Page 2 of Mortal Blood
“She’s not under arrest, boy. But she will be if she refuses the summons of the council.”
“It’s fine,” I said to Cole, trying to keep my voice steady—because this asshole had us, and we all knew it. “I’ll answer their questions and be back in no time. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“That’s not what I hear,” the enforcer said with a sneer. He jerked his chin at the other two, and they advanced on me, keeping one wary eye on Cole as they pulled my unresistinghands behind my back and snapped some kind of cuffs around them…but I’d have bet my mate bond that they weren’t ordinary handcuffs.
“Bring her. We’ve been here long enough.”
The enforcers led me toward their boss, and I saw his eyes fix on Cole behind me.
“Need something?” he asked coldly.
“I’m coming with her,” Cole said.
“Sorry, pup, the invite’s for one.”
“She’s my mate,” Cole growled, “and you have no right to refuse me.”
“Intendedmate, I hear,” the scarred enforcer said. “Unless you’ve sealed the mate bond in the last hour?”
My gaze snapped to Cain, because it must have been him who’d told them, and he didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. But then, why would he? He’d made it clear what he thought of me.
“Fuck that,” Cole snapped, starting towards us. “Sheismy mate, claimed or not, and—”
“Stand down,” Cain rumbled and I could feel the power of his command shudder through me, even though he wasn’t my alpha, and Isawit shudder through Cole, who froze like he’d walked into a barrier. He snapped his head round to glare at his father.
“We can’t let her go alone, whatever you think of her,” Cole protested.
“We can,” the alpha replied, approaching his son, “and we must.”
“She needs someone to speak for her.”
At that moment, I very much wanted someone who could speak for me, because I had a horrible suspicion the council were determined to fit me up for something I hadn’t done.
“Not possible. She isn’t a member of this pack.”
“She’s my mate!”
“And you haven’t sealed the mate bond yet—a blessing, given the nature of the crimes of which she has been accused.” He lowered his voice, and I got the distinct impression his words were for Cole’s ears only, but I heard them as clearly as if he’d been standing right next to me. “Don’t worry, son. There may yet be a way to dissolve the mate bond.”
“Time to go,human,” the scarred enforcer said, snatching my attention from Cole and Cain before I could catch Cole’s reaction. There was a portal directly in front of us—the enforcer must have conjured it while my life was falling to shit. I didn’t get a chance to dwell. The two enforcers marched me forward and straight through the portal, and a split second later, my feet were touching down in the center of a small, circular, stone-hewn chamber, facing a desk and a bored looking woman standing behind it.
“Interrogation room seven,” she said in monotone, and a chill ran through me. Interrogation? They were just supposed to be asking me some questions, that was all. I opened my mouth to protest but the enforcers were marching me forward again, this time through the door to the woman’s left, and into a brightly lit corridor.
They paused at the seventh door and the scarred enforcer touched his palm to the brickwork set next to the entrance. There was a flash of light under his hand, and then the doorswung inwards. A rough hand around my arm moved me inside, and led me to a chair on the far side while I tried to take it in. It was a small room with almost no furniture—just a table that seemed to be carved of the same stone that made up the rest of the building, as though someone had chiseled out this whole room and left the table in place, and then someone had added a plastic chair on this side of it and two on the other. A metal ring was fixed into the stone tabletop, presumably for restraining the more difficult suspects.
“Sit,” an impatient voice ordered me, and I reluctantly sank into the chair, hands still bound behind my back.
Without another word, the three of them turned and marched from the room, shutting the door behind them and sealing me in here alone.
Great. Just great.
There was no way to mark the passage of time, but it felt like alotpassed while I was sitting there alone. I’d memorized every inch of the featureless walls and floor and ceiling, and I was starting to lose the feeling in my hands when the door finally swung open.
A heavy-set man stepped through, with a craggy, weathered face that had clearly seen its share of conflict. He carried himself like a soldier—back straight, shoulders squared, suspicious eyes. His uniform was crisp and tidy, but had a lived-in look that suggested he’d been doing this a while.
Close behind him was a woman with a slight build but a commanding presence that left no mistake she was the one in charge here. Her face was smooth and ageless, with high cheekbones and penetrating green eyes that took in every detail. Her hair was long and straight, falling gracefully down her backlike a curtain of black silk. Fae, I suspected.
A broad shouldered, uniformed guy stepped in behind them and shut the door, then stood guard in front of it.
