A cold gaze meets mine. “Everything, including her death.” He takes another sip of his drink, making his way back to the fireplace. Inhaling deeply, he calms himself before speaking again. “Jennifer became aware that she had gargoyle blood running through her. Did you know that, Graysin?” He flashes me a forced sympathetic frown. “No. Of course you didn’t. You never knew of your real father. Only Thomas Ravenal.” He mocks my father’s name. “The human twat your dimwit mother married to cover up her dirty little secret.” His gaze slides over me. “All two of you.”
I take a step in his direction, but Everett is there in an instant, holding me back.
“It’s interesting and sad really, how little you and your sister knew. Your sheltered, normal, little country-club life back in Newport ill prepared you for what your futures held.”
“You know nothing of our lives,” I spit.
“I KNOW EVERYTHING!” he shouts, and then quickly composes himself. “My younger brother first met Jennifer at college. Ronan had a soft spot for the human girl,” he recounts, wistfully. “He likes to bring home strays.” He chuckles, and I grit my teeth. “During Jennifer’s first visit here, I became intrigued with her.” He trails off for a moment, lost in thought. “Obsessed, even. There was something different about her that I liked very much. Ronan’s heart has always lay elsewhere, and so Jennifer and I became fast acquaintances. Given what our town stands for, peace between humans and supernaturals, and my positions on the Court and with the Luna Coven, it was fitting that I marry a human. Our marriage is a symbol of everything we fight for.”
“Did you even love her?”
His eyes meet mine. “In only the way that a mage of my prestige can love a half-breed.”
My lips part. “Did Jenni know about you, about Havenwood Falls?”
“Yes. She was my most trusted companion,” he bites out. “And she was invaluable to me.”
“Invaluable how?” Everett inquires.
“There are sensitive business relations that I have, specifically with the Green Coven. Jennifer was kind enough to provide the appearance of a happily married couple so that I could enjoy my . . . extracurricular activities, as well as keep a short leash on my business and town dealings.”
My face scrunches up at his meaning. “You were using her? As a cover?”
“Don’t be naïve. We used one another to keep each other’s secrets.”
“This doesn’t sound like my sister at all.”
“As I mentioned before, the Jenni you knew, and the Jennifer I did, were two different people.”
“It sounds like you turned her into something she never would have become,” I accuse.
Darkness crosses his face as he glares at me. “Regardless of my presence in her life, her fate and destiny were always set in stone. I protected her, loved her, and sheltered her. Don’t mock me.”
“Your protection and sheltering of her were for naught. She’s dead, Roman.”
“Her blood is not on my hands.”
“Then whose?” Everett asks.
“Mine.” A beautiful, middle-aged woman answers, materializing out of thin air.
Her red-stained lips curl into a wicked smile, the deep color a sharp difference from her creamy skin. She sashays over to Roman, while keeping her focus on Everett and me.
Roman throws back the last bit of scotch in his glass, before tipping his head toward the glamorous bombshell of a woman next to him. “Enter the Green Coven.”
“Ada,” Everett addresses her with an edge to his tone.
“Everett,” she purrs, leaning into Roman’s personal space. Her smile is a little too sweet, a little too superior. “It’s nice to see you’ve found a playmate.” Ada’s blue eyes snap to mine. “Such a pretty, youthful one, at that.” She pouts. “What a shame that we have to take away your new toy.”
At the threat, Everett steps in front of me slightly. “Control your mistress, Roman.”
Ada throws a disgusted look my way, and my stomach flips upside down. “You’re protecting her?”
“Does that insult you?” I snip.
“Your mere existence insults me.”
“Ladies, please,” Roman admonishes. “I do believe Graysin came here for answers.” He exchanges a look with Everett. “Let’s grant her some. There are those in this town who suffer from the desire to obtain something belonging to someone else. I believe they call it covetousness. Isn’t that right, Everett?”
Everett’s jaw tightens.
“I see.” Roman smirks, a wickedness lying underneath. “She doesn’t know.”
“Doesn’t know what?” I ask.
