I decided I’d better walk to the main house, and call Terian on his cell. He’d probably already left, but he was going to be so pissed off when he realized he’d forgotten the meeting plans. He’d have to stop with Theo, wherever they were in route, and teleport back to the house to get them. At least if the plans were at the great room, it would be easier for him.
I walked up the drive, and saw his truck was missing. He and Theo had already left. Fuck.
But there was another truck there I recognized, one I didn’t expect. More unsettling, I also recognized the man in the front seat.
Lash got out when he saw it was me. “Hello to you, too,” he said, grinning a little. “I heard you and Terian are back together. I’m happy for you, Sun.”
I couldn’t stop gaping at him. It was so odd seeing him here like this, knowing what we had been to one another. Especially after Terian had been so repulsed by Sar being with Devlin and then later with Lash. How would he feel knowing I’d been with them both, too? Especially knowing I’d been the one to initiate sex with Lash? Not good was my guess.
“Would you rather I pretend I don’t know you?” Lash hissed, his face losing its friendliness.
“No,” I said biting my lip. “I’m sorry, Lash, I just don’t know how to act. It’s been a long time since I saw you. Things are so different now.”
“Only nine months ago,” Lash said with no expression. “But it’s a lifetime ago, Sun, for both of us.”
There was a nasty scar on his face. “What happened?” I asked, reaching out to touch him,
He grabbed my hand before I touched his skin, pushing it away. “Demon attack. His blade had poison.”
I knew enough now about werepoison to know it inhibited healing. “Does it hurt?”
“Only when I smile,” Lash said, and smiled, his scarred skin twisting a little to bare one fang.
“What are you doing here?” I asked worriedly. “It’s day, Devlin can’t be here.”
“He’s not,” Lash retorted. “Devlin had a fight with Sar. She left without her sushi. I brought it for her, so it didn’t spoil—”
There’s something in his tone when he talks about Sar.
“—and she let me borrow a DVD I needed to return. You’ve heard of South Park, Sun? It’s these kids, but they don’t talk like kids—”
“Not you, too,” I said in disbelief.
“Not me what?” Lash hissed in confusion. “Do you not like South Park?”
“Not that, her,” I said angrily. “Sarelle. The woman it seems everyone wants, sooner or later, even fucking weresnakes!”
Lash bared his long fangs and hissed at me, in that moment looking angrier than I’d ever seen him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re in love with her, too.”
“She’s just been nice to me, that’s all, and—”
“Don’t lie to yourself! You like her! You probably fucking love her!”
“Fuck off!” Lash hissed at me loudly, leaning back on his truck, and crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s not your business what I do, Sun, or who I do it with.”
“You fuck off! Theo and she are happy, don’t go chasing after her.”
“Shut up and get out of here. Right now, Sun! You have no claim on me!”
“Stay away from her Lash, or I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Tell everyone you slept with me?” Lash said loudly.
I cringed, hoping there was no one around to overhear.
Lash saw my fear, and seized on it. “There is nothing you can say without admitting we were together. And it wasn’t just once! You asked me for more the next night! You want your demon to know that? That you couldn’t get enough of me? That I had you so much that night that my sack was empty, because all of my seed was in you, every last drop? That hardly ever happens to male weres, especially snakes, but you did it to me, Sun. You drained me dry.”
I flushed bright red, horrified. “Shut up!”
Lash kept talking. “You think he’ll still want you in his bed, knowing you were with me? That it wasn’t just sexyou all but asked me to live with you? That you spent the night with me even knowing he was alone, that he would have wanted you back? That you only got back together with him after I left the fucking country? Shall I tell Terian all that, my morning angel?”
I flushed a deeper red, and dropped my eyes, cowed. “Please don’t say anything.”
“Then leave, Sun. Now,” Lash hissed urgently, looking at the house. “Sar’s coming. I don’t want her to see us together. She’s not stupid; she’ll see I was your lover. It’s all over your face.”
