The Ripple Effect (Rhiannon's Law #3)(18)

I considered removing something—a gun, a cross, some holy water—but quickly decided my butterfly knife and rosary were more than adequate protection. If I went downstairs cocked and loaded it probably wouldn’t do me any favors.

After I’d taken a look in the bathroom mirror—which, to my relief, remained as I remembered—I calmed my nerves and steeled myself for what was to come. I walked to the bedroom door and opened it. Goose was waiting for me in the hallway. If he was nervous, it didn’t show, but I’d learned a very long time ago that the man was a hell of an actor when necessary.

“The bedroom,” I said, glancing back. “It’s—”

“Different,” he replied, cutting me short, staring at me. “The night you left…when Gabriel went upstairs and you were gone…” His face conveyed sorrow and sympathy. “He destroyed everything. He ordered the furniture burned and had everything replaced.”

Holy f*cking shit.

“Why?” I asked, struck stupid by what Disco had done.


“You know why.” Goose took my arm, indicating we should go.

We didn’t speak as we left the hall, descended the stairs, and started making our way to the formal room where family meetings were held. I wanted to think more about Disco’s bedroom and his reaction after I’d ran, but now wasn’t the time. I hadn’t faced any of Disco’s family—aside from Paine—since the night I’d fled. I was sure resentment was bound to be present, especially since I’d left Disco high and dry.

Goose walked to the door and opened it before my nerves got the better of me. I followed him, noting the fireplace was in use. However, unlike times before when Disco stood before the flaming mantel as the head of the family, a youthful looking vampire was in his place. He had been changed in his early twenties and looked like a man straight out of college. His dark hair was cut short, into a Caesar style, and his clothing was more relaxed than I was accustomed to. His jeans were well worn, his long sleeved sweater thin enough I could see the muscle definition beneath. When our gazes met, I was stunned at just how gray his eyes were.

“Take a seat.” Marius wasn’t asking—he was giving me a direct order, one I was certain was the first of many. I couldn’t place his dialect.

I glanced around. Goose had already moved to an empty seat beside Peter. Adrian and Nala were also in folding chairs, side by side. Landon and Corey stood behind the loveseat, with Sirah and Jonny taking up the cushions in front of them. Paine and Disco were seated on the couch on the opposite side of the room with a broad space between them.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out where my ass was supposed to be.

When I hesitated, Disco’s voice appeared in my head. “Come to us, Rhiannon.”

Us. Right. This wasn’t about me and Disco, our f*cked up circumstances, or how Paine fit into the picture.

One foot in front of the other, step by tiny step, and the distance between the door and the couch vanished. I slid between Disco and Paine, trying to pretend it was totally normal to be in the center of a manwich. Disco wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and Paine placed his hand on my thigh.

Okay. Awkward and definitely weird.

I tried to relax. I had to be convincing, but this situation was all kinds of f*cked up. Disco and Paine obviously sensed my discomfort, because the marks broadened, allowing their emotions to merge with each other and surround me. No longer was I alone, I was blanketed by their powerful presences. The uncertainty dissipated, becoming something I never expected.

Desire arose, choking me. The heavy tingle in my sex was met by matching currents in my nipples. When Disco wrapped his fingers in my hair and Paine squeezed my leg, I had to take a deep breath and force air into my lungs. Together they smelled like cloves and lemon, a perfect blend of fragrances, ones that had me gasping for breath.

Holy shit.

“You’re aware of why I’m here?”

My body chilled at the question; the erotic sensations easier to combat. I came back to my surroundings, shaking my head clear. Everyone was watching the three of us, but it was Marius who demanded my attention. I gazed at him. His expression gave away nothing.

“This is your city, your family, and your home,” I answered carefully. “You want to make sure things are on the up and up.”

“On the up and up.” He glanced at Disco and Paine and intentionally lowered his gaze, staring at their crotches. “Interesting choice of words.”

Rhiannon’s Law #28: If you’re going to f*ck up, be sure to f*ck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might as well make your misery count.

Apparently I didn’t answer Marius’s question as well as I’d hoped.

Marius returned his gaze to Disco, and for the first time, I saw something in his steely eyes, something I couldn’t place. “I don’t see what I asked for.”


Disco didn’t lose his casual pose, but through our mark, I felt a brief rush of panic. “Rhiannon stored the knife in a safe place, she was concerned—”

I was taken from my seat and planted on the floor—on my ass one second, on my back the next—and the wind was knocked out of me. The room spun as I tried to get my bearings, to piece together what had just happened.

That fast, and I was no longer playing a game. I was facing the danger I’d been warned about, face to face with a vampire who would snap my neck without hesitation. Marius’s hand was around my throat, applying firm pressure, keeping me exactly where he wanted me as he kneeled by my side. I couldn’t see Paine, Disco, or the room around me. The only thing in my line of vision was a face that was as calm and blank as it had been when I gazed at him in front of the fireplace.