30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Robin

M y head was killing me. Ice-pick-sharp stabs of pain lanced through my brain every now and then with annoying intensity. The headaches were getting more frequent, and they seemed to worsen with overuse of my magic and… stress. Undignified, that a dragon shifter of my lineage should suffer stress headaches. Pathetic.

And I wanted to smack the idiot naga and his human for making it all worse.

I rubbed my forehead, stood taller, smoothed my hands over my favorite wide-legged trousers and yanked my jacket straight. I didn't have time for this shit. Didn't have time for weakness, and I certainly didn't have time to cater to strays or play stupid games with Acacia.

And yet, here we were.

My coming of age was looming. The clock was ticking. I had no idea what would happen if I didn't get my birthright back by then. The stories and histories of my people were largely destroyed when the emperor committed his genocide. And the little information I had been able to carefully glean from other sources was conflicting. Dragon clans in other parts of the world were not only few and far between, but they all had slightly different customs and magic. The only certainty was that the outcome if I didn't get the rest of my magic back soon wouldn't be good.

I took a deep breath. I was the alpha ruler of this fucking court. I had a duty to the people who depended on me and who had given me their allegiance, and to those who temporarily sheltered here. And more than that, I had a duty to the rest of the paranormal world, to all the outcasts and unaligned paranorms who suffered under the rule of the syndicate. I would just have to suck it up and carry on.

I ignored the jab of bright pain behind my right eye and opened the bedroom door.

Josh was dressed and sitting on the edge of his bed, with Ruya and the annoying naga nearby. Cicely gave me a soft smile in greeting and signed a jaunty, "Good afternoon, princess."

I narrowed my eyes at the pretty golden-haired faun in warning. He was a beta, but he had firmly declared that he was Ruya's beta. It made me happy for her, that she had someone who was solely devoted to her, who would look after her when I inevitably hurt her with my alpha whims. But those same alpha whims told me to grab the faun and make him submit to me the way a beta should. I shook my head when he just met my eyes and winked.

I would deal with him later. Right now, I had enough nonsense to deal with.

"Josh," I said, turning to the ex-human and arching a brow. "Feeling more yourself, I hear?"

He nodded his head. His expression was calm, and his posture more deferential than the other blonde beta in the room, but I had a feeling his contained personality had more to do with his previous employment than any real loyalty to me as alpha. "I am," he murmured quietly. "As much as I can be myself, after all of this."

I kept my expression bland. He was Ruya's stray. The naga's beta. And I had much more important things to do than feel sorry for him. I squashed the part of me that wanted to extend my aura and offer him the comfort that a strong alpha could provide. He might seem like he'd gotten control of his bloodlust for the moment, but he was still an unknown. A new complication, and a potential threat to my court and to my plans. "Dusek said you needed to speak with me."

I had been staying away from the room on purpose, giving Ruya and the damned naga time to comfort their pet and themselves. Trying to respect their relationship, and their boundaries. But the bubak had materialized out of the shadows long enough this afternoon to tell me I was needed.

Josh glanced up at me and squared his shoulders, his hazel eyes meeting mine for an instant before sliding slightly to the side. Showing deference like a good beta. I waited, unimpressed with the show of respect. The man had just had his entire identity ripped away from him, was most likely brutalized, killed and brought back to a disgusting new life, and now he clearly had something uncomfortable to tell me. Social norms and paranorm etiquette could fuck off for a few minutes.

"Acacia is my master," Josh said softly. His voice caught, but he took a deep breath and soldiered on. "And she wants me to give you a message."

I narrowed my eyes at him. This ought to be good. Clearly Acacia had remembered who accosted her and broke into the emperor's little pocket world. She knew it was me and my misfit court. From what Ruya had learned during her stay with the vampire court, Acacia was the emperor's favorite—possibly his lover. So why hadn't she gained her precious emperor's favor by turning us in?

"First of all, she wants you to know that…" He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he worked to maintain that calm tone of voice. "That she can end me at any time with a mere thought."

