Silver-Tongued Devil (24 page)

With that, Georgia finally acknowledged the Alpha. “She’s yours.”

She skated off the track with her head held high. Pussy Willow ran after her, but the vampire shot her a look that made the faery’s steps falter. For all her dignity and determination, Georgia needed to go break apart in private.

Michael watched the vampire’s retreat with a solemn expression. However, Mac sobbed openly. I averted my eyes from her pain. Adam grabbed my hand and squeezed. Pussy Willow went to Giguhl and they stood, arm-in-arm, looking like they’d just watched their parents’ divorce. The rest of the crowd dispersed then, slinking away as if embarrassed to have gawked at Mac’s public shame.

Finally, Michael cleared his throat. “Let’s go.” He took Mac’s uninjured arm and led her away. I’d never seen her looking so cowed and beaten. As she passed us, she looked up at me. I flinched at the pain in her liquid brown eyes. I looked away quickly, not wanting her to see the judgment in my own gaze. My chest hurt for her, but my rational side wondered if it had all worked out for the best. If Mac and Georgia had really been in love, how could they let it slip away without more of a fight?

I glanced up at Adam’s handsome, dear face. My heart contracted in my chest at the thought of ever losing him. If anyone tried to take the mancy from me, there would be blood.

Giguhl stood nearby, looking like someone had ruined his birthday party. In the heavy silence following the drama, he raised his fists and yelled, “Oh, fuck it! Let’s get drunk!”

22

W
hile Giguhl and the rest of the Marauders partied like rock stars at Vein, Adam and I went to find Georgia. Since she knew almost no one in the city, we followed our hunch and returned to Prytania Place.

“Georgia!” I called when we walked into the apartment.

“Back here,” came the muted reply.

Adam looked at me. “You want to take this one?”

“Why me?” I frowned at him.

He shrugged. “Just figured she might need some girl talk.”

“Adam, in your history of knowing me, have you ever witnessed me having girl talk?” I shot him a get-real look.

“You might have a point.” He waved toward the door. “We’ll tag-team it then.”

I nodded resolutely and marched down the hall. When I opened the door, Georgia’s back was to us. She was shoving wrinkled clothes into a suitcase’s yawning mouth.

“Georgia?” I whispered.

She looked over her shoulder, and I was surprised to see her eyes were bone dry. “Hey, guys.”

“Why are you packing?” Adam came up to stand next to me. “You can’t leave now.”

She snorted. “Why not? I never should have come here in the first place.”

“You don’t mean that,” I said. “I know you’re upset but—”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I’m not upset.” Adam and I both shot her incredulous looks. She deflated a little. “Okay, I am upset.” She sighed and dropped onto the couch. “But not for the reasons you think. I’m mad at myself for not realizing Mac was stringing me along. I can handle her temper and the chip on her shoulder. But I won’t be lied to. Remember how I told you she said she made progress with her uncle?”

I nodded and took a seat across from her. Adam joined me, since it looked like this was going to take a while.

Georgia continued. “Well, last night before practice she told me that she’d told Michael all about us and he’d taken it really well. I was so happy and relieved that I didn’t question her when she claimed she still needed some time before she introduced us.” Georgia shook her head sadly. “I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not,” Adam said. “Why would you assume the person you love would lie about something that important? She’s the one person you should be able to trust.”

I squirmed in my seat a bit. The parallels between this conversation and my own mistakes were hitting a little too close to home.

“But maybe Mac felt like she had to lie to protect your feelings,” I said. Two frowns greeted that statement. “I mean, she was wrong to, of course, but maybe she felt she had a good reason,” I added quickly.

“Sabina,” Georgia said. “Even if she hadn’t lied to me last night, she had the perfect opportunity to stand up to Michael tonight and she didn’t.”

“That’s true,” I said. But I was conflicted. Obviously, Mac fucked up. Bad. But I didn’t think the situation should be as black and white as Georgia was making it. “Listen, Mac loves you. But it’s not easy to stand up to your family. Especially when that family is made up of beasts who howl at the moon and have zero tolerance for questioning the Alpha.”

“So what? I’m supposed to sit here and hope that the Alpha changes his mind? Michael’s not going to suddenly give Mac and me his blessing. Especially since he said the mating contract was already signed.”

