Page 20 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal (Kennedy Rain #4)

Jared took the other chair and rested an elbow on its leather-upholstered arm. That left one golden-eyed werewolf standing and one empty space next to Christian. Blake didn’t make a move to sit. No surprise there.

Christian shifted, causing the couch to dip and me to lean his way. He smelled great, like sun-warmed sandalwood. He was calm, steady, and so human it made me give him a smile.

His brows raised in question.

“Thanks,” I said. “I know you don’t want to be here, but…” I shrugged. “I appreciate it.”

His expression froze for a moment. Then the corner of his mouth lifted. “No problem.”

He relaxed into the couch. That helped me relax more. Despite the vampire blood moving through my body, it felt good to be off my feet. Good to just sit and be for a moment that I knew wouldn’t last.

“I am in your debt,” Jared said without preamble.

My mental alarm went off. His words were simple and straightforward, but his gaze was too level, his voice too carefully measured.

“I’m pretty sure we all knew that,” I said, trying for a noncommittal response because it felt needed.

“Satine did not anticipate resistance to her claim,” he continued. “Had you not arrived and recognized me as the master of this territory, she would have received no objections.”

“I was just trying to stop Nora from getting herself killed.” Where was he trying to take this conversation?

“You suggested recognizing me when I brought you Deagan and the sanctioned list. I did not listen to you. I should have. I would have been recognized before Satine arrived, and we would have avoided enraging an enemy.”

Enraging an enemy. Damn, that sounded dire.

“Well, I’m all for you listening to me more. There’s no need to—”

“We should listen to each other,” he said. “You know the influence you have as a Rain. I know the power of paranorms. That is why I will kill Nichlathan.”

He dropped that statement like a wrecking ball on a bunny.

My anger from before surged back, fast and hot, tearing through the semblance of calm I’d managed to stitch together. “We already discussed this.”

“It is a necessary and preemptive strike,” Jared said.

“To murder the king of the night court? Don’t we have enough enemies already?”

“Wolves already consider the fey enemies,” Blake said. “What was your bargain?”

I wasn’t the bunny anymore. I was the deer in the headlights. I wanted to tell Blake and realized I couldn’t, not if I wanted to keep Garion’s secret away from Lehr.

Intelligence prowled behind Blake’s eyes.

That wasn’t something he let people see often.

He disguised it with his dominating presence and aggression, and with me, his smirks and teases, almost as if his intellect was a vulnerability.

I had to be careful. The few times I’d seen him interact with The Rain’s bartender, it had seemed he was already circling the truth, testing the edges of it. He might piece everything together.

“They’re Lehr’s enemies,” I said. “You were at Beltane without bloodshed. You bargained with Cyrielle. She’s at least an acquaintance if not a friend or more.”

Blake’s jaw clenched. My unwillingness to trust him wasn’t helping his struggle to contain his wolf.

“I need ideas,” I said to the others in the room.

“There are none,” Jared replied. “You cannot break a bargain with a royal fey, and you cannot fulfill this one.”

He was on board with keeping Garion’s secret from Blake. Was that out of spite or because he also didn’t trust Blake with the knowledge?

“Your absolutes and your I shalt kill attitude aren’t helpful.”

Blake huffed. “It’s hard to be helpful when you don’t know the complete scenario.”

“Blake,” Nora said, caution in her voice.

There was a wildness in the way Blake held himself, a tightness in his shoulders, and the sharp line of his jaw that threatened an explosion. The longer he stayed in the vampires’ domain, the more agitated he became.

“You may leave,” Jared said, apparently seeing the same thing Nora and I did. His response wasn’t the best way to address it though.

Blake’s laugh was ugly and cold. “I’m not going anywhere without Kennedy and Nora.”

“We have a problem then,” Jared said.

The tension in the room spiked. Violence saturated the air. Neither Jared nor Blake moved.

“We’re not doing this here,” Nora said.

“I’m happy to take this outside.” Blake’s challenge rolled through the room, lifting the hair on my arms and the nape of my neck.

“The Rain,” Nora said. “You want to kill each other, you’ll do it in the Null.”

“Um, no,” I said. “I’d rather they kill each other here.”

The three paranorms trained their attention on me—so did Christian—but I frowned. Something about The Rain and the Null. That elusive thought tugged on me again. What did the Null have to do with Garion’s token…

That was it!

“You have a plan.” Christian almost said that without a groan.

“Maybe.” I met Jared’s gaze. “We’re not at last-resort time. I need to check into something.” I started to stand.

“You left the Null,” Jared said. “Nichlathan may already be searching for you.”

Anxiety twisted through my stomach. My possible solution wasn’t something I could make happen today. Maybe not even tomorrow or this week. “I just need some time.”

“You do not have any.”

I rose to my feet. He did as well, which in turn made Nora stand, but her focus was on Blake. I wasn’t sure he was okay, and that worried me just as much as the thought of Canyon sensing I’d found the token.

I had to get Blake out of there. And I had to convince Jared not to send out assassins yet.

I looked down at Christian, who was the only person still sitting. “I need to talk to you outside.”

He raised his eyebrows and pointed toward the surface above us.

That wasn’t what I meant.

“Outside this room.” Outside of Blake’s hearing range.

“That might not be the best plan,” Nora said.

I followed her gaze back to Blake. He needed to hang on a little longer.

I moved toward him and touched his upper arm. His bicep flexed hard, the corded muscle drawn tight beneath his burning skin. “I’m going to leave. Just for a few minutes.”

“Why?” Blake demanded.

“Nora’s okay,” I assured him gently. “I’m okay, and you’re in control.”

Violent turmoil glinted in his eyes. I knew if I kissed him, I could quiet the storm.

