«Same can’t be said of Sam Hopkins. He’s not as dangerous as Hughes, but he’s a sadistic bastard who’s more interested in entertaining himself than taking care of anyone else.»
«Levesque is all right,» Julio offered. «That leaves Hopkins and my uncle.»
«Hopkins and your uncle,» Alec agreed. It would be so easy to let Julio do the dirty work. Wash his hands of Cesar Mendoza and face Carmen with a clear conscience, safe in the knowledge that someone else would be fighting the bastard.
Easy. Cowardly. «Cesar’s mine to challenge, Julio.»
Julio’s hands clenched into fists on the table. «I knew you were going to do that.»
For so many reasons. «Your uncle is still in his prime. He’s been preparing himself for a Conclave bid. You can be sure that means he’s been training. And he’s backed into a corner and he knows it.»
«He’s my uncle. It’s my fight.»
Alec wanted to hold back, blunt the truth. The words were horrible to think and even worse to say, but he had to. «He’s your uncle. That might not stop him from killing you.»
He saw the understanding reflected in Julio’s eyes. «It wouldn’t stop him, not in the slightest.»
«You don’t have the experience to fight him.» Alec planted his fists on the table and leaned in. «Or if you think you do, why don’t you give me a try, right now. See which of us is more prepared for this fight.»
«Can you handle him?» Julio shot back. «Because you may not be thinking about it, but I’m more than a little worried about what’ll happen to Carmen if our uncle tears out your throat.»
Alec had been fighting one thing or another since he was old enough to stand. First at his parents’ behest, as they gave him all the lessons they thought he’d need to take power. At eighteen, he’d run off and joined the army. Then years of mercenary work, more years of fighting other shifters. Challenges. Self-defense. Training — his own and training others.
It seemed like most of his life had been preparing him for this, for the one thing he’d always sworn he’d never do, but he could answer Julio honestly. «I’m not going to let your uncle tear my throat out. I can beat him.»
Julio capitulated with a short nod. «Okay. Your fight. Win it so we can get down to business. I’ll take care of Hopkins.»
Instinct prompted caution. «I think we should keep you two a secret. Not give them any chance to steal our idea and start making alliances.» Alec straightened and nodded to Julio. «People won’t be surprised if I challenge your uncle, not after this. And the whole council will have to show up to witness the fight.»
Andrew leaned against the wall, his posture deceptively relaxed. «Then we’d better get the word out. About that much, at least.»
The windowless room gave no hint about time, but it had to be approaching dawn now. Friday. The Conclave would spend the weekend calling in favors to cover up Cesar’s mess and deciding on an appropriate punishment. Cesar himself would be tied up in defending himself.
«Monday,» Alec said firmly. «We need a few days to get into place, make sure all of our people are protected. I’ll issue the challenge Monday and, as the challenger, I’ll get to set the time. A week from today, here in New Orleans.»
His co-conspirators nodded in agreement, and Julio spoke up. «A week will give anyone who’s interested a chance to get here. And everyone will be interested.»
They sure as fuck would be. «Then let’s give them something to spend the next twenty years talking about.»
«Carmen!»
Someone had a hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake. Anger that felt like Kat pierced through sleep, and Carmen bolted straight up in her chair. «What is it? What happened?»
Kat’s blue eyes were ice. Her fingers curled into fists as she straightened, and she spoke through clenched teeth. «Sera’s here.»
The rage licking at the edge of Carmen’s consciousness doubled. «Is she all right?»
«No.» Kat pivoted and stalked to the door. «You’ll see what I mean.»
Fuck. Carmen hurried to follow. After the things Franklin and Alec had said, not to mention the way Sera had acted on the phone, the possibilities were few — and very, very specific.
Kat led Carmen to one of the exam rooms, where a tired-looking young woman leaned against the wall. She had Franklin’s hazel eyes and freckles and the same red hair, though hers hung in a long braid spilling over one shoulder.
She also had a black eye, the bruise spreading down across one pale cheek.
The fatigue hit Carmen first, followed by the fear and hopelessness. She shoved both aside and yanked the plastic off a stool before pulling it close to Sera. «Sit down for a second, sweetie.»
«I’m fine.» Such an obvious lie that Kat made an outraged noise, like a kettle about to boil over.
«Kat.» Carmen steeled her voice as she situated herself between the other two women. «Can you give us a minute alone? Please?»
After a moment, Kat sighed and retreated, stopping just short of actually slamming the door behind her.
When she was gone, Sera tried for a smile. «It looks worse than it is. It’s healing. It’ll be gone in a day or two, I think.»
As if that made it okay. Carmen probed Sera’s cheekbone gently. «Did he hit you anywhere else?»
«No.» The fear strengthened, undercut by an odd thread of satisfaction. «He hit first, but I hit harder. Actually, I beaned him with my KitchenAid.»
«One of the little ones, or a big pro model?»
Sera choked on a hysterical little laugh. «The six-quart one. It was really nice. Guess he shouldn’t have bought it for me, though, if he wanted to start beating me up in the kitchen.»
«I don’t think anything’s broken.» She stepped back. «I’m Carmen, by the way.»
«Hi, Carmen.» Sera touched her cheek and winced. «I don’t want my dad to see this. I don’t want him to worry while he’s hurt.»
«Hell, no.» He’d climb out of bed and crawl if he had to, but he’d find Sera’s husband and he’d kill him. «We might be able to heal the bruises, or maybe cover them with makeup if you want to see him this morning.»
«Makeup, magic. Whatever it takes.» Sera’s hands dropped to her lap. «I don’t know how badly I hurt Josh. I stole his truck and drove here, no license or anything. He’ll set the human cops after me too. He knows I won’t have bruises by the time they find me.»
That, at least, was something Carmen could take care of. «If you’ll let us take some pictures before we do anything else, we’ll have a record. And Jackson and Alec can find out what happened to Josh.» Maybe they could even find a way to dissuade him from causing future trouble for Sera.
«Okay.» Her eyes fluttered shut. «This was the first time. Things have been bad for a while, but he’d never hurt me before. That’s not how it works. He was stronger. He was supposed to keep me safe.»
She whispered the words as if her heart was breaking, and Carmen wrapped her arms around her. «It’s okay. You’re all right now. You can be safe here.»
«I’m sorry.» Muffled words laced with stiff pride, though Sera didn’t pull away. «I shouldn’t be — it’s stupid to cry over an asshole.»
«The assholes are the ones who make you cry.»
Sera nodded against Carmen’s shoulder, her face still hidden. «Yeah. Yeah, they really are.»
A knock shook the closed door. It opened a second later, and Julio stuck his head inside. «Carmen, Alec is about to go— Oh shit, I’m sorry.»
Sera pulled back so fast she almost tilted off the stool. She lifted her hands to her cheeks to scrub away tears and winced when her hand bumped her bruised cheekbone. «Alec’s here? God, he can’t see me like this either.»