Chapter 18

Cain threw a roundhouse punch at my head. I ducked and slammed my fist into his solar plexus, and he stumbled backward. I came upright to find Brien aiming a flying kick at my chest. I dodged left and he overshot me, landing in a catlike crouch on the mat.

I spun around, taunting, "You candy-asses can't take me even when you double-team me."

We were in the castle gym and I'd challenged them to a fight. No weapons except our hands or feet, which meant no claws or fangs, either. I'd needed to take the edge off. Esposito was fucking with my mind. He was clearly in big trouble. If he owed money, why hadn't he contacted me? Had he made some kind of deal with the vampire he did owe?

Brien and Cain traded looks. Then Brien smiled, a chilling stretching of his lips that would've made a vampire lower in the hierarchy freeze in his tracks. Even I felt a shiver shoot up my spine.

"What did you call me?" he asked.

I grinned. "Candy ass—." My breath whooshed out as he slammed into me, dropping me to the mat.

Cain chuckled. Brien was faster and stronger than me—he was the primus, after all—but I slithered out of his hold as we hit and slammed an elbow into his jaw before rolling back to my feet.

Cain wasn't smiling now. He circled right while Brien circled left. I glanced between them. Brien's hair had come out of its ponytail and the shoulder of my shirt was partially ripped off. Cain, on the other hand, looked like we'd been discussing the goddamn weather, his blond hair neatly in place, his T-shirt snowy-white.

I jerked my head at him. "Man's too neat," I said to Brien. "Let's mess him up a little."

His smile was evil. "Sounds like a plan."

Dropping into a crouch, Cain turned his palms up and scooped his fingers at us. "Bring it on, assholes."

Brien and I jumped him at the same time. We ended in a pile on the mat, punching and elbowing and headbutting one another like a bunch of hockey goons.

Usually it was me who called a halt to things, but this time I kept fighting until Brien shoved me off Cain, saying, "Enough, already. I don't want to have to explain to Twilight why my nose is broken."

"It'll heal by morning," I muttered, but he was right, we'd gone at it long enough.

Still, it had helped; the tension eating at my gut had eased. We formed a seated circle on the mat, giving each other tips on fighting techniques. That segued into the problem of Esposito.

"The QCS could be hiding him," I said. "It's no secret that we're related. They could think they can use him to get to me."

The idea made the skin of my nape crawl. Esposito was unpredictable. If I figured he'd zig left, then he'd zig right—or even take off at a tangent.

Cain reclined on his forearms. Fighting relaxed him, even though he'd probably throw his torn T-shirt away as soon as he reached his quarters.

"Would they be wrong?" he asked.

"No," I admitted. "If it was just me, I'd let the fucker hang, but my mom loves him."

Cain glanced at Brien. "What did Régis say?" Régis was the Quebec City primus.

Brien stretched his long legs out on the mat, one knee bent. "He swears he hasn't seen Esposito, that he knows nothing about the guy except that he's Talon's father, and I believe him. He's got too much riding on the new casino. He knows I'll pull our investment if I find out he's fucking with one of my lieutenants, especially after what Fleur's coven did to Twilight."

I swore under my breath. "So, nothing."

"Yeah." Brien moved a shoulder. "Still, how much trouble can Esposito make for us? He's only a human, after all—and we know what he looks like, where he's likely to go if he comes to the island."

I nodded. "I already told the ferry captains to alert us if they see him, and I have Chief Valente keeping an eye out, too. William and Kerry know to contact security immediately if he's seen anywhere on the castle grounds."

"Then relax," Brien said. "He'll turn up eventually, and we'll handle it then. Now if that's all..." He gathered himself to stand.

"There's something else," I said.

"Yeah?" Brien sank back to the mat.

"Eden." I turned the conversation to the other human currently fucking with my mind. "Her parents have been asking to see her. Her dad is threatening to raise hell if we don't allow it—he even came to the castle, demanding to see her."

Brien nodded. "William told me. He said Montgomery made him promise Eden was okay. Made him swear it actually."

"I know." Thank the gods for William. The castle butler had grown up on the island and people trusted him to give them the truth, no bullshit. "But it could be a problem. Since Gwen, people are edgy."

Gwen's family had been paid to keep quiet about her death, but it was a small island. Nothing could be kept quiet forever. The humans might not know that Jules had abused Gwen, then drained her blood, but they realized something bad had gone down.

