Flawless by Evans, Gabrielle (icecream ebook reader TXT) 📗

someone realizes what’s going on and moves Thane, I’m the only one who can find him.” It was logical and practical, but Kieran still didn’t like it. “Then I’m coming with you.”

“I’ll protect him,” Zasha offered, earning him a glare and a snarl from Kieran. He did not need some bloodsucker protecting his mate.

“I’m going.”

“You know I love you, but I can take care of myself, Kieran. I’ve got this.” Lynk pushed up on his toes and kissed Kieran’s lips. “Stay here and do what you can to help.” His eyes flickered to Tuesday before coming back to settle on him. “I can’t be in two places at once without your help,” he whispered into Kieran’s mind.

He hated the very idea of Lynk being away from him. It went against every one of his natural instincts. In the end, he knew his mate was right. The fact that Lynk could turn everyone into toads with his magic went a long way in forming his decision as well. “If you get into trouble, I want you to hide. I don’t care if it hurts your pride or not. You hide and wait for me. Got it?” Flawless 127

“Got it,” Lynk whispered, giving him one last kiss. Then he was gone, disappearing through the back doors with Zasha.

“I’ll go with them,” Raith announced, rising to his feet. The witch had been somber and aloof since Halloween, but Kieran knew he’d do whatever was necessary to keep his brothers safe, so he offered a nod of thanks.

Raith returned his nod and hurried out of the meeting hall.

“Well, I guess we could have all saved a lot of time and trouble if we’d just listened to Kieran in the first place.” Jory Lahman huffed and flopped back in his seat, looking very disgruntled.

“Why didn’t you?” Leader Tuesday sounded mildly curious and nothing more.

“No offense,” Torren began then stopped to clear his throat. “You are a very powerful man with an extremely large coven.”

“Why would I be offended by such wonderful compliments?” Kieran snorted out a laugh at the amusement dancing in Tuesday’s honey-colored eyes. The man wasn’t nearly as egotistical and ruthless as he’d been led to believe.

“Tober, don’t be such an ass,” Elder Cortez admonished around a chuckle. “You know these greenhorns. You practically had them pissing in their pants.” The vampires shared a good laugh at this before sobering.

“You agreed with everything we said!” Jory accused, waving his finger in Cortez’s face. “Why didn’t you just go and ask him in the first place?” He leaned forward in his chair and pointed down the row of elders to Layke. “And you probably know him, too. You know everyone!”

Layke grinned crookedly. “Of course I know Tober. He’s been a thorn in my side for years.”

“Pain in the ass is more like it,” Cortez grumbled.

Kieran was becoming more confused by the moment, and it didn’t sit well with him. “What the hell is going on here?” 128 Gabrielle

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“Look.” Cortez held both hands up in a placating gesture. “Layke and I have known Leader Tuesday for many years. But, so have Stavion and his Enforcers. Why are you not questioning their decision to draw him under suspicion?”

“Well—”

“I’ll tell you why,” Cortez interrupted, which was a good thing since Kieran had no idea what he’d planned to say. “We want to believe the best of people, but there is always the potential for evil. If there was even the slightest possibility that Tuesday had turned against us, then that needed to be taken very seriously.”

“We cannot charge into a volatile situation against a powerful enemy without first thinking forward to the consequences,” Layke added, sounded unusually serious.

“I find myself flattered.” Turning to Kieran, Tuesday shrugged unconcernedly for someone who’d just been accused of a whole slew of wrongdoings. “They’re correct, though. Not to blow my own horn, but Snake River is one of the largest in the country. If I had harbored ill will toward any of you, it would have taken an army to defeat me.” He talked a big game, and he certainly sounded convincing, but Kieran’s suspicious nature wouldn’t allow him to trust blindly. Until it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Leader Tuesday was as innocent as he claimed to be, Kieran wasn’t letting his guard down.

“Besides, I never said he was guilty.” Leaning back in his seat, Cortez appeared the epitome of ease. “I just thought it was suspicious that he never filed sanction against Lynk for his little magic trick.” Leader Tuesday chuckled. “It did cross my mind, but fortunately, good sense won out. I understood that Mr. Braddock feared for not only his life but the safety of his companions. I can’t fault a man for going to any measures to protect those he cares about, as it is what I would do myself.”

The vampire spoke as though he was from a different time, and in some ways he was. Having roamed the earth for more than a thousand years, Tuesday had lived through all the changes the world and its Flawless 129

societies had undergone. His speech and mannerisms were formal, reeking of class and sophistication. Maybe he’d chosen the social etiquettes of the time period he most loved and just stuck with it.

“Just out of curiosity, how did you know that your brother is being held in my coven?” he asked of Torren.

“Lynk felt his energy when we arrived the other day,” Kieran hurried to say, not wanting anyone to give away too much information. “They can also communicate telepathically as Lynk said.

They spoke in a dream earlier today.” There. That answered the question without revealing too many of their secrets.

Glancing up at Torren, he noticed that the elder was staring down at him in gratitude and perhaps a bit of admiration. It was good to know that he wasn’t the only one still skeptical.

“Thane said he’d been abducted in Belgium,” Torren added quietly, but he was examining Tuesday