She smirked. They were pathetic, all of them, which is why she knew the thread holder had been underestimated. She had underestimated the girl, so Jacith must've also.
"You will go to Durres to see the Romah Family."
His body started to shake.
"There is a powerful sorcerer there. His name is Jacith."
Her nostrils flared as she smelled his fear. It wasn't long before his bladder emptied itself. It trickled down his leg and pooled on the floor. His head hung in shame, but he couldn't stop himself.
She could barely keep herself from killing him. Worthless humans. They couldn't do anything, much less refrain from wetting themselves. If she asked this of him, how did she know he'd succeed? Maybe a wolf would be better? But no, as she watched him through narrowed eyes, she reconsidered. A human was a perfect messenger and gift. Jacith would see him as one and that he had been one of her servants would mean something to him. The sorcerer was stupid in that way, but he had his uses. And he was powerful. He would be angry to find out the existence of a thread holder who could use the Immortal's powers. It was his fault. He should clean this mess up himself.
"You need to go and tell him what happened to the Alpha. The thread holder destroyed his precious experiment. Tell him this and then return home, Gailith."
He jerked his head in another nod and bolted from the room.
As she sat back down in her chair, she took a deep breath. Everything would have to be rebuilt.
"You're sending a servant to Jacith? He won't be returning, you know that."
She turned and a smile spread over her face. "Hello, Christian. Did you come to make sure I was okay?"
He was tall and muscular with piercing black eyes. That wasn't what attracted her to him. It was the wolf inside of him. He was the inspiration behind the Alpha. Christian Christane was the reigning Alpha wolf for his family. He had many grandfathers still alive, but he was their leader. A union between her family and his would cement the werewolves' dominance over the vampires. No creature could stand against power such as theirs and Christian was raw power in himself. As she watched, she saw it thriving within his body.
She licked her lips.
"No, Caralie. I came to tell you that my family knows what you did. You took the mate that was supposed to be for my little sister and joined him to another. You should not manipulate magic like that. It's old, older than your family."
"Older than yours too."
"Yes," he clipped out. "Older than my family, this is why the Elders have called a meeting."
He wasn't there to flirt. He never was, but there was gravity in his voice. Her inner wolf stirred. It sensed something that she hadn't yet. She stood and gave him a sultry smile. "What are you saying?"
His disdain for her flared. "The Christane Family will be separating themselves from yours. We no longer have to sit back and let you do what you want. We're going to stop you, Caralie. Your fight is now against us."
Her smile vanished.
His nostrils flared once more. "Good luck."
Gavin helped Emily to a bedroom close to ours. She snored when he picked her up and she was still snoring as Roane and I lay in bed. It was a few hours later and the sound kept me awake. When I rolled over, I saw that Roane was too. His eyes were open and he stared back at me with an arm on my hip.
We hadn't talked much when we got to the room. Both of us had showered and then crawled under the sheets. I had rolled to my side as he spooned me from behind. His arm hadn't moved the whole time.
"Why can't we sleep?" I asked now.
A ghost of a smile filtered over his face. "Because of the adrenaline."
"I bet no one can sleep."
"I wanted to be alone with you."
My heart skipped a beat. No matter how many times he said it, I knew I'd always love hearing statements like that from him. "You don't want to make love?"
"I wanted to hold you tonight."
I rolled over so I was facing him. His arm slipped behind me and he pulled me tighter against him. One of my legs slipped between his and my hand found his to hold. Our fingers interlaced and I closed my eyes. I wanted to savor the feeling of holding his hand.
But I knew it wouldn't last and I asked, "You're leaving tonight, aren't you?"