"And I'm a symphath. Not one of your subjects. More to the point, you're smart enough not to send your best assets"--she motioned around the room at the Brothers--"into a possible ambush set up by your enemy. I'm disposable--unlike them. Think about it. You going to lose one of them just because you didn't want me to get a little sun today?"
Wrath laughed hard. "Rehv? You want to weigh in on this as king of her kind?"
From across the room, her old boss and dear friend, the fucker, stared at her with amethyst eyes that knew way too much.
You're going to get yourself killed, he thought at her.
Do not hold me back, she returned at him . I'll never forgive you.
You keep acting like this and forgiveness is the last thing I'm worried about. Your funeral pyre's more like it.
I didn't stop you from going up to that colony when you needed to. Hell, you tied my hands so I couldn't. You saying I don't deserve my revenge? Fuck you.
Rehvenge's jaw clenched so hard she was surprised that when he finally opened his mouth, he didn't spit out his teeth in pieces. "She can go do what she wants. You can't save someone if they don't want the fucking lifeboat."
The male's anger sucked most of the air out of the room, but she was so focused she didn't need her lungs to work properly anyway.
Obsession was as good as oxygen. And anything that had to do with Lash was fuel to her fire.
"I need weapons," she said to the group. "And leathers. A phone for communication."
Wrath growled low and deep. Like he was going to try and lock her down in spite of Rehv's pass.
Walking forward, she planted her palms on the king's desk and leaned in. "Lose me or run the risk of losing them. What's your answer there, Your Highness."
Wrath rose to his feet, and for a moment she got a clear sense that although he was on the throne, he was still lethal as hell. "Watch. Your. Tone. In my fucking house."
Xhex inhaled deeply and calmed herself down. "I apologize. But you've got to see my point."
As the silence expanded, she could feel John looming--and knew that even if she could break through the king's roadblock, she was still going to have a hell of a time getting around the male by the door. But her departure was not open for discussion from anyone.
Wrath cursed low and long. "Fine. Go. I won't be responsible if you get yourself killed."
"Your Highness, you never were responsible. No one but me is--and no crown on your head or anybody else's is going to change that."
Wrath looked in V's direction and all but snarled, "I want this female covered with weapons."
"No problem. I'll hook her up right."
As she went to follow Vishous out, she stopped in front of John and wished she had a different hand to play--especially as he took her biceps in a hard grip. But the fact was, an opportunity was out there and she had until sundown to take advantage of it: If there were any clues to where Lash was, she'd better use them to get to him if she wanted a clear shot at the bastard. Come nightfall? John and the Brotherhood were going to get unleashed on the situation--and they weren't going to hesitate to kill their target.
Yes, Lash had to pay for what he'd done to her, but she needed to be the one to collect on that debt: She was batting a thousand when it came to burying those who had wronged her, the living, breathing "bitch" in that jolly little saying about payback.
Quietly, so no one else heard, she said, "I'm not someone you need to protect, and you know exactly why I have to do this. You love me like you think you do, you're going to let go of my arm. Before I rip it out of your hold."
As he paled, she prayed she wasn't going to have to get forceful.
But she didn't. He released his grip on her.
Heading out the door of the study, she marched past V and barked over her shoulder, "Time's wasting, Vishous. I need some steel."
FORTY-EIGHT
As Xhex took off with V, John's first thought was to go downstairs, put himself in front of the door that opened into the great outdoors, and physically block her from leaving.
Second thought was to go with her--although that would just turn him into the vampire equivalent of a Roman candle.
Jesus Christ, every time he thought he'd reached a new low with her, the rug got pulled out from under him and he landed at an even harder, hellish place: She'd just volunteered to go into a total unknown that she herself admitted was too dangerous for the Brothers. And she was doing it without backup and without any way of him reaching her if she got hit.
As Wrath and Rehv walked up to him, the study came back into focus and he realized everyone else had left--except for Qhuinn, who was hovering in the corner, frowning at his cell phone.
Rehvenge exhaled hard, clearly in the same fuck-me boat John was in. "Listen, I--"