Lauren Dane Sleight of Hand (Whispers)

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

future mother-in-law and held back. Graciella was
behind a wall of testosterone just a few feet away.
What the hell are you doing? Stryker asked
Lissette.
You! Let go of me now. When the vamp
holding her back didn t let go, Lissie looked him in
89
Lauren Dane
the eyes. I am your queen. You will unhand me
now.
He started and let go, stepping back. She
turned to Xander again. I m being a queen,
Xander. This woman tried to have me killed. My life
as a human is over because of her actions. And let s
not forget that she s the reason your twelve-year-
old brother has to hide! She s not my mother,
Stryker, and if you think I ll allow some tight-assed
old bitch to try and kill me without some ass
kicking, you don t know me at all!
Tight-assed old bitch? How dare you!
Graciella thundered.
Everyone in the room was silent, staring at the
two furious women, wondering what would happen
next.
Oh I dare all right. Look, lady, so your dead
husband was an asshole who screwed everything on
two legs for years, utterly humiliating you. I am
sorry for that. I can t imagine how much that
sucked rocks. And I know it must suck even more
that your son fell in love with some human woman
who owns a bar and hates vampire politics, but
that s life.
Lissie& Stryker began, and she spun.
Look, am I the co-leader of this tribe or not?
Well, yes. But&
But what? You are not rational when it comes
to your mother. I love you, Xander, but this has to
be dealt with. She drew first blood, and I m within
Sleight of Hand
my rights to kill her now. And as queen, I am most
definitely within my rights to demand an
accounting. Are you trying to stop me? Because if
you are, you and I are going to have trouble.
He took a deep breath and decided to trust
her. God knows he d tried to talk to his mother
about all of this on multiple occasions, and she
wouldn t listen. Maybe Lissie could talk sense into
her. Hoping she could spare his mother s life, he
stepped back. Go on, darling.
She smiled at him, hoping he d see that she
was trying to save his mother and not kill her. She
turned back to Graciella. Anyway, here s how it s
going be. You re really pissing me off. What s
more, you re breaking the law right and left, and
I d totally hate to kill you. But I will because I
didn t even like you before you had some thug rip
my throat out in an alley. But then, Xander will be
mad at me because for whatever reason, he loves
you and thinks you ll get over this whole psychotic
episode.
So the deal is this you can hang on to this
utterly ridiculous homicidal streak, which will end
when I kill you. Or you can get a grip on yourself,
reclaim your dignity, and let it go. Right now,
you re hurtling down a one way path to a stake in
your heart. Alex is a child. A human. And you tried
to kill him because you can t just accept that you
were cheated on. You re not unique. It happens to
people every day. I m sorry to blow your I m a
special snowflake act and all, but there s nothing
91
Lauren Dane
unusual about what your late husband did. And I do
take exception to being murdered, just so you
know. Instead of being Bitter Betty, you could just
drop this homicidal rampage and realize that, for a
tight-assed old bitch, you are still incredibly
beautiful and have plenty oats to sow of your own
now that you re free.
Lissie and Graciella stood, neither looking away
from the other, as the time ticked by. Lissie knew
that Dom had silver shot and would shoot Graciella
in the head if she gave a signal. Silver shot would
kill a vampire in seconds, one of the few things
that worked so well. There d be hell to pay with
Xander, but it had to happen. She just hoped
Graciella would blink first and give up this crazy
behavior.
Finally, Graciella threw her hands up and
slumped into a chair with a violent exhalation. Are
you going to let this mongrel talk to me this way?
she demanded of her son.
Stryker looked at Lissette, really saw her as the
queen he told her she was. She d loved him enough
to do what he couldn t bring himself to do, and he
adored her for it even as he hoped to god his
mother wised up.
She s not a mongrel. She s my queen. And yes,
Mother, you need to hear it.
Graciella snorted and sat back, leveling her
gaze at Lissette. Have you ever been cheated on?
Lissette nodded. One of the reasons she was
Sleight of Hand
slow to trust men, as a matter of fact. Yes. A few
years ago. He s meaningless.
What would you do if Xander cheated on you?
Lissette looked over at him, and she felt her
heart soften. He d given her the power and the
freedom to do something that could end up
harming his mother. But he trusted her to make it
right, and she loved him even more than she d
imagined she ever could love another human being.
He wouldn t. And he smiled at her, nodding.
But if he did, I d cut his balls off, even though
they d grow back.
Graciella gave a slow smile. I do believe you
would. Good for you, girl. And you would kill me,
wouldn t you? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Pokrewne