Rage and Ruin(45)

“Do you really think that hasn’t occurred to me?” Zayne shot back, placing the circular object back onto the desk. I realized it was a shiny black paperweight. “You damn well know Wardens don’t patrol in groups or in the same area unless something is going down. If we’re careful, we’re not going to cross paths with another Warden.”

“You can only be so careful for so long. I know you used Dez to get her out of that warehouse before the others arrived. It won’t always be that simple.”

“It may get complicated, but it is what it is,” Zayne said. “I don’t care if it’s easy or not. You’re the clan leader. Make sure they don’t find out for as long as possible. That knowledge is too much of a risk.”

I figured it wasn’t a good time to remind Zayne that there were currently two demons and a half demon who knew exactly what I was.

And didn’t that speak volumes?

Zayne trusted those demons over his own clan. Granted, he hadn’t known that Roth would be able to figure out what I was, but he hadn’t reacted this way when Roth had figured it out and exposed what I was to Layla and Cayman. If Nicolai discovered that, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he’d do—what the entire clan would think.

It would also be a very bad time to tell them that the Crone, Rowena and another random witch knew what I was.

“I’m surprised you remembered I’m the leader of this clan.” Nicolai’s voice was soft. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten.”

“I haven’t.” Zayne met Nicolai’s stare. “Not for one second.”

Nicolai’s lip curled in a scary mockery of a grin similar to one I’d seen on Thierry more times than I cared to remember. It was a sign he was close to going nuclear. “Is there a reason to worry that any of our clansmen would put Trinity in danger?”

I held up my hand. “I want to make it clear that if I’m in danger, I can handle myself.”

Both ignored me, as was becoming the theme of my life when people talked about me like I wasn’t in the room.

“You don’t want me to answer that question,” Zayne retorted.

“I know you have your issues with the clan, Zayne, and I get it. I do.” Nicolai leaned back. “But do you really think I would allow anyone in my clan to use what Trinity is against her?”

“No one thought my father would allow his clan to do what they did to Layla.” Zayne planted his hands on the desk. “Did they?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Oh, man, they were about to travel down a painful road, one that led right back to Layla. Time to intervene.

“There was a Warden back home who discovered what I was.” My stomach soured, because this was one of my own painful roads. “No one knew that Ryker believed a Trueborn would harm a Warden. It sounds insane, right? Even my mother, who he eventually killed when he went after me, never suspected. Misha might’ve orchestrated it all, but Ryker had those beliefs long before Misha was able to exploit them.”

Zayne silently moved closer to me while I spoke, and I didn’t want to think about what he was feeling through the bond. It was a messy bag of hurt and guilt, sorrow and fury. His pale blue gaze was fastened on me as he spoke to Nicolai. “I would love to believe that every clan member here is sane and logical and wouldn’t for one second believe that Trinity would be a threat to them, but we just don’t know that. The last thing any of us needs is to be looking over our shoulders for Wardens while trying to find the Harbinger.”

Silence stretched out. The office clock ticked like a bomb. The bright blue gaze of the leader drifted to mine. “Was that why you were attacked at the Potomac Community when we were there?”

He was talking about Clay. I shook my head. “No. He just...” Aware that Zayne was watching me, I recalled what Misha had told me. “That had nothing to do with what I was. But Ryker wasn’t the only one who believed I was dangerous. There were others who felt I needed to be put down. They were...dealt with.” I ran my fingers over the back of the chair. “I honestly don’t know why any Warden would feel that way, but some did. There could be more who do.”

“You don’t know why?” Genuine disbelief filled Nicolai’s tone.

Taken aback, I frowned. “Yeah, no. I don’t.”

Zayne’s focus returned to his clan leader. “Why would any Warden fear a Trueborn?”

“A Trueborn pulls strength from a Warden—”

“That goes both ways,” Zayne cut in. “The Protector gains strength from the Trueborn. It’s not like she’s a parasite.”

A parasite.

Wow.

