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"No matter what the cost?"

"No matter what the cost" Gaius turned to pace across the floor, his gait oddly unsteady "I had no choice"

"So you keep saying, but we both know that’s a lie"

"You don’t understand"

A prickle of desperation crawled through the air Santiago frowned It wasn’t the pervasive violence that had choked the air in Louisiana or even the fear around the schoolhouse where they’d found poor Melinda But it ithout a doubt co? Or a warning that the strange spirit orking through his went to hell he wanted to be near enough to rab for her

"What’s to understand?"

"It was uilty for Dara’s death If I had been there then--"

"No" Gaius abruptly turned to face hiret "The attack was ue Maybe this was uilt

Maybe there was a deeper reason for Gaius’s madness

"Why do you say that?"

Gaius turned his head, as if unable to aze "I had decided that our clan had groerful enough to expand our territory" He gave a short, huh "After all, why be content with Roo lifted his brows in surprise "An ain small" He waved a dis clan"

"You never said anything about expansion," Santiago accused hi that he had never truly known this ht I was your most trusted soldier"

Gaius turned back "You were my son, not a soldier"

"But you didn’t trust me with such vital information?"

A hint of impatience rippled over Gaius’s face "Only because I hoped to achieveyou or any other clan o shook his head in disbelief "You expected the clan chief to hand over his territory if you asked nicely?"

"I expected a quiet dagger in the back to avoid a o curled his lip Assassination The coward’s choice

"Et tu, Brute?" he mocked

Gaius waved aside his scorn "A bloodless" He grimaced "Well, an almost bloodless coup is always better than war"

"Who was to hold the dagger?"

"I approached the neighboring chief ’s general," Gaius admitted "I had heard rumors the vampire lusted after the chief ’s mate It was a simple matter to convince him that once his chief was dead he could have the ave hiio from the pocket of his jeans and tossed it in the er shi fro to figure out how Santiago had gotten his hands on the dagger

"Sí," he said in a clipped voice "Even though I wasn’t going to be the one striking the killing bloanted the clan to knoas behind the plot so they would bow to me"

Not only a coward, but a delusional coward

Idiot

He rolled his eyes "You trusted a vae of fury sla backward before it abruptly shifted to a vast, grinding sorrow "But at the tiance I was so certain I was stronger and so heard Tonya’s soft sobs even as he battled against the urge to fall to his knees beneath the weight of the choking sadness

"What rong?" he asked between gritted teeth