“I finally found Elizabeth out back.”
A pool of blue blood oozed from the wound in her chest but her lips had twitched and he had run to her side. He’d grabbed a sheet from the line and held it against her bleeding chest but her blood had soaked through the linen within moments, staining his hands blue.
She had struggled for air. Struggled to speak. I’m sorry. Her last words to him had been an apology, and some days it was more than he could bear. The light in her eyes had grown dimmer until it no longer shone. He’d shaken her. Screamed at her.
“I was too late. She…” The words lodged in his throat. Even now. “She died in my arms.”
Who knows how long he would’ve stayed there, bent over the cooling body of his sweet Elizabeth, if he hadn’t heard the whimper behind him.
“Someone else was there. A man with straw-colored hair.”
Hunched over his Dria, his heart.
“He stared at me and pulled a copper dagger from Dria’s chest. I screamed at him to stop but he’d already done what he’d set out to do.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “I would’ve killed him. I wanted to kill him. Make the bastard pay for what he’d done. But when I reached him, he vanished.”
Falling to the ground, he’d scooped his Dria up. A tiny bit of life had still beat inside her. She’d tried to look at him, but her big brown eyes had only flickered for a moment. Pa, she’d said. Pa. Then she’d taken her last breath and he’d felt her body grow cold and lifeless against him.
Then he hadn’t felt anything. He’d lain down on the ground, cradling her to him for hours, or days, or weeks, or years. Time had meant nothing.
“I knew I couldn’t leave them outside. The animals…”
The sky had had a dark pink hue by the time he’d gathered the tools he needed, but it hadn’t mattered. Nothing had mattered. Night fell but the moon glowed bright enough to dig a grave for them to share.
“I couldn’t handle the thought of them being alone, so I laid Dria in Elizabeth’s arms and buried them together. I–”
“Myles! Are you all right?”
Wrenched from his memories, he looked blankly at Breena.
She pointed to his eye. “You’re bleeding.”
Touching the wetness on his face, he looked at it. “Tears.” He wiped them away then licked his fingers.
“Go on.” Breena squeezed his hand.
“After I buried them, I walked the property for hours, gathering Dria’s favorite flower to put on their grave. I wanted… I needed to do something for them.”
He had gone back to their grave and spread the flowers over the mound of dirt, but suddenly the gesture had seemed so hollow. So futile. His knees had given way and he’d collapsed to the ground. For the longest time he’d stared at the yellow petals, hands shaking, tears flowing.
“I already missed them. I’d failed to protect them. And I couldn’t bring them back. There was only one thing I could do.”
* * * *
“What?” Breena leaned forward, heart aching for him.
“I realized the only power I had left was the power over my own life. If I couldn’t be with them in this world, I would be with them in the next. So I dug my grave beside theirs.”
“You committed suicide?”
“I tried, Bree. After finishing my grave, I took my straight razor and lay down in the cool dirt. Putting the blade to my throat, I thought about being with them again, and slashed.”
Breena gasped at the thought and instinctively grabbed at her own throat.
“There was little pain, but blood gushed everywhere. I knew it wouldn’t be long until I was with them again. I welcomed death.”
“Who turned you?” Breena asked.
“I found out later my Master worked for the Witches’ Council. He was the leader of the SPC at the time.”
“SPC?”
“Supernatural Population Control.”
“So Elizabeth and Dria were preternaturals?” Breena asked.
“Elizabeth, yes. Dria was a halfling.”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.” Myles touched his neck. “Not until after I’d been turned.”
“How’d you end up working for the WC? You act like you hate them.”
“I do hate them,” he fumed.
“Why?”
“I have the ability to track animals, humans and supernaturals, and they knew of my ‘gift’ because my Master had watched me for years. They felt my skills were an ‘asset’ they couldn’t afford to lose. So they sent a vampire to turn me, enhancing my natural talent in the process. But it backfired on them because I hunted the witches down. One by one, I drained and killed twelve of the thirteen board members. All but your grandmother, the president.”
“Why not her?”
“She was too well protected by her furry servants. But I hoped my actions would at least lead her to stake me. Instead, she put a spell on me and sentenced me to one hundred and fifty years serving her.”
So that’s what the cleaning crew had been talking about. Myles is a prisoner. “How does she make you serve her?”
He furrowed his brow and stared at her for a long beat. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked? Was it too personal?
“Dandi.”
“Oh.” Breena swallowed. “The WC will–”
Myles nodded slowly.
Holy hell. If the WC would hold Dandi over Myles’s head, would Lucinda use Jenny to get Breena to cooperate? She couldn’t deal with that right now.
She stared at him, unsure if she should push the topic or move on. She decided to try her luck at a different question. “What spell did she put on you?”
“A spell to keep me from committing suicide.”
“Why not have someone kill you instead?”
Good Lord, Breena, stick your foot in it again, why don’t you?