Never quite looked at it that way, but now that was stuck in my head to obsess over later.

“I wasn’t suggesting that.” Nicolai’s fingers tapped the arm of his chair, a slow, steady beat. “It’s just not entirely surprising that some would be concerned about what she is.”

“Surprising or not, it’s imperative that we keep what she is on the down low.” Zayne got us back on track. “I need you to agree to this, Nic.”

“I’ll do what I can, but both of you need to prepare for when the clan discovers the truth.”

“I never said I wasn’t prepared. I am.” Zayne moved so that his body blocked mine. He faced his clan leader, the man seated in the position that was supposed to have been Zayne’s. “I was a Warden, but now I’m a Protector. Her Protector. If any of them so much as asks a question about Trinity in a way that is of the slightest concern to me, it will be the last thing they do.”





22


“Do you think that was necessary?” I asked the moment we stepped out of Nicolai’s office into the empty hallway.

“What?” Zayne headed down the narrow hall brightly lit by sconces. It was late, and the large compound was quiet in a way that reminded me of the home I’d grown up in.

I ignored a sting in my chest as I hurried to catch up with his long-legged pace. “What you said to Nicolai in there. You know, to your clan leader.”

“I know who Nicolai is, Trin. Just like I told him, I haven’t forgotten for one second who I was speaking to.”

“Sure didn’t seem like it.”

One large shoulder lifted in a shrug as we entered a silent, roomy and yet somehow still cozy kitchen that managed to have a table that could seat an entire football team. “He needed to know I won’t think twice about eliminating threats to you, no matter who they come from.”

Zayne pushed open swinging white double doors that led into a smaller kitchen that had wall-to-wall stainless steel appliances. I guessed the food was prepped here. Normally I’d wonder why anyone needed two kitchens, but there were a lot of Wardens in the compound.

“While I appreciate that, you can’t go after someone just because they ask questions about what or who I am—” I swallowed a squeak as Zayne spun to face me. “Hi?”

Zayne dipped his chin and a curtain of blond hair slid forward, brushing his jaw. “I’m your Protector. No one, demon or Warden or human, is going to put you in a position of danger.”

I met his stare. “You’re my Protector, not my rabid guard dog that bites anyone who gets too close.”

“Oh, I’ll do way more than bite,” he replied, and I rolled my eyes. “My job is to keep you safe, and I’m not about waiting around for questions to become problems.”

“But they’re already asking,” I pointed out. “And Nicolai is right. Eventually they are going to find out. Maybe...maybe we’re wrong? Maybe we need to tell the clan. Take that risk.”

“That’s not the risk we should take right now. Like I said to Nic, we don’t need to be looking over our shoulders. My clan won’t find out. Not if I have anything to do with it.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “And what are you going to do, Zayne?”

“Whatever I have to. I will not allow you to be harmed.” He thumped his fist off his chest and then held it there, above his heart. “That is the vow I made.”

Two halves of me went to all-out war. Part of me boiled over with annoyance. Not only because his warning was unnecessary and could further damage his relationship with his clan, but also because I could damn well take care of myself, thank you very much. I didn’t need him going all He-Man on other Wardens without due cause.

The stupider half of me was all fluttery in my lady bits, because he was willing to put himself between me and a bullet, so to speak, even go up against his clan to do so.

That part was dumb as Hell, because of the reason behind his vow. The bond made him feel that way—willing to step in front of a speeding train for me—when it came to him and his clan. It was not the same thing that had driven him to kiss Layla even though he knew the danger, or that had allowed him to stand back and watch familiars munch down on Alphas because they’d threatened her, or to pursue a relationship with the half demon even when he knew his clan would never support it.

He needed to protect me. He’d wanted to protect Layla. And there was a world of difference between need and want. My chest twisted, even though I wasn’t comparing myself to Layla out of jealousy or bitterness. There was no competition between us. It was just the...the simple difference that, even if Zayne and I shared amazing dinners, and he said kind, sweet things to me, there was a difference between needing to do something and wanting to do it.