“Jennifer had something that Everett wanted. It’s the reason he’s in Havenwood Falls.”
My heart smashes against my ribs, and betrayal mixed with anger coats every cell in my body. I look at Everett, who is looking everywhere in the room except at me.
“Which was?”
“The Blue Dragon Dagger,” Roman replies gleefully.
Everett’s muscles coil under his T-shirt as I stare at him, confused and shocked. When we were joking before about weapons of choice, I thought I’d made up the name of the dagger.
“I’m in the dark here,” I whisper, taken aback.
Like a flashback, I recall Jenni blurting the words out during one of our brief conversations.
Ada clicks her tongue at me, taking a step, looming closer. “I’d be happy to fill you in.”
My narrowed gaze snaps to her. “I’m good.”
The energy around her becomes charged as she sneers at me.
“The dagger is a knife I kept here in my weapons room.” Roman steps between us.
“You have a weapons room?”
Roman lifts a shoulder. “I am a collector of sorts.”
“Go on,” I exhale at the oddity of this conversation.
“Your sister was fascinated with it. There were times . . . I would catch her staring at it for hours, as it sat in the glass case. The dagger is a key. It opens a portal that sits under the town’s library. And I do believe Everett would like it for protection reasons.”
“A portal to what?”
“A Hungarian hunter’s prison,” Everett answers for Roman.
“What is that?”
Ada’s voice is soft and silky. “Like her sister, she is unintelligent and boring.”
I pin Ada with a hard glare, pressing my lips together so I won’t react to her rude comment.
Roman sighs, seemingly annoyed at our banter. “Most hunters, such as the Blackstone family here in Havenwood Falls, follow rules and codes of ethics, and over the years have been not only esteemed allies and friends, but have offered us protection from those who intend us harm. Then there are the immortal hunters from Hungary. In the late 1840s, when we traveled from the old countries seeking a safe haven, we were attacked by the Hungarian hunters. Since they’re immortal and cannot be killed, the Augustine, Bishop, and Beaumont families combined their magic to trap the hunters inside the Blue Dragon Dagger. It was then that the families realized the settlement was stronger when we worked together. We formed the Luna Coven, to not only protect our traveling band, but also to fiercely guard the dagger.”
“But they’re not in the dagger now,” I point out.
Ada claps with a proud gleam in her eye. “Well done, you.”
I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to Roman as he continues. “In 1876, just as we had established Havenwood Falls, Martha, the early leader of the Green Coven, became covetous of the Luna Coven’s bond. Out of jealousy, she managed to release the hunters from the dagger. In revenge for their imprisonment, the hunters attacked the town, killing both human and supernatural beings before we were able to entrap them again, this time in a portal—an alternate universe—another world—one in which they continue to live their lives, but that we controlled. We guarded it by placing the portal under the building where the Court used to meet in the early days, which in later years became the library. You see, Graysin,
if they were to roam amongst us, we would all be in danger, even the human residents, which is why the gargoyles have descended. Isn’t that right, Everett?”
“All this time, they’ve been imprisoned?” I question. “Are they even still alive?”
Roman stands taller. “Are you concerned for those who wish to do our kind maltreatment?”
I lift my chin. “I’ve seen your malice, Roman. So, yes. I am worried for their well-being.”
Ada lifts a finger, and suddenly my lips press together, unable to speak. “You talk too much. Concern and kindness are traits that make you weak.” Her voice is gentle, flirtatious even.
“Make her stop, Roman, or I will kill her,” Everett warns, his wings appearing again.
“Ada, that is enough,” Roman orders in a velvet voice, and my lips part, the hold released.
I consider slapping the bitch, but Everett’s smooth voice interrupts my seething. “They’re alive. The Luna Coven created a forest-world where the Hungarian hunters have lived all this time. They’ve simply been banished from our realm, but may continue to live normal lives within the confines of the prison.”
“How many were banished?” I ask.
Everett’s soft gaze meets mine. “Thousands.”
I narrow my eyes at Roman. “You imprisoned an entire race?”
He shrugs without care. “It would appear we missed a few.”
“Meaning?”
