Heart of Vengeance (Alice Worth #6) - Lisa Edmonds Page 0,23
redress for that lapse in judgment?”
If it had truly been a lapse in judgment rather than a coldly calculated act, I’d eat my boots.
“No,” Sean said, which seemed to surprise Charles. “Alice exacted her own punishment for that bite, as I’m sure you recall. It was her choice to do so, and if she considers that debt paid, I accept it. We asked for this meeting to inform you we are aware you’ve deliberately manipulated Alice’s thoughts, emotions, and actions for a period of months, if not years.”
Charles seemed stunned by the allegation. “I most certainly have not.”
Sean continued as if Charles hadn’t spoken. “This physical attack on my consort is an unprovoked act of violence against our pack. Like your earlier bite, it was a violation of both human and vampire law. After discussing the matter with Alice, we agree the best option for justice is for you to provide a full confession of your crime and pay restitution. Both will be considered confidential, and the matter need not go beyond the walls of this room, unless you wish to reveal on the record in a trial what you’ve done.”
I’d argued against demanding restitution, but Sean was adamant. The Vampire Court had provisions for settling such matters through remuneration, and since we had no interest in dragging Charles in front of the Court for a trial, it was the most logical choice. I told him if Charles agreed to pay any money—and that was a mighty big if—it would go to the pack’s account. I wanted nothing from him, least of all money.
Charles was on his feet before Sean finished speaking. “These accusations are completely baseless. What you propose is nothing more than extortion. I am aware your pack faces numerous difficulties, most of which you have caused yourself through poor leadership, but I did not think you would stoop to such a level.” He turned to me, his expression bordering on incredulous. “Surely you are not a willing accomplice to this, Alice. Our relationship goes back almost six years. I have been more honest with you than any person I have ever known since I was turned.”
Bile rose in my throat. My fingers tightened on the arms of my chair.
“If that is true, which I doubt, it says far more about you than about Alice,” Sean told him. “You’ve done nothing but lie and manipulate since you met her. If there were grains of truth, it’s only because you had to sprinkle some in every so often. If that’s as honest as you’ve been in two hundred years, I have less respect for you now than when I walked in here tonight.”
It was Charles’s turn to ignore Sean. “You know I have spoken my heart,” he said, his eyes boring into mine as if no one else existed on Earth. “Many times I bared my soul, though it made me vulnerable to do so. Whatever the wolf has told you and you may now believe, that does not change our past. We are kindred souls, Alice.” His eyes pleaded with me to remember the physically and emotionally intimate moments we’d shared.
Despite my shields, my body—my flesh, my blood, even my bones—surged in response to his words. My certainty about his manipulations faded, buried under an avalanche of protectiveness and longing. Maybe it was remembered desire, or maybe he’d just unleashed the strongest blast of suggestion he’d ever used on me.
Whatever the cause of my reaction, and whatever Charles hoped to achieve, what he got was two hundred pounds of angry werewolf leaping over the desk. Sean threw Charles into a tall bookshelf. Books, several sculptures, and an antique globe crashed to the floor.
With a hiss, Charles flipped to his feet and swung at Sean, who blocked the punch and drove him back into the bookshelves with his shoulder.
The last time Charles and Sean fought, it was at my house, over Charles’s accusation that Sean intended to bite me and turn me into a werewolf. That fight demolished almost every stick of furniture in my living room and ended with Sean in Vamp Court custody for assaulting Charles. If I’d thought that fight was brutal and destructive, it was nothing compared to this one. Unlike the earlier fight, I didn’t try to intervene. Sean had every reason to be angry.
Bryan, however, did try to interfere—and ended up sprawled on the floor with a swelling jaw and a dazed expression. I wasn’t sure who had punched him, truthfully, and I