Page 38 of Cruel Revenge
“Damn,” Landon said with a snort. “Well, you two can talk while I go find my husband.”
Heath let his son leave, Hasan stepping out of the way. However, Landon still turned his Talent up, making Hasan bristle a little as Landon passed.
“Sorry about him,” Heath said once he knew Landon would be out of earshot.
“Don’t be. Young men, particularly powerful sons, like to puff their chests every chance they get… especially when they don’t like the person.” Hasan stepped into the office. “And your son hates me.”
“He doesn’t?—”
“Don’t lie to me for the sake of keeping the peace,” Hasan said as he lifted a hand. “It’s okay that your son hates me. I did him and Dirk wrong. It’s mine to atone for. No amount ofdiplomacy will retract what I said to them and about them while they were in the room.”
“We work together now. He can’t continue to hate you.”
“Oh, he certainly can, Heath. More people in these offices hate each other than like each other. So long as the hate is personal, and the business is professional, there won’t be any problem. And even if he was rude to me professionally, I would expect you to set him straight on that.”
“I would,” Heath promised. Landon had a sharp temper, but he knew when to behave for work. He didn’t like Landon acting too foolish if this was a more official meeting.
“Now, back to Jacky…” Hasan said, sitting down where Landon had just been. “Carey is the daughter of her heart and soul. This Courtney Lane won’t be able to break that. Only Carey could and… well, I don’t think any of us see that happening.”
“And the killing someone part?”
“The war eight hundred years ago came about because someone killed the wrong werecat’s person,” Hasan reminded me. “We have few people, and we don’t make strong relationships with most. Jacky is by far one of the most social werecats, but you must notice how she craves alone time. How she can become overwhelmed by having too many people around all the time.”
“I do know,” Heath confirmed. “We manage. I built the pack house as a solution, so the pack wasn’t in and around her house so much. She never really complained, but I could see, smell her weariness. She started taking more walks.”
“She’ll always do those things. I do all the time. She gets her social nature from the family. We push ourselves not to be as isolated as most werecats. We learn to manage and feed both sides. You must also have noticed, though, that there are some that don’t drain her. Carey is at the top of that list. Carey will never drain her, will never make her feel like she’s beingcrowded or needs to step out to reset. When a werecat finds those people, we keep them.”
“How many have you kept?” Heath asked, just wondering if Hasan would even answer.
“You’ve met seven of them.” Hasan smiled. “My children don’t drain me in the werecat way. As a father, they are immensely exhausting in the best ways.”
Heath chuckled at that. It made too much sense. He knew it well with Richard, Landon, and Carey.
“So, you would start a war for them,” Heath said, through his chuckling.
“I have before,” Hasan said with a smile.
Heath stopped chuckling, studying the gold-eyed werecat. They were Jacky’s eyes, or rather, she had her father’s. In two different faces, he didn’t think of the other when he saw them. Hasan’s were full of ancient knowledge, immense power. Jacky’s were filled with fire and passion.
“Which one?” Heath asked softly.
“The second,” Hasan answered. “The first was started when the curse came about, of course, led by…them. The second was because of Subira and me. Less of a real war and more of general chaos for a few hundred years as things were changing quickly for a lot of ancient peoples who didn’t know what to do next.”
“I see.” Heath nodded and started to stand. “Do you want a drink? We’re going to be wrapping up and leaving for the day in the next hour or so.”
“Absolutely.”
Heath poured two scotches, keeping a bottle now in his Tribunal office. He made sure to sniff it first.
“No one is going to poison you here. There are protections.”
“Thank you,” Heath said, handing Hasan his drink before sipping on his own as he sat back down.
They drank for a moment, hearing Landon and Dirk in the hallway. Something banged, making both of them stare at the door.
“Do we investigate that?” Heath asked, frowning. There was more banging, someone running down the halls. People shouted as bodies thumped together or into the walls.
“No…” Hasan said, looking annoyed with whatever was happening.