Roman cocks his head. “As with all magic, there are loopholes. The portal was created and sealed on the eighth of January in 1876, and it can only be opened by a mage, who must spill the blood of a Hungarian hunter—using the Blue Dragon Dagger—during the Death Moon.”
“One, eight, seventy-six. That’s what Jenni was trying to tell us,” I surmise.
“Ada,” Roman cups the witch’s face gently. “Be a dear and fetch the dagger, won’t you?”
Her mouth twists in a hint of a smile. It’s hard to say if it’s mocking or congenial. “It would be my pleasure.” She quickly vanishes into thin air.
Roman turns his focus back to us. “The longer Jennifer stayed with me, the more her gargoyle blood rose to the surface. We started noticing it a few years ago, when she stumbled upon the weapons room and the dagger. It was as if the knife called to her. The more time she spent around it, the more she changed into a protector. One morning, when she stepped out of the shower, the protector tattoo appeared on her lower back, as it does for female gargoyles. Two blue dragons, wrapped around a dagger.”
“Was that her protector assignment? To guard the dagger and portal?” I ask Everett.
“Yes,” he confirms.
“And you knew this?” I shake my head with disgust. “All this time . . . with me? You knew?”
He stares down at me, his face expressionless. “Yes.”
The tension in the room rises at his admission.
“How could you?” Fury burns in each word.
“There are rules in my world. Things I can’t explain or share, Graysin.”
His admission cuts deep, but I keep my head high and my voice low but firm. “Is that why my sister is dead? Your protector rules?” I bite out each word.
“No.” Roman clips out. “Jealousy and revenge are why she is dead.”
My focus shifts to him.
“I was the one who found Jennifer in the library that evening. The Blue Dragon Dagger had pierced her heart.” Roman’s eyes meet Everett’s. “She was already turning. I couldn’t stop it.”
Tears sting my eyes at the cruelty in his tone. “Turning?”
Everett’s gaze falls to the pile of daggers on the floor, before snapping up to mine. “When a gargoyle is pierced in the heart, they turn to stone, which then crumbles into ash.” Everett’s voice is sad and gentle as he explains. “It’s how we cease to exist.”
I draw both my hands over mouth, transfixed by horror. Then it hits me. If Roman let the knives hit Everett or me earlier, we would have ceased to exist. I snap my eyes to Everett, knowing he can read my thoughts, and I thank him for risking his life and protecting me.
He dips his chin, acknowledging that he heard me.
“No one knew your sister was half gargoyle, Graysin.” Roman’s voice is quiet. “It was a secret I kept at Jennifer’s request. When Ada stabbed her, she did so thinking Jennifer was human, and left her to bleed out to punish me for protecting her—choosing her. Ada can be . . . jealous and vindictive when she doesn’t get her way,” he adds. “I stayed with Jennifer until she turned completely and dissolved into dust. I took the ashes home with me and set off the arc fault in the wall with magic to burn any remaining powder from the stone. I protect family. Her secret is safe.”
“Why would Ada do this? For your love?”
“Ada is a plaything I like to fuck on occasion so she’ll do my dirty work for me. Like her mother, Martha, she is sensitive to the fact that she isn’t a founder. As the leader of the Green Coven, she seeks power and position. For that reason, Ada wants to set the Hungarian hunters free,” he explains. “Like her mother did before her.”
“Wouldn’t they hunt her and her coven?” I question.
“She believes she can use black magic to control them, and turn them into her army to do her bidding,” Roman replies.
“The Death Moon occurs every March,” Everett states. “Why was this one so special?”
“There is an art to opening the portal. The dagger must spill the blood of a Hungarian hunter—at the exact time the Death Moon rises—on a precise location above the prison. Ada had a Hungarian hunter girl in her possession during this particular Death Moon.”
“I thought all the Hungarian hunters were in the prison?” I point out.
“Are you not paying attention? I previously mentioned that it would seem we’ve missed a few,” Roman retorts.
“If that’s true, and some clans exist outside of the prison, why wouldn’t they have come here to try to release their kin before?” Everett asks. “It’s been hundreds of years.”
