Part 28 (2/2)
Nika looked up at Joseph. ”When you go, I'm coming with you.”
”We'll see how things play out,” said Joseph.
”No. We won't. I'm goinga”Madoc promiseda”and anyone who tries to stop me will regret it.” She looked pointedly at each man before turning on her heel and leaving.
Joseph let out a weary sigh and sank into his chair. ”What do you think?”
”I think I'd like nothing more than to lock her up here in a room with no sharp corners where I know she'll be safe. I also think that if I tried it, she could find ten kinds of h.e.l.l to bring down on me.”
”Is she ready for battle?”
”No, but she's also not stupid. And we need her. I'll protect her. We'll stay well behind the fighting.”
”I think that's best, at least until you two are ready for action.”
”That may take a while. I won't let her push herself and suffer a setback. I can't let her go back to that screaming nightmare she suffered before we found her. Which means I can't let her spill her blood.”
”Hard not to in combat.”
Which was why Madoc planned to never let her get close to one. ”I think her strengths are going to lie more in what happens before a fight. If she can learn to use her ability to control one of the Synestryn to gather intelligence or sabotage a nest, she's going to be one h.e.l.l of a weapon.”
”If she lets you live that long. I saw murder in her eyes when she left here.”
”Yeah. We're still working out the kinks in our relations.h.i.+p.”
”I suggest you work faster.”
”What about my sentence?”
Joseph turned on his speakerphone and dialed. It took several rings, but a groggy Tynan picked up. ”Yes?”
”You alive?” he asked the Sanguinar.
”Obviously.”
”Thanks.” Joseph hung up, looking at Madoc. ”You didn't kill him.”
”I meant to. I wanted to. I was glad when I thought I had. That alone is worthy of punishment. That's the law.”
”f.u.c.k the law,” said Joseph. ”The rules are changing under our feet. I can't keep up and I'm sure as h.e.l.l not going to sentence you to death for something I've fantasized about doing myself a time or two. If he accuses you, I'll deal with it then.”
”He will. He deserves justice.”
Joseph leaned forward over his desk, anger clipping his words. ”And I deserve never having to take another friend to his death. Everyone's just s.h.i.+t out of luck on the justice front. Now get the h.e.l.l out of my office and do your d.a.m.n job. Chances are you won't live through the battle, anyway.”
Madoc didn't allow himself to feel relieved. He knew better. Tynan now held his life in his hands, and after all he'd done to him, Madoc was certain this was far from over.
Chapter 18.
Nika had rarely felt more alone than she did now. Even among her own kind she felt like an outcast. She saw the way the others were looking at hera”as if she'd committed some kind of crime by going into Joseph's mind. Even though he'd asked her to.
She hadn't done anything wrong. She hadn't pried into his secrets or made him dance on his desk as she'd briefly considered doing. All she'd done was give him the proof he needed to know that Tori was still alive. Just as he'd asked.
And yet, somehow, that had shoved a wedge between her and the others, as if they feared what she might do to them.
Nika flopped back on her bed, trying to let the frustration leak out of her. She needed to focus right now, and worrying about what other people thought was not going to help her concentration.
Andra, she called out with her mind. Please come home. I need you.
Nika listened, but felt nothinga”not a stir of emotion or a flicker of awareness. Wherever Andra was, she was too far away to reach.
Nika was on her own. It was up to her to do what was best for Tori. Anyone who didn't like it could go screw themselves.
For once, it was going to be Nika leaving Andra the note on the fridge, rather than the other way around.
She packed a small suitcase with a few clothes and toiletries, then wheeled it to Madoc's suite.
She knocked on the door. He opened it partway.
”I'm moving in. If you try to keep me out again, I'm going to grab hold of a body part you like and start twisting.”
A hint of a smile played at his mouth. ”And just which part would that be? I can think of a couple you could twist that I might actually enjoy.”
She shoved at the door and he stepped back, letting her in. ”Stop playing around. We have work to do.”
”I've never had a woman boss me around before. I'm not sure if I like it. Maybe you should do it some more so I can figure it out.”
”I've had about enough of all the macho c.r.a.p around here. I'm tired of being treated like some kind of wilting flower. You don't treat Andra like that.”
”That's because she could blow my head off with a single thought.”
”And you don't think I can?”
”Not twice, anyway. You'd need my power.” He was being too lighta”almost like he was hiding something.
Nika let out a short shriek of fury. ”Stop it. This is serious. We need to find Tori.”
”And we will. It's just nice to not hurt anymore. It's making me all giddy.”
She lifted a brow, staring at him. ”You haven't been giddy a day in your life.”
”How do you know? I was a little boy once.”
As big and manly as he was now, she had a hard time believing that, even though she knew it was true.
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