I watched her leave in the numb grip of disbelief.
My worst nightmare just came true.
“Laurel,” I said when I could trust my voice.
The second I allowed myself to feel was the second I crumbled. There was another apology to get done first.
The Vissimo appeared less than ten seconds later. Her expression was cool, something I’d never seen on her face—not even when we first met.
Weariness piled thick on my shoulders. “I owe you an explanation,” I told her. “But first, please send ten Indebted with Tommy.”
Tommy’s words rang in my ears, but the triplets were able to get close to her because I tried to uphold her sense of freedom. Our friendship was destroyed, but her life was still my responsibility. “Tell them to stay as close as needed to protect her, please.”
Laurel nodded, raising her voice. “Patrick, Sheena, take your teams and protect Miss Tetley. No restrictions on range.”
My ears picked up their distant replies of Roger that.
I stood aside. “Please come in.”
She shut the door, and I reset the noise-cancelling.
The Indebted woman tilted her chin, watching me with cold blue eyes.
“Laurel, I—”
“If you ever put the lives of my Indebted at risk like that again, not only is our deal void but I will go to Kyros with every single thing I know.”
Already numb, I absorbed her threat on autopilot. “Fair enough. But you should know that if Tommy is in danger, I’m capable of doing nearly anything to bring her back. That does not include putting the lives of any Vissimo here at risk.”
“I told you what he’d do to us if you died,” she snarled, crouching forward. “Evie would have been first to face execution, do you realise that? Barring the handful of seconds that decided you’d live instead of die, she’d be dead in the ground along with the rest of us.”
I had. Sweet Evie.
Heaviness swept through me, and I nodded. “I should have listened. In my defence, I didn’t know what happened to male Vissimo when their mates are killed. Laurel, I asked you to tell me everything you knew about the laws and intricacies of the mate bond. Why didn’t you tell me that part?”
Her face smoothed.
It was confirmation she’d left it out on purpose. “I see. Whatever your reasons for omitting that were, I can’t say if that would have changed my actions that night. What I can promise is that I will never leave you out of a plan again.”
Not because of her threat.
Because we were partners and she had an equal risk in this venture.
Her blue gaze narrowed.
“I nearly died, Laurel. Tommy nearly died regardless of me trying to control the situation. I’ve learned my lesson, and I can only apologise sincerely for the risk my behaviour put you and the other Vissimo in from Kyros.”
Her eyes trailed over my scarred neck and lingered on my face. She straightened and smoothed her expression. “I believe you have.”
“You accept my apology?”
She quirked a brow. “I hear you.”
Damn, throwing my own words in my face. Forgiven but not forgotten. I grimaced. “I deserve that.”
The two-hundred-and-eighty-year-old vampire dipped her head. “Yes. But you’ve survived one beating. Don’t be so eager to beat yourself up again. Worse mistakes have been made, and your goodwill toward the Indebted cannot be erased by one night.”
That meant so much to me. I hadn’t expected their forgiveness. I’d expected Tommy’s.
“Okay,” I said hoarsely. “I’ll apologise to everyone soon, I swear.”
“They’d appreciate that,” she answered, then her gaze snapped to mine. “What’s the state of the game after what happened with Fyrlia?”
“Shit hit the fan. That’s what.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Sundulus is going to lose.”
“I need to restore balance in the game without delay,” I said. “It’s the only way.” I had to catch up on a landslide of reports, not to mention filling Tommy’s now-vacant position.
Laurel stood to attention. “What do you need me to do?”
There was a list a mile long.
But I’d considered filling Laurel in on my betrayal of Clan Sundulus before deciding nothing good would come from it. The iota of respect King Julius held for me would vanish the second he learned or guessed the truth. It was possible he’d interrogate the Indebted at that point. The less Laurel knew, the better.
My life would be forfeit, or at least my freedom. The bond with Kyros? He’d snuff it out quicker than I could recite his siblings’ names. I’d have destroyed my grandmother’s legacy of decades in mere weeks after swearing that I’d win—for her, for me, and for everyone Vissimo had ever used and abused.
Now, the battle wasn’t winning. It was ensuring Fyrlia didn’t win. And to do that, I needed help.
It was high time I paid my grandmother’s closest friends a visit.
5
Sir Olythieu, owner of Bluff City Bank, and human liaison of Clan Sundulus spoke from across the round table. “We’ve anxiously awaited your call, Basilia.”
I bet they had.
Weeks had passed since Grandmother’s funeral. Then a few more while I got my head around Kyros’s betrayal. Then a couple more while I recovered from death’s door.
It settled something within me to be sitting in Sir Olythieu’s massive office with my grandmother’s nearest and dearest. I’d craved normalcy and familiarity for so long.
“Circumstances delayed me,” I said. “Firstly, you should know that my mind is caged.”
Sounds of dismay echoed around the room. I hadn’t told them the reason for this meeting, but I was sure they’d guessed it had to do with Grandmother’s work.
“All of us are controlled to varying degrees,” Mr Hothen said. His eyes filled with an empathy that I hadn’t thought him capable of. Being the owner of Bluff City’s largest mall complexes and shopping streets required a certain pragmatic calculation he was renowned for.
“How long?” Mrs Syrre asked softly.
I regarded the genteel woman—by far the kindest elite in Bluff City. If my grandmother hadn’t tucked the woman under her wing after the death of her husband, the Syrre fortune would be long gone. Their ship freighting company had been around for nearly as long as my family name. “Three months.”
So little time for so much chaos and destruction.
Mr Dithis set a board on the table, and the oldies spread out all manner of cards over the square table.
Dame Burke jabbed her finger at two of the cards. “Which cunt did it?”
I couldn’t point. Not without the right intention anyway. I could say a specific word out of context, usually, but that would be useless here because the context was fixed—and exactly what the compulsion worked against—me spilling Sundulus and Vissimo secrets.
Fury warped Lady Treena’s face. “They got her good. Only Olythieu has trouble pointing. Must’ve been a strong beast.”
“Think of something unrelated, Basilia,” the regal man who always reminded me of Colonel Sanders said. “Hold that in your mind as you talk and move.”