It was just past noon the next day. I was crouched in the courtyard playing with a litter of new rabbits when the main gate slammed open with a kicked boot.
Liam strode in with seven or eight men behind him. Tattoos crawling up their arms. Baseball bats in their hands. Their eyes were already swinging for trouble.
"Elena!" He bared his teeth at me. "Last chance. You're coming with me."
I straightened slowly. I brushed the grass off my knees.
"Are you genuinely suicidal," I said, "or do you simply not know where you are?"
"Enough." He spat onto the gravel. His gaze raked over Kael in the wheelchair and his lip curled. "Kael's a cripple. He couldn't stand if you set the house on fire under him. I'm not afraid of him. Today I am taking what is mine. Let's see who tries to stop me."
He g
