“Then stop.”
Conall gave a bark of incredulous laughter. “I could sooner ask the sun to stop rising.”
Her heart swelled in her chest, but his words only made everything that much harder. “Please don’t.”
“What? Speak the truth? That I have to choose between you and my duty to my pack?” He gritted his teeth and looked away, the muscle in his jaw flexing. “I’d give anything for them …” He turned to her, his expression making her breathless. “But how do I sacrifice you for them? Tell me, Thea. How do I do that, when the very thought of handing you over to Ashforth, leaving you alone to this mess, makes me want to rip the fucking moon to shreds?”
Tears filled Thea’s eyes as she turned away, blinking back the burn, refusing to let them fall. Conall allowed her time to compose herself, waiting patiently at her back. Finally, she took a deep breath and turned around to do the bravest thing she’d done in her life.
She gave up Conall MacLennan so he wouldn’t have to choose.
“I care about you. I do trust you. And I know you trust me and care about me. That’s a gift to me, Conall. One I truly treasure despite what I might have said this morning. And I will not repay that gift by endangering your pack. So I’m taking the choice away from you. I’m going to Ashforth because I need to end this with him, and you need Callie back.”
He was silent a moment and then he snapped, “And then what?”
She smiled, trying to ease the tension. “Maybe when you’re old and gray, I’ll come to Torridon and ask you to bite me so one way or another, I don’t have to live forever.” So one way or another, I don’t have to live forever without you.
But Conall didn’t think it was funny. His words were bitter with anger. “Is this what it is to truly be the alpha, then? To live an empty fucking life so my pack can live in safety.”
Thea stepped into him, resting a palm on his chest where his heart was beating too fast. His hands automatically closed on her hips, pulling her closer. “Your life will never be empty, Conall. One day I’ll be just a memory.”
He bent his head, his words a snarl against her lips, “You’ll be a ghost, Thea, haunting me for the rest of my goddamn life.” He pushed her away from him. “And if you cannae see that, then you dinnae feel for me what I feel for you.” He stalked away, striding through the crowds of tourists and into the park surrounding the palace.
Thea stayed put, wishing she could tell Conall how she truly felt, but knowing that to do so would only make things worse. And with him gone she finally let the tears she’d been holding back fall.* * *He found her hours later, using that ability of his, an ability Thea now realized he’d always have. No matter where she went in the world, he could always find her. She just had to convince him to let her go. Hard to do when she didn’t want him to.
She’d wandered aimlessly down a street heading toward the harbor when Conall pulled up in the SUV.
“I shouldnae have left,” Conall said, his voice was flat and emotionless as she got into the car. “Not while there’s still danger.”
There would always be danger for Thea. Even if she dealt with Ashforth, she’d never stop running.
She merely nodded in acknowledgment of his apology, their drive back to Vik’s apartment chilly.
The sun was just setting when they walked into the vampire’s loft. Vik flashed them a smile as he led them toward the sitting area but there was something off about the expression. It seemed nervous and false. Apparently Conall thought so too.
“You all right, Vik?”
A tingling sensation that was all too familiar scored down Thea’s neck. Her heart raced. The dread washed over her. “Conall … something’s wrong.”
His head whipped toward her and then his eyes traveled over her shoulder and narrowed. Thea turned slowly and the sight that greeted her made her knees tremble.
Crowded into the back of the loft were fifteen men and women.
What the hell?
The tallest man stepped forward, and the air seemed to shimmer around him as he did, as if he was stepping through an invisible barrier. Suddenly his energy blasted into Thea.
A vampire. An extremely powerful one, if the way all the hairs on Thea’s body rose in greeting were to go by.
He had an interesting face. Square and blunt. Not truly handsome but appealing nonetheless. His black eyes were hard to look away from. Thea felt Conall step closer to her as the vampire neared. He had broad shoulders like Conall and was almost as tall. Even dressed casual in a black sweater and dark jeans, Thea could see the money in the clothes and in the watch on his wrist.