Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) (15 page)

Ramses’s eyes narrowed. “Are you threatening me?”

Gideon laughed. “God no!” He raised a hand, rested it on the other man’s shoulder. Gave it a pat. “No, no. Of course not.” With the speeds of a viper, he had Ramses by the throat and had him slammed against the door. All humor was gone. He barely heard his father’s shouts to let the man go as Gideon leaned in close. “That, you overgrown prick, was a promise.”

Ramses bared his teeth. “I will have your head for this!” he snarled.

Gideon tightened his grip, relishing in the pleasure of watching the man flail and squeak as his face swelled to the color of an eggplant. He might have had a full foot over Gideon and probably outweighed him by thirty pounds, yet unlike the Harvester women, the men were pretty to look at, but otherwise completely useless and kept mostly for preproduction and domestic necessity. It was the women who wielded the strength, speed, and usefulness.

“Not if I have yours first” He gave Ramses’s windpipe a squeeze in indication.

“Gideon! Get off him!” Octavian snapped from behind him.

Gideon ignored him. “You tell your king that so long as Valkyrie is in my house, he will keep his useless, bullshit little messages to himself. I don’t give a flying fuck how important he thinks they might be. And the next time he sends you, I will send you back to him in a matchbox, do you understand me? Nod, or so God help me, I will snap your fucking neck.”

He was torn away from Ramses before he could get his nod. The man gasped and doubled over, wheezing for breath.

Valkyrie glowered at Gideon. “What the hell are you doing, Maxwell?”

“Teaching this asshole some manners!” he shot back.

This only seemed to enrage her further. “You have no right to put your hands on a member of my house!”

Gideon rounded on her, his fury clouding all other thoughts. “This isn’t your house. This is my house and he’s in my house disrespecting someone under my roof. Tell me you wouldn’t have your blade at his throat for less.”

Her nostrils flared. Her jaw muscles bunched and flexed. She glared at him, but she didn’t contradict him.

He was too lost in his own anger to take pleasure in the victory. “Get him out of my face, Kyrie,” he warned her with all the calm he could muster. “Because I wasn’t kidding. I will cut him up into tiny pieces while he’s still alive and hand deliver him to your father.”

Without waiting for her to respond, without waiting for anyone to stop him, Gideon grabbed Ramses’s by the collar and shoved him to the ground. He wrenched open the doors and stormed out. He made it as far as the bottom steps before Valkyrie charged after him.

“You had no right—”

Gideon whirled around, his breathing barely stable as he shot her a warning snarl not to push him. “Let it go, Valkyrie!”

She blinked in horrified disbelief, like she couldn’t believe her ears. “Let it go?” she repeated slowly. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? What sort of trouble you just caused?”

Gideon fisted his hands at his sides, more to restrain the urge to grab her and kiss her out of sheer rage. “Maybe you’re okay with being spoken to like that, but I sure as fuck won’t let it happen.”

She faltered for a full seconds before regaining her step. “He is my father!”

“He’s a fucking bastard!” The words tore out of him before he could stop them. “He’s an overbearing, pompous, egotistical douche that doesn’t deserve your respect. He sure as fuck doesn’t deserve your love.”

Her face had gone very pale, but her eyes were bright, snapping with anger and something else.

“How dare you!” she hissed, her voice trembling.

Gideon spread his arms open wide. “Go ahead. Tell me I’m wrong.” He topped the challenge by climbing the steps and joining her on the porch. “Tell me you like the way he treats you, like you’re nothing!” He was practically screaming at her now. “Tell me you think you deserve it.” His teeth creaked as he forced the last words through them.

“This is my life,” she bit out. “I am none of your business.”

He shook his head slowly, his gaze never leaving her face. “You’re wrong.”

Crimson flags rode high along her cheeks. “I don’t need you to save me.”

“No,” he agreed. “You don’t. You can do that yourself. But next time,” he lowered his head and his voice. “Next time, it will be your father’s throat I have in my hands. That’s a promise.”

