"What will you give me for this outcome?" Thomas asked, an anticipatory expression on his face.
I opened my mouth and then closed it, meeting his stare with one of my own. That was what Liam had been trying to warn me about. That's what all his questions had been leading toward. Tricky, tricky vampire.
"Nothing," I said with a note of finality.
Anton's head turned slightly before he directed his attention forward.
"Nothing?" Thomas looked amused. "You're not very good at bargaining."
I arched one eyebrow, not allowing his words to shake me. "It’s in your best interest for you to take care of the matter permanently."
"Oh?" His lips curved.
"Yes, your enemy did a very good job convincing him you were the problem. Theo has a very developed victim complex, and in his eyes, you're the source of all the wrong in his world. How long do you think it will be before he starts plotting against you?" Answer: Immediately. "I know vampires are very long-lived. It may be centuries before he sets his plans in motion. I bet you never even see it coming because he will have utterly convinced you of his loyalty."
"You don't have much faith that I can sway him to my side," Thomas returned, a half-smile on his face.
I snorted. "Please, I've seen your methods of persuasion. They need a lot of work."
That surprised a soft chuckle out of him.
"Whatever he might have been, whoever he could have been, died as soon as Steven got hold of him," I said, my expression serious. "He tried to sacrifice his own sister for his plans. This isn't someone you can ever trust. You'll need to watch your back around him for all of eternity and never show him any weakness. Is that really the kind of person you want on your side?"
He made a 'hmm' sound and turned away, not answering my question. My lips tightened. Fine. If I needed to find a way to end the threat Theo presented, I would.
"Also, you give him what he wants, and you can kiss goodbye any chance of ever persuading me to your side," I added as an afterthought, letting him see how serious I was. For whatever reason, Thomas still thought he could win my loyalty. It might not be much, but the possibility of my endorsement was all I had to bargain with.
He didn't respond beyond a thoughtful glance my way.
We turned onto a dirt road, the car jostling on the uneven path. A cabin sat between the trees up ahead, rundown and looking like it was one stiff wind from falling apart. It was the type of place that would have been right at home in a slasher film.
The Escalade came to a halt, and Eric and Anton got out of the car, the doors slamming at the same time they appeared on the porch. I started to shift so I could get out when Liam's arms tightened around me.
"Let them handle it," he said in a soft voice.
I settled, seeing the logic in that. Though his super blood had energized me, helping the wounds heal at double the speed they had before, I was still tired, hurting, and mentally exhausted. If he wanted his enforcers to do all the heavy lifting, I wasn't going to argue.
Moments later, Eric appeared in the doorway with Anton behind him, dragging Theo with a firm grip around the neck. The human in his hands was bloodied and bruised, one eye turning black, and his cheek swollen—his arm bent at a weird angle.
Thomas shoved out of the car.
"Why don't you wait here?" Liam suggested when I tried to follow.
"It was me he tried to kill. I want to see what happens to him," I said. If Thomas granted him mercy, if they let him escape unscathed, I wanted to know—one way or another.
Anton threw Theo to the ground at Thomas’s feet, the human flopping down in an ungraceful heap.
"I'm disappointed great, grandnephew," Thomas said in an amiable voice. "If you wanted my attention, you only needed to ask."
Theo lifted a tear stained face from the ground. "He broke my arm."
Thomas lifted an eyebrow at Anton who gazed back at him with a stone-faced expression, no hint of remorse on it. "Did he now? Well, you can't really blame him. You did kill his companion."
"That wasn't my fault. Lisa was only supposed to scare her, but she fell and hurt herself. Lisa lost control."
"Liar," I said, stepping forward. Vengeance beating in my chest. Red tinged the world around me as I felt my vampire side take over. That side wanted to rip out his intestines and make him watch as I knitted a quilt out of them—a human intestine quilt, bloody and awful.
Liam caught me and pulled me back, murmuring soothing words into my hair.
"It's not true," Theo said when Thomas glanced back at me. Desperation tinged his voice. "It was an accident. I was hoping to help you by exposing Caroline for the menace she is."
"By starting a war?" Thomas asked, his voice silky. I shivered at the predator I heard there, one that I knew lay within me too.
Theo shook his head. "No, we were just trying to show where Aileen's loyalties lay, and how she would betray you for her friend. I was trying to help. Perhaps I went about it in the wrong way, but I've only ever wanted your esteem."
I hissed, the sound that of a pissed off mountain lion. This little ass. He was trying to lay the blame on me.
Thomas considered him, his thoughts hidden behind the genial mask he wore. "Why didn't you come to me when you first realized you were my descendant? You must know descendants are given first priority for the kiss."
Theo blinked and looked taken aback, some of the smugness wiped from his face. "I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. You must know that Steven raised me." He got a crafty look on his face. "He had a hand in Aileen's arrival in your world as well. I can tell you about it if you'd like."
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. Liam's arms became steel traps. "Don't move," he rasped in my ear. "Wait."
I settled down, meeting Thomas’s gaze as calmly as I could, given Theo's little lie. Thomas studied me with an unwavering expression. It was a mystery how much stock he was putting in his grand nephew's words. I stood my ground and straightened my shoulders. If this meant my death, I was going to do it standing, unafraid.
"I believe you are owed a blood debt, Anton. Do what you will with him," Thomas said, his eyes never leaving mine.
Anton's fangs snicked down, a feral expression taking hold. Gone was the emotionless warrior, in his place was wrath given form.
"What?" Theo's eyes widened with real fear, and he struggled to his feet. He didn't make it further than his knees before Anton stomped down hard down on one leg. The crack of a bone reached me as Theo let out a high, thin wail.
Thomas looked back at him, unruffled, his expression unchanging except for a sly amusement that tugged at the corners of his eyes. "I am not such a fool as to believe the lies of one such as you. I'm glad my brother is long dead. He would weep to know such a pathetic specimen came from his line." Thomas looked at Anton. "You have until sunrise. Make sure he doesn't see the light of the morning sun."