Death Game: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #3) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,12

my other rich friends out of my life for good, I said, “To save you.”

Standing, I moved closer.

She stilled, anger coating her grief. “To save me? Are you fucking serious? You mean to save yourself! Or that animal you keep running to over and over again. Theod—” She blanched, clutching at her chest. “Theodore loved me. I loved him. We had a future together.”

Tommy crossed the gap, and I made no effort to move. My head rocketed to the right as her palm met my cheek.

“What did you do to him?” she screamed in my face. “Where is he?”

I clutched my ears, tears of pain pricking the corners of my eyes.

“He’s not gone,” she said, gasping for air. “You’re hiding him. You and that asshole. This is a game. Part of the game. He found out. And t-tried to get you free and…”

He never took photographs with her because I would have recognised him. I was willing to bet the estate that he manipulated Tommy to feel she shouldn’t introduce us.

I stepped toward her. “Tom—”

“Stay the fuck away from me,” she choked out. “You’re just like them. How did I never see it? You’re a fucking monster too. Everyone you touch ends up dead.”

Pain struck me and my legs nearly buckled.

Her words were far more effective than her slap.

“That’s right,” she said. “I see you, Basilia Le Spyre. What a fucking wake-up call. I’m leaving. Don’t send your fucking freak squad after me. My father and I are cutting ties with your family. Come after me, and I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.”

I watched her leave in the numb grip of disbelief.

My worst nightmare just came true.

“Laurel,” I said when I could trust my voice.

The second I allowed myself to feel was the second I crumbled. There was another apology to get done first.

The Vissimo appeared less than ten seconds later. Her expression was cool, something I’d never seen on her face—not even when we first met.

Weariness piled thick on my shoulders. “I owe you an explanation,” I told her. “But first, please send ten Indebted with Tommy.”

Tommy’s words rang in my ears, but the triplets were able to get close to her because I tried to uphold her sense of freedom. Our friendship was destroyed, but her life was still my responsibility. “Tell them to stay as close as needed to protect her, please.”

Laurel nodded, raising her voice. “Patrick, Sheena, take your teams and protect Miss Tetley. No restrictions on range.”

My ears picked up their distant replies of Roger that.

I stood aside. “Please come in.”

She shut the door, and I reset the noise-cancelling.

The Indebted woman tilted her chin, watching me with cold blue eyes.

“Laurel, I—”

“If you ever put the lives of my Indebted at risk like that again, not only is our deal void but I will go to Kyros with every single thing I know.”

Already numb, I absorbed her threat on autopilot. “Fair enough. But you should know that if Tommy is in danger, I’m capable of doing nearly anything to bring her back. That does not include putting the lives of any Vissimo here at risk.”

“I told you what he’d do to us if you died,” she snarled, crouching forward. “Evie would have been first to face execution, do you realise that? Barring the handful of seconds that decided you’d live instead of die, she’d be dead in the ground along with the rest of us.”

I had. Sweet Evie.

Heaviness swept through me, and I nodded. “I should have listened. In my defence, I didn’t know what happened to male Vissimo when their mates are killed. Laurel, I asked you to tell me everything you knew about the laws and intricacies of the mate bond. Why didn’t you tell me that part?”

Her face smoothed.

It was confirmation she’d left it out on purpose. “I see. Whatever your reasons for omitting that were, I can’t say if that would have changed my actions that night. What I can promise is that I will never leave you out of a plan again.”

Not because of her threat.

Because we were partners and she had an equal risk in this venture.

Her blue gaze narrowed.

“I nearly died, Laurel. Tommy nearly died regardless of me trying to control the situation. I’ve learned my lesson, and I can only apologise sincerely for the risk my behaviour put you and the other Vissimo in from Kyros.”

Her eyes trailed over my scarred neck and lingered on my face. She straightened and smoothed her expression. “I