Point of No Return (7 page)

“Just bring over the polar bears,” Lash said,
hissing a little. “Leave the wolves. They will just be trouble
anyway. Wolves always are, they are as bad as lions—”

Racist, I thought but didn’t say.

“Maybe you’re right,” Devlin said,
reluctantly. “I’ll have to decide next week. Maybe I can divide
them up and sell most of the contracts to some vampires up
there.”

“We’re going to stay at Hayden, right?” Lash
said, his eyes seeking out Cin as she waited tables. “I don’t want
to have to stay in Canada for more than a night, no matter if
that’s your territory now or not. This is home, here.”

“How are you going to arrange it?” I asked
hesitantly. “Can you Rule a territory you don’t live in?”

“Yes,” Devlin said, stroking my hair. “It
might not be possible, save Canada is close by and is very stable,
at least the hierarchy I’ve seen thus far. Most of my travels will
be via demon, per usual After I check on Ebediah’s former
holdings—mine now by law. It should amount to only a few nights a
week, Lash, if that.”

“Good,” Lash said, moving his eyes from Cin
back to Devlin. “I need a woman I can coil with near me to be
happy, and Cin is my favorite.”

“Lash, why don’t you tell her to come to
Hayden, live with you?” Devlin said lightly, smirking. “You can
have some little snakelings or whatever—”

“Shut up!” Lash hissed, smiling out of the
corner of his mouth. “I’m too old for children. Frankly, I don’t
know what you think you are going to do with a child yourself, Dev.
You aren’t the type.”

“Maybe you just haven’t seen that side of
me,” Devlin said, giving me a tender look.

“I haven’t seen it because it’s not there!”
Lash said loudly, laughing. “You have always been what you are,
Dev, all the decades I’ve known you. You can’t be anyone else!”

Devlin didn’t reply, though his irritation
showed.

“How long have you known each other?” I said
quickly, trying to diffuse the situation. “Lash, you can’t be that
old. I’m bad with guessing ages, but you can’t be older than forty,
right?”

“I’m a hundred and seven,” Lash hissed
proudly, grabbing a used wineglass off a nearby table and filling
it full. He knocked it back, then poured another, emptying our
bottle. “I take a potion that slows my aging tremendously, but it
can’t stop it altogether, Sar.”

“What’s in it?” I asked, amazed.

“Never you mind,” Lash said coldly, fixing me
with his flat eyes. He drank his second glass down, then put it
down on the table with a sharp clack.

I looked away. “Sorry I asked.”

“Back to what you said about me, Lash,” Dev
interrupted. “You didn’t know me, back when I was with Annabelle. I
loved her like I love Sar. I would have given anything for her. I
want this chance very much. Don’t think this isn’t serious for me,
because it is.”

Lash looked over at Devlin, and his
expression didn’t soften so much as it became a little less cold.
“You are different with her,” Lash agreed with a shrug. “We all see
it, Dev. Don’t take offense over what I said before. I was just
teasing.” He turned to the bar. “More wine,” he said.

Cin brought us my cake, and another bottle,
which Lash quickly opened. He filled our glasses.

“To friendship,” Lash hissed softly. “And
second chances.”

The three of us clinked glasses. Lash downed
his in one long swallow, placed it on the table with a clack, and
eyed his snakewoman waiting. “I think it’s time for another break,
Cin.”

Cin held her hand out to him wordlessly. Lash
took it, and she led him back into the other room.

“What is it with you two?” I asked Devlin.
“He’s your friend, but he works for you?”

“Yes,” Devlin said. “I pay him well, but he
could work for anyone, Sar. He’s the best there is, the highest
ranked. He could make a bigger salary if he worked for Perseus, or
Samuel, or even for a less powerful vampire. There are some now in
other countries richer than I. But he likes working for me. We’ve
been together a long time.”

“Much like Danial and—” I stopped myself,
saddened.

Devlin touched my arm gently. “Yes, like
them, though Lash and I have been together for some sixty odd
years, Sar, not ten.” He paused. “To us.” I raised my glass, as he
raised his. “To having you in my bed, where you belong,” he said,
his eyes full of desire.

Angry at my remembering Theo, I added
wickedly, “To you having me everywhere in your bedroom, and to you
being where we both think you belong.”

Devlin gaped a moment, then his eyes changed
from slightly molten gold to hot burning pools of pure wanting. He
cast his eyes around, then began to get up purposely.

