Page 42 of Bullets and Blood (Hunting Hearts #1)

He blinked, suddenly released. His hand shook as he drank his now cold tea. Had his answers been good enough? He waited for Garrick to do something. For something to be said.

Ann poured herself another cup of tea and considered him. “Taking you in is a risk.”

This was it. He was going to be cast out into no man’s land for the Orlans to hunt. He’d rather have Ann end him.

“I know,” he said softly. “I just want a chance to be someone else.”

“No one can be anyone else. But everyone deserves a second chance.” She lifted a finger. “One second chance.”

Nix frowned.

Ann pushed the laptop toward him. “You may let Zinnia know you are alive. You will give me access to your family site. You will follow every rule you are given.”

“And Lance?”

“I will speak with him when he has come back to himself. But he is mine now.”

Nix clenched his jaw. Lance was his…maybe.

He logged in and went straight to the chat. Zinnia had finally checked in. “She’s on her way.”

“Tell her to come here.”

Garrick stepped closer to watch what Nix typed.

For a moment, Nix didn’t write anything. “I don’t know where here is.”

Ann gave him an address in Serpentine—he didn’t even know where the suburb was, but he typed it in and added, ‘The Reids are waiting, and I no longer have access.’ He glanced at Garrick for approval.

“Tell her you’re alive and unharmed. We aren’t monsters.” Garrick smiled, but the implication was there; the remaining Hadleys were the monsters.

He rewrote the message. ‘I’m alive and safe. The Reids are expecting you.’

Garrick nodded, and Nix pressed send. Then, he copied the link into a new document and added his password. “Will that suffice?”

Garrick tested the password and gave Ann his nod of approval.

She smiled. “My niece will be here tomorrow to do the ink and make it official, but I want your loyalty today.” She pointed to the floor next to her. “Or Garrick will escort you out of my territory.”

He hadn’t expected this today. He’d thought he’d get a chance to talk to Lance first and firm up their plan and their future. He should’ve known better. Slowly, he got up and moved around the table before dropping smoothly to his knees. “What do you want me to say?”

“Nothing. Loyalty isn’t made of words but actions.” She offered her wrist.

Biting a lover was a completely different thing from biting a matriarch. He glanced up at her. If he did that, he was cutting ties with Hadley blood for good. Zinnia would know before she saw the tattoo. “If Zinnia comes here?—”

“Then I will deal with her separately, as is proper. You have no rank and no power here, Hadley. You exist because I allow it. Drink…unless you have changed your mind.”

Nix took her hand and kissed the red heart inked on her wrist. He drew in a breath. Then, he sealed his fate with a taste of her blood.

Garrick uncrossed his arms and offered his hand to help Nix up. “Brother.”

Nix shook it, unsure if Garrick was friend or foe or just his keeper. But he’d heard everything Nix had confessed to Ann. If she’d heard anything troubling, he was sure Garrick would’ve ended him.

Without the secrets the weight had eased. The hatred that had existed for himself and the life he’d been leading was no longer something he had to drag around and keep hidden.

“I’ll show him around.” Garrick led Nix outside, away from Lance, when he should be up there listening.

He stepped outside into the expansive gardens of the property in Serpentine. The gum trees shed dappled light over the lawn. This was where they’d been brought, wounded and immobile. “Can I go back in?”

“You don’t need to torture yourself. Day five is bad. We don’t usually let partners near because it creates unnecessary fractures.”

“So you’re kicking me out for the rest of the day?”

“You are free to leave.” Garrick pulled a set of car keys out of his pocket and almost handed them over. “Or should I assign you a driver so you don’t try to get out speeding fines?”

He was never going to live that down. Ensorcellment was always more fun when he was doing it to someone else. “I’ll be fine.”

“Will you?”

He was going to try to be fine. He didn’t know if he could do normal, but he was going to give that a go. “I hope so.”

Garrick pulled out a business card. “I doubt it. Your first appointment has been booked for tomorrow afternoon. I suggest you make it a regular thing.”

Nix looked at the card. A date and time had been scrawled on the back. “And he’ll report back to you?”

“No, he’s Reid by blood, but he’d never break patient confidentiality rules. What you told Ann won’t leave that room either.”

He put the card in his pocket. Maybe he could learn to sleep through the night again.

“In better news. The purchase of the winery has been arranged. Settlement is in three weeks. Have your lawyer contact me for the details. Until then you live here, but you are free to come and go.” He handed over a phone. Pin is today’s date. Should be easy for you to remember so don’t change it.”

And a constant reminder that he owed his life to the Reids. But it would be his life. Nix put it in his pocket.

“I’m sure you know the drill, answer when called, everything is monitored and so on.”

“Yeah.”

“Car is in the garage.” He pointed to the large shed that must house eight cars. “A welcome gift if you will.”

He was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for a favor to be tacked onto the end of this.

“Stop looking so worried, you’re Nixon Hadley. People here were terrified when you were brought in and yet here you are looking like you’re scared of spiders or something.” Garrick grinned.

“My name isn’t who I am, who I was.”

“So I’ve realized. But no one else is going to know that. They all think you’ve taken on the job of expanding our southern border. Your name alone will keep the unaffiliated away.”

His name meant trouble and bloodshed. That had never been the legacy he wanted to leave. “What is it you want me to do for you?”

“Make wine and keep out of trouble, Hadley. That’s it. Someone else will deal with security and the expansion.”

Nix watched Garrick the way he’d watch a redback spider crawling up his arm. “That’s never it.”

“It is for you. You will not keep unregistered firearms on the property, and I can tell you right now the cops will never approve your application.” He stepped closer and looked up at Nix.

“You’re on a long leash, but you are still leashed.

Get used to seeing me around.” He stepped back.

“And good luck. That winery is a piece of shit.”

“But it’s my piece of shit.” Or it would be in three weeks.

He walked into the garage and pressed the button on the key. A dark blue car flashed its lights at him. The Reids had given him a hybrid, proving they had a sense of humor. He laughed and couldn’t stop. He put his hand to his stomach when the new muscle ached.

It was over. He wasn’t going back. He was out.

All he needed was Lance, and then his life could begin.