“Long time no see.” I smiled at Christy, who flashed me more of a grimace than anything.
My brows furrowed, and I turned my attention to Carter getting out of the car.
“You’re staying?” I asked him.
Carter didn’t even bother to hide his sexy grin. Instead, he nodded and strode to the front door—my front door—and turned around and waited.
I stomped my foot and glared at Christy. “Seriously?”
She glanced at Carter and then turned her gaze back to me. “Things have changed. We need your help.”
“My help?” A pang of jealousy arose from absolutely nowhere. “Are you pregnant?”
Christy looked horrified. “No way. He’s like my brother.”
I wasn’t even sure that could happen. I’d heard of vampire births now and again, but they were more an anomaly, and mixing with a mortal was even rarer.
But Christy was a half-pixie, so what did I know?
“This is serious.” Christy’s voice brought me back to reality.
I glanced at Carter. “Okay, let’s go inside.”
Christy nodded quickly and glanced around the yard like someone was about to pounce on her before following me up the steps.
I slid past Carter and swore I felt his hand sweep along me, but when I looked back, both hands were in his jacket pockets.
“Do you need any coffee or—”
Christy laughed. “Definitely not. I’d probably jump out of my skin at this point.”
I shut the door behind them and turned the lock. “What in the world is going on?”
I sensed Carter’s gaze on me and turned around quickly to see him watching me. A quick blush crept up my cheeks.
“Have a seat.” I motioned toward the couch and chairs in the living room.
“Are we alone?” Carter asked, sitting on the couch.
I nodded.
He glanced toward the kitchen. “The sprites can’t sneak in?”
I laughed. “They’re sneaky, but no. I’m guessing when Lydia sees your car in the driveway, she’ll spend the rest of the afternoon sulking in the greenhouse.”
“Good.”
“Okay. Someone needs to tell me what’s going on.” I sat in a rocking chair in the corner.
Christy drew a breath. “Lux has a price on my head.”
I nodded, having absolutely no idea who Lux was, but I did know that having a bounty on your head was bad regardless of who placed it.
“He directed Carter to be the one.”
I glanced at the vampire in my living room and noticed his jaw twitched.
I cocked my head slightly in confusion. “I thought Carter was top dog.”
Christy groaned. “How do you know so little about the world you live in?”
I pressed my lips into a frown. “Because I choose not to make it the world I live in. Let’s start with the obvious question first. Who’s Lux?”
Carter took me off-guard by standing up. “Lux is my boss. He’s the eldest vampire and demands great respect by merely existing. He snaps his fingers and factions of vampires jump at his requests.”
“They all want to be where Carter is.” Christy glanced at me. “They want to be the second in command.”
I nodded, thinking back to the first night I saw Carter. He walked into the bar and every vampire basically dropped to their knees without being asked to do so.
“Why does Lux care about a pixie cop?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Because I was with Carter that night.”
I watched Christy carefully before continuing. “You mean with Jenny, the woman who . . .?”
Carter nodded. “Lux thinks there’s a chance that Christy might say something that ties me to the scene.”
I shook my head. “She never would.”
“I know.” Carter walked over to the window and glanced at the aloe vera plant. “Did you get a new plant?”
I was surprised he’d noticed. “No. I just fixed it.”
“Fixed it?” His brows furrowed.
“Long story.”
“So, Lux wants Christy out of the picture, and he wants you to do the dirty work.” I stared at Carter. “What’s stopping you?”
Carter looked horrified. “She’s my friend.”
“I can’t imagine Lux, whoever he is, will take this news well. Won’t something happen to you?”
“Probably.” He licked his lips, and my heart skipped a beat.
The tension in the room was escalating, and I didn’t understand why they came to me.
Unless . . .
Lux knew I knew as well.
Maybe Carter was going to off us both, and Christy was too naïve to realize our fate.
Or maybe I was the one being too naïve.
Glinda hopped onto my lap, and my fingers ran through her soft fur.
“What does any of this have to do with me?”
Carter traded looks with Christy and continued. “We need your help.”
“I’d be more than happy to hide Christy, but they’d probably look here first,” I offered.
Carter’s gaze was unwavering as he stayed silent and Christy took her turn.
“All the bad press isn’t good. It’s what upset Lux. I . . . we were hoping you might be able to see who’s orchestrating this witch hunt, no pun intended.”
I smiled. We didn’t tend to call ourselves witches. We had magical abilities, but we didn’t like labels. Although, I always thought about Grammy as a wonderous sorceress, but she’d flinched when I’d used the term, so I kept it silent and close to my heart. It sounded far grander than witch, just like Grammy.
“What makes you think I could find anything out?” I asked.
“You work at the Bureau.”
“I’m on leave.” I scratched Glinda’s back before she hopped off my lap.
“Is there any reason you could go into the office?” Christy prompted. “See what the gossip is?”
“I suppose I could act like I left something there I needed. My leave isn’t up for another couple of weeks, but . . .” I frowned.
