I closed my eyes.
Of course. Falling in love had changed me, to the point where grief at losing him—however briefly—had literally split me in two. My father had said that our kind felt too much when we loved. I’d say that he was being melodramatic, except I was currently having a pseudo-schizophrenic debate with a part of myself that had only manifested after I fell in love, so . . . yeah. My father might be onto something.
Jefferson returned with two more tall glasses of blood while the red-haired vampire came in holding a laptop. Ian took one of the glasses of blood, and I took the laptop.
“I’d love a scotch, if you have any,” Ashael remarked.
Spade looked startled at the reminder that he’d neglected to offer him any refreshment despite bringing us multiple libations. Then, he almost stammered as he said, “Of course.”
Ashael grinned. “Not used to being in the position of playing host to a demon, are you?”
“No, I’m not,” Spade said, recovering. “Not when a demon branded my wife against her will after slaughtering most of her family. Or when another demon simultaneously possessed me and several of my best mates. Or when another demon tried to kill my oldest friend, or when yet another demon tricked Ian into thinking he’d damned his soul after Ian tried to bring our sire back from his presumed murder.”
Ashael’s reply was a shrug that seemed to say shit happens.
“Ashael didn’t do any of that,” Ian said, setting his glass down and leaning forward. “Instead, Ashael brought me blood when a spell knocked me unconscious, helped me find Veritas when no one else could, and he’s now helping us fight against gods who have no quarrel with him. Save your anger for those who deserve it, Charles. He doesn’t.”
“I will never trust a demon,” Spade said flatly.
“Oof, now I won’t sleep a wink,” Ashael mocked.
Spade started to rise. I beat him to it, my finger poking into his chest before he was fully on his feet.
“You don’t have to like him, but you do have to show him some basic respect, because you owe me.”
Spade eyed my finger before saying, “How do you reckon that?”
“I saved Denise’s life, and the life of your friend’s child,” I replied with all of the cold logic that had evaded me recently. “You weren’t at the supposed execution of Cat’s child, but I was. I could have revealed that the child the council thought they were executing was really Denise using her shape-shifting abilities to look like Katie. Instead, I made sure the council never knew that by giving Cat the sword coated with Denise’s blood, and by demanding the council give Denise’s body to Cat before Denise regenerated and the council realized they’d been duped. What is that worth to you? More or less than your ability to insult my brother at will?”
Spade’s eyes blazed green and his fangs came out. I held out a hand to Ian and Ashael when I felt their power coil like snakes readying to strike. If I couldn’t handle one pissed-off Master vampire, I had no business going up against two gods and an unkillable lesser deity.
“Well?” I said to Spade.
Spade’s eyes darkened back to their deep bronze shade, and he took a deliberate step backward.
“You’re quite right,” he said. Then, he looked over my shoulder at Ian. “Wouldn’t have thought it possible for someone to be more ruthless than you during an argument, but here she is, and you married her.”
“Best decision I ever made,” Ian said lightly.
“Perhaps.”
Spade’s gaze returned to me. Then, he looked away, and held out his hand to Ashael.
“Based on the priceless debt I owe your sister, allow me to welcome you into my extended family. Expect frequent rows and at least one potential apocalypse per decade, but also, you can now expect me to fight for you as I would for one of my own people.”
Ashael gave me a look that made me glad I’d fought for my brother. Then, he grinned as he rose and accepted Spade’s hand.
“I love a good fight, and life would be boring without the occasional apocalypse.”
Denise pushed past Spade and surprised me by enveloping me in a hug. Spade stiffened, but I was well past my bloodlust, so Denise was in no danger despite her neck brushing my mouth.
“Spade told me you knew what I was, but he left out the part where you’d helped save me and Katie,” she breathed into my ear. “Thank you,