Not giving her a chance to come up with a counter argument, he hopped down the steps and stalked to his car.

He needed to kill something.

I
t was no good. It was as though the entire underworld had heard of Gideon’s thirst for blood and had opted to keep hidden until it passed. He prowled the docks, the tracks, and had even scouted eight blocks in all directions to no avail. By the time he decided to turn tail and return home, the sun was beginning to set and his mood was even sourer than it had been earlier.

It was just bullshit.

Magnus was waiting for him on the front porch, a cigarette between two fingers as he kept the railing up with one hip. Gideon arched a brow at the bad habit his brother was bringing to his mouth and inhaling.

“I thought you quit.”

Magnus held the smoke in his lungs for a full heartbeat before blowing it out and muting the smell of pine with the stench of tobacco.

“I did.”

Gideon moved to lean against the post. He folded his arms. “What did I miss?”

His brother shrugged. “Not a damn thing.” He flicked the ashes over the railing into the dead flower bushes below. “Dad went to see Arild. He’s not back yet. Mom’s freaking out. She thinks Arild has thrown him into the pit as punishment for what you did. Reg and I found Imogen.” He hesitated before adding, “She had buried her entire family alone by the time we got there.”

Gideon swore, guilt an angry knot twisting inside him.

Magnus continued. “And Valkyrie’s out searching for Micah and Cara.”

Gideon frowned. “Alone?”

Magnus shrugged. “I offered to go with her, but she told me she didn’t want help, not from me or anyone else. I could almost respect that if she wasn’t doing it for the wrong reason.”

“What reason is that?”

After taking in another mouthful of smoke, expelling it and flicking the cigarette butt into driveway, Magnus turned to him. “She’s trying to prove to her father she’s not worthless and while I understand her desire to prove herself, it’s only affective if it were an actual possibility. We both know Arild Devereaux doesn’t give a shit. Even if she managed to singlehandedly capture the ones responsible, she will never get his respect, or his praise. He’s a cold hearted bastard.” Which said a lot coming from Magnus.

“So just how much trouble am I in?” he wondered, needing to change the subject; talks of Arild Devereaux always left a linger tang of sour bile in his throat.

Magnus snickered. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t wish my worst enemy in your shoes right now.”

Gideon groaned. “Shit.”

“What the fuck were you thinking anyway?”

Pushing away from the post, Gideon paced. “I couldn’t take it anymore,” he blurted. “He’s always putting her down. I just ... I had to say something.”

“Yeah, well, Dad is going to skin you alive when he gets back. He was pissed.”

He glared at his brother. “Thanks for the support, ass!”

Magnus smirked. “You know, between you, Reggie, and Octavian, I’m practically a godsend.”

“What’s wrong with Reggie and Octavian?” Gideon asked, opting to let the other comment go.

Magnus hoisted himself up and perched on the railing. “Well, Octavian never leaves the house anymore, not even to hunt.”

“Well, he never really ever did in the past either,” Gideon justified. “He mainly supervised the bar so that’s not unusual.”

“Yeah, but it’s worse since the whole thing with Riley.”

Gideon nodded slowly. “Speaking of Riley, what you said to her last night, total dick move, man. I would have hit you, too.”

Magnus looked away. “I didn’t mean it the way it came out.” He raised his head and met Gideon’s gaze. “And even if I did, it’s what we’re all thinking.”

“I wasn’t thinking that,” Gideon replied. “Like I said, Octavian never really left the manor to begin with. Him wanting to stay with Riley doesn’t bother me.”

Magnus hopped down. “Well, it should! We’re Casters. It’s our job to kill things, not get moony-eyed over a girl.”

“But she’s not really just any girl, is she? She’s his mate. They went through hell together, almost literally. He gave his soul up for her. That’s serious shit. And what does it matter. I’m out there. You’re out there, and so is Reggie. If Octavian wants to stay here and man the bar, more power to him I say.”

“That’s not the point,” Magnus muttered. “He’s turning into a whipped pussy.”

