Patricia Briggs - Bone Crossed

Marsilia said, "Yes. Don't forget that I set up his little favorite, Mercedes, to be the lever I needed to move the world. If she hadn't killed Andre, if he hadn't helped her cover it up, then I could not have sent him out from the seethe. Then I could not have used him to witness against you and Estelle. Had you been of my making, disposing of you would have been much easier and cost me less."

Bernard looked at Stefan, who was sitting as if it would hurt to move, his head slightly bent.

"Stefan, of all of us, was loyal to the death. So you tortured him, killed his people, threw him out—because you knew that he'd refuse us. That his loyalty was such that despite what you had done to him, he'd still remain yours."

"I counted on it," she said. "By his refusal, your rebellion is robbed of its legitimacy." She looked at the man who'd killed Estelle. "You, of course, had no idea that your children would behave so."

He gave her a small smile, one predator to another, "I'm not on the chair." He pulled off the gauntlets and tossed them into Wulfe's lap. "Not even by such a slim connection." His hands were bloodied, but I couldn't tell if it was from one wound or many. "I've heard your truths, and can only hope you'll find them as galling as I."

"Come, Bernard," he said. "It is time for us to leave."

Bernard rose without protest, shock and dismay in every line of his body. He followed his maker to the doorway, but turned back before leaving the room entirely. "God save me," he said looking at Marsilia, "from such loyalty. You have ruined him for your whim. You are not worthy of his gift—as I told him."

"God won't save any of us," said Stefan in a low voice. "We are all of us damned."

He and Bernard stared at each other across the room. Then the younger vampire bowed and followed his maker out the door. Stefan pulled his hands free and stood up.

"Stefan—" said Marsilia, sweet-voiced. But before she finished the last syllable, he was gone.

MARSILIA FROZE FOR A MOMENT, STARING AT THE PLACE Stefan had been. Then she looked at me, a look of such malevolence I had to work not to step back even though there was half of a very large room between us.

She closed her eyes and brought her features back under control. "Wulfe," she asked, "do you have it?"

"I do, Mistress," the vampire said. He stood up and drifted over to her, pulling an envelope out of his back pocket.

Marsilia looked at it, bit her lip, then said in a low voice, "Give it to her."

Wulfe altered his path so he came more directly to us. He handed me the envelope that was none the worse for the time it had spent in his pocket. It was heavy paper, the kind that wedding invitations or graduation announcements are engraved on. Stefan's name was gracefully lettered across the front. It was sealed with red wax that smelled like vampire and blood.

"You will give this to Stefan," Marsilia said. "Tell him there is information here. Not apologies or excuses."

I took the envelope and felt a strong desire to crumple it and drop it on the floor.

"Bernard is right," I said. "You used Stefan. Hurt him, broke him, in order to play your little game. You don't deserve him."

Marsilia ignored me. "Hauptman," she said with calm courtesy, "I thank you for your warning about Blackwood. In return for this, I accede to your truce. The signed documents will be sent to your house."

She took a deep breath and turned from Adam to me. "It is the judgement of this night that the action you took against us… killing Andre… has not resulted in damage to the seethe. That you had no intention of moving against the seethe was borne out by your truth-tested testimony." She sucked in a breath. "It is my judgement that the seethe suffered no harm, and you are not an ally turned traitor. No further punishment will be taken against you—and the crossed bones will be removed…" She glanced down at her wrist.

"I can do it tonight," said Wulfe in gentle tones.

She nodded. "Removed before dawn." She hesitated, then said in a quiet voice, as if the words were pulled from her throat, "This is for Stefan. If it were up to me, your blood and bones would nourish my garden, walker. Take care not to push me again."

She turned on her heel and left out the same door Bernard had taken.

Wulfe looked at Adam. "Allow me to escort you out of the seethe so that no harm comes to you."

Adam lowered his eyelids. "Are you implying I cannot protect my own?"

Wulfe dropped his eyes and bowed low. "But of course not. Merely suggesting that my presence might save you the trouble. And save us the mess to clean up afterward."

"Fine."

Adam led the way. I let the other wolves pass me and tried not to be hurt when Mary Jo and Aurielle deliberately avoided looking at me. I didn't know what cause… or rather which cause was bothering them—coyote, vampire prey, or causing Marsilia to target the pack. It didn't matter, really—there was nothing I could do about any of it.

Warren, Samuel, and Darryl waited until the others were gone, then Warren gave me a little smile and went ahead. Darryl paused, and I looked at him. I outranked him, which put me at the end of the pack, to protect us from attack from behind. Then he smiled, a warm expression I couldn't say I'd ever seen on his face, not directed at me anyway. And he went ahead.

"Oh no, you don't," said Samuel, amused. "I'm outside the pack, and so I can tag along with you."

"I really need a good night's sleep," I told him as I fell into step beside him.

"I guess that's what comes from fraternizing with vampires." He put a hand over my shoulder. A cold hand.

I'd been so busy sweating with fear I'd become accustomed to both the feeling and the smell. I hadn't noticed that Samuel was scared, too.

The last time he'd come here, Lily had taken him for a snack—and Marsilia had done worse, robbing him of his will until he was hers.

For me it would have been terrifying. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to a werewolf who lived only because he controlled his wolf. All the time.

I reached up and put my hand over his. "Let's get out of here," I said. And all the way through the room, I was conscious of the two still bodies on the floor, and of the vampires and their menageries, who sat silently on the bleachers, obedient to orders I couldn't hear. They watched us leave with their predatory eyes, and I felt them on my back all the way to the door.

Just like the ghost in the bathroom at Amber's house.

I SAT SHOTGUN IN THE SUBURBAN ADAM HAD DRIVEN over. I didn't know if it was a rental or a new vehicle—which is what it smelled like. Paul, Darryl, and Aurielle filled the first backseat. Samuel drove his own car, a nifty new Mercedes in bing cherry red.

Mary Jo, who had been heading toward Adam's vehicle until she saw me, abruptly changed directions and got into Warren's old truck. Alec, trailing her around like a lost puppy, followed.

"And I thought Bran could be Byzantine," I said finally, trying to relax in the safety of the leather upholstery as Adam drove through the gates.

"I didn't catch it all," said Darryl. He must have been tired because his voice was even deeper than usual, buzzing my ears so I had to listen closely to catch all of his words. "For some reason she had to convince Stefan that he was out of the seethe. Then, when her traitors approached him, he had to refuse their offers before he could witness that they'd made them?"

"That's what it sounded like to me," said Adam. "And only with his witness and their maker's consent could she deal with her traitors."

"Makes sense," offered Paul almost shyly. "The way the seethe works, if he belonged to her—his witness is hers. If those two were imposed on her, she couldn't have them killed at her word. She'd need outside verification."