Whether he had been going to take me right
over our table in front of everyone or lead me to the back room, I
never knew. For at that moment, a man walked out from the back room
with a bunch of his buddies rubbing his jaw, furious.

“God damn him! He interrupted our game an
hour ago, too!”

“Come on,” one of his friends said cunningly.
“Let’s get the guns from the truck. We’ll wait until he’s busy with
that whore, and then blast him to Hell.”

“Yeah,” another laughed. “A bullet or two in
his ass is going to cramp his style.”

The five of them walked outside.

Devlin glowered, then got to his feet. “Sar,
stay here. If you hear gunfire, duck under the table. I need to get
the bears, and head those men off before they get back—”

“If Lash is the best, can’t he defend
himself?” I asked. “Can’t you just warn him?”

“He’ll kill them; he’s been in a foul mood
for days. As for warning him, I’d have to interrupt him and get
close enough he’d hear me over the music. If I startle him or her
as they’re mating, either might strike.”

“You don’t have to worry, I’ll wait in the
car,” I said, getting to my feet.

Devlin sat me back down forcibly. “That’s
exactly where I don’t want you. Stay here, where you’re safe.”

I nodded grumpily.

Devlin headed outside a moment later with
Vince and Kev. There were no shots, but a minute later, the three
of them came back in. Vince had a spray of blood across his face,
but otherwise they seemed unmarked. Kev and he left, and Devlin
came back to the table.

“Lash should be done shortly,” Devlin said,
sitting back down. He stuck the cork in the bottle, then handed it
to me. “I want to get you home. We have unfinished business,
Love.”

The last thing I wanted at the moment was
more sex. I nodded anyway, playing along.

Lash came strolling back, grinning hugely,
until he saw us. “What’s the problem, Dev? Kev and Vince left
before finishing their game.”

“It’s time to go,” Devlin replied. “You
ready?”

Lash cast a longing glance backward. “I
suppose,” he hissed. “She is on the clock. Let’s go.”

The ride home back to Hayden was uneventful.
As soon as we’d parked, Vince and Kev left without a word. Lash
followed Devlin and I inside, then upstairs. I watched him with
alarm, until he went into the room beside Devlin’s.

“He lives here with you?” I said, as Devlin
led me back to his bedroom, then shut the door.

“Yes,” Dev said, stripping off his shirt, and
tossing it aside. “It’s safer for everyone. He can hear if I’m in
danger. Serena’s is the room next to his. Titus and Leri used to
share the one beyond that, at the end of the hall. There are more
rooms beyond the kitchen, where the rest of the guards sleep.”

“I don’t feel him. Titus, I mean.”

Devlin led me to the fireplace. “Sit, Love.”
He began to build a fire. “As for Titus, he put a buffer on his
room. Think of it as ‘blackness-proofing’. I’m used to the feel of
a demon nearby, but I’d never be able to have anyone living here
with me if he hadn’t. Lash and the other weres are uncomfortable
around demons, as a rule, so that was easiest.” He blew on the
flames. “Titus is most likely not there tonight, anyway. He’s
probably in his basement workshop, concocting something. Hand me
that bottle, please.”

I gave it to him, then lounged back on the
loveseat, my mood more relaxed. “You do have a talent for
romance.”

He poured the last of the bottle of wine into
two ornate wineglasses that had been on the mantel, and handed me
one. “Yes, I do. Now repeat that toast of yours for me,” Devlin
purred.

I flushed. “To you having me everywhere in
your bedroom, and to you being where we both think you belong.” We
clinked glasses, and sipped.

Devlin took the glasses back, and set them on
the shelf. He came toward me slowly, light from the fire flickering
over him as he moved. “Let’s see if we can make your toast come
true, Love,” he said, reaching for me.

* * * *

Devlin made my toast come true, literally,
sating and exhausting us in the process. It was near dawn when we
finally slept. Only a few minutes later, someone began pounding on
the door.

“Go the fuck away,” Devlin shouted
venomously, sitting up.

I opened my eyes. “What time is it?”

Dev reached down and brushed my hair back
from my face in a gentle motion. “Way too early, Love.”

“Call for Sar, Dev,” Lash hissed through the
door. “Danial demands to speak with her immediately.”

