Midnight Reckoning

Anything it was in his power to give. Such a rash and generous offer. How could Dorien know that he wouldn’t ask for some exorbitant sum or maybe a piece of the pack’s territory? The answer was simple: he couldn’t. And it made Lyra’s situation seem that much more desperate. So much could go wrong… in fact, it was likely to. And the thought of Dorien’s contingency plan, whatever it was, already gave him the creeping horrors. In the end, Jaden could only think to ask one question, simple and yet encompassing everything.



“Why?”



Dorien gave Jaden a look that was equal parts mystified and pitying. “She’s my girl. I love her. Haven’t you ever had someone you’d give everything up for?”



Jaden could give only a single negative shake of his head. No. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t—that he didn’t want to—understand.



“I’ll do it,” Jaden said.



Dorien’s expression turned deadly serious, full of wariness and cautious hope. “And… in return, what are you asking?”



“It’s very simple,” Jaden replied. “I want a boon from your pack, to be decided later, which means when I need it. Anything I ask. No refusals. One thing.”



The wolf frowned. “I don’t much like the sound of that.”



“And I don’t much care. That’s my price.” He knew the value of a promise tucked in the back pocket. One never knew when it would be needed most.



Finally, after a minute, Dorien nodded. “Gods forgive me, but all right. A promise for later. But I’m warning you now, cat: hurt her, or break faith with me in any way, and I’ll have you rent limb from limb. Your fancy footwork won’t save you from the wrath of my pack. Got it?” He stretched out his hand, a gesture that Jaden had never seen extended from a wolf to a vampire.



“Fancy,” Jaden grumbled, but he gripped Dorien’s hand with his own, feeling the iron strength in the clasp. “You’d think I was going to teach her dancing.”



When they broke the connection, Dorien beckoned him along and turned for the house. “Come on. We’ve got a lot to talk about. And then we’ll need to speak to Lyra, get that screaming out of the way.”



Jaden felt his lips curve into a smile despite himself, watching as Dorien made his way up the steps, muttering incoherently. Slowly, Jaden started after him, toward the welcoming glow of the house. He should have been appalled with himself, should have at least felt some sense of misgiving. But he felt better than he had in a long time.



If nothing else, his life, or what passed for it, was about to get a lot more interesting. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t know what was going to happen next. And though a wolf would never understand the interminable sameness of forever, Jaden recognized this uncertainty as the gift it was.



He’d spent years enslaved, been tortured, escaped, and helped to defeat one dynasty in order to begin another. No one could say his long life hadn’t been eventful. But it now seemed possible, even probable, that he was embarking on something like an adventure.



Lyra Black might be bad news in every way imaginable.



But she, and this, might be just what he needed.



Chapter SEVEN



IT WAS LATE by the time Simon left, slinking home in a foul mood that Lyra hadn’t been able to tease him out of. She’d doctored him in the upstairs bathroom as best she could, and put up with as much surly growling as she had patience for, but in the end she knew it would take him a good night’s sleep and possibly a couple days more of wound licking to straighten up. She might love him like a brother, but Lyra was more than happy to send him on his way when he was ready.



She took some time to work up to going downstairs. Normally she didn’t suffer from a lack of nerve, but then, normally she wasn’t the cause of a vampire showing up on her doorstep. She had an idea that it might take her father some time to get over that, and that there might be shouting involved.



The week had been a long one. Lyra really wanted to postpone the shouting part.



In the end, she decided to get comfortable and take her chances. She put on a pair of cotton pajama shorts, pulled on a hooded sweatshirt, swirled her hair up into a messy bun, and then headed downstairs in her bare feet. The house was quiet. She had no idea if that was a good sign, because Dorien was fully capable of fuming quietly.



If he was laying in wait somewhere, Lyra just hoped he’d let her grab a snack before he really started in on her. Her stomach was growling, and there was a bag of Cheetos stashed in the cupboard calling her name.



There wasn’t a sound as she headed through the foyer, then back to the kitchen. When she rounded the corner, it didn’t surprise her to see a figure seated at the table.



The shock came when she realized who it was.



Jaden’s bright blue eyes flashed when they met her own. He straightened where he’d been slouched at the heavy wooden table, and Lyra watched him quickly look her over, seeming to take her measure while she tried to process the fact that he was still here. Not just in her town, but in her house. With her father nowhere to be found. Surprise quickly gave way to dark suspicion.



“Why are you still here? What did you do with my father?” she asked.



