Cassie nodded. “Personally, I think Gina’s lucky that all Ava did was knock her out.”

After a brief moment of silence, Sam shrugged at Will. “Sounds to me, then, that Gina knew exactly what she was risking by provoking Ava again and again.”

Will’s eyes bulged. “You will let this go unpunished?”

“Taking Gina’s ‘let’s dance’ comment into account, it’s clear that she didn’t protest to the duel; she actually welcomed it,” stated Jared. “We won’t punish Ava for the fact that she won.”

A flush crept up Will’s neck and face. “She should not be allowed to use her abilities outside of the legion! She is exploiting her training!”

The chuckle that came out of Sam was empty of humour. She looked at Will with pity. “Oh, Will…Don’t you get it? Every single member of this legion is trained to destroy their opponents with minimal effort. If Ava had truly wanted to cause Gina any major harm, your vampire would be recovering – very, very slowly – in the infirmary right now. So enough with the dramatics, all right.”

With that, Sam walked away. The others followed, casting very unfriendly glances at Will and Blythe, until only Salem and I remained.

Clearly irate, Will glared at Salem. “You find it perfectly acceptable that she – someone you have known for only a short length of time – attacked a member of your own line? A member who you have known for so much longer, who you have been intimate with, who helped you learn the control you have?”

“Even if I didn’t find it acceptable, my loyalty lies with Ava. Not with my line.”

That made me smile. It made Blythe gasp in horror and a dose of shock. Shock? Um…why? Will might be Salem’s Sire, but loyalty had to be earned. If Will had ever truly earned it, Salem would never have left to join the legion.

Shaking his head in what seemed to be both disappointment and anger, Will claimed, “You have changed, Salem. I never thought I’d see the day –”

“Night,” I corrected.

“– that you betrayed me and your line so wholeheartedly. To leave us to become a member of the legion was bad enough. But to side with someone outside your own line, someone who attacked –”

“I was there, Will,” Salem interrupted. “Or did Gina not tell you that? I was at the bar last night, I witnessed her bait Ava. I warned her away from Ava yet again. But she stayed. She wanted a fight, and she got one.”

“But I don’t think any of that matters to you,” I said to Will. “Not really. I don’t think you honestly care about what happened to Gina. You saw an excuse to confront me, to cause shit, and you took it.”

“How could you let this child come between us, Salem? How could you turn from me this way?” Will’s face was so red by that point that Blythe was starting to look worried. “I am your Sire.”

Salem sighed. “Yeah, you keep saying that. What’s your point?”

I raised my hand high, like I was a kid in a classroom. Well, if they were going to call me a child, I’d give them one. “Ooh, I know, I know!”

Salem’s mouth twitched. “Then share it with the class.”

“Well, at first I thought his problem was that he felt you owed him your obedience and respect. But it’s not.” I looked at Will. “Having authority over people makes you feel good, doesn’t it? It’s a way for you to feel superior to them. The fact that you’ve lost what authority you had over Salem was bad enough. But he also has more than you’ve ever had. And you just can’t stand that.”

Will didn’t respond.

“I’d say that I can’t understand why you won’t just put all your personal issues aside and make the most out of the new life you now have here. But I do understand why. I’ve met hypercompetitive people before. They measure themselves against others, against what others have. They never admit defeat, and they’ll do anything to win.

“You feel like you come up short compared to Salem; it’s something that eats at your pride. And the only way it’ll all feel balanced again – the only way you can help maintain your self-worth – is if you either get what he has…or you make him lose it. You tried the first, but it didn’t work. So now you’re hoping to try the latter. You knew that if everybody turned against me tonight for attacking Gina, Salem would then turn against them. Again, though, your plan failed.” I smiled. “Bet that rankles.”

Blythe tried to pull her mate away. “Let’s leave them both with their own idiocy.”

He shook her off as an ugly smirk darkened his features. “If only Ava knew the entire truth about you, Salem. I sincerely doubt she would have such adoration for you if she did. That’s right, I looked into your past. I know it all.”

“Actually, I doubt that you do.” Salem shrugged. “Not that it matters. Ava knows everything. You have nothing to hold over my head, Will. No authority over me. If I were you, I’d let all this go. I’d make some attempt to live peacefully here. For your mate’s sake, if nothing else. Or things could get very, very bad for you.”

“Is that a threat?” Will sniggered. “You cannot touch me, Salem. I made an agreement with Sam and Jared. Information for –”

“Residence here,” finished Salem. “But no one said you’d live long.”

As the implication hit Will, his expression was almost comical.

“It’s true that they won’t banish you from the island without good cause. They don’t go back on their word. But that doesn’t mean you’re untouchable while you’re here.” Salem tugged on my hand. “Come on, baby.”

I happily let him lead me away, leaning into him. I wasn’t prepared to allow the duo to steal any more of my quality time with Salem.

We hadn’t been home for more than twenty seconds when Salem quite expectedly brought up the subject I didn’t want to discuss. “You didn’t tell me that Gina had confronted you a few nights ago.”

Retrieving a cola-flavoured NST out of the fridge, I confirmed, “Nope.”

“Why?”

I shrugged, unscrewing the lid off my bottle. “It wasn’t important.”

“Repeat that.” His voice was low, vibrated with annoyance.

“It wasn’t important.”