Cold Blooded

His tension was palpable. “Jessica, my beast won’t allow it. I’m a fraction of a second away from taking this house down.”

“Jess,” Tyler added quickly, his trepidation running through me. “He’s right. We can’t let you do it. It’s our job to protect you, and giving you over to the vamps as a hostage is not happening. We can bring an army back here later. There are too many risks and unknowns.”

Gathering up an army would take too long. Ray and Naomi didn’t have that kind of time. Instead of trying to convince them, which wasn’t going to happen, I did what I had to do. I turned to face Eudoxia. “Three days. I leave with my life. My previous oath to you will be null and void, or I will not acquiesce. My friends go free after your judgment no matter what. After my sentence is complete, I owe you nothing.”

“Done,” she said loudly over the howls and outrage from my family.

“You have a deal, Eudoxia. But I want a word with my team privately before they go.”

“Five minutes,” she said. “The library is here.” She walked with purpose to a room on the left. We followed, Rourke’s rage barely contained as Eudoxia grabbed the double doors and pulled them open. We entered, and I turned to meet her gaze as she tugged them closed behind her. Haughtiness and superiority was written all over her face. “You will find one of my servants when you emerge. He will escort you to your new home. I hope you enjoy your stay.” Her lips cracked into a crafty grin. “I’m certain you will find the accommodations … inviting.”

Once the doors were closed a furious eruption of protests flooded the room.

Rourke was the only one who stayed quiet, awaiting my explanation. His expression was hooded, and a moment of regret took hold of my heart. Being mated to me was going to be a constant trial for him, because none of these decisions—decisions I had to make to save the lives of people I loved—was ever going to be easy. He knew what had to be done, but his beast wasn’t rational, and he had clearly been fighting with him, and his instincts, to let me choose the right course of action to take. A decision that would land me in peril.

“Jessica,” Nick’s patient voice cut through my thoughts first. “This doesn’t seem like the most logical choice. We could’ve done more to negotiate. Or come back with reinforcements as Tyler pointed out. Being the Queen’s prisoner will put you at a grave disadvantage, one that will be hard to overcome.”

“I agree,” Danny said, shaking his head. “Inviting yourself into the Queen’s dungeons isn’t going to end well.”

“That’s exactly why I did it, Danny.” I spread my hands in front of me. “None of this was going to end well. They weren’t going to give Naomi and Ray up without a fight and they weren’t willing to give us protection. I just bought us some much needed time and ensured us protection.” I lowered my voice. “You can’t forget the real reason why we’re here. My father has to survive. I would sacrifice myself a thousand times over to keep him safe and so would each of you.” I challenged the boys with my stare and they all nodded. “He has to live, and to ensure his life, I have to keep Ray safe. That’s my only priority. Eudoxia would have killed Ray—there was no question. You are all going to have to trust me on this, especially you.” I gazed for the first time at Rourke. “I know this is exceptionally hard for you, and your beast, but I had to do this. Eudoxia was about to kick us out. It was the only choice I had left, other than start a war where we were outnumbered fifty to one.”

“Jess,” Tyler pleaded. “I hear what you’re saying, but three days is too long. Maybe we could’ve worked a day, but we can’t let you stay in there for three.”

“I’ll be down there for a few hours at the most.”

Danny cocked his head at me. “Did I hear you correctly just then?” he asked. “Did the word ‘hours’ come out of your mouth?”

All four of them looked at me incredulously.

“How could you possibly know that?” Tyler asked. “You just made a deal to stay for three days!”

“Because when the sun goes down, the Queen is going to have her hands full and there will be no more room to think about me.”

Nick’s expression opened up. “And you’re stronger than she expects, so she’s underestimating your abilities.”

Rourke unfolded his arms, his expression still guarded. “I hear what you’re saying,” he said. “But Eudoxia has a plan. You can’t forget that. She wasn’t fooling anyone by making this agreement. Even if that ass**le is a traitor, she’ll never admit it. Something else is going on here.”

“Of course she’s not going to admit it,” I said. “But she never stipulated I couldn’t fight back.” I gave him a slow smile. “Or that I had to stay in my cell.”

Rourke raised a single eyebrow.

I inclined my head to him. “My plan is to get free as soon as possible, find Naomi and Ray, and get someplace safe.” My voice was barely above the smallest whisper. “And if you don’t hear from me just before sunset, you have my permission to tear the house apart.”

After a moment he finally nodded.

“While you’re outside, scope out the grounds and keep an eye out for James and Marcy,” I told them. “Nick, I want you to make your way back over the wall and see what you can find. If you’re successful in locating James, he can help coordinate the wolves. If my father is badly injured, we need him. We can’t afford status fights in the middle of all this. Maggie said they would turn up here and Marcy has to stay safe.”

“Will do,” Nick said. “I have all the emergency Pack numbers in the SUV. If James and Marcy are free, he has likely put a call in to the Safe House. I can let them know where we are and make sure the rest of the Pack members are alerted.”

I turned to Tyler and Danny. “Don’t worry about me in here. Contacting Dad is your top priority. Go somewhere to shift. Keep trying. If you don’t hear from me once the sun sets, find Ray and keep him safe.”

The library door clicked open by itself.

Our five minutes were up.

“Are we all good?” I asked, glancing around the group.

Everyone nodded. I walked out into the foyer, Rourke behind me, followed by the boys.

There was a lone vampire waiting for me, as the Queen had promised.