Addict (Hunter #2)(106)

“And those contracts are only for vampires and their companions,” Winter said with an elegant shrug. “This one is human. I would never attempt to harm a hair on the head of the queen, but this is a human child. He cannot belong to Vampire.”

“He’s my son,” Donovan protested. “Let him go and maybe, just maybe I’ll be kind when I kill you.”

“Such anger, Your Highness. One would think a man in your position would know not to get too attached to anyone. Humans are so very fragile.” Winter’s fingers seemed to snake around Lee’s neck as if to prove his point. The demon could snap it or hold it until Lee couldn’t take a breath, or he could simply freeze him where he stood and all of Lee’s potential futures would be lost to us.

“Be calm, bella.” Marcus’s hand slid over mine, his mouth tightening. “There is nothing you can do.”

“I have to do something.” I couldn’t leave Lee standing out there. He was wearing pajamas with some Disney character all over them. I couldn’t watch him turn to ice. I’d had that happen to me. It wasn’t happening to a kid.

Not a kid. I was distancing. It’s what I did. Lee. Sweet Lee. He was my friend and I felt a connection to him, and I wasn’t letting him die so some old as f*ck demon could prove a point of law.

“Kelsey, if you go down there, you will die and so will the boy. Allow the king to handle this,” Marcus counseled. “You had a chance to gather information. It didn’t work out. Now it is for the king to deal with.”

“What do you want, Winter?” Donovan asked.

Lee’s eyes grew wide. “Papa?”

He’d seen Quinn making his way toward the stairs. The faery had his hands up and his eyes were on his son. “Stay calm, Lee. We’re going to get you out of this. You’re going to be all right. Do you understand?”

There were tears on Lee’s cheeks as he nodded. His mouth firmed and his shoulders straightened as though he was determined to be brave.

I was determined to kick a little ass. My she-wolf was twitching inside.

“Kelsey, calm down. You can’t kill Abbas Hiberna. He can only be killed by demonkind. If we had time, I could find a way around it, but we don’t and I won’t send you down there when there’s nothing you can do.” Marcus had a hand on my arm.

Quinn made his way up the stairs. “Daniel, don’t do anything crazy.”

Donovan put a hand on his partner’s head, drawing him close. “I’ll save our son, Devinshea, and you know what to do after that.” He turned my way, his face so grim, so devoid of hope. “Kelsey, I have no right to ask this of you, but will you see my family safely to Faery?”

“Sure, but I don’t think this is a time for a vacay, boss.”

“He isn’t talking about a vacation, bella,” Marcus said. “His family will be in danger after this. There will be a power vacuum in the Council. There will likely be civil war.”

“What are you talking about?” I looked to the king. “He can’t touch you.”

“Ah, the king is an intelligent man,” Winter proclaimed. “I cannot touch him myself. That would break our contracts, but we demons go very much by the letter and not the intent of the law.”

They do that because their intent is pretty much always evil. “And what is that going to get you, Winter?”

“It means he can’t harm me unless I ask him to. Unless I sign a contract. Lee’s life for mine,” Donovan explained with grim determination. “Do we have to go through the motions? Or is a verbal contract all right?”

Winter’s satisfaction was a palpable thing. He smiled his chilly smile and the world seemed infinitely colder. “I agree to this contract. In exchange for the human I have caught, I will accept the sacrifice of the king’s head.”

“Danny, no!” the queen shouted.

Quinn moved in and pulled the queen away. She fought him and I watched as the king gave her one long look.

“I love you, Z. You tell the kids how much I love them. Devinshea…” He stopped, staring at his partners, and I could feel his love.

Damn but I wanted someone to look at me like that. Those three were connected, committed, passionate.

They were also drama queens. I turned my attention to Gray. He kind of had an in now. As Donovan began his long, stirring march down the stairs, I leaned over to Gray. “How does this end?”

His brows nearly knitted together. “I don’t know.”

“You’re all prophety,” I complained. After what we’d been through, I wanted some answers. His brain could tap into the big life computer and run those numbers for us. “Give me a clue at least.”

“Dev, stop him,” the queen begged.

Quinn had lost his arrogant look. He held the queen in his arms. “I can’t. We have to save Lee.”

“I’ll save Lee,” I promised. I seemed to have gotten Quinn’s arrogance.

The queen’s eyes lit with hope. “You have a plan?”

“Not really. But I’m pretty good at winging it.”

Marcus turned his dark eyes my way. “I told you there is nothing to be done. I won’t have you sacrifice your life and the boy’s. Zoey, Abbas Hiberna has us in a Catch-22. As long as he has hands on your son, he can kill him. Unless Mr. Sloane has strength we don’t know about, we are at a loss because none but demonkind can kill an elemental. Do you truly wish for my charge to waste her life when there is no hope?”