“You and Gabriel check it out. Then go get Robert and bring him to a safe place.” After this attempt, Cain was certain that Robert had been framed as he’d claimed. “I have to talk to John.”

Cain turned on his heel and left. He found the leader of the king’s guard in his new room on the first floor. When Cain ripped the door open, an only half-dressed John reared up from his bed.

“Cain!” John set his feet on the floor and jumped up. “What do you need?”

“I need to know the truth. Did I assassinate the old king?”

Clearly stunned, John blinked. “How do you—?”

“—know? Robert alluded to it. Is it true?”

John looked down at his bare feet. “Yes.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

John lifted his head. “It wasn’t important.”

“It wasn’t important? I’m a murderer, an assassin!”

“And it’s always haunted you. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to go through the same thing again. You blamed yourself for how savagely you killed him, despite the fact that the old bastard deserved everything that he got.”

All air rushed from Cain’s lungs. “I slaughtered him, didn’t I?” Was that what he was, a man without scruples? A cold-blooded murderer?

John nodded. “When you saw what he’d done, you flew into a rage. And when you saw his victims, when you saw Faye, there was no stopping you.”

“Faye?”

“She was one of the unfortunates he’d locked up in a part of the cellars that’s now been filled in with debris. You found out that the old king liked to make it a sport to capture vampires from other clans and torture them. Faye was one of them.”

Cain rubbed a hand over his face. “Oh, God.”

“I didn’t want you to have to think about all this again. I needed you to have a clear head.”

“Who else knows I killed the king?”

“Your brother, of course. He was your second-in-command when you were leader of the king’s guard. A few others knew, Robert included. But the rest of your subjects only suspect it was you.”

“There must be members of my clan who hate me for it.”

“No doubt, but the few who know for certain never breathed a word about it, and the others won’t raise a hand against you.”

“They’re afraid of me, aren’t they? Afraid that I’ll kill whoever rises against me.”

“Every king has his enemies.”

“And I have more than my fair share. No wonder somebody wants to get rid of me.” Cain paused, taking a breath before asking the question that was most important to him.

“And Faye? Does she know?”

“She knows. She watched you when you delivered the death blow.”

Cain jolted back, shocked at the revelation. “Why would I let her watch?”

“You wanted her not to be afraid any longer. You wanted her to know that you’d slay any dragon for her.”

Cain dropped down onto the bed. Faye knew all his secrets, had seen him at his most savage, yet she still loved him. She was stronger than he could have ever guessed. If she had stood by him when he’d killed the evil king, would she stand by him now when he laid himself bare before her?

36

Faye heard the knock at the door to her suite and stopped pacing for the first time in the last two hours, ever since Wesley had come to see her and told her to remain in the safety of her own rooms until he told her otherwise. She hadn’t protested. Past experience had taught her to heed warnings when their bearer issued them with a glint of fear in his eyes. And the witch had looked alarmed enough to make Faye follow his command without question.

Her heart pounded into her throat when she answered, “Come in.”

Her eyes on the door, she watched it open. None other than Cain stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He remained standing there, his eyes searching hers then running them over her body as if to assure himself that she was all right. That action made her even more nervous. Her hands clasped in front of her stomach, she took a hesitant step toward him.

“What’s going on?”

Cain motioned to the sofa in front of the fireplace. “I think you should sit down.”

So the news was bad. Really bad. Nobody ever asked another person to sit down for good news. “I’d rather stand.”

“Fine.” She saw him swallow hard, before his mouth opened again to speak. “There was an attempt on my life.”