Rogue Descendant (Nikki Glass) - By Jenna Black Page 0,18

said with a small, sad smile.

I was not going to cry about this. I was not going to make it that easy for Konstantin to hurt me.

“I’m fine,” I said, more to convince myself than to convince Anderson. “And you win: I will hunt Konstantin to the ends of the earth if that’s what I have to do to keep him from hurting my family anymore.”

I had the brief, unworthy thought that it was convenient for Anderson that the very week when he’d pinned me down and forced me to listen to—and refuse—his request, my adoptive parents’ house should burn down and Konstantin should taunt me with that email.

“I knew he’d lash out eventually,” Anderson said. “But it never occurred to me that he’d come after you. I’m his true enemy here, not you.”

“Yes,” I agreed, “but you’re a lot harder to hurt. Plus, he’s scared of you, though I don’t suppose he’d admit it.”

To tell you the truth, despite Anderson’s dire predictions, I was actually kind of surprised that Konstantin had decided to go on the warpath. If he’d kept his head down and hadn’t bothered anyone, I wouldn’t have been motivated to hunt him down for Anderson to kill. Though perhaps he didn’t know that. Perhaps he was incapable of understanding my reluctance to commit murder for revenge. Even Anderson hadn’t understood, and he had a much firmer grasp of the concept of morality than Konstantin did.

“Good point,” Anderson said. “Though I expect he will eventually scrape up his courage. I already want him dead, and he knows that. It’s not like provoking me would change anything.”

No, but provoking me had had a definite effect, spurring me into the hunt. Maybe Konstantin hadn’t realized I wasn’t planning to hunt him—or maybe someone who really, really wanted Konstantin dead had thought it a good idea to provide me a little motivation.

I stared at Anderson across the desk, wondering if he was ruthless enough to do something like that. He’d wanted his revenge badly enough that he’d neglected to tell anyone that Konstantin was still under the Olympians’ protection. But still, burning down my parents’ home . . . As ruthless and manipulative as I suspected Anderson could be, I couldn’t see him doing something like that to innocent bystanders. However, I didn’t have much trouble coming up with another suspect.

“What if someone knew I wasn’t going to hunt him for you?” I asked, watching Anderson’s face carefully. I suspected I was about to piss him off. “And what if that someone wanted him dead and would get a real kick out of hurting me in the process?”

Anderson froze in his seat, his face going so still he looked like a statue. He didn’t breathe or blink, and I had the feeling something dangerous was brewing inside him. I half expected him to leap over the desk and seize me by the throat, and I mentally mapped out my escape route. Then he blinked, and the life returned to his face.

“You mean Emma,” he said, as if there could be any doubt who I was talking about. His voice was even and his expression bland, but he had never taken well to accusations about Emma, and I didn’t expect that to change now.

“Yeah. She’d love to be able to hurt me without breaking the treaty. And she knows my family is my weak spot. And the only person she hates more than me is Konstantin.”

“I understand why you suspect her,” Anderson said carefully, then paused.

“But . . . ?”

“She was . . . damaged by what Konstantin and Alexis did to her. I know that for a long time I tried to ignore that damage, and that makes my judgment where she’s concerned questionable in your mind. But no matter how damaged she is, she’s still the same woman I married, beneath it all. She’s joined the Olympians to spite me, but just because she’s joined them doesn’t mean she is one at heart.”

I clenched my jaws to hold back my protest. His judgment was more than just questionable where Emma was concerned, and I had absolutely no doubt she was capable of burning down my parents’ house if she thought that would get her what she wanted. What I did doubt was that any force on earth could make Anderson believe that without some pretty overwhelming evidence to support the theory.

Anderson shook his head, having thoroughly talked himself into discounting my suggestion. “Emma didn’t do it,” he said firmly.