He smiled. “You’re right.”
A dangerous charge ran through me, and a pull to this man that I’d wanted so desperately to ignore teased me relentlessly.
His gaze ran along my body, and my breath hitched as I wondered what made him keep coming back.
So, I could try to chase him away. “Do you think a vampire killed her? It’s all over the news.”
Carter shook his head. “No, I do not.”
“Then why are they saying it?” I pressed.
I knew the answer. While our two worlds tolerated one another, it wouldn’t take much to let that delicate balance shift in the wrong direction, and some of the mundanes were hungry for more power.
A few seconds of silence hung thick in the air, and my gaze dropped to the floor. “Because some of the mundanes don’t like us any more than you do.”
My eyes darted to his. “I would never falsely accuse anyone of a crime like that.” I stood straighter. “No matter how much I disliked their kind.”
Carter laughed. “How gracious of you.”
The metal against my skin warmed as he smiled at me, and nothing in my world made sense. I wasn’t about to invite a vampire into my house for the second time in less than a week.
But he wasn’t rushing away, either.
He leaned against the doorframe. His lean, muscular body sent my mind running in circles. “I wanted to let you know something else as well.” He licked his lips, and I couldn’t help but notice how full they were. “I think your sister is dabbling.”
“Dabbling?” I repeated, stiffening.
“She spoke a lot about the Nightfall Realm and about our kind, playing with our kind, and I don’t want her to get hurt.”
I nodded. “That’s nice of you.”
I wasn’t about to tell him I had the same fears for Violet.
“I just don’t want her to wind up like that woman.” His unwavering stare sent a prickle of fear down my spine, not for me but for Violet. “When you open up the darkness, it’s hard to let the light in.”
My brows shot up. “Are you speaking from experience?”
“Unfortunately.” He tipped his head slightly. “And I may have control, but there are many who don’t.”
“Is that a threat?”
He shook his head. “It’s a fact.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I tried to sound calm, but I was trembling inside.
I’d just lost my grandma. My world was opening up into ways I’d never wanted. And I had a sister who wanted to play with fire.
Carter nodded. “You do that, and Ivy, I play fair.”
This!
This was precisely why I avoided other living beings and needed to end things right here and now.
The crazy emotions thrashing around inside me threatened my very sanity, and I needed him gone.
“Thanks again.” I gave a quick nod and started to shut the door. “I’ll be sure to give it to Violet when I see her again.”
Carter nodded and turned around without saying another word.
As soon as I’d given him enough time to get off the porch, I peeked out the window and saw him climbing into some fancy car I didn’t recognize and chuckled to myself.
We were so many worlds apart it was ridiculous.
My hand touched the aloe vera plant as I thought about Carter Voss, and I let out a sigh.
Why was I letting myself get beguiled by someone like him?
I glanced at the aloe plant and gasped.
My touch had healed it, and I didn’t want to know why.
Chapter Six
Carter
Lux stared at me. “The press is all over this girl . . . as if we’d actually give someone like her the time of day.”
I flinched inside at the way he spoke about the dead woman.
Lux was my boss. There was no one higher than him, and I knew this conversation was coming. He’d driven up to my home in Sudden Valley just for this very purpose, and since the man never left his home, I knew it wasn’t good news that brought him here.
“We won’t be implicated.” I shook my head. “There’s no evidence linking us to the dead woman.”
Lux narrowed his gaze. “Except that there is a link. Get rid of her.”
My skin prickled with the order. I was used to giving them, not receiving them.
“Christy knows I had nothing to do with it and would never—”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s gone.”
I dropped my gaze to the floor. “She’s helped us more than you can imagine over the years. My advice is to keep her alive.”
“I didn’t ask for your advice.” Lux stood up from the chair and walked over to my library of books. “If the prophecy is true, my time is almost here—our time is almost here—and I will not let some mortal ruin it.”
I didn’t feel like adding that Christy was no mortal. She was half pixie and had more powers than most combined.
Lux spun around. “And what did I hear about twins?”
“I don’t know. What did you hear?”
“You’re getting involved?”
I let out a heavy sigh. It had to have been Decker.
I’d deal with him later.
“No, I’m not getting involved, but you should ask Decker about the sisters. I showed up at some local bar, and he looked like he wanted to have one of them for dinner. I attempted to smooth it over with the women. I think I’ve done my job.”
Lux’s brows rose. “You’ve been pushing your guys hard.”
I nodded. “Indeed, I have, but we’re getting close. Factions in cities across the globe are ready for the word once you give it.”
Lux took a seat and folded his hands.
“Soon, we’ll rule the Nightfall Realm and the mundanes. We’ll use them like they’ve used us for centuries. We’ll control the magical and the mundane. No more apologies. No more holding back.” He unfolded his hands where the lines had deepened along his skin.
“Is it getting worse?” I asked him.