“I’ll be back,” I said, letting my fingers slide down his arm. “Okay?”

My okay wasn’t asking permission as much as it was asking if he could hold on a little longer. My touch made his gaze soften briefly, almost painfully.

“A few minutes,” he said finally.

I would make this as quick as possible.

Christian followed me to the door we’d entered through.

Jared had left it open, but I wanted it shut, so I shouldered all my weight against it.

It didn’t budge until Christian helped, and even then, it moved only one short inch at a time.

When we finally forced it all the way shut, I was breathing hard.

“They don’t want it to be easy to get in or out,” Christian said.

“Yeah. Understatement.” I really needed to exercise again. Carrie and I used to go to the rec center three times a week. Without her as a roommate, I was downright pathetic.

“What’s your idea?” he asked.

“Astrid’s working on replicating the Null spell. She thinks she can do it on a small scale. The djinn token is small. What if she can tweak the spell enough to null the token? I could fulfill my bargain without betraying Garion.”

After the words were officially spoken out loud, uneasiness ran through me. It usually did when I thought about Astrid casting that spell. It was frustrating because I couldn’t say exactly why it worried me. Most likely, I was just being paranoid.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Christian said. For the first time that night, his expression looked bright, thoughtful, almost eager.

“There’s no guarantee it will work,” I said. But it might. It might save Garion. It might save Christian’s sister. “It seems too easy.”

“That’s because you’re used to everything being hard.”

“And we don’t know if it will hurt or kill Garion.”

“I don’t think it will,” he said. “The chance that it nulls the token might be small, but it’s bigger than the chance it will hurt him. The most likely outcome is that it does nothing.”

“And you’re basing that on what?”

“Astrid knows what she’s doing,” he said. His blue eyes were focused, intelligent, clear. “She’ll be careful, and if she thinks she’s putting Garion at risk, she’ll shut it down.”

I nodded, acknowledging his words more than agreeing with them. “I’ll talk to Astrid and Garion about it. Will you talk to Nora and Jared? Try to convince Jared this is worth looking into? We don’t need to go after Canyon yet.”

His mouth tightened. “That’s going to be a hard sell.”

“It shouldn’t be,” I said, bitterness sliding into my voice.

“I know.” His mouth quirked into a smile. “Your plans are getting better.”

I laughed.

“Are you keeping this from Blake?” he asked.

“I’m keeping it from Lehr.”

“Jared rules the local vampires now. Telling him without telling Lehr could be seen as biased.”

“It’s Lehr’s fault. He’s an ass. Besides, Jared will keep it to himself for now.

For forever if I demand it.” Christian knew Jared had signed a one-sided contract to protect me and The Rain.

Keeping the djinn token a secret would do that.

Of course, he’d argue killing Canyon would do it just as well.

“So you’ll stay and talk to them?” I asked. “You don’t mind?”

He nodded. “I’ll talk to them.”

“Thank you,” I said, genuinely grateful. “I’d be absolutely lost without you.”

His expression turned neutral.

“I need to get Blake out of here. He’ll take me home, but I can come back and pick you up afterward.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said. Then he asked, “Are you safe with him?”

The question surprised me. It probably shouldn’t have. “Safe with Blake? Yeah.”

“You’re sure?” The tone of his voice made me stop and really focus on him. He was worried. He cared about me. It might be more than just protecting the daughter of the two people he felt like he’d failed. He knew me now. We had a connection. We were both humans surviving in a paranormal world.

“Blake won’t hurt me.” Not physically, at least. “I’m sure of it.”

“If he loses control…”

“I won’t let him,” I said.

His mouth flattened, but he nodded as if he was agreeing with me. He drew in a breath and stared at the bar on the door for a moment. I was about to reassure him again that I’d be okay when he said, “He’s in love with you.”

My emotions tangled into a chaotic mess. They were impossible to sort. Anticipation and fear both made my whole body feel jittery. They made a vise tighten around my chest. They made me imagine giving in to Blake.

And they triggered an image of Lehr slaughtering him.

“He might think he is,” I said. Please don’t ask me how I feel.

“But he’s a werewolf. I’m just a shiny object he can’t have, and he hates being told no.

” I felt cruel saying the words, cruel even thinking them, but it honestly didn’t make sense for a man like Blake to be interested in me, not unless I factored in the hard to get element.

“Just be careful,” Christian said. “I’ll lose it if you’re hurt.”

“I’ll be—”

He held up a hand to cut me off. “If you try to tell me you have everything under control, I’m not buying it.”

I pressed my lips together, zipped them, then turned to the door.

“Kennedy.” Christian’s tone sounded odd.

I looked over my shoulder. His hands were back in his pockets. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“I’ll call when I leave here,” he said. “But I’m going back to my gym, not to The Rain. I’ve neglected it for the past few months and need to dedicate more time to it. Catch up on bills and memberships. The AC needs to be fixed and—”

“Right. No problem,” I said. Why did it feel like a problem? Why did this conversation suddenly seem awkward? “You don’t have to stay at The Rain just because Melissa is there. I know I’ve made things difficult for you.”

He snorted at that. “Things were difficult long before I met you. You’ve… helped. At least, you’ve helped with everything but the profitability of the gym.”

I relaxed and smiled. “You’re running a business. I’m running a business. We’re both on the verge of going under. We should get together and share notes.”

He laughed. “Sounds like a great way to go bankrupt together.”

“Speak for yourself. I’m totally going to turn things around.” I playfully punched his shoulder before I grabbed the bar on the door.

He moved beside me, said “I know,” then he wrapped his hands around the bar above and below mine. Together, we heaved the door open. It was time to get Blake out of there.