Page 18 of The Bloody Ruin Asylum & Taproom (Sam Quinn #7)

Thirteen

Don’t Make Me Have Him Hurt You

We made our way back up the hills, along empty streets. A block from The Bloody Ruin, Clive paused and listened. Dogwalker, I believe.

A moment later, a woman walking her German Shepherd appeared around the corner. The dog growled at us, not that I blamed him. I’m sure we deserved it. The woman gave us a nervous nod. Clive said something to her in Hungarian and she smiled, the tension easing in her shoulders.

We turned up the next road and ducked behind The Bloody Ruin. Clive waved his hand, now wearing a thick gold ring with a large ruby in the center. The passage opened and we stepped in before the door slid shut again.

“Cool ring,” I said, turning on my phone’s flashlight.

“Vlad let me borrow it so I could get you back inside more easily. He wants you to keep it while we’re here.” He took it off his finger and handed it to me.

The ring was weighty, the dark ruby huge. “Really?” I shined the light on it. “This looks like a family heirloom that I do not want to lose. Maybe you should hold on to it.” I tried to pass it back, but he wouldn’t take it.

“Sorry, love. I was given very specific instructions. Consider it a compliment. He wants to make sure you can get in and out whenever you need.”

“What about him? Doesn’t he need this?” I asked.

Clive put the ring on my thumb and then held my hand. “He says he has other ways.”

We walked quietly for a while, having to move single file because of the narrowness of the tunnel. Clive changed the hand he reached back to grab mine with, so I had to switch hands with my phone.

It hit me why he might not want to hold that hand. “Does it bother you that I’m wearing Vlad’s ring?”

“Very much, but it would bother me more if you couldn’t move freely in this mausoleum of vampires. Your safety is more important than territorial jealousy.”

We walked on in silence.

“You know,” I said, “it’s actually a pretty ugly ring, if you really look at it.”

He turned and gave me a big kiss. “It is, isn’t it? Brutish. Lacking in subtlety and beauty.”

“My thoughts exactly,” I said.

“I do so love you. Now bring that hideous hunk of junk over here and get us out.” He stepped back to make room for me.

I waved my hand as I’d seen Vlad do it and the panel slid open. Cadmael and Vlad were leaning against opposite walls, silently waiting.

“That took longer than I’d thought,” Vlad said.

I felt my cheeks pink. “Sorry! That was my fault. I didn’t realize anyone was waiting for me, so I went for a walk.”

“She needed a moment,” Clive said. “The wolves took out their anger on her.”

“Always anger with wolves,” Cadmael said.

“Standing right here,” I grumbled.

White teeth shone in the dim light as Vlad grinned at me.

“Besides,” I said, “they had reason to be upset.”

“True.” Vlad pushed off the wall, the humor leaving his face as he addressed Clive. “Have you been approached by anyone grumbling about the Guild being too soft, too content to hide our kind?”

Clive looked between the two men. “Why do you ask?”

I stuffed my hands in my pockets with a sigh. “Always so cagey. Conversations take forever with you guys. How about if you all accept that you respect and trust one another and then just say what you want to say?”

Clive shook his head, but Vlad laughed.

“And this is what you get,” Vlad said, “when you take a wolf to mate.”

“Yes,” Cadmael said disapprovingly.

“No, no,” Vlad began, pointing a finger at Cadmael.

“I meant no insult. I appreciate the frankness of wolves like this one. She didn’t stop to weigh the consequences of shouting at vampires or taking away their food.

She did what she felt was right and was ready to deal with the consequences.

Because of that—even though I don’t know her—I trust her more than either of you. ”

Speaking to Cadmael, he added, “but you said yes as though you were agreeing with my disparagement of her. Why is that?”

“Cadmael thinks I’m a vicious dog who isn’t terribly bright, a gold-digger, and far beneath Clive,” I answered for him.

“No,” Clive said. “My friend would never think, let alone say, anything so cruel to the woman I love more than anything in this world.” He may have been answering me, but his focus was on Cadmael. “My friend would never do anything to make my wife think she was unwelcome in his presence.”

Cadmael looked every inch the Mayan warrior, eyes fierce, jaw clenched as he stared past Clive at me.

“People are allowed to dislike me, Clive,” I interrupted.

“You two have been friends for a very long time.” I pulled Clive away from the stare down.

“It’s fine. I already pissed off a room full of vampires out there.

” I gestured toward the heavy metal door.

“Don’t make me the reason you lose a close friend and ally. ”

“I don’t think those things,” Cadmael finally said, his voice deep in the charged silence.

“I worry. In the last year he has fought wolves, countless fae assassins, demons, and scores of our own kind.” He shook his head.

“As Vlad said, you jump in to do what you believe is right, but who is left fighting to keep you alive?”

Clive started to speak, but I squeezed his hand. Cadmael had the right to say what he needed to say.

“You are my friend,” Cadmael continued, looking at Clive, “someone I value a great deal, and there are precious few of those.” Turning to me, he said, “I don’t hate you. I worry that his loving you will mean his final death.”

I let out a harsh breath, feeling that prediction like a punch in the gut.

“I’m already mostly dead,” Clive said.

I looked up and found him watching me, his eyes crinkling. He’d used my old joke to take the sting out of Cadmael’s words. The cramping in my stomach relaxed.

You and I know better, he told me.

I kissed him and then turned back to Cadmael. “This last year has been nuts. I’ll give you that, but most of it has had nothing to do with me. Leticia had been causing trouble in the nocturne long before Clive and I got together.”

“Because he’d killed Leticia’s mate for not protecting you,” Cadmael countered.

“Oh, someone’s been listening to gossip. Clive killed étienne because he made a habit of ignoring Clive’s orders. What would you do if one of your vampires consistently rolled his eyes at your wishes and did whatever he wanted?”

