Kelly Meding - As Lie the Dead

“Sorry you asked?”

I shook my head. “Just surprised.”

“It was a different time, Evy. We didn’t know much about the Dregs, just lots of rumors. Without the Fey Council, we’d have been lost. They found us, trained us, taught us. It was almost three years before the Triads, as we know them today, truly formed.”

“You and Rufus were there from the beginning?”

“Pretty much. We didn’t start this battle, Evy. We just reacted to it. We had to do something to protect ourselves from them.”

“So something else triggered this.” I blew through my teeth, frustrated. “Vampires start infecting humans, and those Halfies go out and multiply their numbers. That gets the goblins to sit up and notice, so they start crawling out of the sewers and tunnels, getting bolder in their attacks, too. That tells the other Dregs it’s okay to act up, and suddenly we’re overrun with them.”

“Point of fact,” Phin said. I’d forgotten he was there, and the harsh lines of his face screamed out his anger. “Therians have always been among your people. We didn’t crawl out of anything, and most of us live our lives as peacefully as we can.”

“Peaceful?” Wyatt repeated, standing and pivoting to face him. “That’s what you call recruiting others to kill us off? Peaceful?”

“I have no desire to see your people killed off. I like humans very much.” His blue eyes flickered briefly to me. “However, as recent events showcase, your judgment and policing skills leave a lot to be desired.”

“We didn’t—”

“I don’t care about who gave what orders anymore.” Phin’s voice was furious enough to make even me flinch, but his outward appearance remained still. Almost preternaturally calm. “My greatest concern is that it does not happen again, not to any other Clan or species—human and nonhuman alike.”

He took several steps forward. Wyatt tensed, but Phin ignored him. His fierce gaze bore into mine.

Phin continued. “Yes, I wanted vengeance for the loss of my Clan—wanted it so badly I could taste human blood on my tongue. Coming to you for help in protecting Joseph and Aurora was like castrating myself, admitting to weakness that, as their Clan Elder, I couldn’t entertain. The morning we met? I almost landed on that car while you were still in it, and I would have enjoyed it. Humans were evil, they had slaughtered my people, and I no longer wanted anything to do with any of you.”

I squirmed under his glare and the weight of his words. Seeing the real Phineas el Chimal for the first time, in all his temperamental glory. Ruled by his emotions. Admitting to his grief and rage. Damn, but that had to feel good.

“What stopped you from killing us?” I asked.

“Something Danika told me one day, when I asked her why she was so friendly with a human,” he said. “She said, ‘Evy has a good heart. She’s just had it broken a lot.’”

My eyes stung. “I think the goodness of my heart is still open for debate.”

“No.” Phin shook his head, sharp snaps side to side. “No, it’s not. You were willing to turn your back on your friends and coworkers in order to do what you thought was right. Few make the honorable choice when it means losing everything.”

I flashed to Kismet, so torn in her decision to trust me or silence me. She hadn’t been able to make the tough call and go on faith. She was a soldier who thrived on following orders. I had challenged everything she believed in, threatened the status quo. I didn’t begrudge her trying to kill me.

Didn’t mean I’d turn my back on her again, though.

“So what does this mean for us now?” I asked. “Do you still want Rufus handed over to you?” Phin’s hesitation answered my question. “I guess I didn’t uphold my end of the deal, huh? Deliver the brass before Aurora gave birth.”

“I technically gave you until tomorrow,” he said. “Help me protect the other bi-shifting Clans, and then his debt is forgiven.”

“How can I protect them if I don’t know who they are?”

“I believe you’ll find out tonight. Jenner is very persuasive, and you’ve gotten him on your side.”

“How?”

“You stood up to him, and he’s not used to that. It gained his respect. You also did what you promised—your very best to ensure Aurora’s safe delivery.”

“About that,” I said, suddenly curious. “What happened to Belle?”

Phin’s expression darkened. “She received a warning from her Pride Alpha about taking things that do not belong to her.”

“A warning?” From the look on his face, I didn’t want elaboration. Fine. “Okay, so what now? Did Call’s group meet last night somewhere else?”

“If they did, I wasn’t told about it.”

“Could the day have been wrong? Could he be having the meet tonight, even though he knows the Triads are watching the place?”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry. If he does, and your people show up spoiling for a fight, the Triads will be outnumbered three to one. They’ll be decimated.”

“They aren’t dumb enough to walk into that kind of trap.” Nor would I let them, if I thought otherwise. “They may have tried to kill me twice in one week, but the Triads are all that stands between the city and the Dregs.”

My final remarks produced twin squawks from the men in the room. I held my hand up to silence Wyatt and addressed Phin first. “I use the word ‘Dreg’ to refer not to all nonhumans, but to the assholes who’ve decided to wipe us off the map, whatever species they be.”

That seemed to placate Phin. Wyatt, on the other hand, was staring down at me with a queer look on his face. Something between anger and amazement. “Evy, what the hell happened at the factory?” he asked. “What did Gina do?”

“Her job,” I replied, and, oddly, believed it. “I became a threat to the Triads—this time, on purpose—so she followed protocol.”

“Did she start the fire?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It does—”

“No, Wyatt, it doesn’t.” I tugged his arm until he crouched down to eye level, then grabbed his chin and held tight. “As much as I’d like to kick her ass six ways from Sunday for my legs, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t fucking matter. And in this, my vote is the only one that counts.”

Tension thrummed off his body. Though unhappy with the decision, he seemed to relent. “Fine. It doesn’t matter.”

I let go of his chin, almost believing him. He could hold a grudge longer than me, and he wouldn’t be completely satisfied until he got details about the fire. I’d tell him eventually, but it wouldn’t help us today. There was simply too much to do, and as always, my personal bullshit had to wait.

“About Park Place?” Phin asked, elegantly redirecting the conversation.

Wyatt shifted so he sat on the bed next to me. He reached around and tugged the sheet up, over my bare legs. I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders, amused by his attempt to protect my modesty.

“We need to know more about Leonard Call,” I said, backpedaling to before our latest conversational tangent. “He’s supposedly human, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. Could he have a specific bone to pick with the Triads?”

“It’s hard to know,” Wyatt said. “I don’t recognize the name, and it’s difficult to imagine a human building a Dreg army to fight against other humans.”

My point exactly. “Do you think Kismet would tell you if she found out anything?”

“After all the names I called her the last time we spoke? Sure,” he deadpanned.

“It’s worth a try.”

Phin produced a cell phone and held it out to Wyatt. Wyatt glared at it, then took the phone and flipped it open.

“Put it on speaker,” I said as he dialed.