A ghost of a smile hovered at the corners of his mouth. “You have a knack,” he said, “for thinking the absolute worst of my intentions. You realize that, don’t you?”



She crossed her arms over her chest, standing her ground. “Don’t play harmless with me. There’s no way in hell he would have invited you in. Where is he?”



Jaden sighed, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Out. He had a few things to deal with. I was… kind of hoping he’d be back by the time you came down.”



“Right, he’s sharing his social schedule with you too. I don’t remember him having anything to do tonight.”



“He does now, if he wants to keep me around long enough to help you. From what he said, he’s busy putting out the alert that I’m here, and that I’m not to be chased, dismembered, or eaten if spotted.”



“Help me? Is this some kind of joke?” Lyra asked incredulously, narrowing her eyes. That he’d brought her the family talisman was a welcome surprise, and made her think he might even have a few redeeming qualities… for a vamp, at least. She’d even worried a little when she’d left him alone with her father, stupid though she knew it was. What did she care about what happened to him? It wasn’t like they ran in the same circles, and with things coming to a head with the Proving so soon, she wasn’t likely to bump into him again.



The necklace should have been the end of it. He should be long gone.



And yet here he still was, tying her insides up in knots just by hanging out in her kitchen like he belonged there. Did such annoying creatures have to be so ridiculously beautiful? Lyra wondered. And this one had a face that was way too innocent. It had messed with her head from the beginning. Apparently, even now, she wasn’t over it.



She remembered how he had spoken so softly in her ear, how silky his hair had felt when he’d rubbed his cheek against her…



“Your father,” Jaden said calmly, snapping her back to the situation at hand, “has hired me to do a job. And since I currently have nothing better to do, and am apparently a glutton for punishment besides, I agreed.”



“Bull.”



His placid expression quickly became irritated. Lyra was glad. It was a lot easier when she could tell what Jaden was feeling. He seemed sincere… but she knew from experience that vampires excelled at manipulation. Still, she’d thought it was odd to look out the window earlier, expecting to see some sort of a confrontation between Jaden and her father, only to find them engrossed in an apparently nonviolent conversation.



But no Alpha would ever invite a vampire into his home… ask for his help, when it went against everything the pack stood for…



Unless he were completely desperate. Unless he had a daughter who’d finally driven him over the edge.



Her eyes widened.



“Lyra, I haven’t killed your father. He’s not stashed in a closet around here. I’m not sitting here waiting for the right moment to go all Hannibal Lecter on you. Would you please just sit down or something? If either of us ought to be nervous, it’s me. This entire town smells like a kennel.”



His beleaguered tone sealed it for her. He was here with her father’s blessing. For a moment, Lyra wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scream. If it had been any other vamp, she might have been intrigued. She might even have been excited to see that Dorien could think beyond the very limiting confines of pack tradition. But of all the vampires he might have approached, it had to be the one whose ass she wanted to bite.



He lifted one dark brow. “Afraid of me now, are you?”



Lyra decided she could be grateful, at least, that Jaden made it impossible to moon over him when he started running his mouth.



“You wish.” She sauntered into the kitchen, taking her time while she opened the pantry and found the Cheetos. Jaden sat watching her with an inscrutable expression that she found irritatingly catlike while he waited for her to sit down. Just to be contrary, she stopped to dig in the fridge for a soda.



“I think Dorien left you a note on the refrigerator,” Jaden said. “If you’re interested.”



Curious, Lyra looked at the new yellow Post-it stuck to the fridge door. Scrawled on it in permanent marker was a message:



Don’t eat the cat. Be back soon.



—Dad



She turned her head to glare at Jaden.



“Pointing this out earlier would have saved you some time trying to convince me, you know.”



He shrugged. “It was more interesting the other way.”



Lyra snorted as she headed for the table, decidedly more comfortable in her own house now that the last of her doubts had been removed.



“Oh, you enjoy seeing me pissed off?”



“Could be.”



She grinned despite herself. “You’re in for a treat then.”



Lyra tossed herself into the chair opposite Jaden, tucked one leg up against her chest, and dug into her bag of artificial cheese powder heaven. Her taste buds thanked her immediately. Jaden’s presence here was still unnerving, and she couldn’t think of a single reason why her father would have allowed him to stay, but at least now she was on her own turf. Being in familiar surroundings helped soothe the nerves he seemed to awaken in her, at least enough that she could appear comfortable.