"If it was Radje, where is that young dancer?" Cat asked. "Jennifer, the one you tried to help? She's not among the dead, and she hasn't resurfaced with the police or her family.
Isn't it odd that the person you originally tried to take away from the club might be one of the few people who walked away from the fire?"
Kira stood up, sick of arguing the same point. "Radje obviously knows how to do a good frame job. It wouldn't look as convincing if Jennifer ended up dead, would it? If for once you looked at this situation with the idea that Mencheres didn't do it, you might be surprised at what else you notice. And you might have wanted bloody revenge against those people who tortured you. Mencheres admitted he intended to kill them, too, but that's not me. I could kill in self-defense, but not in retribution. It's my goal to save lives, not destroy them."
Kira turned around, feeling those gray eyes bore into her back as she walked away.
She doubted Cat had really heard a word she'd said. It seemed she and Bones had made up their minds about what happened before they even arrived. If these were Mencheres's closest all ies, then they stood a better chance at defeating Radje without them.
"No," Mencheres said for the third time.
Bones ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I'll take your word that you didn't do this. Your all ies probably will, too. But you have many enemies who are seizing on this, spreading Radje's version of events high and low to rally opposition against you. If the majority of people are to believe you had nothing to do with this arson, then turning Kira in to the Law Guardians so she can support your claim of your whereabouts is your best chance. You know that."
"What I also know is that Radje will kill her or use her, and the other Guardians will not be able to protect her because they won't suspect him," Mencheres replied inexorably.
"Don't you see that hiding with her makes you look even more guilty?" Bones snapped.
"You're claiming she and Gorgon are your alibi, yet all of you are refusing to present yourselves to the Guardians to answer Radje's charge."
"Radje is mainly demanding her presence in addition to my own. Does that not seem unusual? Why wouldn't he be as vocal in seeking out the other witness?"
"Yes, it's unusual." Bones's voice was sharp. "I believe that Radje's up to something.
But you risk too much by not turning her in. You could be sentenced in absentia if you continue to defy them. Kira has a chance if she's relinquished to a Guardian you trust. It doesn't have to be Radje. Yet you greatly endanger yourself if you continue to act as though you are guilty. Grandsire." That sharp tone softened. "Please, don't do this." Mencheres abruptly turned around and stared off toward the beverage stand. Kira and Cat no longer sat at the table next to it. He sent his senses outward and found a swell of inhuman energy behind a tall wrought-iron streetlamp. Mencheres fixed his gaze there, seeing Kira behind it. She flinched as she met his gaze, then pretended to tie her shoe in a poor imitation that she hadn't been eavesdropping.
"You're so busted," he heard Cat remark conversationally as she came up behind Kira.
"Mencheres," Bones prodded.
"I have nothing more to say on this subject," he replied, watching Kira give up the shoe-tying pretense.
"Radje's demanding that I turn myself in to testify?" Kira asked Cat.
She'd heard too much. Mencheres cast a hard look at Bones before he started toward her.
"Uh-huh," Cat was saying. "And Mencheres just said hell no. Told you he's unreasonable when it comes to a woman he's into. Oh, he's on his way over. Looks ticked, too."
Kira didn't turn around, but her shoulders tensed. Mencheres shot a warning look at Cat that she responded to with a little smile.
"You're nothing like she was, by the way," Cat went on to Kira, ignoring his glower. "And believe me, I mean that as a compliment."
Mencheres knew who Cat was talking about. Anger flared in him at the mention of his dead, deceitful wife. Was he always to be judged by Patra's actions? Would her sins continue to haunt him, a phantom he could never put to rest?
"Just because some of us make a mistake in love once doesn't mean we're doomed to repeat it," was what Kira replied right before Mencheres reached her.
His hand slid across her back even as her words took the sting out of his anger, lessening a guilt he hadn't acknowledged carrying. Yes, his heart had once been ensnared by a woman he knew had the capacity for great evil. He'd warned Patra that her dark actions would lead to her destruction. She'd chosen to stay on that path regardless, determined that she could alter her fate. Patra's demise had come just as Mencheres had foreseen - a silver knife twisted in her heart by the vampire Mencheres loved as a son, shared his power with, and elevated to the status of co-ruler in his line.
But just because that bitter fate had befal en him, it did not mean he was forever cursed to love those who would betray him. His hand slid down Kira's back once more.
Cat was right. Kira was nothing like Patra, yet she'd captured his emotions even more firmly than his traitorous former wife had. This might be the end of his life, but he'd see that it was well lived.
"Our time with them is finished," he told Kira.
Bones circled around to stand next to Cat. "There's more that still needs to be sorted - "
"Finished," Mencheres repeated in a harder tone. Then he placed a hand on Bones's shoulder, meeting his co-ruler's obstinate brown gaze. "Protect the line. Until this is settled, it is yours."
"You can't do that," Kira said, shock in her tone. She must realize what he was giving up with those words.
"Wise lass, you should listen to her," Bones muttered.
"It is not permanent." Mencheres dropped his hand from Bones's shoulder and placed it on Kira's back again. "Radje has failed to defeat me in all of his many previous attempts. He will fail again now. I merely need time."
Bones opened his mouth, but Cat touched his arm. "Don't bother. You wouldn't give up your girlfriend either if you were him. Mencheres, you let us know what you need. We'll play dumb regarding your whereabouts with the Guardians in the meantime. Kira, pleasure to meet you. Bones . . . let's go."
Bones cast a long look at his wife. His scent still swirled with frustration, but then he lifted a shoulder in acquiescence.
"All right, Kitten. Grandsire, I sincerely hope you know what you're doing. Kira, perhaps next time, we'll meet under better circumstances."
Then the two vampires turned around and walked away, their striking looks the only thing that made anyone cast a second glance as they passed by. The air emptied of some of the energy in it, filled up instead with the softer vibrations that mortals gave off.