Roman’s expression turns hard. “For one, the town is warded, for that very reason. Even so, perhaps, over the centuries, the stories of what happened to their race became more fable than truth. Regardless, their bloodline is no threat to the Luna Coven.”
“And yet you keep them locked up,” Everett argues.
“The original hunters that slaughtered the town are still dangerous. And their anger and resentment toward supernaturals, as you can imagine, has likely grown while in captivity.”
“Which would make the hunters extremely grateful and in debt to anyone who released them,” Everett surmises. “For the town’s protection, I’m guessing that only the Luna Coven knows of the few that exist outside the prison.”
“And me.” Ada’s sultry voice announces as she sways her hips seductively, returning to Roman’s side. “Isn’t that right, baby?” She runs a crimson manicured finger over Roman’s lips before turning her attention toward us. “My coven performed a location spell. When we found the hunters, we kidnapped the girl.”
“You’re diabolical,” I mutter.
This seems to please Ada, because she laughs wickedly. “Funny, your sister said those very same words to me before I stabbed her in the heart and left her to bleed out.”
“I will kill you for this,” I threaten.
Everett’s arms wrap around my waist, preventing me from attacking her.
“I don’t take too kindly to being threatened. Roman knows this. Right before the fire, I went to him and announced I had a Hungarian hunter in my possession. That on the Death Moon, I planned to spill the girl’s blood and open the portal.” Ada looks up at Roman, lovingly, and for the first time this evening, he looks uncomfortable. “Of course, Roman and the holier-than-thou Luna Coven denied my request to open it,” she recounts, venom lining her tone.
“So you killed my sister because Roman said no to your crazy ass?” I accuse.
“He left me no choice. While beautiful, your sister was . . . stupid
and pathetic. In the way.”
I lunge in Everett’s arms for Ada. At the same time, Marisol appears next to her, in a trance, as if she is spelled. Ada pierces Marisol’s neck with the tip of the dagger, dragging it across the skin, leaving a bloody incision. At the same time, I slip out of Everett’s arms and collapse to my knees—the breath knocked out of me—clutching my neck. As if I was the one who had been punctured, blood seeps out of a wound that appears out of nowhere.
Instantly, Everett crouches in front of me, shielding us with his wings. “Just stay calm and breathe. Okay? I’ve got you, Graysin. Do you understand?”
Nodding, I watch as Roman’s jaw clenches, but he remains stoically silent.
Everett’s hands run over the gash, causing it to tingle. At his touch, I can feel the wound close and the bleeding stop. “How?” I breathe out in awe once the pain subsides.
“You can heal yourself, I just sped up the process.”
“I thought only mated—”
Suddenly, I’m yanked up by an invisible force as Ada grabs a fistful of Marisol’s hair, jerking me forward, away from Everett. “Stay back, protector. I’ve linked Marisol and Graysin.” She brings Marisol’s cheek to her own, speaking in a low seductive voice. “Thanks to a bit of dark magic, Marisol is now my own human voodoo doll. You move, and the snap of both their necks will be the last thing you hear before their deaths.”
I can feel Everett bristle behind me, his rage radiating off him in palpable waves.
Ada’s eyes meet mine, filled with hatred. “It’s easy to control those who protect. Love makes them weak. And in the end, sacrifices and choices have to be made. Jennifer, for instance, had to choose between the dagger and a young kidnapped girl. It’s why she was at the library that night. I lured her there, under the ruse that she could save the hunter-girl, if she handed over the dagger. She refused. We fought. Things were said—cruel things I’m afraid. About Roman’s and my relationship. It was all very dramatic, and unladylike. Upon hearing that Roman liked to fuck me, Jennifer lunged for me, and with a little bit of black magic, I took the dagger from her and stabbed her in the heart.” Ada’s lips twist in a sad smirk. “In the chaos, the hunter-girl escaped, ruining my short opportunity to open the portal. Our coven has been unsuccessful in relocating her. So you see, I’m harboring a lot of anger toward your family still.”
Covetousness: A Havenwood Falls Novella Page 10