“I cast a sleep spell on Abby, and then Easton called, saying he’d gotten word that Roger figured out I’d put a truth potion in his drink and then cast a sleep spell on him. He was only a few minutes away, so he helped me clean everything up. I altered Abby’s memory, cast a glamour on her so she wouldn’t see that her clothes were all bloody, and magically swayed her to go shower and get all the blood off her skin.”
“You’re sure you got everything?” Lucas asks, tensing.
“I think so. I told Abby we would stop by later to say hi to Penny before we head back into Thorne Hill so you could check it out.” I close my eyes, feeling nauseous again. “Easton got rid of the security footage and took all the bloody paper towels, Abby’s clothes, and the gun. I kept the bullet, though. Is that weird?”
“You’re weird,” Eliza says matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less than you keeping the bullet that almost killed your sister.”
I suck in a breath but get no air. Lucas puts his hand on my chest. “Breathe, my love. Look at me and breathe.”
Blinking back more tears, I nod and take in a slow breath.
“If the house is clean, the footage removed, and there is no body to be found, then we can check that off our list of problems. Now…how the fuck did Roger know where you were?”
I shake my head. “I have no idea, and the only thing that makes sense would be if someone was spying on me.” I feel icky when the words leave my lips. “They knew we were here, in Chicago, and maybe saw me leave with Abby. I don’t know.”
I put my head in my hands, world spinning. Just when I thought I’d caught a break, I’m here playing whack-a-mole with my problems again. I take care of one and two more pop up.
And that’s not to mention the biggest mole of all has come out from the depths of Hell.
“He was hired by a vampire who knows we are together,” Lucas says, thinking out loud. “And he knows you are a witch. So, he either knew that before or he got close enough to sense your magic. I can pay Dina another visit and see if I can get any information out of her, though I fear that’s not likely.”
“She’s still alive? Well, undead. I kinda forgot about her.”
“She is.” Lucas looks at Scarlet. “She hasn’t given me anything useful in a while, though maybe if I bring a hellhound she’ll talk after her arms have been ripped from her body.”
Scarlet wags her tail at Lucas’s words, sweet little puppy eyes gleaming at the thought of getting to torture someone.
“If you think you can get anything from her, then yeah, let’s try, but like you said, she hasn’t given us any info in months. What has she said? She doesn’t know anything, or she won’t tell?”
“She claims she doesn’t know anything beyond what she’s already told us. At this point, I’m leaning toward believing her.”
“Then we shouldn’t waste our time. Unless…” I trail off, biting my lip as I think. “We use her as bait. Reverse bait, technically. Let her go and see who she goes to.”
“I suppose that could work,” Lucas says, not liking the idea of letting his prisoner go free. “We should try it. You can magically track her, right?”
“Scrying isn’t my strong suit, but if I cast a spell on her first, I’ll be able to locate her within a fifty-mile radius. I think. Kristy is better with that area of magic than I am.”
“Call her,” Lucas tells me.
“Can we wait until after we get back from Florida?” I ask, giving Lucas an innocent smile.
“Seriously?” Eliza quips, looking at the nail she chewed down to her skin.
“Oh, can you blame me?” I dramatically toss my head back. “Today was supposed to be my relaxing spa day and I spent a good portion of it wiping up my sister’s blood from the floor. I want a vacation.”
“You deserve a vacation,” Lucas starts. “But we already put this off to deal with Ruth and now that she’s—”
“Nope.” I shake my head. “Don’t say it. No buts. There’s enough going on with Uncle Lucy being on the lam. And I’m giving up enough by not being able to drink or go on thrill rides while on vacation.”
“Or go in the hot tub,” Eliza adds and Lucas glares at her. “What? She can’t go in one until she pushes that thing out.”
I shudder. “I don’t want to think about pushing anything out, either. And if we’re right about this vampire being the same one behind the groups against assimilation, then they’re ultimately after you, Lucas. I was targeted because it would piss you off if anyone hurt me. And those protestors…you have to be pretty fucking stupid to try and stab a vampire in the stomach. They’ve been fucking with your business since before I even met you. Roger is gone,” I say and get an unsettled feeling in my stomach.
I didn’t necessarily mean to kill him. I wanted to hurt him, but taking his life…it was an accident. Yet I don’t feel bad about it. I’m nothing like him. I was defending myself and my sister, and if I could do it all over again, I’d make sure the bullet rebounded into Roger’s stomach instead. My heart starts to speed up as anger courses through my veins.
“After we get back,” Lucas says, hearing my heart speeding up. “We’ll go after the vampire. There’s a VC rally on November second. I will go and scope things out. If Dina doesn’t lead us where we want, I could always accept the offer to join the fucking anti-assimilation gang.”
“No,” Eliza and I say together.
“It’d be like walking into a trap.” I push my hair back and shake my head. “They’d have you right where they want you and who knows what they’d do.”
“Nothing, because I’d kill them first,” Lucas states with confidence. “They want me to join because I would be a good influence in getting others to join as well. They need me.”
“They’ve done a shitty way showing it,” I say. “Blackmail and attempted murder.”
“We’re vampires,” Lucas offers. “We do things differently, not that I agree. Mostly because it’s been a pain in my ass and I’d love to add a few fresh prisoners to the basement.”
Scarlet lets out a little yip, liking that idea too. I bring my hand to my head and exhale heavily. I wish I could have a big glass of wine right now. I’d suck it down and pour another. Hell, I’d go straight for drinking out of the bottle.
“Are you feeling sick?” Lucas asks, gently resting his hand on my stomach. I don’t have the heart to tell him that when I feel like I’m going to throw up, the last thing I want is for anyone to touch my stomach.
“I have been for days. Luckily the devil himself busting out of Hell and then cleaning up a crime scene is rather distracting.”
“You should go upstairs and lie down,” he suggests.
“Stop treating me like I’m fragile,” I counter, though a nap sounds fucking amazing right now. My heart is still racing and I’m not sure if I want to go into a full telekinetic rage and throw shit around the room or collapse onto the soft mattress in the guest room and snuggle under warm blankets. “Will you come with me?”