The Ripple Effect (Rhiannon's Law #3)(64)

I made it a few feet, ready to run, when the room went quiet.

One moment Disco was fighting, using his power, controlling the vampires in the room. The next he was trapped on the ground, beneath Revenald, and the vampires had stopped their maddened yelling, perplexed as they gazed at each other. A few moved to block my path, preventing me from leaving. I turned and saw Paine pinned against a wall, Anton’s hand around his throat.

“Remain silent.” Disco’s mental order was abrasive and abrupt. “Do not bring any attention to yourself.”

“Silver manacles!” Revenald demanded, no longer refined but barbaric, ready to chop us all to bits. I noticed Disco wasn’t fighting at all now, harmless beneath him. “I will no longer tolerate this nonsense. This ends now.”

“Sire, please,” Marius said and took a hesitant step forward, standing before the family whose apprehensive faces conveyed their fear. “He was protecting his servant who did only as you instructed. He wouldn’t have used his power if he didn’t feel her life was threatened.”

“Enough!” Revenald thundered. “I would have torn Victoria apart limb from limb if she broke the rules set this night. Yet even if she had, a servant is a servant. Nothing more. Your progeny—both of them—have forgotten that. They reacted without respect for the power I hold. Emotion has ruled my home for too long. This is not the example I have set. No more.”


Victoria made it to her feet and looked at me. I wanted to rush to Disco and Paine. Odds were she was going to come at me again. If she was, I had to be ready this time. I wasn’t going to let the bitch kick me when I was down.

“Don’t even think about it.” Revenald growled at Victoria, his eyes turning from green to yellow as he brought his lips back and showed her his fangs. “I’ve told you that you will have your revenge. Question me again, and you’ll never again be welcome in my domain. Are we clear?”

I could tell it hurt her to nod, damaging her pride, but she managed to make the jerky motion with her head. The remaining vampires were quiet as they waited to see what Revenald would do next.

“You’re going to pay for what you’ve done,” he told Disco as leaned forward, their chests inches apart. “The penalty will be harsh.”

“Coming from a half-demon who’s scared of a human female, that’s rich,” Paine retorted, answering for Disco.

I looked at him in horror, this time afraid for him. Didn’t he know better? Did he want to play with fire?

“You must feel quite badass with those odds,” he continued. “Who wouldn’t? I guess they don’t have manners or teach you in Hell that it’s not nice to pick on girls.”

“I can’t wait to have a taste of that pet of yours,” Anton intruded, moving closer to Paine, grinning with menace. “She smells exquisite.”

“Be careful.” Paine’s reply was confident, perhaps a bit arrogant. “She bites back.”

“Excellent.”

“If you say so.”

“Is her cunt as tight as that fine ass of hers? Does she like it rough? She looks like a slut who likes it rough.” Anton’s words were intended to shock, and they did. I rocked back, taken off guard. Paine didn’t seem the least bit fazed.

“You sure you want to know?” Paine grin was meant to convey amusement, but I knew better. He was goading Anton, dangling bait in his face. The question was: why?

“Humor me.”

Paine’s grin broadened, making me queasy. Anton lost his smile when he purred, “She’ll make a half-demon bitch like you cry for mercy while she cuts off your balls. Then she’ll feed them to you, one by one. How’s that for rough?”

“It’s a start.”

“I like to think of it as the beginning of your end.”

I couldn’t see Anton’s face or hear what he said when he leaned in close and spoke into Paine’s ear, but Paine’s expression went from calm to outraged. Considering what Anton had previously said, it had to have been bad.

Very, very bad.

I watched, stunned and horrified, as Paine spit in Anton’s face and snarled, “You’re going to die. She’s going to kill you. My angel of vengeance rips you a new one. I’ve seen the way you go. I’ve seen what she does to you. And it’s brilliant, positively glorious.”

“You test me,” Anton said, words clipped.

“Paine,” Disco rasped, despite Revenald’s fingers around his neck. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what? Tell this egotistical piece of shit that his time is almost up? Because it is.” Paine’s grin was one of pure, unfiltered provocation. What was he thinking? Provoking Anton? Was he insane? The heaviness in the room built, settling all around me.

Then, I knew.

All of us weren’t going to make it out of the mansion alive. One of us was going to die tonight. Disco knew it, which was why he instructed me to remain silent. Paine knew it because he’d seen Anton’s death, my involvement, and perhaps something more when he touched the half-demon.

I felt sick, absorbing the enormity of what Paine was attempting to do. By directing all the focus onto himself, he removed the threat from Disco in the only manner he could. If our hosts wanted a pound of flesh, Paine wanted it to come from him.