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have
no choice.‖
It was funny how his harsh words did not match the tender motion.
―They violated the law.‖
My eyes flicked to Logan, and I found him and Mikhail walking
toward me. ―I don‘t want anyone hurt because of me. Tell him.‖
―That‘s not your choice.‖
―Logan, I—‖
―No,‖ he said icily. ―Yuri will do as his station demands.‖
―Logan—‖
―No,‖ he said flatly as he reached me, grabbing hold of my arm and
yanking me close to him. ―You do not have a say here, Jin. You were
attacked, and I will kill every man that violated the sanctity of my home.
You cannot possibly understand the magnitude of the trespass, but I do,
Yuri does, Mikhail, Domin… you‘re the only one missing it.‖
I looked around the room at Markel, Delphine, even Logan‘s father,
Peter Church, all of them looking at me with the same look of grim
resolve.
―No.‖ I was firm. ―It‘s barbaric. We don‘t kill people.‖
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69
Yuri rose to his full, towering height beside me. ―Your kindness will
be mistaken as your semel being weak because he does not punish those
who would harm his reah. Do not ask that of Logan or of me.‖
―I—‖
―It doesn‘t matter,‖ Domin said, interrupting me. ―No one‘s gonna
be punishing anybody until we get to the feast.‖
There was a moment of silence as everyone absorbed his words.
―What are you talking about?‖ Logan asked irritably.
When I looked back at Domin, I realized suddenly that he was more
than just tired or even sad—he was hurt. He looked just as bad as Yuri and
me. The left side of his face, which I hadn‘t been able to see from my
angle in the hall, was covered in marks. His eye would be black and blue,
and it was pain I was seeing etched on his face. He was holding himself
stiffly, afraid to move too fast, and there was hesitancy in his every step.
The man had been wounded.
―Both Abbot George and Ian Lund went to Cairo last night to meet
with their semel. They left without gaining Christophe‘s permission to
leave his land and so have violated the mandate of the sanctuary Avery
granted them,‖ Domin explained, his eyes fluttering for a second when he
flexed the muscles in his back. ―Christophe is furious.‖
―How do you know?‖ Yuri asked him.
―Because I just came from his home,‖ he said tiredly, walking over
to the kitchen sink.
When he reached it, he let out a deep breath, gripping the counter,
and after a moment, he let his head fall forward.
I turned to my mate. ―He didn‘t go alone, did he?‖
Silence.
―You didn‘t let him go see Christophe and Avery alone?‖
When I saw the uncertainty on Logan‘s face, how his eyes were
slowly filling with dread, I felt my heart clench.
―Logan?‖
―I never… worry,‖ he said softly, ―about him.‖
And I understood. None of us ever concerned ourselves with Domin.
He was savage and strong and he didn‘t walk, he swaggered. I never
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Mary Calmes
thought of him as being vulnerable; none of us did. But seeing how he was
standing, leaning, holding on, I was scared.
―Shit,‖ Yuri said under his breath, moving to go to him.
I put out a restraining hand. ―Don‘t.‖
His eyes were on my face, but not for a moment did he think of
disregarding my order.
―He‘ll never let you,‖ I said under my breath. ―He‘s too proud.‖
There was no doubt that I knew what I was talking about. Domin
Thorne used to be the semel of his tribe, and now he was Logan‘s second.
And I knew he liked being a maahes, a prince, more than he like leading
his own tribe, but that didn‘t make what other people said to him any
easier to bear.
I knew from firsthand experience that Christophe and his men never
missed an opportunity to rub Domin‘s nose in the fact that instead of death
he had chosen to willingly submit himself and his people to the rule of
Logan Church. Even though it was the best decision for everyone, it didn‘t
stop the slurs and snide comments. I could only imagine what had
happened when he had gone to the tribe of Pakhet to demand that they
surrender Abbot George and his cohort to him. He would have had to fight
for them to take him seriously, and from the looks of him, that was exactly
what he‘d done.
―Did they attack you?‖ I asked gently.
―No, I attacked them.‖
―Without provocation?‖
―There was enough on all sides so that Logan will not be hearing
from Christophe on my
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