I broke and ran, sobbing. The front door opened as I rounded the corner of the garage, Sar’s surprised voice asking Lash what he was doing here. A moment later, she went back inside to tell Danial she and Lash were going to lunch.
I debated going after her and trying to convince her not to go with him. Spending time with that infatuated snake was just going to make things worse between Theo and Lash. It was obvious Lash wasn’t going to listen to me, but maybe she could. But I was angry all over again at her for always being the one everyone wanted. Instead of intervening, I stayed where I was, watching them drive off together.
As soon as they left I returned home. Then I called Terian, telling him about the forgotten plans. He appeared in the great room in a second with a relieved sigh, taking the plans from me. “Thanks for this. I’ll be home about two or so,” he said, giving me a kiss. “Theo and I’ll stop for lunch someplace, but we’ll be back right after. Want me to bring you anything?”
I wanted him to bring me some revenge, because I was still smarting from Lash’s words. The easiest way would be to send Terian and Theo to the same place Lash was headed to with Sar. Theo would go ballistic. Everyone knew he hated Lash. If Theo knew they were together, he’d go after them and separate them, whatever it took. The hard part was arranging the chance meeting without saying it flat out like a tattletale.
Where had they headed? Lash had mentioned their shared taste in sushi. But I couldn’t ask for raw fish. Gag and yuck. I couldn’t ask Danial the name, either, though he had to know. Fuck it, without knowing for sure, I couldn’t point Terian the right way, either.
“Sun, what is it?” Terian said with concern, interrupting my thoughts. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Bring me some Chinese food,” I said with a shrug. “Some lobster fried rice?”
The nearest place to eat was Alan’s Creek. Lash and Sar had likely headed there for lunch. All the eating-places there were on the same street. It was the best I could do.
“Sure,” Terian said. “I hope I can convince Theo to go there instead. He wants to get sushi at some new restaurant in Alan’s Creek, because Sar brought some to him the other day.” He made a face. “I said I’d go before I thought about it too much.”
I gave him another shrug, wicked glee radiating through me. “Make the best of it. I’ll make you a sandwich when you get home, if that stuff tastes too awful.”
He flashed me a smile. “You’re on.” Then he disappeared.
Maybe it will work. Maybe it wouldn’t...
“The game you’re playing is a dangerous one, Sundown,” a low voice said.
I turned to see Danial at the top of the stairs, his eyes glinting red. “I don’t know what you mean.” I blushed, hearing myself repeat Lash’s words.
“I think you do,” Danial said as he glided down the stairs, baring his fangs. “And as it involves Sar, it involves me. You wanted Terian and Theo to go where Lash and Sar are, to find them together. Why?”
I went to leave but he grabbed hold of me, and squeezed my wrist hard. I cried out in pain. “Stop, you’re hurting me.”
“I’ll hurt you worse, if you don’t answer me,” Danial growled. “Why?”
“I heard that about you, that you were just like your brother,” I retorted, deeply bitter.
Danial dropped my wrist, snatching his hand back, sudden understanding breaking across his face. “When?” he asked softly.
I closed my eyes, and didn’t answer him.
“When, Sundown? Back this past fall? When did Devlin have you? Because I hear in your voice that he did. I’m guessing it had to be before he left for Rio, before being with Sar. They are Oathed now, and Dev would not risk breaking that, not for you.”
I flushed, and then realized belatedly he didn’t know about Lash at all; he was only asking about Devlin. “Back when Devlin was weak, over two years ago,” I admitted. “When he was angriest at Sarelle. You know why he came on to me. He’s your brother. You must know what he wanted to do with Sar; what he did with me, pretending I was her...”
I trailed off as cool arms encircled me. “I wondered why you mostly kept to yourself at the werecompound, and didn’t ever spend much time here,” Danial said quietly, hugging me gently. “I thought it was Sar, or me, maybe. But you were afraid of running into Devlin.”
“Yes,” I confessed, trembling. “I don’t ever want to see him again, I’m so afraid of him.”
