Nothing anyone did could, and it was slowly tearing him apart.
He’d called to Jaden through their bond, but Jaden hadn’t answered, not in all the long weeks he’d been gone. Jaden was off somewhere in Nevada, but Duncan didn’t get what Jaden was doing there. Was he hurt? Was that why he didn’t answer? Why couldn’t Duncan let this go long enough to complete the bond with Moira? He’d kissed her, begun Claiming her, but he had yet to make love to her and complete the Claiming. Without that, the Bonding and the Vow would be useless no matter how many times he uttered the words.
He scrubbed his face with the palms of his hands. Was it possible that, after four hundred years waiting, wishing for his mate, he was finally losing his mind? Why couldn’t he bring himself to Claim her?
To top it all off, there were restless members of the clan who were unhappy with his choice of mate, kin who thought that by bonding with Moira he’d somehow diluted the Malmayne bloodline. There were a few who had come to congratulate him on his mating, but that was the problem, wasn’t it? Instead of paying homage to the clan leader’s wife, the majority of the Malmaynes had stayed away, showing their disapproval in the only way open to them that wouldn’t result in serious reprisals.
Little did they know. Jaden would…
That knife blade of sorrow was becoming all too familiar. Because Jaden wouldn’t.
Jaden wasn’t here.
“Mrow.”
Duncan looked down at the only real link he had left to Jaden. “Hey, Furball.” He picked up the calico cat, smiling as he petted her. He’d have to see to it that she bred soon. He couldn’t imagine not having one of Jezebel’s grandchildren living with them. The stray Duncan had rescued all those years ago had lived a long and comfortable life. Between Jaden and Duncan they’d raised generations of Jezebel’s descendants.
Duncan stared at the door Moira had disappeared through. What in hell he was going to do? For the first time in a very long time he didn’t know the answer. The loss of Jaden was an open wound, pouring out his heart’s blood, leaving him empty and cold. But Moira… Moira stemmed the tide, keeping the wound from being lethal. If Jaden had left him completely alone Duncan would have bled out long since.
He blinked as Ian entered the room without knocking. “My lord, there’s someone to see you.”
The brownie wouldn’t bother him without some justification, especially after he’d given orders not to be disturbed. “Who?”
“Henri Malmayne, my lord.”
Duncan refrained from rolling his eyes. “Show him in.”
The butler nodded and regally turned toward the door.
“Ian?”
The butler turned back. “Yes, my lord?”
“No refreshments. I don’t plan on this taking long.”
Ian’s expression remained blank, but his eyes danced. “Yes, my lord.” Henri was a pompous prick when he visited, treating the brownie butler with barely leashed contempt. Under his father’s rule there had been nothing Duncan could do about it. Now that Cullen was dead, however, he’d rectify that attitude in all of his Malmayne relatives. As far as Duncan was concerned Ian was family, and that was that.
Soon enough Henri was shown into the library. Duncan had moved to sit behind the massive, ornate desk, leaving his cousin to approach while he remained seated. It was a small display of dominance that would have tickled both Jaden and Moira if they’d been in the room with him. He could even picture it: Jaden leaning against the edge of the desk, all edgy defiance, Moira next to him, her green eyes ablaze with curiosity and that unique fire that was all her own. He shook the vision away when Henri reached the desk. “Cousin.”
“Duncan.” Henri smiled, but his gray eyes, so much like Duncan’s own, remained chilled.
Duncan waited.
Henri’s smile dimmed. His eyes narrowed, the smile becoming sharper. “My lord.”
Duncan nodded. “Have a seat, Henri.” He waited until Henri was seated, desperately wishing his mate and best friend were here. “What seems to be the problem?”
“The family is becoming restless. You know this. They want to see the Dunnes punished for their destruction of Cullen and Kaitlynn and are wondering why nothing has yet been done.”
Duncan held on to his temper by a thin thread. This was the third visit from Henri, the third demand that the Dunnes pay a debt they hadn’t incurred. The fault lay solely on the shoulders of Cullen and Kaitlynn, but most of the Malmaynes refused to see that. Their spokesman, Henri, made sure Duncan was aware of it, too.
Now he was going to lay down his final answer in a way not even Henri could misconstrue. “There will be no debt paid by the Dunnes.” The Malmaynes, on the other hand, had only just begun to pay for the crimes committed by Kaitlynn.
He saw Henri’s teeth clench behind that smile, a quick flexing of his jaw muscles that betrayed him. “The Dunnes killed our lord, your father. Duncan, honor must be satisfied.”
“Honor has been satisfied, Henri.” He leaned back and began ticking off on his fingers. “Kaitlynn and Cullen conspired to kidnap Shane Dunne. They kidnapped and tortured Ruby Holloway, the wife of Leo Dunne. Kaitlynn, not Leo, killed my father.”
“And who killed Kaitlynn?”
Ah, there was the sticking point, wasn’t it? “I did.”
“You mean your pet vampire did.”
It was Duncan’s turn to unclench his jaw. Jaden didn’t deserve the way the rest of the clan treated him. He never had. “Under my direct orders.”
Henri waved his hand. “Still, Kaitlynn’s death was a direct result of the Dunne’s refusal to abide by the marriage contract. If Leo Dunne had simply done his duty none of this would have happened.”
Duncan wasn’t so sure of that. Leo had made it clear he wasn’t interested in fulfilling the contract when first approached. Duncan had the feeling that by the time they’d approached Leo he’d already been ensnared by his pretty little Ruby, and no amount of persuasion would have been able to force his hand. “Shane Dunne might have been willing to fulfill the contract, if approached correctly.” Duncan held up a hand to stall his cousin’s rejoinder. It was well known that the hybrid was unacceptable to the bluebloods of the family. That unusual power of his made him less in the eyes of the Sidhe, something Duncan could not understand. The power to create objects out of thin air? How could someone not prize that? “However, the point is moot, as I have fulfilled the full terms of the contract.”
Not even Henri had the balls to sneer in Duncan’s face over Moira. “Still—”
“Enough.” Duncan’s power rolled through that one softly spoken word. He allowed his eyes to sparkle with silver. Silver motes of light danced in the air as he allowed his human Seeming to drop, reinforcing his command, turning him into a being made if silver and gold. “The Malmaynes and the Dunnes have no quarrel. That is my final word on the affair.” He stood, noting that Henri hesitated before following him. He wrapped his human Seeming around himself once more and allowed the motes of light to die out. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Henri bowed, but not before Duncan caught the defiance in the man’s eyes. “My lord.” He turned on his heel and strode out of the library without a backwards glance, his dissatisfaction in every line of his body.
Duncan waited until Henri was out of sight before slowly sinking back into his chair. Fuck, he needed Jaden. He buried his head in his hands and sent out a psychic tendril, hoping against hope that this time Jaden would answer.
When only darkness met him, he damn near howled.
Moira touched her lips, stunned to find out that she might be right. “It’s a what?”