No wonder he seemed so upset. “But I quit,” I said stupidly. “I wasn’t working for you when I was attacked.”
He gave me a wan smile. “That’s generous of you, but it doesn’t matter. I swore to get you back to Colorado safely.”
I felt a knot of panic tighten in my stomach. I didn’t want the responsibility of unseating Beau. “I could break your wrist and give you a few bruises,” I offered. “That would even things up.”
He gave me the same sad smile again, but his heart wasn’t in it. “I guaranteed your safety, then grew careless about your protection. Sloppy. If Cole hadn’t come upon you, you likely would have died.”
I shrugged. “I’ve died before.”
“Don’t make jokes,” he said. “The people who did this knew to knock you down from a distance and then finish you off up close. They came prepared to kill a boundary witch.”
So he’d reached the same conclusion. “I agree, but the attack didn’t feel professional. The second shooter hesitated, for one thing. If I hadn’t fallen and hit my face, I might have made it to my gun.”
“Hmm.” Beau looked thoughtful, and I realized my mistake: Was he going to ask me where I’d gotten a gun in a strange city?
To avoid having to lie, I said quickly, “Did you find the bullet?”
He nodded. “I’m getting it to my contact at Atlanta PD as we speak. If the shooter left a print and it’s in the system, we’ll find them.”
“So what happens in the meantime?” I asked Beau.
He leaned forward onto his elbows, and I saw that there were a few small spatters of blood on his suit, probably from my cheek. “I will get you on the first flight to Denver tomorrow morning. Tomorrow evening, I’ll surrender my leadership status to one of the Horsemen, and turn all my attention to finding whoever did this.” He gestured at the injuries on my face.
“What happens to Odessa?”
“I’ll send her away,” he replied. He’d obviously been thinking about this. “I have plenty of money, especially if I sell off a couple of my businesses. I can afford to send her to school somewhere else, and hire bodyguards to protect her there for as long as she needs.”
I had a hard time picturing Odessa being happy with that. I looked down at my wrist in the splint. I thought about Odessa’s bright smile at the restaurant, and Beau’s passion when he spoke about the Unsettled. Again, I felt that tight knot of unwanted responsibility.
“Or,” I said slowly, “we could make a deal.”
Beau’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh?”
“I’m assuming I can waive the oath?”
He looked a little embarrassed. “In this case, it would have to be Maven. It’s a vampire thing.”
I suspected he was trying to avoid a sentence like “because she’s your master.” “Whatever. I’ll ask her to drop the oath, and I’ll stay and find out who did this to me.”
Beau began to brighten, but I held up a finger. “Wait. In exchange, I want two things. First, you agree to be governed by Maven’s parliament when it gets off the ground.”
His face fell again, but he didn’t say no. He looked like he’d expected exactly that condition. “And the second?”
“No more blood tributes at Promenade. Ever.”
Beau went very still for a moment, thinking that over. “I do not know if my people would be satisfied with that.”
“Well, I do miss Boulder,” I said, putting my right index finger on my chin as though in deep thought. “Be nice to get home.”
Beau flashed me a tiny smile. “Let me suggest a compromise: the witches still donate blood, but they do so at another location, using medical equipment. The blood is then delivered to Promenade by car.”
I considered the offer. My main problem with the tribute had been the humiliation and degradation, not to mention the fear and physical pain of a bite. “Do you know any witches in the medical profession?”
“I do. Two nurses and a doctor.”
“Then the clan giving the blood gets to choose the location, and you will pay for one of those three witches to do the blood draw.”
His mustache twitched. “You have me over a barrel, Miss Luther.”
I held up my hand in the splint. “I didn’t create this situation, Mr. Calhoun. I would have been just as happy to not get shot and injured.”
“Fair enough.” His lips curled up into a full smile. “You’ve got a deal.”