"Don't tempt me." Vane growled low in his throat as he surveyed the lot of them. "Wren, listen close, 'cause, buddy, your chances are running slim. You kill Nicolette and you're dead. There's no way back from that."
Wren scoffed at him. "There's no way back from an execution order. Period."
Shaking his head in denial, Fury stepped forward. "You weren't there when the vote came down. The council was divided on the order."
Wren frowned. "What are you saying?"
"That you have a shot at redemption," Vane said, "but not if you kill Nicolette for vengeance."
Wren hesitated as if he were inwardly debating.
Vane sighed. "You give the council proof that you're innocent of killing your parents and Savitar will rescind the Omegrion's order."
Wren scowled at him. "What the fuck are you talking about? They're trying to kill me because I'm dating Maggie."
Fury made a sound of disgust. "What are you, stupid? Your dating the human is only the catalyst for why Mama Lo tossed your ass out. The death warrant is because you murdered your parents."
"Says who?"
"Your cousin Zack."
Wren clenched his jaw shut as if he wanted to kill something. The demon inside Fang knew for a fact the tigard was innocent. And outraged. Not that he could blame him in the least.
But that only pissed him off. Had Wren kept his ass with Maggie and away from Sanctuary, Fang wouldn't be forced to abandon Aimee.
Damn that selfish bastard.
"We can help you, Wren," Vane said calmly. "But you have to trust us."
Wren sneered. "I'm not putting my faith or life in anyone's hands. All that ever got me was screwed and my ass is currently sore from it."
Fury curled his lip in repugnance. "Nice imagery there, tiger. Graphic. Ever think of writing children's books?"
Fang popped his brother lightly in the back of his head.
"Ow!" Fury snapped, rubbing the spot where he'd been hit. He glared at Fang.
Fang looked at Vane. "Was I this annoying before my attack?"
Vane didn't hesitate. "Yes, and you still are most of the time. And we have now gotten off topic."
"There's nothing to discuss," Wren said irritably. "You can't keep me here forever, wolf. Putting me on a boat was a nice trick to keep them off my scent, but it won't take them long to figure out where I am. All you've done is drag the Dark-Hunters into our fight and knowing Acheron, I'm sure he won't be amused by this."
Wren paused to let out a tired sigh. "They'll be coming for me and we all know they won't stop. I would rather face them on my own terms than have them attack me on theirs."
Wren headed for the door.
As he passed by Jean-Luc, the Dark-Hunter grabbed him. Before Wren could react, the pirate tranked him.
Infuriated, he growled and changed, but before he could do anything more than that, he collapsed to the floor.
The human's face blanched. "What did you do?"
"Tranked him."
Fury scratched his head as he looked down at Wren's unconscious tigard form. "He's going to be seriously pissed off when he wakes up."
"No doubt," Jean-Luc concurred. "Therefore I suggest we keep him under at least for a day or two until he can heal and you can plan out what it is he needs to do."