Gideon laughed. “I wouldn’t say that to his face.” He sobered. “What about Reggie?”

Magnus groaned. “Same thing.”

“He’s getting pussy whipped by Riley, too?”

He knew that wasn’t it, but it was fun watching Magnus grit his teeth and glower at him.

“Daphne,” Magnus barked out. “He spends every free minute outside her house.”

“Why?”

Magnus shrugged, throwing his arms open wide. “Fuck if I know. I don’t understand any of this shit.”

“Have you asked him?”

“Of course I asked him!” Magnus snapped. “He claims it’s to keep her safe. He wants to make sure he’s around in case something happens to her like Riley. I told him he was drawing unnecessary attention to her, but does anyone listen to me?”

Gideon watched his brother pace, watched the agitation twisting his face into a deep scowl that bunched his scar horribly. It was too comical to take seriously.

“Wow,” was all he said.

Magnus ceased his stomping and turned to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that you could be the poster boy for anti-love. It’s very amusing.”

“Bite me!”

Gideon burst out laughing and barely dodged the punch Magnus threw at him. “All I’m saying is that I have never seen anyone so pissed because his brothers are finally happy.”

Magnus raised a brow. “That’s happy? Reggie is miserable. Daphne is miserable. You’re miserable. Seems to me like this whole imprinting bullshit is just a damn headache.”

“So if you were to find your mate, you would—”

Magnus punched him square in the chest, knocking the breath and words from him. “Don’t jinx me, asshole!”

Rubbing what was surely a blossoming bruise, Gideon glared at his brother. “Not even you are bitter enough to ignore the call.”

“Watch me,” Magnus retorted with absolute conviction. “I’m a Caster. I don’t have time to fall in love.”

“Unfortunately for you, no way is Mom going to let that happen. She is determined to have grandbabies, one way or another. Possibly, even without your consent.”

“She has three other sons,” Magnus pointed out. “I’m sure one of you will happily supply her with all the—”

Their father’s sleek, silver BMW rolled into the driveway and pulled to a stop next to their mother’s tiny, mint green Bug. Still clad in black trousers and a white dress shirt, Liam eased out of the car and strolled casually towards them. Gideon fought hard not to fidget under his father’s penetrating stare.

“You’re back,” he said carefully.

Liam nodded slowly. “I am.”

He climbed the steps and stepped past Gideon and Magnus to walk into the manor. The two followed him inside.

“Liam!” Their mother darted out of her chair and hurried to throw her arms around their father’s neck. “I have been worried sick.”

He kissed the top of her head. “You always worry, but I am fine.”

Arms still firmly around her, he peered over at Imogen and Riley still sitting at the table, a stack of papers in front of them. Octavian was at the bar, preparing for the evening rush, but there was no sign of Reggie or Valkyrie.

“Imogen,” Liam said gently. “Would you mind giving us a moment?”

Despite the many centuries ago since his birth, Gideon felt his insides coil with cold dread. He knew what was coming, because even while his father’s tone was light, there was no mistaking the anger in his eyes as Imogen rose out of her seat and left through the kitchen.

With a squeeze and another kiss to Kyaerin’s head, Liam released her and turned to his son.

Gideon flinched from the stare alone.

“What were you thinking?” was all he said in a painfully even tone.

Gideon willed himself not to back down, or apologize. “Someone needed to stand up to him.”

It was the wrong thing to say. He knew that, even before Magnus hissed through his teeth and scurried toward the bar. Even before his father’s nostrils flared.

“That is not your job, Gideon!” his father snapped. “You nearly ruined a bond that had taken centuries to forge and for what? Your own personal vendetta?”

Gideon’s own anger tickled the back of his throat. “I got tired of the way he was treating Valkyrie.”

“She is not your concern!” Liam said as he moved to yank out a chair and motion Kyaerin into it. But his eyes never left Gideon. “He is her father, her king. She is obligated to obey him. Believe me when I tell you, you did not do her any favors. If you believe that your heroic act somehow offered her mercy, you are very much mistaken.”