Cadmael didn’t respond, but we all knew the answer.

“étienne was killed after he blew off guard duty and I was almost killed by a kelpie. That part’s true. But is it why he was killed, Clive?” I asked.

“I gave him his final death because a girl—a seventeen-year-old who’d been brutalized and dumped in a city where she knew no one—was under my protection.

I’d informed the nocturne of her status and he ignored my orders to guard her, as he had done before, because he believed a scarred little wolf wasn’t worth his time. ”

“That wasn’t his decision,” Cadmael said.

“No,” Clive agreed. “It was not. The only reason she survived was because I heard her scream when the kelpie crushed her and began taking bites out of her. Leticia, Lafitte, Aldith, Garyn can all be traced back to me killing the Atwood men for what they’d done to my sister a thousand years ago.

I will point out the one who’s stood by my side through every battle this past year, fighting enemies much older and stronger, is this one right here.

As Sam says, you don’t have to like her, but I won’t have her disrespected. ”

Cadmael was silent, studying me. I felt him push on my mind, trying to read it, but I smacked him away and slammed down the mental barriers, my candy-coating keeping him out.

The anger disappeared from his face, but I didn’t believe it. I still felt a strange tangle of emotions radiating from him. “My apologies,” he said.

“Accepted,” I shot back. “Good. That’s done.” I turned to Vlad. “What were you saying?”

Shaking his head, he crossed his arms over his chest. “So glad that’s been settled. I asked Clive if he’d been approached by anyone wanting the Guild to loosen our restrictions.”

“I have,” Clive said, wrapping an arm around me.

“In subtle and not so subtle ways. I’ve had people refer to the recent battles in San Francisco, wondering if the Guild had responded, if I thought the Guild had the right to censure us.

It was done in a way that could have been mere gossip, but the gleam in their eyes told a different story.

I believe they wanted to know how far they in turn could go before the Guild would step in. ”

“One said it was nice for Clive and Russell that Eli was such an absent Counselor, as neither had to deal with any Guild reprisals,” I volunteered.

Clive nodded. “As though we had been the aggressors, bringing in a legion of vampires and starting brawls in the streets. We did what we could to mitigate the spectacle, altering the memories of those who saw us.”

“If anyone deserved to be punished, it was that whack job Garyn,” I added.

“I believe we took care of that for the Guild,” Clive said.

“Yeah, we did.” I put up my hand and he high-fived me.

Cadmael looked pained by our exchange.

I leaned into Clive. “Sorry. I think I’m losing you your street cred with the other vamps.”

“I’ll survive,” he replied.

“Will you?” Cadmael asked. “Someone poisoned you tonight.”

“Yes,” Clive said. “We discussed that on our walk tonight. Was it the Guild, as far as either of you know?”

“The Guild?” Cadmael asked, his brow furrowed.

“We wondered,” I said, “if Clive was getting slapped down by the Guild for, well, the stuff we’ve just been talking about.”

Vlad scoffed. “Have you any idea how many dead can be put to my name?” He shook his head. “Garyn should have known who she was going up against, the alliances you’ve forged. Stupid vampires deserve final death.”

“A faction within the Guild?” Clive asked.

Vlad and Cadmael shared a look.

“If so,” Cadmael said, “they’re being very quiet about it. Of course, they know I consider you an ally. Vlad, though, could best be described as your belligerent acquaintance. Has anyone approached you about Clive?” he asked Vlad.

Vlad shook his head. “No. And until a couple of days ago, they would have found me an interested audience.”

Clive tilted his head. “What changed?”

Vlad grinned under his heavy mustache. “I’d always thought you a pretty playboy.

Powerful, sure, but no one serious. I’ve been paying attention to you lately and I’ve realized you cultivate that”—he gestured to all of Clive—“that act so opponents underestimate you. It’s easier for you to strike when they aren’t expecting aggression. ”

“Nope,” I said. “That’s not him.”

Clive kissed my temple. “It’s alright, darling. I’ve never liked him either.”

Vlad laughed at that. “And that’s what changed. I’d heard you’d taken a mate and assumed it was another one of your perfect women, but then I saw this one.”

“Hey,” I interrupted. Looking at Clive, I grumbled, “You’re right. I don’t like him either.”

Clive smiled and hugged me. “Not so fast, love. I believe a compliment is coming. If not, I’ll kill him for you.”

“Make it hurt,” I whispered. We both turned to Vlad, and I gave him my suspicious squinty look.

“You’re beautiful, yes, but not like his other lovers—”

“Okay. That’s it. Go kick his ass!” I stepped back so Clive could get him.

Clive studied Vlad a moment. “You’re remarkably bad at this.

I feel certain a compliment is coming for my wife and yet you’re doing it in a way that is incredibly rude.

” He turned back to me. “I honestly believe he’s merely awkward, rather than intentionally insulting.

Let’s give him a moment to take his foot out of his mouth.

If he doesn’t, I’ll deliver his death in whatever manner you see fit. ”

“Deal,” I said, and we returned our attention to the Impaler.

He looked down at the ground, muttering something in another language.

“I miss that.” When he looked back up, he focused on me.

“My third wife, my heart, was a werewolf. You remind me of her. When I watch you two together, I see it, what I had with her. I recognize what it’s like to constantly be in contact, touching, kissing, talking.

He boasts of you fighting by his side. His partner. His wife.

“Yes, you’re quite beautiful,” he continued, “but that’s not it. I don’t see mere appreciation in his gaze. He loves you completely, as I loved my wife. So, my opinion of him has changed,” Vlad said.

I felt suddenly teary, though I kept it in check. Patting Clive’s arm, I said, “Stand down. He can live.”