Because he is a liar. And have no doubt that he will not only lie, but cheat, steal, and kill to gain what he wants. Azriel could have been talking about the weather, for all the emotion he showed, yet we both knew that was as far from the truth as you could get. What we cannot be truly sure of yet is what, exactly, he wants.
He says revenge, and that's the one thing I truly do believe he's being honest about.
Perhaps.
And perhaps he was just incapable of seeing the forest for the trees where Lucian was concerned.
That is an incongruous statement.
But true.
Possibly.
As I drew closer, Lucian swung around and gave me a wide grin of greeting. Any sign of anger had completely disappeared. My gaze flicked briefly from his face to Lauren's. She looked regal and composed—a woman certain of her place and power rather than one who'd seemed ready to tear eyeballs out just moments ago.
"You're late," Lucian said, the amusement in his eyes at odds with the rebuke in his words. "I was beginning to think you'd had second thoughts."
"Just because I'm here doesn't mean I don't."
"Of course."
He dropped an overly polite kiss on my cheek, and again I had to wonder if the argument I'd witnessed had been about sex. The only time he'd ever been so frugal with his kisses was when she'd been witness to them.
And while I was aware that he had a stable of bed partners, I certainly hadn't expected one of them to be a dark practitioner. Nor was I entirely sure how I felt about it.
But at least it did explain the heady scent of sex and blood I'd smelled when I'd entered the room at Maxwell's—it had come from their activities rather than from those on the main dance floor.
"Would you like something to drink?" he asked.