J. Ward - Lover Avenged

“Yes…” came the quiet response. “I am.”

“If it wasn’t about the money, then why did you call?”

The silence wasn’t a surprise, given all that had come before. But what the female replied was a dead shocker.

“I phoned because I don’t believe he’s dead.”

Ehlena waited for a response from Rehv’s head of security. The longer there wasn’t one, the more she was certain she was right.

“He isn’t, is he,” she said with strength. “I’m right, aren’t I.”

When Xhex finally spoke, her deep, resonant voice was curiously reserved. “In the interest of full disclosure, I think you should be aware you’re talking to another symphath.”

Ehlena gripped her cell harder. “Somehow, that is not a news flash.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you think you know.”

Interesting response, Ehlena thought. Not a he’s-not-dead. Not by a long shot. Then again, if the female was a symphath, this could be going anywhere.

Which meant there was no reason to hold back. “I know that he killed his stepfather because the male was beating his mother. And I know that his stepfather was aware that he was a symphath. I also know that Montrag, son of Rehm, knew about the symphath thing, too, and that Montrag was ritualistically murdered in his study.”

“And this math adds up to you how?”

“I think Montrag came forward with Rehvenge’s identity and he had to go up to the colony. That explosion at the club was to hide the fact that he is what he is from other people in his life. I think that’s why he chose to bring me to ZeroSum like he did. It was to get rid of me safely. As for Montrag…I think Rehvenge took care of him on the way out.” Long, long, long silence. “Xhex…are you there?”

The female let out a short, hard laugh. “Rehv didn’t kill Montrag. I did. And it had nothing directly to do with Rehv’s identity. But how do you know anything about the dead male?”

Ehlena sat forward in her chair. “I think we should meet.”

Now the laughter was longer and a little more natural. “You have giant brass balls, you know that? I just told you I killed a guy and you want to hang out?”

“I want answers. I want the truth.”

“Sorry to channel a little Jack Nicholson here, but are you sure you can handle the truth?”

“I’m on this phone, aren’t I? I’m talking to you, aren’t I? Look, I know Rehvenge is alive. Whether you’re willing to admit it to me or not, it won’t change a thing for me.”

“Girl, you don’t know shit.”

“Fuck. You. He fed from me. My blood is in him. So I know he’s still breathing.”

Long pause and then a short chuckle. “I’m getting a picture of why he liked you as much as he did.”

“So will you meet me?”

“Yeah. Sure. Where.”

“Montrag’s safe house in Connecticut. If you were the one who killed him, you know the address.” Ehlena felt a shot of satisfaction as the line went dead quiet. “Did I forget to mention that my father and I are Montrag’s next of kin? We inherited everything he had. Oh, they had to get rid of the rug you ruined. Why couldn’t you have just killed the bastard out in the foyer on the marble?”

“Jesus…Christ. You’re no little nursey, are you.”

“Nope. So are you coming or not?”

“I’ll be there in a half hour. And don’t worry, you aren’t getting a houseguest overday. Symphaths have no problem with sunlight.”

“See you in a few.”

As Ehlena hung up, energy drummed through her veins and she raced around to tidy up, gathering together all the ledgers and cases and documents and filling the now impotent safe’s belly. After she put the seascape back against the wall, she shut down her computer, told the doggen that she was expecting a visitor, and-

The gong of the front doorbell reverberated through the house, and she was glad she was the one who made it to the door first. Somehow she didn’t think the staff would feel comfortable around Xhex.

Swinging the huge panels wide, she stepped back a little. Xhex was just as she remembered, a hard-ass female in black leathers with hair cut short as a man’s. Something had changed, though, since she’d seen the security guard last. She seemed…thinner, older. Something.

“You mind doing this in the study?” Ehlena asked, hoping to get them behind closed doors before the butler and the maids came.

“You are brave, aren’t you. Considering the last thing I did in that room.”

“You had your chance to come after me. Trez knew where I was living before we ended up here. If you were that pissed off about me and Rehv, you’d have come for me then. Shall we?”

As Ehlena extended her arm toward the room in question, Xhex smiled a little and headed in that direction.

Once they had some privacy, Ehlena said, “So how much of it did I get right?”

Xhex prowled around, pausing to look at the paintings and the shelved books and a lamp that was made out of an Oriental vase. “You’re right. He did kill his stepfather for what that bastard was doing at home.”

“Was that what you meant when you said he put himself in a rough position for his mother and his sister?”

“Partially. His stepfather terrorized that family, especially Madalina. Thing was, she thought she deserved it, and besides, it was less than what had been done to her by Rehv’s father. Female of worth, she was. I liked her, even though I only met her once or twice. I wasn’t her kind of chick, not by a long shot, but she was nice to me.”

“Is Rehvenge up in the colony? Did he fake his own death?”

Xhex stopped in front of the seascape and looked over her shoulder. “He wouldn’t want us talking like this.”

“So he is alive.”

“Yes.”

“In the colony.”

Xhex shrugged and continued her meandering, her slow, easy strides doing nothing to mask the innate power in her body. “If he had wanted you involved in all of this, he would have done things very differently.”

“Did you kill Montrag to keep the affidavit from getting out?”

“No.”

“Why did you kill him then?”

“That is none of your business.”

“Wrong answer.” As Xhex’s head whipped around, Ehlena squared her shoulders. “Considering what you are, I could go to the king right now and blow your cover. So I think you need to tell me.”

“Threatening a symphath? Careful, I bite.”

The lazy smile tacked onto the words made Ehlena’s heart flicker with fear, reminding her that what was staring across the room at her was nothing she was used to dealing with, and not because of the whole symphath thing: Those cold gunmetal gray eyes of Xhex’s had looked down on a lot of dead people-because she had killed them.

But Ehlena wasn’t backing off.

“You won’t hurt me,” she said with utter conviction.

Xhex bared long white fangs, a hiss coming up and out of her throat. “Won’t I.”

“No…” Ehlena shook her head, an image of Rehvenge’s face as he held her Keds in his hand coming to mind. Knowing what he’d done to keep his mother and his sister safe…made her believe what she had seen in him at that moment. “He would have told you not to touch me. He would have protected me on his way out. That’s why he did what he did at ZeroSum.”

Rehvenge hadn’t been all good. Not by a long shot. But she had looked into his eyes and smelled his bonding scent and felt his kind hands on her body. And at ZeroSum, she had seen the pain in him and heard the strain and desperation in his voice. Whereas before she had assumed all that was either for show or out of disappointment that his cover was blown, now she had a different picture of it.

She knew him, goddamn it. Even after all the shit he had left out, even after the lies of omission, she knew him.