“I did,” Lucien agreed. I looked up to see a thoughtful look on his face. The knowing smile on Allan’s told me how he’d found out.
“You really dug around in here.” I tapped my head. Allan grinned.
“You would have me believe the SRD sanctioned a hit on a human?” Lucien asked.
I shrugged. “It’s not my job to question. I received the order from my handler. It seemed odd, but I carried it out.”
Lucien leaned forward in interest. “And who would that be?”
“Who?” Nice. Play dumb. Maybe he’ll be lenient on me if he thinks I’m an idiot.
Allan chuckled and shook his head.
“Your handler,” Lucien sighed.
He could torture it out of me, of course. But he probably already had that on the agenda. I tried not to think about what else Lucien planned. “Why are you so interested in a norm anyway?”
“An excellent question.” Lucien snapped his fingers. A figure who’d been standing behind him moved.
Clint stepped into the light.
Chapter Thirteen
If it weren’t for the vice-like grip on my arms from the Weres beside me, I would’ve toppled over when I staggered. I squinted at Clint. It didn’t make sense. He stood perfectly healthy and unaided, his neck unblemished.
“Ah fuck,” I said.
Lucien’s slow smile spread across his face. It didn’t make me feel warm or fuzzy. “I believe you are acquainted with my human servant?”
“How?” I asked.
“Human servant,” John hissed into my ear. He may as well have tacked on “you idiot,” because that’s what his tone implied.
I shook my head, ignoring John. My attention remained glued on Clint. “I tore your neck out, human servant or not, that’s hard to survive.”
“It was.” Clint’s voice was raspier than I remembered. “Thanks for that.”
“Nothing personal.” I offered a smile, only to be met with a blank stare.
“When I recall your behaviour in my hotel room, I’d have to disagree with you,” Clint said. “That was very…personal.”
No amount of forceful thinking could stop the warmth spreading through my cheeks, and Allan’s knowing grin only made it worse. I could smell Wick’s outrage behind me. My brain clamped down on any thoughts of him before Allan could pick more from my brain.
“I’m inclined to agree with Clint.” Lucien’s brows bunched together and his lips puckered out in a classic “angry model” look. Reading emotion on a master’s face never meant anything good. It meant they’d lost their tight grip of control. “Attacking my human servant when he didn’t break any of the SRD’s pitiful human laws is a personal attack on me.”
“I was following orders.” My voice was firm.
“Ah, but whose?”
I frowned. He had a point. I worked off the assumption Landen relayed the SRD’s orders. He could’ve gone rogue, taking orders from someone other than the SRD. The muscles in my body tensed as I came to a conclusion. I’d been played.
My vision stained dark red. I wanted to smash something. My brain tingled while my animals within howled. I felt the stirring of the beast and quickly squashed it down in order to become detached. I looked at Lucien.
He must’ve seen my fury, because a slow, mean smile spread across his face.
“I’m not sure, but I plan to find out.”
Lucien looked over at Allan, the Vampire lie detector, who gave a slight nod.
“Yes, you will.” Lucien walked the few steps down from his throne to stand in front of me, before running a finger down my face. His touch was cold, like ice, and despite the gentleness of his motion, I had to squash the instinct to bite his hand.
Not prey, my cat hissed. A prickly sensation radiated down my spine. My feras screamed to attack and get away. The need to flee kicked at my instincts and it took all my willpower to keep two feet planted firmly on the ground.
“Let me be perfectly clear, Andy, you owe me a debt for this insult,” Lucien said. As a Vampire, Lucien would’ve detected the spike in my heart rate and the smell of fear emanating from my skin, but he continued talking as if oblivious to my internal struggle to flee. “And if you don’t provide me with answers in a week, you will be Clint’s new toy. Do you understand?”
I nodded.
“Say it,” he hissed.
“Yes. I understand.”
Lucien transferred his gaze to Wick. “Have her chipped and keep her close.”
Wick nodded and grasped my upper arm, giving it a little tug. Time to go.
Clint stepped in before I had a chance to turn away. “You’re mine.” A promise of what he planned glinted in his expression.