Rhyn clamped his mouth shut. He’d done what Kiki asked him to, and Kris didn’t believe him. He was ready to go silent on it again for the rest of eternity. He turned to leave then stopped.
“I saved your life twice, and you continue to treat me like shit,” he said. “You care more for the honor of a dead-dead woman who betrayed you.”
“While I’m grateful you saved me from Jade, you’re still half-animal, Rhyn.”
“I’m also half-Immortal. I have as much of our father in me as you do,” Rhyn said.
“Look, Rhyn, none of this matters. I’m willing to go ahead and forgive you for what you did so long ago. It’s still hard for me to think I could’ve raised a successor and not buried a son,” Kris said.
“I don’t give a shit about your forgiveness, Kris. Think about it. What do I have to gain by telling you about Lilith now?”
“Maybe you just want to hit me while I’m down.”
“Down?” Rhyn echoed and looked at Kris. “If this is what you call down, you need to spend some time in Hell. If you don’t believe me, I don’t give a shit. But I fulfilled my part of the deal I made with Kiki.”
“What does Kiki know about this?” For the first time, Rhyn heard a note of uneasiness replace the self-assuredness in Kris’s voice.
“He knows Lilith was evil.”
“He’s not here to defend himself from whatever you say about him.”
“Andre knew,” Rhyn said quietly. “Andre always knew. It’s why he didn’t kill me. You ever wonder why he let me live, even after what I’d done to you? I didn’t know it at the time, but he was doing me a favor. He was putting me some place safe. He knew I deserved a second chance, long before Katie, long before I realized it myself.”
Kris was silent for a moment before saying slowly, “Kiki said I always had a penchant for traitors.”
Rhyn could almost see him thinking. In the end, Kris said nothing else, and Rhyn shook his head. For the first time, he’d tried to reason with Kris. He’d never do it again.