“Maybe you deserve to be dead,” Candy said. “You’ve got a serial killer’s body count, Ivan.”
“I eat what I need to eat,” he said. “I’m no more a villain than a wild wolf is.”
“But you are. Because of you, I have a son who doesn't know who I am, and…”
“That’s up to you. You could tell him.”
“Maddox told me not to.”
“He’s never fucked you and yet he’s made you his bitch.”
Lora would have had something to say for that, except for the fact she was suddenly no longer alone.
“Lora? What’s going on?” Chuck had managed to lever himself off the couch and was behind her, peering over her shoulder in a concerned way.
“Hey, Specs. What’s up?” Ivan waved and coughed.
“What are you doing here, Ian?” Chuck looked more confused than annoyed.
“Ivan,” Ivan corrected him. “I was in town. Bleeding. Figured I’d take a breather in your shed.”
Chuck wasn’t stupid. He’d also been listening for longer than was any good for Candy.
“What did you mean, our son?”
“Slip of the tongue,” Ivan shrugged.
“He has some serious mental health issues. Please, go back in the house, get the kids, and take them to your mother’s,” Lora said.
“I’m not leaving you here with him,” Chuck frowned. “We should call the police.”
“I am the police, honey. Please. Go inside and get the kids out. I’ll call you when this is dealt with.”
Chuck did as he was told, probably because he didn’t know what else to do. The one thing she’d always really liked about Chuck was the way he was willing to take orders.
“Thank you,” she said to Ivan when Chuck had gone inside to do as he was told. “For not telling him about…”
“You know he’s going to find out eventually,” Ivan grunted. “The longer you keep a secret, the worse it is when it finally comes out.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Lora sighed. What the hell was she going to do now?
Chapter Ten
A few more days had gone by and Will had settled somewhat, which was good news for basically everybody. Following on from Henry’s threat to silver him if he acted out again, Will had actually been behaving like a decent human being, much to everybody’s surprise, Maddox especially. It wasn’t like Will to learn from experience, or take threats seriously. The moonsilver must have hurt like Hades.
One evening, Henry approached Maddox. Mad had long suspected that the pack master’s reasons for being so accommodating were deeper than they first appeared, but he’d not been in a position to look a gift wolf alpha in the mouth. Something in Henry’s gaze made Maddox think the other shoe was about to drop.
“I was hoping to ask a favor,” Henry said to Maddox. “I believe you have a repository, a library, somewhere you keep old texts. I’d like to look around and see if there’s anything relevant to our interests there.”
“Certainly,” Maddox agreed. “I think it will be useful for you to have someone with you. Obviously, there are some protocols around visitors.”
He caught Lorien’s eye. Lorien had been sitting around in the background hoping to make conversation with Henry for the better part of three days by Maddox’s reckoning.
“Lorien, can you provide Master Henry escort to the Library?”
“Certainly,” Lorien said politely.
Alone with Henry.
Lorien was alone with the pack master.
It was awkward as hell.
Lorien was not accustomed to feeling awkward about anything. Being a vampire absolved one of such feeling most all of the time. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt anything resembling a sense of shame. Maddox tried to guilt him every now and then, but Maddox didn’t have a sense of shame either, so it didn’t exactly work. Henry, on the other hand, seemed to be all about honor and conscience, and that made Lorien feel very honorless and immoral in comparison.
“I’ll drive. You navigate,” Henry said.
Of course Henry was taking control, even in a city he didn’t know.
Lorien allowed it. He didn’t particularly enjoy driving anyway, he much preferred to be driven. He could point the way and let Henry deal with the erratic human drivers who seemed to barely notice they were surrounded by other vehicles on the road.
It was early evening. Too early for anybody to be at the Library besides the usual staff. It was the vampire equivalent of about five in the morning. Not that Lorien felt tired, especially not in Henry’s company. It was invigorating just to be near the man for reasons Lorien really couldn’t understand.
As they pulled up outside the Library and got out of the car, Lorien finally figured out something to say.
“I have to say, I owe you some thanks.”
“For what?” Henry cocked his head in a way Lorien found absolutely adorable.
“It was impossible living with Will and Maddox before. Will was out of control. Sucked the air out of every room he was in. And Maddox never seemed to notice. But you’ve not stood for him being spoiled. You may have saved more than Will. You may have saved the city.”