“It’s not getting better. The pain has begun.” Lux pressed his thin lips together and shook his head. “Who knew even immortality had its limits?”
I nodded gravely, knowing Lux was clinging to this prophecy for more than just power-hungry needs. His time would be limited without it coming true.
“Now, tell me about these twins. Would I be interested?”
I laughed, shaking my head. The thought made me ill.
“I was told they know about your being with the dead girl. I say we get rid of them while we’re at it.”
I froze.
Decker was more of a rat than I’d realized. He was the only one I’d mentioned anything to, and it wasn’t in great detail.
“The twins can help us. At least one of them can.” I watched for Lux’s reaction.
He rolled his eyes in disgust. “Like your police officer? Get rid of them all. Make it clean.”
“Ivy has connections to the Bureau. I think I can convince her to give me information.” I had no idea what Ivy actually did there, but it was time to find out.
Lux perked up. “Really?”
“Yeah. I think we might be able to find out who’s really orchestrating this vampire hunt and get it shut down before it gets out of control. She has an in, and we need all the help we can get with the media storm.”
Lux’s expression turned to stone. “Fine. Do what you think is needed to make this go away.”
“I still want the police officer gone.” He strode to the door leading out of my office, and I gave a quick nod before he headed out of my house.
I gave him a few minutes and glanced out the window to see his car gone.
This wasn’t good.
Never once had I disobeyed an order from Lux.
Quickly dialing Christy’s number, I realized I woke her up again, but this time, it was the middle of the afternoon.
“Hey, Carter,” she answered groggily. “Please tell me you don’t have another—”
“No. Nothing o
f the sort, but I need you to come over.”
“Now?” She sounded more alert.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “No, it’s fine. Just trying to fit in a nap before my night shift, but whatever. Nobody ever worries about Christy.”
I laughed, feeling a knot form. I didn’t know how I was going to handle Christy, but I hoped I’d have an answer before she arrived at my doorstep.
“Fine. Let me make a cup of instant coffee, and I’ll be over there soon.”
“Great. Thanks.” I hung up and walked down the hallway toward my kitchen.
It was beautiful, probably the envy of chefs everywhere.
Just a shame I didn’t have any real reason for it.
Being friends with a cop, I did know how to make a pot of coffee, and from the sounds of it, Christy’s little cup of instant coffee wouldn’t be enough.
As the coffee began to brew, I stepped onto the back porch. The crisp spring air felt good against my skin. The birds all went silent as if they could sense a predator lurking in their presence.
Even nature knew we weren’t meant to be here, but we were.
And now the fate of our kind hung in the balance suspended by a crazy old vampire decaying for reasons we didn’t understand and a prophecy guaranteeing survival while the power to span the ages lingered just out of reach, and all I could think about was Ivy.
I knew Lux to be vicious. He wouldn’t stop until he knew Christy was gone. Once Ivy and Violet were of no use to him, he’d expect me to dispose of them as well.
And I understood why.
Our survival often depended on the unpleasant side of life and the even more unpleasant side of death.
I folded my hands together and leaned against the deck railing and took in the silence of the thick forest behind me. This home had been a sanctuary to me whenever I needed a break from the city, or Lux, or a number of things.
Like being a vampire.
My mind drifted back to that poor soul who wanted to be like us, wanted to be one of us. Such a romantic notion rippled with human fantasy and undying myth.
There was nothing romantic about what it took for my survival.
Jenny could have fed me for a very long time.
I chose to abstain.
I thought back to Ivy’s assessment about vampires playing games, and she was right. We fed off humans who for their own various reasons got off on it. Or we went to our own version of a blood bank.
We’d become politically correct.
We were playing a game.
At any moment, we could ignore the rules we’d set and cast terror in every direction, but we chose not to do so.
But when I looked in Lux’s eyes today, I wasn’t so sure that yearning was something that could always be quashed.
Especially now that he was facing his own mortality.
“The door was unlocked so I let myself in.” Christy’s voice came floating across the deck, and I spun around to see her happy face. “What’s wrong? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Let’s go inside.”
She nodded and turned back into the house.
I didn’t have a clue how I was going to say or do what needed to be done.
Christy spied the fresh pot of coffee on the counter and laughed. “Aw. You shouldn’t have.” She reached for a cup and filled it with the hot liquid. “And they say vampires don’t have hearts.”
I took a seat at the table and Christy came over.
“Boy, something must be really wrong if I can’t even get you to crack a smile.”
I stared at the table. “Lux came here this morning.”
“To the house?” She sounded startled. “He never leaves the city.”
Bringing my gaze to hers, I felt my insides recoil. “I know.”
Her eyes darkened. “Does it have to do with that woman, Jenny?”
“Yes.”
She took a sip of coffee. “And he thinks you killed her?”
I shook my head. “No. He knows I didn’t.”
She shrugged. “Then what’s the problem? If it has to do with what’s going on in the press, it’ll die down. It always does.”
