Free Black Heart by Evernight Publishing Page A

wriggled into a pair of tight jeans
when he turned away. Even watching her dress made him hard. Damn,
Brennan must have fetched her clothes when they were seeing to
Raynor and Laura’s Termination. Did he know? Crafty old bugger.
Good thing he trusted him implicitly.
    When he turned back, Raylene was dressed,
a white cotton short sleeved shirt tucked into blue jeans, showing
every curve.
    “ Sit down, Raylene.” He motioned
to the bed.
    She did, while he started to
pace. How to bring this up? Should he call Edward over? He glanced
at the clock, past ten o’clock.
    “ Brennan told you I had clan
business.” She nodded. “I was at your father’s. Tristan and Edward
were also there. To oversee a ceremony. A Termination Ceremony, of
your father and mother.”
    She was astonishingly quiet. Deegan
imagined all sorts of reactions from Raylene, as she could be
emotional. Rage, grief, despair, something. However, she sat as
still as a post. He explained in the broadest of terms about the
Concealment. She remained silent, but he could see something boiled
away inside her as she processed the information.
    “ Let it out, Raylene. I know you
want to vent your spleen, so do it on me. Go ahead.
Rage.”
    That was all the invitation she needed.
Raylene leaped off the bed and stood toe to toe with him, her face
red with fury.
    “ You killed my parents! You son
of a bitch! I will never forgive you for this. You ordered their execution! To not
warn me—or Julian—how dare you?” she raged.
    Clearly, Raylene was as
emotional and passionate as her father Raynor had been.
    Deegan exhaled. “I explained. This
was your father’s decision. As far as your mother is concerned it
could not wait. Do you think I enjoyed overseeing this?”
    She slapped him hard across the face,
so hard his head snapped back. She was pulling back her hand to do
it a second time when he caught her wrist.
    “ Do not strike me again,” he
hissed. His cheek stung. She packed quite a wallop, not surprising
seeing she was half-Vampire.
    Raylene trembled, her anger
intense.
    “ I hate you,” she muttered
crossly. “You kill my family then come home and take me to bed?
What kind of soulless creature are you?”
    “ You are not the only one
grieving, Raylene. I lost the man who was as dear to my heart as a
beloved brother. Didn’t you hear anything I said about The
Concealment? I can call Edward to come over and
explain.”
    She pulled her hand out of his tight grip.
“I am not some child. Stop talking down to me!”
    “ I’ m not, damn you! Your mother was mad,
insane with Concealment blood lust. She had to be destroyed, and
your father elected to be destroyed with her,
because...”
    Raylene pushed at his chest, as if to
distance herself. “My father would not make such a decision. He
would not leave me, not without saying good-bye!” She glanced
around the room. “I have to get out of here.”
    Deegan stepped closer. “Tristan is meeting
Julian’s plane and bringing him straight here. Wait until he
arrives, and I will tell you both everything.”
    Raylene backed away farther, her face
twisting in shock and dismay.
    “ Is that why you denied me and
the Mate Bond all these decades? Because of The Concealment? Will I
become a murderer like my father? Will Julian? Oh, God—that’s why.
I will become a monster!”
    Deegan ached to pull her into his arms,
but he knew instinctively she would not welcome it.
    “ There is more to it than the
Concealment.”
    There was, but he couldn’t tell her now
because she wouldn’t process or understand. Hell, he hardly
understood why he denied her for so long. Perhaps deep down, he was
a base coward. Not wanting to be hurt again, pride, raw stubborn
pride, and rank stupidity.
    “ Raylene, let me get you a
drink.”
    “ Go straight to hell, Deegan
Black,” she snarled.
    “ I am already there, my
sweet.”
    She pushed past him and ran for the
door.
    “ Come back here,
Raylene!”
    Damn, he could hear her