“Calm down, I wasn’t trying to kill you,” he said. “I didn’t think you actually had a witch who would do the spell.”
“Then why did you give him any blood, at all?” I demanded.
“Because I used it as a tracer,” he said.
“Fuck me,” Alec said. “You tracked the vial.”
“Are you here to kill me?” I asked.
“Why would I want to kill you?” I asked.
“Because of the king,” I said.
“You think I give a shit about some punishment my brother threw down?” He scoffed. “I served my time. I don’t think my kid needs to pay the price for my failure.”
“So, why are you here?” Kyle asked as he took a step closer to me.
“I need a favor,” he said.
“Why would I help you? Do you have any idea what my mom’s life has been like all these years? The extreme steps she went to so I wouldn’t be found by you? Not to mention my life? Did you even try to find her or help her?” I didn’t even know what kind of a guy he was. For all knew, he treated my mom badly and that’s why she fled.
“I didn’t even know she was pregnant,” he said.
“Would it have changed anything?” I asked.
“No,” he admitted. “I’d still have done what I did.”
“Then had she stayed with you, both she and I would likely be dead.” For the first time, I felt nothing but respect for my mom and her choices.
“Well, I can make it up to you if you do something for me,” he said.
I should have known it was too good to be true that he’d want to help me break the claim out of the kindness of his heart.
Sheila, Malcom, and Kyle moved in front of me, blocking me from his view.
“You should go,” Alec said. “You’re not wanted here.”
“This is between me and my progeny,” he said.
Malcom stepped forward. “Then you can speak to me and I’ll discuss it with her.”
I had a better view now of Spencer’s reactions. His expression went from anger to confusion to realization in a second. I wasn’t going to leave Malcom alone in this. I moved forward, pushing in-between Sheila and Kyle. “Neither of us need you. We’ll figure it out without your help.”
“There’s two of you,” Spencer said. “Imagine that. Well, I could use the extra help.”
“We don’t want your help,” Malcom said. “We’ve managed fine without you.”
“Listen, I just pissed off a whole shit ton of vampires to get here and the both kings have to be hot on my tail. You think they’re not going to come after you once they realize you exist?” he said.
“How would they know?” I asked. “You didn’t know about us.”
“If my brother kills me, he’ll be your next of kin. So unless you both have mating bonds, he’ll connect with you eventually. When he does, he won’t hesitate to kill you. You’re a threat to him. Just like I was,” he said.
“He didn’t kill you,” Malcom pointed out.
“He couldn’t kill me without losing too many alliances. Keeping me alive made him look like he had a heart,” Spencer said. “He doesn’t have that problem with you.”
“So break your claim on us,” I said.