My astonished, frightened eyes moved to Lucien.
“Look at her, Rina, she’s no mere mortal,” Lucien clipped.
Katrina didn’t look at me, instead she snapped, “Yes, I forgot. She’s life.”
What did that mean?
Any of it!
Lucien took an ominous step closer to her and I watched her quail, her bravado slipping, she’d learned her lesson far faster than any he’d ever taught me.
“I lost you the minute you laid eyes on her,” she accused, her voice turning small.
“You lost me two seconds after The Claiming and you know it,” he returned sharply. She flinched because clearly, whatever the hell that meant, she did know it.
I flinched for her. It was hard not to feel sorry for her. She wasn’t pathetic, she was just broken.
Her gaze shifted to me and it narrowed.
“Are you enjoying this?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
It was safe to say I was not.
I was saved from having to reply when Lucien gritted out, “Look at me, Rina, don’t look at Leah. She no longer exists for you.” When she didn’t obey immediately, he thundered, “Fucking look at me!”
She did, so did I, anyone would.
“Keep her safe, Lucien,” she whispered, her tone disturbing, so disturbing it sent a chill straight through me.
“You touch her, you’ll burn.” Lucien’s voice was just as disturbing, more so.
I didn’t know Katrina, her threat could be empty. I knew Lucien, his threat was not.
“Yes, but you don’t get it Lucien. I’ll be happy to burn because while I burn I’ll know you’ll be facing eternity without your precious life.”
Lucien’s body tensed the way it had done earlier, his muscles coming into sharp relief, menacing, sinister.
I held my breath. Then I heard the backdoor open.
“Yoo hoo!” Edwina called. “There’s a car in the drive! Do we have… oh!”
Edwina stopped speaking. The backdoor had a direct shot to the front door down a wide hall off of which four rooms led. Edwina couldn’t see me but she could likely see Lucien and Katrina. And you didn’t have to have extra sensory perception to feel the crackling animosity in the air not to mention Katrina’s face was a bloody mess.
“You backed a losing horse, Edwina,” Katrina called apropos of absolutely nothing. “Everyone knows about Leah. He kissed her at the bar at a f**king Feast for all the world to f**king see.”
This too confused me and I heard Edwina’s shocked gasp from not too far away so I knew it surprised her which confused me all the more.
“The Council will investigate,” Katrina went on and I saw Edwina come into my vision at the side of the stairs.
Her face was pale.
“Investigate?” Edwina asked the question on the tip of my tongue.
“You know they will,” Katrina stated, her eyes sliding to Lucien. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Lucien was standing with his arms crossed on his chest like he was watching a vaguely annoying street performer who had roped him into his routine.
“Another threat,” he drawled derisively.