Page 77 of Liar & Champion
Chapter Twenty-Four
CHAMPION
Who should I kill first?
Daniel. No, my mother. No, Horse. No, definitely my mother. First Daniel, then Horse, then my mother. I held Kitten in my bed and schemed. I hadn’t had such a cold rage for a long time, years probably. Maybe never. I’d thought maybe I’d gotten over it, but apparently not. It was just waiting for a worthy cause.
Finally, all the pieces were falling into place. Why did my mother give me a deal? Because she was manipulated by one of the most dangerous emerging players on the board. My cousin, the one my Kitten called Beastie. He had a gift for seeing how things would fit together long-term. For as long as I’d known him, he’d had a lot of restraint for someone with such a virulent strain of the serum running through his veins. Her name was Sunshine. What had he said? ‘There are several strains of the serum that lead to death.’ I’d thought he was speaking with that touch of madness he sometimes had, but he was giving me a heads up. He’d set me up with Kitten from the beginning. He knew how much I hated being told not to do something, so what had he said? ‘She’s not for you,’ which only made her more appealing. Even without that, from the first moment I sawKitten, I wanted her. Not just her body, but all of her, the light inside of her that nothing could diminish, the happiness she exuded, the ebullience with which she greeted the world. The way she hiked up her skirt and rode her board.
She was right. My reaction to her was absolutely illogical. I’d married her. I would have sworn that nothing could persuade me to do such a thing, but she made it a condition of being with her, and suddenly it was reality. She’s a virgin? No problem. I’ll just be celibate for six months while sleeping with her in my bed every night. I didn’t sleep with women in my bed. I was not warm, soft, cuddly, but she’d never know that, because the deepest core of me needed to be whatever she needed, and she needed cuddles.
She was a serum baby, my absolute kryptonite, and I couldn’t even want to fight against the compulsion to protect her with every fiber of my being. Daniel suffered from the same compulsion. That’s why he choreographed this complicated dance and got me involved, because my gifts were a blend of raw power and more subtle influence that could unlock most doors, and annihilate the rest.
Did my mother realize that she was being played by her nephew? If not, it really was time for someone else to rule the House of Beasts. Not me. Unless it was required to save Sunny. Then, yes, of course I’d accept a life-sentence I’d been passionately avoiding since I realized what it entailed. I wasn’t going to let my wife die, whatever the cost to me. I wasn’t letting her go once our six months was up, either. I was Michael Dupre with two slight differences. I was a hundred times more dangerous, and she liked me touching her. I wasn’t a hero. If my mother hadn’t been diabolical and pushed me so hard to follow in her footsteps, I would have gone very bad a long time ago. But I was going to save my Sunshine, my Kitten, my wife.
Only heroes saved. Let me go get my cape.
Sunshine stirred in my arms and I shifted automatically to make her more comfortable. She was wearing my t-shirt, and I was wearing soft bottoms. All those clothes I’d gotten for her, and she wanted my oldest, softest t-shirt to wrap around herself. How could someone be so adorable?
“Nix,” she whispered, sliding her hand across my bare stomach.
Every piece of me came awake and alive, frantic to memorize every touch, to give her at least as much pleasure as she gave me.
“Sunshine, I’m right here,” I whispered against her hair.
She sighed contentedly and relaxed back into dreams, having made certain I was there to protect her and that she hadn’t been kidnapped by anyone. She didn’t realize that I was her greatest threat. Hopefully, she never would.