Bound by Night(85)

Riker recoiled at Nicole’s harsh words, but she couldn’t let herself regret saying them. God help her, she wasn’t judging Terese, couldn’t imagine what the poor female had gone through. But Riker needed to let go of his guilt over how she lived and forgive himself for her death.
“Your family killed her!” he yelled back. He pushed away and, in a great sweep of his arm, sent the bottle of beer flying across the room and crashing into the wall. “Your family drove her to it. They raped and murdered her, and then they took an innocent child and abused him, too.” He jabbed his finger at her, and his voice went low, dark, like something straight out of hell. “And if you hadn’t raised the alarm that day—”
The pain in her chest became a searing agony.
How had he found out about that? “And that’s what it comes down to, doesn’t it?” she croaked. “No matter what I do, you’ll never get past what my family did, and you’ll never forgive me for being born a Martin.”
Not that he didn’t have reason to hate her family.
Hell, she had reason. But she wasn’t a part of that family anymore, and if Riker couldn’t see that, there was nothing she could do to change his mind.
“I’m sorry for everything that’s happened to you, Terese, and Bastien. I’m sorry for everything Daedalus has done to your entire race, and I wish I could do more.” She opened the door. “I don’t know what
Hunter has planned for my future, but I hope you’ll stand up for me. I like it here, and I think I can con— tribute to the clan.”
She got out of there as fast as she could, and she wasn’t at all surprised that Riker didn’t come after her.
 
 
 
• • • • • •

 
 
 
Son of a bitch!
Riker banged his head against the door and stood there, forehead to the wood, hand on the doorknob.
What was wrong with him?
He shoved away from the door and stared at the broken glass scattered around his quarters. Shit. He’d never had a hair trigger, had prided himself on his control. But ever since he met Nicole, his emotions had been erratic, and he couldn’t seem to get it together.#p#分页标题#e#
He thought he could deal with Nicole’s family background, but Bastien’s revelation that Nicole had been
the one to raise the alarm that ended in Terese’s death was the tipping point.
And then he’d come home to find her in the bedroom. Terese had been the only female ever in the room, and having Nicole there felt like a betrayal. How could
Nicole ask him to move on, and not only move on but do it with the very person responsible for Terese’s death?
Logically, he knew it was stupid to blame Nicole for everything her family had done. But dammit, he’d wanted to strike back at the Martins for so long, and now one of them was right here . . . and he’d slept with her. He’d kissed her, fed from her, and been intimate with her.
The one person on the planet he should have stayed as far away from as possible.
A crumpled wad of paper lay on the floor near the door. He swiped it up, and his heart jerked violently when he realized what it was.
I made you something. Nicole had called to him from the bedroom, her sing-song voice so full of eagerness.
She’d fashioned an origami vampire for him as a gift.
And he’d not only dashed her happiness, which he knew she’d had far too little of, but he’d compounded his idiocy by once again blaming her for everything bad under the sun.
You fucking asshole. You took the best thing that’s happened to you in years and turned it into a bag of dicks.
He had to make it up to her. He had to pull his head out of his ass and make things right.
Riker started after her, but as he reached for the doorknob, his phone beeped, an urgent text from Hunter.
ShadowSpawn knows Neriya is dead. They’re on their way with a war party.
Riker hit the hallway at a dead run. He didn’t think his boots even hit the floor as he charged to Hunter’s chamber, where the other senior warriors were gathering, along with the two dozen lieutenants who operated under them. Hunter was standing at the head of the oblong table, his posture unyielding, his expression grave.
“Sit,” Hunter commanded, as soon as the last senior, Baddon, entered. “Where’s Myne?” He shot a pointed look at Riker, and Riker gave him the usual response.
“He’s with Bastien. If he got your text, he’ll be here as soon as he can.” Myne had a tendency to ignore
Hunter, but even he wouldn’t shrug this off.
Hunter remained standing while everyone else took a seat. “As I said in my message, ShadowSpawn is on the way. One of our scouting parties spotted them before being engaged by ShadowSpawn forward scouts. They killed Wolfgang, and Tena barely made it back. She’s in the infirmary, but her injuries are serious. Grant’s doing all he can.”