Clearly, I didn’t have an argument against that. Adam seemed to concur with Georgia’s assessment of the situation. “What will you do now?” he asked softly.

I shot him a glare. Why wasn’t he encouraging Georgia to stay and fight for her woman? Surrender was never an option.

“I’m going back to New Orleans, of course,” she said. “That’s my home. Always will be.”

“You could have a home here, too,” I said.

Georgia shook her head sadly. “Not if Mac’s here. I couldn’t stand seeing her and her new mate everywhere. It would kill me.”

I was starting to feel a little desperate. I’m sure a therapist would have plenty to say about how the urgency I felt about saving Mac and Georgia’s relationship was connected to my own guilt and issues in my relationship with Adam. But frankly, I didn’t care why. I just needed to do something, anything. “I’ll go talk to Michael!” I blurted out before I realized it was coming.

Adam stilled and looked at me with his mouth hanging to his clavicles. Georgia’s head snapped up. “I thought you said you didn’t want to get in the middle.”

“I know what I said. But I was wrong. We’re involved because you’re both our friends. If talking to Michael can help, then I’ll do it.”

“Thanks, Sabina. It means a lot that you’d be willing to do that.” Georgia’s shoulders drooped. “But it’s too late. I let Mac go. I need to go home and come to terms with that so I can move on.”

My blood rushed. How could she just give up? “Maybe I’m not doing it for you. Maybe I’m doing it so Mac isn’t doomed to be mated to someone she didn’t choose.”

Georgia’s cheeks colored with some emotion—shame? Anger? “Do what you want. It’s not really my business anymore.” She slapped her hands on her thighs and rose. “Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to finish packing.”

Adam and I looked at each other. Obviously the conversation was finished. I stood to go, but I had one more thing to say. “Georgia, I know you’re hurting right now. But I hope you won’t give up on Mac.”

“I didn’t give up on Mac, Sabina.” For the first time that night, tears sprang to the vampire’s eyes. “She gave up on us.”

Adam and I left Georgia to finish packing and reconvened in the living room for a postmortem. He turned on me the minute we reached the couch. “How could you defend Mac like that?”

I stilled, surprised by the anger in his tone. “Adam, I wasn’t defending her. I just think Georgia isn’t being sensitive to the position Michael put Mac in tonight.”

“
Georgia’s
not being sensitive?” he repeated, his voice rising. “Seems to me Mac wasn’t being very sensitive when she lied. Maybe Michael did Georgia a favor tonight.”

I flinched. “Regardless, Georgia’s not the only victim in this scenario. And I meant what I said. I’m going to talk to Michael. Despite her poor choices, Mac shouldn’t be forced to mate anyone she didn’t choose.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” he said. “You ask me, Mac’s getting what’s coming to her.”

My mouth fell open. Where was this coming from? “How can you say that?”

He crossed his arms. “Mac had her chance to make things right with Georgia. She knew what was at stake and she chose the coward’s way out.”

My conscience was sparking like a Roman candle. “Sometimes lies are more about protection than deception, Adam.”

Just then, the front door burst open and Giguhl and Pussy Willow marched in. They were laughing about something, but when they saw Adam and me facing off they fell silent.

“What the hell does that even mean?” He started pacing in front of me like a jungle cat. “Jesus, Red, what would you do if you found out I’d lied to you?”

I forced a casual shrug. “It would depend on the situation.”

He stopped and laughed, a harsh, cold sound. “Bullshit. You’d castrate me and then force me to wear my balls like a necklace. Love can’t survive lies.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Giguhl freeze.

“Not necessarily,” I said. “Not if I thought you had a good reason for doing it.” The look he shot me was heavy with irony. “I mean, yes, sure I’d be hurt at first, but I like to think that our relationship is strong enough that you—I mean I—would eventually get over it.”

“Oh, shit!” Giguhl rushed forward. Adam swung around to look at him. “I told you not to mention the Slade thing!”

I froze as my gut clenched and cold acid shot through my veins. With wide eyes, I turned on the demon and tried to shoot him cease-and-desist semaphore.

But my efforts were in vain because Adam rounded on me. His face as hard as one of those Easter Island statues. “What Slade thing?”

I recovered a fraction of a second too late. “What? Nothing.”

“Fuck me,” Giguhl whispered, realizing his mistake. “Sorry, Red.”

