Page 82 of Tested

And then I start laughing.

“Trajan.” David comes at me at a run, his expression stricken. I bend over, bracing myself with my hands on my knees, laughing in great, gulping, sobs.

“That…” I choke out a word. “Fucking…” Another one, forced out between gales. “Bastard.”

Connor’s frozen in place, his green eyes gone huge. David’s got a hand on my shoulder and Sheena’s right behind him.

“What is it, Tray?” David asks.

I bite my lower lip hard, a jolt of pain that calms me. For a moment, all I can do is breathe, but then I straighten, meeting Connor’s gaze. “He ordered me to kill you.” The silence is broken only by the scuttle of some small creature through the shrubbery. “You start looking for a princess and Jacques decides he wants you dead. Sounds like he’s guilty to me.”

“Oh, he’s guilty,” Connor says coldly. “Are you going to kill me?”

David gasps loud enough for all of us.

“Of course not,” I say.

“I thought a vampire must obey a direct charge from their maker.”

“That’s why…” Sheena murmurs, and I nod in agreement.

“I refused his command, which means I’ll have to break from him,” I say, with more confidence than I feel.

Connor nods, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. “I need to make a phone call to have someone come pick up the guys.” He shoots a look to where the three men are still unconscious. “And then I think I should take off. I do believe you”—he takes a step in my direction, his face a mask of conflicting emotions—“I do,mo shíorghrá,but if your maker finds out I’m here and you haven’t killed me, he’ll take it out on you.”

“No one will tell him. He won’t find out.” The claim sounds false even to me, and Connor’s grimace says he doesn’t buy it either.

“Look, for now, Smith needs my help. I’ll take off and you can come up with a plan, because when Jacques hits us, it’s going to be hard, and I’m not sure we’re ready – thatyou’reready – for that fight.”

David murmurs a protest, but I stay silent, and when Connor goes into the house, I stay by the pool. I don’t want to see him leave.