First, my sister wanted me to hang out in the Nightfall Realm with her, and now, my best friend wanted me to go into the Bureau and hunt down information. Granted, her life was on the line, and mine probably was too.
“But what?” Carter’s gaze filled with urgency.
“But what if I can’t find out any information? How are we going to keep Christy safe?” My pulse raced at the thought, and I looked at Carter. “And how about you?”
“I can protect myself.” Carter’s cocky grin reappeared.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever you say.”
“So, you’ll do it?” Christy’s brows shot up in surprise.
“Of course, I’ll do it. I can’t let something happen to you. I’ll do the best snooping I can.” I wasn’t sure anything I could do would help, but I would certainly try everything I could.
Relief spread through both Christy and Carter’s expressions.
“What I don’t understand is why this Lux character cares at all. Vampires always go through bouts of good and bad press. What makes this time different?”
Christy’s expression fell and her gaze turned to Carter, and mine followed.
He leaned over, balancing his elbows on his knees, and drew a breath.
It stuck me as funny that even though they didn’t need to breathe like humans, they still never broke certain habits.
“There’s a prophecy that appears to be unfolding.” Carter stood and shook his head. “It would give Lux more power than he’d ever dreamed of, but it depends on humans trusting us. Right now, that trust is being stripped away.”
“That’s a bit cryptic.” I looked at Christy for more answers. “Do you know what the prophecy is?”
Christy nodded.
I stood and began pacing in front of our picture wall.
“So, the plan you’re hoping will save my best friend is to have me uncover who’s behind spreading these lies about
vampires while you attempt to squirrel Christy away somewhere and then somehow persuade Lux that he didn’t need and doesn’t need to kill Christy because we stopped the bad press.” I shook my head. “All the while, you’re doing exactly the opposite of what your boss has asked of you.”
Carter scratched his chin. “Roughly, yes.”
“That’s a horrible plan.” I shook my head. “Don’t you read stories to know how that’s going to end?”
Carter’s smile deepened. “I read plenty. It’s a favorite hobby.”
“Lamborghini manuals don’t count,” I shot back.
“Then what do you propose?” he asked as I felt him move closer to me.
I spun around and looked into his lavender eyes, finally seeing a glimmer of the man he used to be. I wondered what he would have been like as a mortal. My cheeks flushed with heat, and I turned my gaze to Christy.
“I’d like to know what the prophecy is first. I think I’m owed at least that much.” I crossed my arms and turned my gaze back to his. “I can’t fight against something I don’t know about.”
“I’m not asking you to fight.” Carter stepped closer and electricity ran through me.
My reaction to him made absolutely no sense, but every second longer I stayed around Carter Voss, my attraction grew.
Christy nodded. “It’s true, Carter. You told me you wanted to stop the prophecy. Tell her what it is.”
Carter was silent for a few seconds, and he relented.
“A seer predicted that the magical and mortal worlds would coexist.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “I suppose we could call ourselves coexisting.”
“There would be peace for sixty years, and on the sixtieth, a virus would sweep the mortal world. Vampires would be immune, but we would also have the cure. Lux would negotiate a deal which cured the mortals in exchange for power. At least, that’s how he views the prophecy.”
My blood turned icy.
He continued, “This is the sixtieth year that we’ve all lived in peace.”
“What makes you so confident in this seer?”
“He was known as the Brahan Seer. His abilities are well-known in many parts of the world.” Carter looked conflicted. “He died centuries ago in Scotland, but his prophecies had a nasty habit of coming true. Historically speaking, he predicted the Battle of Culloden in 1745, and he predicted the great oil wealth of Aberdeen. The list goes on.”
I glanced at Christy, who didn’t seem to be disputing anything.
“It was the Brahan Seer’s ability to tell the future, great or small. Some people thought he was a scam, but our kind knew otherwise. He saw things that couldn’t be explained away. He knew when spouses were cheating. He dealt with our kind, local sorcerers, and the like. He understood the power we could lend one another if we only worked together.”
“No offense.” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “But what makes the two of you special? Why does Lux think that he’s the answer, that the prophecy is about him?”
“Timing more than anything.” Carter looked away.
“You aren’t telling me everything.”
“The plague that would threaten to destroy the human race has already begun spreading through Lux. He is not only the cure, but also the spreader, and that is exactly what the seer’s prophecy laid out.”
This all sounded too perfectly arranged.
“I want to see it. I want to see where the prophecy was written. If everything else was documented so well, this should be too.” I shook my head. “I don’t believe that the clock strikes sixty years, your boss gets sick, wants to spread it to the mortal world, and then wants to save them so he can rule them.”
Carter pressed on. “Lux’s concern is that if we break the trust with humans now, they will have no reason to trust him and the prophecy will be broken. Except it’s not quite that simple. The plague will be released one way or another. Lux will see to that. Even if it means the end of him. By the end of this, there will be one person in control of the magical and mundane worlds.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’d have to say, I’d be right there with the general public. I really don’t buy this whole thing or this seer guy. What makes you so certain of the Seer?”
