SEDUCTIVE PREY

JUSTICE

Seeing Kaia and our friends lying unconscious on the ground, Tristan whirls on me. "Release her." He demands. "She is not your enemy."

"Neither are they." I motion to our unconscious friends. "But I wanted to talk to you without all the distractions. Or Kaia trying to undermine everything I do. Especially with her being your mate and all."

"His what?" Ethan frowns. Then everything clicks into place for him, and he smiles. Shaking his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

Because yeah... the egomaniac siphoner and baby angel have the hots for each other.

"Do you object?" Tristan asks. "Would you rather I pursue Alison instead?"

Again, Ethan laughs. But then his face turns deadly serious, and he says, "You tried that already, and where did that get you?"

"What does Lexie want with Lucas?"

"Trudy."

"Okay, but why? There's no longer a need to avenge Kyle's death."

"Let's just say offing your big brother isn't the only sin Trudy is guilty of."

"What else has she done?"

Tristan looks past me to Ethan then back to me.

What the hell was that about?

Following his gaze to Ethan, I'm even more suspicious when he avoids my gaze. His jaw nervously flexing and his temples flaring to give away the fact that he knows something.

"You know... don't you?" I narrow my eyes at him.

Ethan confirms my suspicions with a nod.

"When Eden and I left, it wasn't just so I could take my rightful place on the throne. I was following up on a lead that did in fact lead me back to Trudy Bledsoe."

It also explains why he went back to England willingly.

He hadn't abandoned me back then... he was trying to help me.

My cheeks turn crimson, and I look away. Because even when he was married to Zara and I didn't think he had my back, he did.

He's always there for me.

Even when I don't think he is.

Shifting my gaze back to Tristan, I'm confronted by the look on his face, that says, 'you two disgust me'. Blushing, I retreat inside myself, and project outward enough to find everyone's life force. Red aura's for the Vampyr's, pale blue aura's for the siphoners, black for the daemons, and bright yellow for the angels. Mentally gripping them all with a single thought, I awaken our friends. And both Eden and Kaia turn their furious gaze on me.

"What the hell, Ali!" Eden yells at me.

"While we're at each other's throats, whoever is responsible for what happened to me... to all of us, is another step ahead." I reply. Capturing everyone's attention.

Eden and Kaia glower at each other, but at least they're listening instead of fighting. We've done enough of that.

"So, are we just going to sit back and do nothing while Lucas is forced to endure only God knows what?" Eden asks. "Because you and I both know he won't tell your sister shit. He'll take what he knows to his dying grave."

"No. We're going to use Ethan to find Lexie, and then he's going to get the information from Lucas by reading his mind." I boldly state.

Ethan whips his head in my direction and gives it a slight shake. I know he doesn't want to get involved in this, but I need him to. He's our only chance at finding Lexie and saving Lucas.