“I didn’t reign in much of what I said or did, the first few months after you left. My uncle kept me tranq-ed at the beginning, after what I did to Declan. His killing was perfectly legal in the arena, but they were still a little alarmed about my state of mind…due to the- viciousness of it. It is a fact that we can ascend to the Arch position through right of combat. But my Uncle knows, better than most, that I could not have kept the position without support. And nothing will lose the druid people’s trust faster than a lack of control. There has already been too many civil wars. A clear head means peace. What I did to Declan was not controlled. My Uncle did his utmost to salvage my political aspirations. He wanted to prevent a repeat performance, and so kept me sedated. I can’t even say what I must have revealed, when I was so impaired.” He was much calmer now. I’m sure his release had helped. “So was this to convince me to help you?” he asked coldly. It hurt, but I knew a good opening when I heard it. I told myself it was better for both of us that he hated me. When he had loved me, and I had left, people had bled. A lot of people.

I shrugged. “Did it convince you?” I asked. I stretched slowly, arching my back. He had yanked down the front of my corset earlier, and I was well aware of the view he was getting. I cupped my br**sts in my hands, caressing myself firmly in the way I knew he loved. I pinched my ni**les roughly, never looking away from his hungry gaze.

His nostrils flared when he said. “I could use more convincing,” he snarled, and was on me. Well, that had backfired. We were at it again.

“So it was Mav and Michael,” he panted into my ear after we finished.

“Yes,” I answered, though he already knew the answer.

He climbed off of me and found his phone amid the mess his desk now made on the floor. He dialed a number and spoke quickly. “Cam, I want Mav and Michael in custody immediately. No, don’t tell them anything. They know what they’ve done.” He set the phone down and just stared at me for awhile. I stared back.

“So tell me who you’re hiding from,” he ordered me calmly.

“My family,” I answered.

“Why?”

“Well, primarily, because if they find us, Lynn will be executed. And me, well, I suspect they’ll rape me until I’m either pregnant, dead, insane, or maybe two out of the three,” I answered. It was an almost sugar-coated version of the truth.

His gaze was shuttered, but the tick had started up under his glowing yellow eye again. “Your family would do this?”

“Yes. That and worse.”

“They’re the ones you’ve been running from all this time?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me this seven years ago?” A pleading note had entered his voice. I knew he was unaware of it. “There is no force stronger than the druids. I could have protected you.”

I shook my head at him sadly. “Not every race is in your registry. And they certainly don’t follow any of your laws. Our kind could raze this city to the ground. Too many of your people would have died for me to start a war just for myself.”

“What are you?”

“I can’t say.”

“You said you’d tell me any-”

“I said I’d tell you what I could. I can’t tell you this because I know you. You’ll rip the world apart looking for answers to questions too dangerous to ask. You’re kind isn’t mortal, it’s true. You’ll never die of old age. But a clean beheading will kill you. I don’t know how to kill the things that hunt us. Even a clean beheading won’t do the trick, just on it’s own.” His phone rang and he answered it, never taking his eyes off of me. “Yes, Amy,” he said into the phone. “Cancel everything scheduled tonight. Yes, everything is fine.” He hung up.

“She wasn’t too pleased to meet me. She seems possessive of you,” I said. “Are you seeing her?” I could have sworn that my mouth formed the words completely independently from my brain. I didn’t want to speak of this, didn’t want to know anything about his love life, really. I told this to myself firmly, over and over again.

He just stared at me malevolently, his jaw clenching and unclenching. “You lost the right to ask me that question a very long time ago. Don’t you think it’s a little hypocritical of you to be keeping tabs on me, all things considered?”

I nodded, making my face into a careful mask. He was right, and I had nothing to say for myself.

“And how many conquests can you account for since we parted?” he asked, surprising me.

“Do you really want to know?” I asked softly, fully prepared to tell him the truth, no matter how stupid that would be. And it would be oh so stupid.

He shut his eyes tightly, and it was like the sun setting. I wanted to look at his perfect eyes forever, I always had, and all of the years apart had only made that craving worse. “No, I suppose I don’t.” He stood like that for awhile, eyes closed, and I knew that he was battling for control. “Please get dressed,” he told me.

I disobeyed the order completely, instead stepping close to him again. “I don’t want to,” I whispered in his ear.

“Vixen,” he growled at me, when we finished this time. It wasn’t an endearment. He hadn’t looked at me once that time, keeping his eyes shut tight. It hurt worse than I wanted to admit to myself. But he didn’t budge, just lay against me, as if it were old times.