"That was last week," I added. "I issued Eden a phone so she's free to call them now. She knows I'm monitoring her calls and messages, but that should keep Montgomery quiet until I'm ready to let her visit them."

"Your call," Brien said.

Across from me, Cain nodded, his expression carefully blank. But I knew him too well.

"A pregnant woman needs her mom and dad," I said. "I want to keep her happy; it's good for both her and our spawn."

Good, practical reasons.

No need to explain that I'd gotten a little panicky at how sad Eden had seemed last Friday. She'd lost her sparkle, and I hated knowing I was responsible. It felt like my mother and my old man all over again. Different characters, same story.

"She's not a suitable mate," Cain stated.

I stilled. "I know that."

"Ah." Brien lifted a brow. "The elephant in the lair."

Cain's focus remained on me. "Do you? Know, I mean?"

"Yes," I said shortly.

"She'd be problematic," Brien mused. "You could turn her, of course, but would we be able to trust her?"

I ground my molars together. "The woman made a mistake, okay? She agreed to pass a note and the little prick blackmailed her into spying for him."

"So it's like that," Brien said.

"Like what?" I demanded.

"Just that I seem to remember arguing with you about Twilight being my mate. You said she was—and you were right."

Cain sat up and pulled his legs in. His knee started to bounce.

"It's different for us," he told Brien. "You're a pureblood. Mating with Twilight doesn't affect your status, especially now you've turned her. And even if you'd had a spawn with Twilight while she was still human, you're strong—and a primus. You could mate with anyone and your spawn would still inherit your power and a fuck-ton of magic. But Talon and I made a pact that we'd only mate with other vampires."

I aimed a scowl at Cain. "I'm not breaking the damn pact. I like Eden, yeah—and I want to keep her happy."

At least that's what I'd told myself this past week, when I'd crawled into bed with Eden each night around her bedtime, holding her until she fell asleep…because I hated seeing her sad and lonely.

"But that's it," I added when neither of them said anything.

I was a planner. In the years I'd been Brien's bodyguard, I'd turned my life around. The reckless twenty-year-old had been replaced by a man who thought five steps ahead, had long-term goals. I'd already adjusted my plans to offer Eden my blood bond. I saw no reason to change them further. Mating with a vampire was the best option for both me and the syndicate.

"I'm not so sure you can control it," Brien said. "In fact, I know you can't. It's an instinct. Lilith knows I fought it, but you saw how well that worked. Not that I give a fuck." His gaze turned inward. "Twilight…completes me."

"You didn't grow up with my parents," I said. "I saw firsthand what choosing with your heart does. No, when I mate, it's going to be with a vampire who brings something to the table, someone of value to the syndicate."

Brien leveled a dude, get-your-head-out-of-your-ass look at me. "Even a vampire has a heart. You can't choose a mate like you'd choose a horse. Even my father didn't do that, and the gods know he was a cold-ass SOB."

"And your mother was his weakness," I returned, "and everyone knew it. No disrespect intended, of course. That's why, when they couldn't get to Jules, they staked her instead. So no, I will not take Eden as a mate. I'll take care of her, keep her until she dies. But I will not mate with her. A blood bond is enough."

Cain stirred. "The blood bond was a good idea, actually."

"That's not what you said a couple of weeks ago," I told him.

He shrugged. "I've been thinking, and it binds her more tightly to you and the syndicate, aside from the fact that she's carrying your spawn. Smart move."

"Glad you approve," I responded dryly.

Still, Cain was right. I hadn't asked Eden to accept my blood bond for those reasons, but from a purely cynical standpoint, it had been the best way to keep her under control.

"That's settled, then," said Brien. "When the time comes, you'll both look for a mate in the vampire world."

Cain murmured agreement, but my stomach tightened uneasily. Had I agreed to that?

"Speaking of mates…" Brien rose to his feet. "You guys have a good night. And don't bother me unless it's critical because I plan to be busy." His smile was pure sin.

Cain and I made a couple of rude suggestions, which only made his smile widen.

As he left the gym, I felt an unfamiliar clench of jealousy. Brien had mated a human, after all—a slayer, for fuck's sake. Yeah, she'd later asked to be turned, but at the time, he hadn't known she would and had claimed her anyway.

I reminded myself that I'd made that pact with Cain for a reason, and that nothing had changed. If anything, now I'd made lieutenant, it was even more critical for me to mate with a vampire. Brien—my primus—clearly believed so.

So then why did my chest feel like a boa constrictor was wrapped around it? A boa constrictor that squeezed tighter with every breath I took?