Adam stiffened but kept his eyes on me. “Sabina?” His voice was unnervingly quiet.

I blew out a breath. The kind that signals surrender to the inevitable. “Remember when I told you Slade and I hadn’t been together since that time we worked together in Los Angeles?”

Adam’s eyes narrowed to sharp slits. He didn’t say anything, didn’t move.

My stomach sunk like it was tied to a cinder block tossed into a freezing river. “Back in October—before you and I were together, mind you—I… Slade and I—”

I looked around frantically for help. For someone to finish the sentence so I didn’t have to say it out loud. PW’s eyes darted from side to side like she wanted to run but was worried about drawing any impending wrath in her direction. And Giguhl, the traitor, slinked away guiltily and dropped into a chair with his head in his claws, as if giving himself the time-out he deserved.

“I’m waiting,” Adam said in that same deadened voice. His eyes told me he’d already figured it out, but he wasn’t about to let me off easy. Part of my punishment was having to admit the betrayal out loud.

I licked my lips. Then words just tumbled out of me. “We slept together.”

Adam’s fists tightened into boulders. A vein pulsed in his neck.

“Adam, I—”

He slashed a hand through the air as if he couldn’t stomach the sound of my voice. “Save it. I can’t even stand to look at you right now.”

My head throbbed and my vision went static. My chest felt like it would collapse under the pressure. My heart shriveled and blackened like a piece of coal.

Before I could react, Adam spun around and slammed out of the apartment. The ensuing silence felt like a verdict. Pussy Willow and Georgia wouldn’t meet my gaze. And Giguhl moaned and rocked with guilt in the corner.

All the fight left me. I collapsed into a nearby chair. Numb shock descended to protect me from reality. I suppose I should have seen this coming. Who had I been kidding to think I could hide a lie of that magnitude from Adam?

“Sabina?” Georgia said softly. She knelt by my side. “What can I do?”

I couldn’t speak. If I opened my mouth I’d start screaming and never stop.

Giguhl rushed over to join the vampire. “Red, I’m so fucking sorry.”

I swallowed the panic rising in my throat. Pussy Willow answered for me. “It’s not your fault, Gigi. Sabina should have told him herself months ago.”

Giguhl shot the faery a hateful look. “Hey! She doesn’t need to hear that right now.”

PW crossed her arms and glared at the demon. “You always take her side!”

“I do not,” he argued. “Besides, I’m the one who told her not to tell him. Then I went and opened my big mouth.” He hit his head with the heel of his claw. “Idiot!”

Georgia stood and addressed both of them. “That’s enough, you guys. Pointing fingers is a waste of time.”

“I’m not pointing fingers.” PW shrugged. “Simply stating facts.”

“You can take your facts and shove them up your ass!” Giguhl said. “If you can’t be supportive to Sabina, maybe you should leave!”

PW gasped and started yelling at the demon. Giguhl, naturally, yelled back. But I was so lost in my shock I couldn’t understand them. Their words hit the air and then scattered like black confetti.

Finally, Georgia put her fingers to her lips and executed an eardrum-shattering whistle. It jerked me out of my trance and shocked PW and Giguhl into silence.

“Now that I have your attention,” the vampire said, “I have a couple of things to say. First, Giguhl and PW, get a hold of yourselves. Right now we need to be supporting Sabina.” She turned to me. “As for you, snap out of it. You’re the one always saying surrender is never an option. If you want Adam, you have to go after him.”

I sighed deeply. The air stabbed my lungs like shards of glass. “What’s the point? You heard him. He can’t even stomach being in the same room as me right now. Even if I knew what to say, he wouldn’t listen.” I sat up straighter. “Besides, aren’t you being a little hypocritical?”

She tensed. “What?”

“You could have fought for Mac, but instead you gave up and are planning on running back to New Orleans.”

She crossed her arms. “That isn’t the same thing at all—”

“Bullshit,” Giguhl coughed into his claw.

“Hey!” she protested. “Mac chose her kin over me. I know when I’m beat. But you have a chance to make this right.”

“So do you,” I countered. I knew I was harping on Georgia, but it was a lot easier than talking about my issues. “Maybe once Michael calms down he’ll listen to reason, too. Despite his Alpha ways, he cares about Mac. If we can talk to him and convince him that marrying her off will make her unhappy, maybe he’ll listen.”