“I tried that but no one wanted to risk the president’s wrath. The attempt caused me to go under constant supervision. Eventually, I stopped trying and was given this.” He held up his finger with the copper ring.
“What’s so great about it?”
“It’s kind of like an ankle bracelet for a prisoner under house arrest. As long as I wear it I can go anywhere I want, but if I take it off and go more than fifty feet from it, the president’s henchmen descend. It also keeps me from self-harm.”
“You didn’t want to kill yourself after you got the ring, though?”
A vague unease squirmed through her, and she shifted in her seat.
Focus, Breena. The guy is finally talking.
“No. Being immortal messes with your mind. As time passes, you begin to forget parts of the past. And by the time I’d turned Dandi, I no longer wanted to take my own life. If anything, I wanted to live.”
Breena recalled Orin’s statement when they’d been by the dam. How hard is it to live for something? To die for something is beyond most people. “What do you live for?”
“You.” He flashed his sexy grin her way. “And Dandi and Jenny. Something worth living for.”
Terrific.
More pressure. Would Myles want to committee suicide if she broke his heart? Could a vampire’s heart even be broken? Although…maybe his love for her was the same as his love for Dandi? A low burn of anxiety rippled through her. She pushed it aside. “Why’d you turn Dandi?”
“Purely selfish reasons. I’m still trying to make it up to her, though I probably never will.” He took a deep breath. It made him seem so human.
She swallowed hard. “You wanted a mate?”
“No. I wanted a child.” His voice was raw and full of desperation.
“Why her?”
“Dria’s favorite flower.”
A low itch in her bones made her fidget, trying to get comfortable. “Really? That’s the only reason?”
“I told you it was selfish, Bree.”
“Is Dandi serving a sentence too?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wasn�
�t exactly thrilled when I turned her. She went on a killing spree shortly after.”
“She killed humans?”
“Yes.”
Sarcasm seeped through Breena’s words. “I thought killing mundanes was ‘acceptable’ in the supe world?”
“It is acceptable if you’re feeding and there’s an accident, but two hundred humans isn’t an accidental dinner. It’s a massacre.”
“Two hundred?”
“In one night.”
“Damn.” Breena’s breath hitched.
“I begged the WC not to execute her.”
“So they sentenced her?”
“Fifty years under my watch.”
“Fifty years? That’s all? You kill twelve witches and get one hundred fifty years and Dandi goes all mass murderer and only gets a third of that? What the hell?”
Okay, so it wasn’t like Breena hoped Dandi would serve any more time, but damn. Did human life mean so little to the Witches’ Council…to her grandmother? Obviously it did. Which only supported her theory that Lucinda Vale couldn’t be trusted.
“I know. It doesn’t make sense, but the president rules the way she sees fit.”
“What does the WC make Dandi do for her sentence?” She wanted to know this, needed to, but she couldn’t just sit here while…
While what?
What the hell is going on?
“They won’t tell me, and she’s not allowed to.”
“Why? It must be pretty damn bad, then, for all the secrecy.”
“I’m afraid it probably is. Since I’m her maker, I could legally kill her at any time. So, I’m glad I don’t know what it is the WC has her doing.”
“Because you love her?” Breena tried to choke back the jealousy. She needed to move. Now.
He found her hands and squeezed. “Yes, I love her, as a daughter. Just as you love Jenny, as a sister. They may not be relatives by birth, but they are our family. They’re all we have.”
Jenny.
The anxiety became an inferno. “Where is Jenny?” Breena pulled her hands away. “I thought she was with you.”
“She’s fine. She’s in the cafeteria.”
But Breena had an ache in the pit of her stomach. She felt like a caged animal.
“Something’s not right.”
Chapter 23
Breena did a double-take as they walked through the door of the cafeteria. Unlike the stark white walls and cement floors of her community college’s cafeteria, this place seeped beauty, from its cherry-stained hardwood floors to its marble-topped round tables. Her fear for Jenny’s safety downgraded to mild concern.
“Stop doing that.” Breena tossed Myles a scowl. The blood-bond was driving her batshit crazy.
“What?”
“Sending me calm vibes.”
He shook his head. “Not me this time.”
The indoor waterfall caught her attention. It reminded her of her dam, flowing with a rhythm unmatched by the rapid beat of Breena’s heart. The sound calmed her nerves, and she knew this was the culprit. Not Myles. She watched it for a moment, letting it soothe her, though she wondered where the water supply came from. It looked as though the water appeared out of thin air before flowing over the smooth cobblestone wall in the center of the room.
When she managed to look away, she noticed a row of people forming a straight line against the far wall of the room, execution style. But they didn’t look scared. They all looked pleased enough. Some even seemed to be excited about something.
“What’s going on?” Breena asked.
“Buffet.”
“I don’t see any food.” Then she caught Myles’s sideways glance, which seemed to say, We don’t talk about it in here.
