Dead After Dark (Companion #6.5)(20)

Fury choked on his food before he pinned her with a vicious glare. “Yeah. I never said anything like that to you, did I?” He stood up and wiped his mouth. “You know what? I’m sick of looking at you. I remember a girl who used to be capable of caring about others. One who gave people the benefit of the doubt before she attacked them. But obviously she died. I want you out of here before you finish destroying what few good memories I have of that girl.” He jerked the collar off her neck, then left the room.

Stunned, Angelia sat there, unable to believe what had just happened.

She was free . . .

“Uncle Furry?” Trace looked up at his mother. “Why is Furry mad, Mommy?”

“His feelings were hurt, baby. He’ll be all right.”

Vane met Angelia’s baffled gaze. “You’re free to leave. And I should warn you, the lions are out for blood. The guy you nailed . . . his brother is Paris Sabastienne, and you killed their youngest brother. While as a rule animals aren’t big on vengeance, they are big on protecting their family. You’ve attacked them without provocation and they intend to slaughter all of you when they find you to keep you from doing this to any more members of their pride. You are their prey. Good luck.”

Angelia swallowed in panic. “But I didn’t shoot him.”

Fang shrugged nonchalantly. “They’re animals. They don’t care who pulled the trigger. They’re hunting by scent, and yours was all over Jake. Have a good life, cupcake, at least for the next few hours.”

Angelia drew a shaky breath at his morbid forecast. As much as she hated it, she knew he was right. She wouldn’t get far and there really was nothing she could do. She’d been a part of this. Willingly.

There was no way to change the past. Any more than she could keep the lions from killing her. They wouldn’t listen to reason and honestly, if that had been done to someone she loved, she wouldn’t be forgiving, either.

This was what she deserved for her part in Dare’s brilliant plan. She would fight, but she wouldn’t run. It wasn’t in her. If this was her fate, then she would meet it with dignity.

Yet she didn’t want to die without at least saying she was sorry to one person.

Excusing herself, she flashed from the table, up to Fury’s room.

What she found there stunned her most of all.

Fury stood in front of the dresser holding the small medallion she’d given him when he’d reached puberty at twenty-seven.

“What’s this for?” he’d asked her when she’d handed it over to him.

“You’re a man now, Fury. You should have something to mark the occasion.”

It hadn’t been expensive or even particularly nice. Just a small circle with an X on it. Yet he’d kept it all these centuries.

Even after she’d betrayed him.

Balling it in his fist, he looked at her. “Why are you here?”

She wasn’t sure really. No, that wasn’t true, she knew exactly why she’d come. “I couldn’t leave without telling you something.”

He rolled off his retort in a dry, brittle tone. “You hate me. I suck. I’m an animal unfit to breathe the same air.” He dropped the necklace back into the top drawer and closed it. “I know the tirade. I’ve heard it my entire life. So go away.”

“No,” she said, her voice cracking from the weight of her fear and guilt. “That’s not what I wanted to tell you.” Uncertain of her reception, she approached him slowly, like she would any wounded animal. She placed her hand over the one he had balled into a fist. “I’m sorry, Fury. You gave me your friendship and loyalty, and when I should have treasured it, I turned on you. I have no excuse for it. I could say I was afraid, but I shouldn’t have been afraid of you.”

Fury stared at her hand on his. All his life he’d been rejected. After he’d left his mother’s patria, he hadn’t reached out to anyone for fear of being hurt again. Because of his untrained powers, he’d always felt awkward around everyone.

The only person who’d ever made him feel like the man he wanted to be was . . .

Her.

“You stabbed me.”

“No,” she said, tightening her grip on his hand. “I stabbed at a painful memory. You know me, Fury, but what you don’t know is that I have never in my life turned into a wolf. Even though it’s part of me, it’s a part that I have never been able to accept. I’ve lived my entire life trying to silence a nightmare that has never relented. We were friends, you and I. And not once since you left have I ever found anyone who made me feel like you did. In your eyes, I was always beautiful.”

He met her gaze and the pain inside him scorched her. “And in your eyes, I’m a monster.”

“A monster named Furry?”

He snatched his hand away from hers. “He can’t pronounce my name yet.”

“No, but you answer to it and you protected a woman who twice wounded you.”

“So what? I’m a stupid *.”

She reached up and touched his face. “You were never stupid.”

He turned his face away. “Don’t touch me. It’s hard enough to fight your scent. After all, I’m just an animal and you’re in heat.”

Yes, she was, and the closer she was to him, the more that basic part of herself wanted to be with him. Every hormone in her body was on fire and it was weakening her will.