“Don’t be,” Danial assured. “He has the real Sarelle now. No matter that they fought recently, nothing has changed between them. He would not even lay a finger on you now, Sun. Not for Terian’s wrath, or mine, but because he doesn’t want to lose her. He does love her, in his way. He was obsessed first, it’s true, but that obsession has turned into love.”
I stayed quiet. Maybe Devlin was his brother, but he didn’t know him well, if he thought Devlin could ever love anyone.
“Do you want me to say something to him?” Danial offered. “My word is law, at least in America, even to another Ruler. I can forbid him from coming within sight of you, if you like.”
I’ve already managed to avoid Dev all by myself. I’d be all set, if only my fear was rational. “No,” I replied, pulling out of his grasp. “But thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now explain your actions,” Danial said, his dark eyes on mine. “Why send Terian and Theo to where Lash and Sar are? You want them found together for some reason, even though you must know it will cause a fight, a bad one, no matter that it’s just lunch.”
“Because it’s not just lunch. Lash cares for her, I think,” I said.
Danial said nothing, though he looked uncomfortable.
“You knew?” I accused. “Why did you let her go with him, then?”
Danial sighed. “Devlin said they had been together again a few days ago, and that he thought Lash had feelings for her, by the way he acted afterwards. He said not to worry, that he had talked to Lash, and Lash accepted that the situation was temporary, that when The Lust ended, Sar and his sexual relationship would be over. It’s not what I’d prefer her to do—being with that repulsive creature—but it’s not her fault, Sun. It’s not as if she wanted to be. She must sate The Lust when it occurs, or she becomes wild. It is better Lash is with her, and not one of the other guards. I know she hates having to be intimate with him. But that is a small price to pay for Devlin to have a child of his own—”
I didn’t hear the rest of what he said. I wasn’t even focused on him enough to be pissed off that he made it seem as if wanting to be with Lash was utterly disgusting. All I could think about was that Lash had been with Sar. More than once. Worse, he already wants her just like the rest of them do. I’d heard it in Lash’s words; he wanted her bad. He cared about her after knowing her for a few months, more than he’d ever cared about me, me who he’d known for years now!
My anger reached a fever pitch at how Lash had treated me in the driveway. It was safe to say that his best-ever human lay was no longer me. I wanted to kill someone. If Sar ever asked Lash not to leave the country, he’d fucking just roll on his back and tell her sure, and was there anything else he could do for her besides that, like maybe kill Devlin. Bastard! Slimy no good bastard!
“Sun, why are you so angry?” Danial inquired coolly, touching my arm gently with his hand. “You’re shaking with rage.”
I went still, because under that cool tone was wrath, and also more coldness, coldness enough to stop my heart with an icicle dagger. This was Dev’s brother, with the same blood in his veins. Danial wouldn’t hesitate at all if he thought his Sar was in any kind of danger. He’d hurt me—hurt me bad—if he guessed how much I hated her right now.
I tried to calm down. “It’s just that Sar seems happy with Theo. They went through so much shit to be together. I want their relationship to work. Lash is trying to split them up, I think.”
“Is it really that, or that you are jealous?” Danial asked searchingly. “Jealous of Sar? That she is desired by all of us, and you, who looks so similar to her, are not? Or are you angry with her, that Devlin hurt you because you look like her, and you thought it unjust, and want her punished?”
God, he seemed to be reading my mind. “I’m not jealous!” I said heatedly.
“You surely are,” Danial said. “I know that particular tone in your voice. I’ve heard it often enough in mine this past year. But I’m warning you now, do nothing again to cause any more fights—”
His grip tightened on my arm in a flash. I let out a cry of pain.
“—or I’ll wait until Terian is away for an afternoon, and tell Devlin you are missing him.” His tone turned malicious, and dark as night. “I know the potion he probably used on you. All he needs to do is sing to you, Sun, and you’ll want him more than anything else, do anything he asks for without a thought.” He grinned widely. “And Sar has given him permission for oral sex with other women.”
I jerked my arm free of his with a curse, and ran into the other room. I wiped at my angry tears as I listened to his feet on the stairs walking back to his study.