“Tell him to fuck himself,” Devlin called,
almost gleefully. “We’re sleeping.”

“I have to talk to him,” I said. “There may
be some emergency with one of the kids.”

Devlin nodded permissively. “Lash, bring the
cordless phone in, please.”

Lash came in, handed me the phone, and then
left, shutting the door behind him.

“Danial, are the kids okay?” I asked
worriedly. Devlin leaned close, listening.

“They’re fine,” Danial said, relieved. “I’m
glad to hear you’re fine, too.”

“Of course I’m fine,” I said exasperatedly.
“Why wouldn’t I be? You worried me, demanding to talk to me.”

“I wanted to calm down Theo,” Danial said
tiredly. “He went after you last night, and Terian had to forcibly
stop him. He was wild, almost crazed. Terian barred him from the
house, as I didn’t want Elle to see him this way. Instead, Theo
left and started trouble at the fox compound. He fought with both
Hans and Aran. Brian broke it up, but there was blood—”

“Why is he acting like this?” I said angrily.
“He’s the one who left me!”

“He was sure Devlin would hurt you. He said I
was a fool to trust him with you, that he couldn’t stand the
thought of the two of you together. He seemed so sure I began to
worry.”

“He needs to deal with his issues, Danial,” I
shouted. “I’m dealing with mine!”

“He still loves you, Sar.”

“He has a funny way of showing it,” I said
sarcastically.

“I’ll tell him you’re fine when he wakes up,”
Danial said, yawning. “Go back to sleep, I’m sure you were up all
night. By the way, please tell Dev that you’re seeing me next
Saturday night, and he can go fuck himself.”

“I heard that!” Devlin growled
good-naturedly.

“I knew you would,” Danial laughed. “But I
mean it about Saturday, Dev.”

“Fine,” Devlin said agreeably, pulling me
closer to him. “But Friday’s mine. Now go away and let us
sleep.”

“I love you, Sar,” Danial said. “Get some
sleep. Remember, you don’t have to come in next week unless you
want to. But I have those papers for you, from your lawyer.
According to his cover page, you and Theo need to sign them as soon
as possible.”

“I’ll be in tomorrow or the next day,” I
replied wearily. “I want the separation started.”

“I’ll see you then. Theo will be here both
days. We can make plans for Saturday, too.”

“Danial—”

“Be here by five, or I’ll come looking for
you,” Danial growled, then hung up.

I turned the phone off, then dropped it over
the edge of the bed. “What is wrong with him?”

“Dealing with Theo, probably,” Devlin said,
hugging me. “Or thinking about you here with me, having too much
fun to call. It might just be work, though. The life of a Ruler is
a demanding one.”

His resentful tone made me turn to look at
him. “How are things with you really, Dev? Are you in danger?”

“I’m usually in danger,” he joked. “But why
do you ask?”

“I’m asking because I care,” I said, stroking
his arm gently. “I want to listen, if you want to talk. You said
there was a lot you had to deal with. As you told me, there is more
to being a lover than making love.”

“I don’t want to talk,” he said, after a few
moments. “I’d like you to hold me, as you did months ago, that day
in the hotel, the day I first came to guard you. Do you remember,
Sar?”

“Of course,” I said, putting a few more
pillows behind my shoulders. “You saved me. If you hadn’t been in
my arms then, I’d have died.”

“A portent of things to come,” he said
softly. Easing down on me, he nestled his head on my left breast,
his arms around me loosely. I held him, stroking his hair
soothingly, my other hand on his well-muscled back.

“I can hear your heart,” he said softly. “It
seems so fast.”

“That’s because you’re near,” I said, kissing
his forehead. “You always make my heart beat fast.”

He sighed. “I could stay here like this for
days with you,” he said contentedly. “I love you completely.”

“I love you, too.”

“But I scare you still,” he added. “Don’t I,
Love? Last night, those first times?”

I didn’t reply, tense with worry that he’d
provoke another argument.

“I have not gotten anything I have from being
cautious,” Devlin said. “Everything I’ve achieved has been from
taking chances, from daring to do what no one else will. What I’ve
done since assuming power... it has done something to me.”

“What do you mean?” I ventured.

“I hoped being with you would make
me...lighter, I guess would be the word. I feel heavy sometimes,
both with grief and with the weight of all my years and deeds, both
evil and good. But Lash is right, I can’t be anyone but who I
am.”