“We’ve got a lot of things going on right now, and Lux doesn’t want to risk the bad press.”
I was sworn to secrecy. There were two people in the world who knew about the prophecy—Lux and me. That was it.
She furrowed her brows. “Like what? Why would it matter if vampires get a little heat on them right now? It’s not the first time.”
I brought in a breath, still a creature of habit, and shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
“So, what does this have to do with me?” Her eyes widened, and the pit of my stomach turned to acid.
“You were there that night. You saw me with the woman.”
Christy shrugged. “So, I know you didn’t do it.”
“But they’re investigating, and vampires are being blamed.”
“It’s not our officers. The heat is coming from somewhere else. It’ll blow over.”
“And if it doesn’t?” I tapped my finger on the table.
“It will.” She polished off her cup of coffee. “Now, tell me why you called me over.”
“Lux wants me to kill you.”
Christy’s eyes turned to fire as she jumped back from her chair, leaping to the counter behind her. She crouched on the countertop with her gun pointed directly at me.
It could have been worse.
“How do you plan on doing it?” Her red eyes narrowed on me.
We both knew her bullet would do little to stop me.
The storm built in her gaze. “Carter. Tell me.”
I shrugged. “I don’t.”
“If you don’t do as Lux says, it means certain exile or worse.”
“So be it.”
She slowly dropped her pistol and slid off the counter.
The truth was that the little pixie in front of me could have completely annihilated me, maybe not death, but we both knew she could incapacitate me long enough for her to get away, at the very least.
“Why would you put yourself in danger for me?” She slowly made her way back to the table.
“History. Friendship. Loyalty.”
“If you don’t do it, someone else will.” She sat in the chair and let out a deep sigh. “I’d rather have someone I know—”
“It’s not happening.”
“Lux will find out and there’ll be a hit on me. Simple as that.”
I nodded, knowing she was absolutely right.
I’d be exiled and some other vampire—possibly Decker— would be quick to kill her and possibly her family.
She glanced out the window at the thick forest behind us. “What do you propose?”
The prophecy flickered into my mind. If it were to come true, Lux would have more power than he knew what to do with, which in turn meant the same for me. It was time to reveal the prophecy to someone I could trust.
“You know how Ivy mentioned that vampires played games?”
Christy smiled. “You do seem to like to play with your food, yes.”
I rolled my eyes. “There’s a prophecy that seems to be coming true.”
Christy leaned forward. “And?”
“I think we need to stop it.” I smiled, feeling the exhilaration running through me.
Chapter Seven
Ivy
I stood in the front yard and knelt in front of my grandma’s prized rose bushes. Even though her home was surrounded by a forest so thick and dark to invite the magical, she’d managed to make brilliant gardens in the front yard and had cleared enough space in the back for greenhouses. The sunshine lit up her home and gardens like a bright spot shining on a normally dreary mountaintop.
The single long-stemmed magenta and white rose fresh with leftover morning dew bowed in the wind from the weight of the blossom.
The rose was magnificent.
The sunshine was warm on my neck.
But the anger rolled through me again from a text I’d received from my sister.
She wanted to go to the Nightfall Realm this weekend, and she wanted me to go with her.
I’d sent several texts trying to talk sense into her, which only made her more adamant about going. It also caused her to sling some nasty insults my way about not having a life.
I did have a life. It just didn’t involve spending my nights possibly begging for my life.
I shook my head and closed my eyes as my fingertips touched the velvety rose petals. I drew a deep breath as the anger moved in me and spun through my fingertips.
Boring.
Selfish.
Annoying.
Some of the kinder words Violet slung in my direction jumped to mind as I thought about her request to visit the Nightfall Realm.
She didn’t care if she got hurt or got me hurt.
Yes, the Realm was filled with magic and opportunity, but it wasn’t a safe place for the unskilled, and if there were one thing I knew for certain, I was beyond unskilled.
I opened my eyes to see the once beautiful rose blossom had turned brown and withered.
The thought scared me.
The act scared me even more.
My mind drifted to Carter, the intrigue and fascination swirling in me as I closed my eyes and laid my fingertips on the dried petals. Carter’s lavender eyes looked back at me, a hint of a smile dotted his lips, and I felt the dried petals begin their transformation.
By the time I’d opened my eyes, the petals were healthy and full.
Well, maybe I wasn’t unskilled. I just didn’t know what I was really capable of, and either way, I didn’t need to be roaming the streets of the Nightfall Realm while my sister stumbled into trouble. I could only imagine what it was like to have an entire legion of magical beings throw everything they had at me while I looked for the nearest plant to heal.
I heard a car engine slow at the end of the driveway and turned around to see Carter’s car pulling into the driveway.
I did not need this today.
“God, give me patience,” I whispered under my breath as I stood to see his car slowing.
I thawed slightly when I saw Christy get out of the car first. Hopefully, he was just giving her a ride here.
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