I arched a brow, unimpressed. I was well aware of the power a vampire maker had over their progeny. And if my knowledge was correct, the termination wouldn't be pretty. Or kind. It was hardly news. Why Acacia thought I should care was a mystery to me. "And?"

He looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry, Robin. Sincerely. I am grateful for all you've done for me and Sadavir. I don't want to be… this. This toy she uses to blackmail you."

I huffed, and a bit of smoke escaped. My head felt like it was going to split open like a ripe melon. But I kept my body language relaxed and my expression unconcerned. I took half a step toward the bed, intending to lay a hand on the man's shoulder, for some stupid reason. But Sadavir beat me to it, giving me a narrow-eyed look of warning before he sat on the bed beside his new vampire and patted his knee in consolation.

"Yes, yes," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. "He belongs to you, and you'll start a fight you can't win if I harm him. I'm aware you are terrible at controlling your beast and I have to do it for both of us."

Too much. But the headache was making me want to barbeque and eat anyone who pissed me off. And the snake most definitely met that criteria.

Sadavir sneered at me, and his hands flew as he told me off. "This is your fault. Your responsibility."

In other words, I had fucked up. Failed as an alpha. I was supposed to protect those under my care. Not let them get abducted and turned into vampires. "I know," I said blandly, a pulse of pain nearly blinding me. "Thank you so much for the reminder." Turning my attention back to Josh as if I didn't feel at all like I was about to faint, I ignored the naga. "What other delightful things does Acacia have to say?"

Josh glanced between me and Sadavir, signed "leave it alone," to the snake, then replied. "She knows you tried to assassinate the emperor, and she will tell him… unless you agree to let her help."

The room went completely silent for a few moments.

I couldn't help the smoke that poured from my nostrils. But I kept my voice carefully even as I asked, "Can she see and hear everything you do? Is she here right now, watching this conversation?"

Josh closed his eyes in a long blink. "I don't feel her in my mind at the moment. But… I have to assume she can pry, maybe sift through my memories. I don't know. Despite all the time I spent as her servant, no one gave me a handbook. And I assume master vampires keep their secrets."

Sadavir signed to me. "Ask Martina?"

I arched a brow at him, wondering just when he had realized that our tough little chupacabra had inside knowledge of the vampire coven. Clearly, he was ingratiating himself into my court. Annoying snake. I cleared my throat to be rid of the desire to spew flames. "I'll ask. But for now, we will conduct all court business and all decision making out of earshot." I glared around the room. "Am I understood? I don't care what Josh is to you all. For right now, he's a threat to our safety. That I let him live at all is only because I am feeling gracious. "

"Robin," Ruya started, her voice soft but chastising.

But Josh interrupted her plea. "No, Robin's right. I can't be trusted. I would never willingly do anything to endanger any of you," his hazel eyes met mine once more. "I swear it, alpha." He sighed. "But I am not in control of my own actions. Of my own mind. I'm a massive liability."

I risked starting a fight with the snake by reaching out to grip the vampire's shoulder as I stared down at his defeated expression. "Not a liability," I told him firmly. "You are the link between my court and our new, powerful vampire ally." I forced a wicked smile for Acacia's benefit, should she go snooping through his memories. "And she knows if she doesn't relinquish control over you once the alliance is over," I said with a slow smile, "I will rend her limb from limb."

Josh stared up at me in surprise for a moment, then his expression cleared, and he nodded, probably assuming I was only putting on a show for Acacia. "Of course. Thank you, alpha."

Sadavir hissed at that show of respect, but I simply gave him my back to show him how few fucks I gave about his offended pride. If they were going to continue to live under my roof, then he could just deal with his beta offering me some minimal respect. Maybe the naga would learn from Josh's example. Though I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

I left the room, and waited at the end of the hallway. Sure enough, everyone except Josh slowly followed, and I headed to the living room in the communal area of the nest where I knew Dusek would be waiting to see what was going on. The headache was taking up residence in the muscles at the back of my head, radiating down into my shoulders.

To think, I had overused my unnaturally limited magical reserves to give that mangey snake sanctuary , and still he begged me to end him.

