own jealousy and went to collect Selena and take her home.
18
I didn’t think I’d ever been so happy to set foot on a plane. Not that the feeling would last once we got into the air, but damn, I felt like I was barely escaping Scotland with my life.
“You did well, Selena.”
“Yeah, well, you did too. All the random killing was a surprise. A little warning would have been nice.” Then I could have at least closed my eyes and not had all of that gruesomeness tattooed on my brain for the rest of my life.
“I apologize for that.”
He reached for my hand, but I drew it away. Violence wasn’t what I’d signed up for. At least, not that much violence. “Of course you do,” I snapped, not even sure why I was so pissed off as I buckled myself into my seat.
I’d kept my word, survived the vampire apocalypse and now we were on our way back home, my debt completely fulfilled. I should be ecstatic. I’d saved the company, and now all I had to do was bottle and release Dad’s special batch and live out my life.
Instead, I was…mad.
I wasn’t even sure why.
Sure, I was jealous. Jealous of Mara, and of the blonde who looked at Forge like she wanted to eat him up. But deep in the pit of my stomach, I knew there was more to it than that.
He’d withheld so much from me. Some of the omissions I understood, but others…
Why not warn me how dangerous this was? Why not tell me about Mara, about why he’d been targeted in the first place? Which led me to jump to all kinds of conclusions about what else he was hiding.
I mulled over Forge’s many transgressions as my hand found the pendant and worried it up and down the chain, reminding me that Forge was hiding something even bigger from me. The Ouroboros Society. Chosen.
None of that made any sense to me, and I wasn’t about to ask Forge to explain.
When I’d gone to him, it was to leverage his sense of loyalty to my family and help me save the company.
Now I had to ask myself, who was playing whom?
I’d gotten what I wanted, and kept my part of the bargain. My gaze drifted over to Forge, who was staring out the window. I thought I’d understood the dynamics between us. But for the first time, I wondered what it was that Forge really wanted out of this deal.
Ever since she’d fastened her seatbelt, Selena had stopped hiding her thoughts behind a blank mask. I saw everything flicker across her face as easily as if I were watching a movie. She was angry with me. She distrusted me. She even feared me, if the sharp tang of adrenaline in the cabin was anything to go by.
I could guess why—not that I had the ability to change the past.
“When we get back, I want us to sit down and talk,” I told her, pulling her out of her thoughts. “There are many things I have to tell you, some that I should have told you before Assembly.”
Her eyes flickered with surprise, then shuttered closed, as suspicion oozed from her. I swore her lip curled, then she settled that damnable mask down over her face.
“Selena.”
She turned her head robotically—obediently—toward me, and I suppressed my curse. I should have been honest with her from the beginning.
If you had, she would have run as far away from you as she could get.
“I know you have questions after what happened tonight. When we get home, I will tell you whatever you want to know.”
No reaction, not even so much as a nod.
To her credit, she’d kept her shield firmly in place, and her lack of trust gutted me. Again, I forced down a curse, and the anger that only reminded me this was my fault. Honesty was not something I was familiar with, since I mostly dealt with my own kind. Part of me had forgotten that when I made my proposal.
“I’m sorry you were frightened. I’m sorry for what you had to see tonight.”
I couldn’t read her face, nor her thoughts. I was so used to reading everyone around me, and this silence was maddening.
“Don’t shut me out, Selena,” I said gently. But she already had, and I was damned if I knew how to get through.
She turned her face fully toward me, and I winced at the blood, the tangled hair, the beginnings of a bruise on her face.
“There’s a bathroom, back there.” I motioned toward the rear of the plane, keeping my eyes on that bruise. “Towels, anything you need will be in there. Take your time.” I handed her the bag she’d brought on board. She looked surprised before she took it from me.
Without a word, she unbuckled her belt, walked to the rear cabin and locked herself inside.
From where I sat, it looked like we’d both gotten exactly what we wanted, and neither of us were happy.
19
I shut the
