Wicked Bite (Night Rebel #2)(60)

I got up, not needing to see Ian demonstrate the horn’s remarkable abilities. I must have still had a grudge against the relic for blowing Ian’s head off and nearly killing him.

“I’ll check on Ereshki,” I said as Ian took his cashmere jacket off. Ian had arrived at the beach house this morning wearing only ripped pants, and Mr. Rich had been a similar size, so Ian had raided his closet. I wasn’t judging; I was now wearing a cashmere sweater and slacks, courtesy of Mrs. Rich.

“I’ll go with you,” Cat said, surprising me.

We were halfway to the door when Mencheres suddenly blocked my path. I tensed, but all he did was fold me into his arms.

I was startled. Even at our friendliest, Mencheres and I were not huggers. Only when Mencheres whispered, “Thank you,” in a voice vibrating from emotion did I realize why he’d done this.

Ian. Of course. We had loving him in common.

“You’re welcome.” Though I didn’t do it for you . . .

Mencheres released me. “As long as I’ve known you, Veritas, I’ve either admired you as an ally, respected you as an equal, or been wary of you as an adversary. Now, it is my great honor to welcome you to my family as a daughter.”

Ian’s smirk said, Told you he’d do this.

I was touched, but I couldn’t show how much without revealing feelings Ian didn’t yet reciprocate. That’s why I covered my deeper emotions with a wry smile.

“That’s sweet of you, Mencheres, but considering I’m more than a hundred years older than you . . . I’m not calling you ‘Dad.’”

He chuckled. So did everyone else, which covered up the vulnerability of the moment for me. Or so I thought. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Cat giving me a knowing look. Was she very perceptive, or were all my efforts futile because what I felt for Ian was written all over my face?

I didn’t want to find out. “Ereshki,” I said, as if reminding them of where I was going. “Where is she?”

“Ask any of my guards,” Ian replied. “They’ll show you.”

I looked at Cat, wishing I had an excuse to avoid her now. “Still coming?” Please say no . . .

“Right behind you,” she replied with a quick smile.

Shit.





Chapter 34


I intended to avoid conversation with Cat by quickly finding one of Ian’s guards to take me to Ereshki. However, we’d barely left the drawing room before Cat began tugging me across the formal hall to one of the many rooms beyond it.

“The library,” she exclaimed, as if she’d never seen one before. “The last time I was here, I almost killed Ian in this!”

She kept tugging on my arm to get me to follow her. I gave the glass-domed ceiling above the foyer a longing look. If I flung Cat through it, she’d get the hint that I didn’t appreciate being pulled along like a reluctant toddler, though that would be a bit extreme. And rude, I supposed.

Thus, I let her lead me into the library. It was an impressive, two-story room with thousands of old and new volumes lining the walls. Another section housed glass-encased scrolls. I could have browsed the books for hours, but Cat seemed more interested in the room’s only piece of artwork, a collection of bones formed into a mosaic of the Australian outback.

“I can’t believe Ian put this back together,” she marveled. “It crashed into pieces after I threw it at his head years ago.”

She clearly wanted me to ask about this fight, so I did. “Why did you throw it at him?”

“For distraction. He’d just chucked me into a wall, and I was determined to kill him even though I was surprised by how strong he was.” Then she gave me an arch look. “But Ian heard my heartbeat, and like all vampires, the sound lulled him into believing I was far more fragile than I appeared. Being underestimated in a fight gives you the best advantage ever.”

More conversation was only polite, I decided. Besides, she’d intrigued me. “Why were you so determined to kill him?”

“It was my job.” She cocked her head. “I was once on the Law Guardians’ watch list, so you must know that I used to work for the government, killing vampires who indiscriminately murdered humans. I thought Ian was one of those indiscriminate murderers because my boss sent me after him. I only found out later that my boss’s reasons were personal. Ian had turned my boss’s brother into a vampire, and shortly after that, the newly fanged motherfucker wiped out most of my boss’s family.”

Now I knew who she was talking about, and how literal of her to describe that vampire as a “motherfucker.”

“You’re speaking of your father, Max.” Making Cat’s former boss her paternal uncle. I hadn’t known that before now.

“Yep,” she said in a harder tone. “The other thing Max did right after getting his fangs was hook up with my mom, and he was so newly undead, he still had viable sperm. To make matters worse, right afterward, Max green-eyed my mom into believing he was a literal demon. Know what it’s like to grow up afraid of yourself because you were told that half of you is evil?”

I flinched, then cursed myself along with my far-too-perceptive companion. I thought Cat had dragged me in here only to brag about a long-ago fight, but her real goal had been to confront me about a struggle she shouldn’t know I was having.