I wasn't surprised to find the rest of my court waiting along with the bubak. I hadn't ordered Dusek not to tell them I was speaking with Josh. Though I gave the bubak the side eye in reprimand for blabbing anyway, just for good measure.

"You can't possibly be serious about working with Acacia," Ruya said the moment we were all gathered.

I smiled fondly at the flush of color on her high cheekbones and the rage burning through her aura. She really was queenly when she got all riled up. People assumed omegas were docile, shrinking violets. Personally, I thought that was all due to how other alphas treated them. If someone's will was broken by some sick, forced subjugation, of course they'd seem small and meek. But we protected Ruya's freedom, and her will was made of steel. She had no problem standing up to me or anyone else.

I loved that about her. Even if it sometimes grated against the ingrained alpha nonsense inside me.

Sadavir joined her, standing tall and proud—and furious—at her side. He signed adamantly. "She stole him from us and made him into one of them! That bitch tortured him. If he was your mate, you would never even think of agreeing to this farce of an alliance."

I held up a hand, and did my best not to react to the challenge in his eyes. My headache gaily pounded on, like elephants tapdancing inside my skull. "You are far too noble for your own good," I informed the naga prince. "But I don't suffer from such an impairment. I won't say no to an ally who has inside information that I need. Keeping her on our side, where we will have at least some idea of her motives and actions, will mean one less threat we have to worry about. But don't mistake my pragmatism for softness. I will not hesitate to murder an ally once they've served their purpose. After all, it's probably what Acacia is planning to do to us once she's done using us to do her dirty work."

No one else objected. They knew me. For better or for worse. They could hardly pretend to be shocked at my black heart now.

Martina moved to sit on the couch, her elbows on her knees as she gazed up at me, calm and unflinching as only an alpha could be. "From what Ruya was able to gather during her time with the vampires, Acacia has a close relationship with the emperor. She could be a great potential source of information. Help us figure out where he's hiding now and what he's doing to ward off future attacks." She arched a brow at me. "The question isn't whether we can use her—not trust her of course, but use her. The question is why she wants us to succeed."

I gave her a wry smile. "Isn't it obvious? Our dear vampire queen wants more power. She wants to set herself up as the empress of the syndicate. And she probably thinks she'll get her prize feeder back." I nodded toward Sadavir. "As well adding the rest of us to her court or menagerie. All that power, right here at her fingertips."

Yukio huffed. "She's been trying to get Robin to join her court or crawl into her bed for years. This would be a good opportunity to ensure it."

"She thinks," Sanka muttered.

I chuckled. "Yes. And it's imperative that she continues to think that. We will cooperate, for now. If we don't, she's threatened to end our new vampire friend."

I watched everyone as that settled in. As I thought, everyone looked angry. Except Yukio. But I knew my frosty lover well enough to know that little twitch of his wings was an indication of rage. I was right. Damn it, we were all apparently attached to the ex-human. I glanced at Sadavir to find him watching me intently. This was all his damned fault. Why was I tolerating another alpha in my court? I arched a brow at him in silent question, just waiting for whatever new asinine thing he would say to make me want to murder him. He just shook his head before signing, "What do we do now?"

It was a simple question, but one that held a wealth of unspoken meaning. You fucked it up once and Josh paid the price, that question said. Prove you're worthy of this court or I'll take it from you.

Or, maybe that was just alpha shifter paranoia on my part. Maybe he really was trying to behave. I snorted softly to myself. Unlikely.

"We'll need to think this over," I said evenly. "Examine all the implications inside and out. Then we'll meet with Acacia and see exactly what she has in mind and what she thinks she has to offer." I barely kept from rubbing my aching head, from giving away how weak and shitty I currently felt. "Then we'll decide how to proceed. For now, no sensitive information around Josh. He'll be confined to the safe areas of the nest. No access to wards, tech, or weapons." I sent a long glance Ruya's way. "Ruya," I drawled. "No soft-hearted slip-ups."

She huffed at me in irritation. "With all due respect, alpha… Shut up."

I chuckled. "Good. We're all on the same page then."

Turning, I left the room, fleeing to the safety of my suite.