She hesitated before asking the obvious question. “And if you’re not lucky?”
“Your soul.”
“Damn.” The hazel eyes were troubled as she glanced toward the door, perhaps realizing for the first time just how truly perilous their situation was. “Why would this Briggs be willing to give up his soul?”
It wasn’t a tough question to answer. Like Caine, Briggs had always been an egotistical jackass who assumed he was a God-given gift to Weres.
The mere thought he wasn’t going to be top dog (quite literally), was enough to send him over the edge.
“He’s nearly a century older than myself, and until my birth he was considered the leading candidate to become the next King of Weres.”
Harley caught on quickly. “And you stole his thunder?”
“What can I say?” He smiled with a faux modesty. “It was known since I was in the cradle that I was destined for greatness.”
“You’re impossible,” she muttered. “What makes you suspect this Briggs is borrowing some demon’s power?”
“Besides the fact he came back to life?”
She waved aside his logic. “You said you already suspected he was dabbling in magic before his creepy resurrection. Why?”
Damn, the woman didn’t miss a thing.
“Once a Were reaches puberty and begins to shift, his power is more or less set. It’s possible to learn fighting skills or to become more cunning, but the level of power doesn’t change.”
She considered for a moment, then she gave an abrupt nod. “Okay, that makes sense.”
“After it became obvious that I would outrank Briggs, he disappeared from Rome for several years, and when he returned I began to sense he had gained strength that he shouldn’t have possessed.” Salvatore shuddered. “And, of course, there were his eyes.”
“His eyes?”
“They stayed crimson even in his human form.”
“What does that mean?”
“That he’s more wolf than human. He maintains his intelligence and cunning, but any human morals and ethics have been replaced by sheer animal instinct.” Salvatore’s smile was sour. “Not that he had many morals to begin with.”
“And he has black magic.”
“Si.” Salvatore’s jaw tightened. “He will kill without mercy or remorse.”
There was a sharp flare of alarm in her eyes. For all her bravery, Harley had the sense to be frightened when she should be.
Thank God. He had enough soldiers willing to throw their lives away.
“Did you ever confront him about his power boost?”
“It was not my place so long as the previous king still sat on the throne.”
She snorted. “I find it hard to believe there was ever a time you didn’t assume you were the boss.”
Salvatore ground his teeth, recalling those long, dark centuries as the previous king retreated from his duties, leaving his subjects in disarray and vulnerable to attack. It was then that the Weres had begun to falter, and even with all his power, Salvatore had yet to halt the slow decline.
A knowledge that gnawed at him with remorseless need to alter the grinding wheels of fate.
And one he rarely shared with anyone.
He shrugged. “I can be diplomatic when the occasion demands.”