Cian made a low sound of warning. “I’m taking my mate somewhere safe for the time being, where she can heal and I can protect her.” Cian glowered at Adryan. “And it will no’ be a place of yer choosing.”
Adryan didn’t move, and I wondered if he took offense. I wanted to tell Cian it wasn’t Adryan’s fault, that he’d helped as best as he could, that sometimes this happens, but I kept my mouth shut, because the last thing I wanted to do was make matters worse.
Finally Adryan inclined his head and held his arms out, palms up to the sky. I wasn’t fooled into thinking it was an act of backing down. I felt like I knew Adryan in that regard well enough.
“I’m certainly not in a place to school you on what you do with your time and your mate, so whatever the fuck you want to do, you’re welcome to do it in my territory for however long you need.”
Cian grunted, and I knew it was going to be the only “thanks” he gave Adryan.
“But I did mean it when I said we need to get the fuck out of here before that van blows and the human authorities come barreling here, guns a’blazing.” All amusement faded from the leader of the vampires. He was once again stern and cold, arrogant and ruthless. “My soldiers have already taken out the warehouse once we realized they attacked Evie and your boy. They took the Assembly members who were inside to a holding facility we have.” He grinned slowly and cracked his knuckles. “We’re going to get some answers—that’s for fucking sure.”
27
Evelyn
The air was so charged I could feel the electricity coursing around us. It was hard to not let it affect me as I rubbed my hands over my arms, but it was useless. Ever since we’d arrived at the house Adryan had been using as some kind of battle setup half an hour before, things had been so tense you could have cut a knife through it.
Cian hadn’t even wanted to come back, demanding he was taking me someplace else, a hotel for the time being until I could heal. That was his only concern. Me. Always me.
But Adryan convinced him to come back, to gather weapons and supplies I may need, reminding him the rental car was still here.
So here we were, congregated in what I assumed used to be a living room but had been gutted, with walls removed to make more space. Everyone watched Odhran warily as he paced back and forth in the corner of the room, no longer nude after Adryan gave him a pair of black sweats and a gray T-shirt.
It wasn’t lost on me that Cian kept his body in front of mine, as if protecting me because he could sense how unstable Odhran was. And then Odhran stopped pacing and glared at Cian for a moment before speaking in quick succession, his Gaelic booming in the small room.
“I kno’,” Cian said.
“I may be versed in many languages, but my Gaelic is rusty as fuck, boys,” Adryan said as he leaned against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other, his hands shoved in his pockets. “And I’m pretty sure your mate doesn’t speak a lick of it.”
“That was the closest I’ve ever been tae my mate,” Odhran growled in English this time. “Ye slaughtered all of them.” He looked at Cian and then moved to look at Adryan. “Ye fucking killed every last one of them before I could question what they knew about her.” He ground his teeth. “Ye both took away the opportunity of me gathering more information tae get her.”
Adryan pushed off the wall and stared at Odhran. “I hate to be the one to point this out, but that human could’ve just been talking out of his ass, man. You don’t even know if they still have her. They knew her name, yeah, but that could be easily accessible if they did some digging, and we know these fuckers are aware of a hell of a lot about the Otherworld. Also, we know there is a traitor among our ranks.” Adryan shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’m not trying to be a dick here, but I am pointing out the obvious. Even if we hadn’t slaughtered all of them—which I’ll remind you needed to be done—it didn’t mean you would’ve been able to get any information from them.”
Odhran started growling and took a step toward Adryan. The last thing we needed was a full-on war between the “good guys.”
“Adryan,” I said in a stronger voice than I felt at that moment. “Didn’t you say you captured some members of the Assembly from the warehouse? Couldn’t you take Odhran there with you to see if they know anything?”