by Liz Schulte
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Parked about a block from the house, I opened my trunk. I slipped off the necklace and zipped it into one of the pockets on the cargo pants. Mentally I prepared myself to find anything in the house. Corbin could have lost his temper and already killed Thomas. The vampires could have taken them both. I should have never left them alone. I picked two handguns from my stash and tucked them into the waistband of my pants. I proceeded to strap on every knife and piece of ammunition I could hold. It looked like I was going to war.
I crept up to the house. The windows were dark, and inside was absolutely silent. Part of me questioned why I was doing any of this. I didn’t love being used, but I served my purpose here. The council had won. They’d used me to meddle with the vampires, and I had done everything they wanted me to do. It was done. It sucked, but I should have been able to walk away. However, my mind was already spinning with how I could get in and reach Corbin. I pushed open the door.
Corbin sat on the couch across from Thomas, who was still chained to the post. His face might as well have been carved in marble for all the emotion it showed. He stared as if he blinked, Thomas would disappear again. “That was fast,” he said without looking up, the smooth baritone of his voice soft.
“We need to move him,” I said. I had never seen this side of Corbin before. Usually he was a smug asshole, which, frankly, was easier to deal with. I had no idea what to expect from him now. “The situation isn’t what we think it is.”
His black eyes shifted toward me. “He stays where he is.”
“You don’t understand.” At least I hoped he didn’t. “All of this is a setup.” I glanced out the window. The street appeared quiet, but for how long? I had no idea why Paolo hadn’t come immediately, other than he wanted to give Corbin time alone with Thomas. Time to stew and be consumed by his hatred, which was obviously working. “I’ll explain everything later. They’re coming for him.”
“I don’t care. Out there, I can’t control what happens, so we’re staying here,” Corbin said. “Until you release him, and then he’s mine. Solve your case. None of this has anything to do with you. Whatever he has planned, I can handle it.”
“You have no idea how much I wish that was true.” I moved in front of him, forcing him to look at me. “We’re being scammed, Corbin. Both of us. We’re the only two people who have no idea what’s going on with any of this. The case hasn’t felt right from the beginning because everything was a lie. Don’t you see? We’re the pawns. You can’t honestly tell me that this doesn’t all seem too easy to you. Thomas just happens to show up and trust me all of a sudden? That doesn’t seem odd to you?”
His mouth twitched down, a flicker of life. “How so?”
“As far as I can tell, the council is worried about the vampires. They think for some reason that Paolo is losing control. I really don’t know a lot about it. They asked me to come here and investigate what they said was a werewolf outbreak. I agreed, though I told them from the start this wasn’t a werewolf. Holden and Sy thought they chose me to test me, but none of us knew why. But the test wasn’t mine—it was yours or Paolo’s, I’m not sure which, or what the council hopes will happen. Somehow, and I am still not sure how, they knew Thomas would be here, so they also sent me. I was the bait. If I was here and there was a Thomas sighting, they knew you’d come.”
“And why should they care about any of this?” he asked. “My history with him has nothing to do with any of this.”
“But it does. You were part of Paolo’s strength. I don’t know how things were, only you can answer that, but you have to admit things haven’t been the same since Camila. Could Thomas have gotten away with half of the shit he did before you were—” I gestured at him, not sure how to finish the sentence, but looking at his sulky face helped. “Emo.”
He gave me that dead glare. “I am not emo. I’m just…” He shook his head.
I nodded. “Okay, well, whatever you want to call it, you have lost that top-of-the-food-chain vampire quality. Am I right?”
“Go on,” he said.
Chapter 16