“Ivy, it’s true. The Brahan Seer was my father.”
Chapter Eight
Carter
Trying to retell an ages-old prophecy wasn’t easy. I’d oversimplified. I could tell by looking at Ivy. She didn’t believe it. I’d left out too many details, but it was for her protection.
The more she knew, the more she’d be in danger.
By seeing the horror in her eyes from hearing my father had died hundreds of years ago and realizing that the mundanes were in danger, I knew she wanted proof.
There was so much I’d wanted to say, but I couldn’t.
The time wasn’t right.
No time would ever be right.
I thought back to the fateful day my father was murdered. His death was more brutal than any mortal should ever face and by the hands of a woman who’d hired him for answers.
She didn’t like the answers my father gave, even though everything he’d said was true. The woman’s husband had a mistress, so my father was murdered with boiling tar for relaying the info.
Our family was targeted next.
I shuddered at the horrible memories and turned my attention to Christy, who was toying with the necklace I’d brought back for Violet the other day. Ivy was upstairs making a call to her superiors to see if she could come into the office. I wasn’t sure what excuse she was going to use, but I appreciated her effort.
“That’s odd,” Christy muttered, sliding the necklace into her pocket.
“What’s that?” I asked, craning my neck to see what she was looking at out the window.
“Ivy isn’t exactly a social butterfly. I wonder who’s pulling up?”
My skin prickled, and I darted toward Christy. “What?”
“Out there. Look.” Christy pointed out the window, and my skin crawled.
“Get upstairs and hide with Ivy.”
Christy spun around with brows furrowed. “What? Why?”
“It’s Decker. Lux obviously didn’t think I’d do the job.”
Shock registered all over Christy’s face. “Shit. I thought we’d have more time.”
“We don’t. Get upstairs. They’re probably already surrounding the property.”
Christy darted up two stairs at a time, and I closed my eyes, attempting to sense Decker’s frame of mind.
Decker had already made it clear by reporting on me to Lux that he has been vying for position number two, my position. There was no doubt that he was here to do bad things.
His energy washed over me with one purpose—to kill Christy and Ivy. He was told to bring me back to Lux.
I already knew what my punishment would be.
An eternity spent between the Nightfall Realm and the natural world. A vampire’s purgatory where we couldn’t speak, move, live, or die. We just existed alone in a tormented world full of despair, our own living hell. We called it the Eternal Wall of Sith, after Baobhan Sith. A vampire whose fate began it all.
But I couldn’t let anything happen to Ivy.
The moment I’d met her, there was something that called me to her. I wanted to protect her.
And Christy . . .
She always had my back.
I would not turn mine on her.
As I opened my eyes, I sensed several more vampires moving along the perimeter of the property. Decker might have arrived in the car solo, but he’d obviously brought a crew to finish the job quickly.
A few hurried footsteps ran across the floor above as I heard creaking and then more of their footsteps outside. Christy and Ivy were hiding. I only hoped there was somewhere that would keep them buried from prying senses.
“Carter, I know you’re in there.” Decker banged on the front door. “Open up, give us the girls, and we’ll end this ca
lmly and without much bloodshed.”
I rolled my eyes, feeling the fury flood through me. “Let me think about that.”
Decker’s smug attitude always brushed me the wrong way, but I’d tolerated it.
“You’re completely surrounded. This won’t end well for you,” he continued.
That was the one thing Decker loved to do.
Talk.
Incessantly.
He pounded on the door again. “If you don’t open the door, I’ll just break it down.”
“Go ahead. I don’t live here.” I moved to the kitchen and glanced out the windows. I didn’t see any of the crew out back, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.
As I turned around to head back to the kitchen, I spotted Ivy’s dog.
“Damn it,” I muttered to myself.
I bent over and picked her up. She’d be the first casualty in all this, without a doubt. Hopefully, Ivy would forgive me for what I was about to do.
I quickly made my way to the back door and gently tossed her toward the lawn. “Go, run.”
The dog turned around to look at me, wagged its tail, and then darted toward the first greenhouse.
No vampires emerged.
They were awaiting the go-ahead from Decker.
So predictable.
I shut the door and made my way to the living room where Decker started up again.
“I’m giving you one last chance to open the door or—”
To his surprise, I flung open the door and grabbed his neck, pulling him inside. I smashed my knee into his jaw as I kept him bent over. His arms flailed around in a desperate attempt to grab at me.
“I’m very disappointed in you, Decker.” I kneed his jaw again while holding him down.
Decker wheezed as he attempted to call in his backup.
I bent down to Decker’s ear and hissed, “I’m not letting you touch Christy.”
“Oh, she’s mine. That bitch is all mine.” He spat on the ground. “And your twins. You won’t be able to recognize them when we’re done.”
Decker’s arm looped around my waist as he attempted to throw me to the ground, but I spun around and pinned his head to the floor with my knee. His eyes squinted as I pressed harder, digging my kneecap into his neck.
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