“Oh,” Breena replied to her own little revelation.
They circled the fountain in search of Jenny but didn’t find her.
“So what’s the deal with the WC anyway? How’d the witches get to run the show?”
“They were appointed.”
“By the djinn?”
He cut his stare to Breena with a terrifying flash of red, which nearly stopped her in her tracks. “Shhh. Yes.” He looked at her in the same shut-the-hell-up way he had when she’d questioned the buffet. “But we don’t speak of the Ancient Ones. Especially not here.” He looked around warily, as if lightning would strike him down any moment.
“Well, why did they choose the witches?”
“Witches are the only supernatural beings who don’t have to worry about killing their prey when feeding.”
“Do they…uh, we feed on humans?” Breena hoped the answer was no. Maybe her inner witch would redeem her in some way. Her preternatural side already seemed to devour any good qualities her witch-half offered and she wasn’t sure how much more hunger she’d be able to resist.
“Yes.”
“Shit–”
“But,” he said, apparently reading the anxiety on Breena’s face, “they feed on energy, not soul or blood or flesh.”
“So that’s where their…my power comes from?”
“The witches’ long lifespan comes from feeding on human energy, but their magical power draws from nature.”
Breena wanted to ask what made the djinn so dang special, but she didn’t think she would get a straight answer from Myles at the moment. So she went with her next question. “What do the Ancient Ones feed on?”
The pregnant pause swelled between them.
Myles kept his voice low. “The supernatural.”
* * * *
Breena’s anxiety slammed into her the moment they walked out of the cafeteria. No Jenny. Myles suggested another place for them to check, so she followed him to the elevator.
Her pocket vibrated again. Reaching in, she grabbed the cellphone. That was the fourth missed call from this number, whoever it belonged to. She had voicemail, so she should probably listen to it eventually. For now, she put it back in her pocket.
On the second floor, Myles led the way down a hall similar to the one the president lived on, except this floor resembled a day care, with brightly-colored balloons and clouds painted on the walls. The magic here smelled a lot like Play-Doh.
They stopped mid-way down the hall to face a set of wooden double doors.
“This is it.” Myles opened one of the doors for Breena.
With basketball goals, bleachers, a volleyball net, a stage, and what appeared to be locker rooms near the back wall, the wide-open space looked nothing like she’d expected. “How is there a full-size gym on this floor?”
“Expansion spell mixed with an invisibility charm on the outside to keep the mundanes unaware.”
They walked over to the middle of the wall behind one of the goals and leaned back to scan for Jenny. Soon Breena spotted Dandi on the bleachers flirting with three attractive, high school-age girls.
“How old is Dandi?” Breena asked.
“Human years, she’s sixteen.”
Explained a lot.
“The youngest a human can be turned,” he added.
Well, great, her loaded list of questions continued to grow.
After searching the crowded gym for what felt like eternity, Breena finally saw Jenny.
Phew.
With a side of crap. “What the hell?” She took off like a shot, running toward the stage along the back wall of the gym.
“Bree?” Myles called after her.
She kept going. He followed her, matching pace.
When they got across the gym, Breena had to stop and suck down short breaths but Myles stood as cool as a cantaloupe by her side.
Jenny sat on the edge of the stage, swinging her feet. The silver-haired lady, Rae, stood next to her.
“Come on, Jenny.” Breena caught her breath. “Now.”
“But, sis…”
“So soon? Jennifer and I were having a nice little chat.” Rae’s green eyes honed in on hers. They were too bright. So familiar. Why couldn’t she place her?
Breena faced Jenny. “Yes, now.�
�� Then she returned her gaze to Rae. “And she doesn’t like to be called Jennifer.”
“It’s okay, Bea. She’s my friend.” Jenny kicked her shoe against the stage.
“The hell she is.” Suddenly Breena’s ears sprang up. All she heard was humming. The entire gym screamed with the sound of souls, waiting for her to feed on them. She rushed forward and pinned Rae against the wall.
In a flash, Myles stood between them.
“Breena, focus. Look at me.” He cradled her face in his hands, his touch cool against her clammy skin.
“Huh?” Breena didn’t feel like herself. She needed to taste a human soul so damn bad. God, the hunger. And a PB and J definitely wouldn’t cut it this time. She wanted to scream.
“Bree, we should go.” Myles smoothed her hair back behind her ears.
“Listen to the vamp, unnatural.” Rae’s tone held an air of dominance.
I’m half-witch too, dammit.
Breena wanted to smack the smug look off her face and drain the life out of her, not necessarily in that order. But from the deer-in-headlights look Jenny wore, she’d been scary enough for one day.
Cutting her gaze to Rae, she hoped the look said, Watch your back, bitch. But Rae’s expression was utterly blank.
“Come on, Jenny.” Breena managed to keep herself in check.
Myles helped Jenny off the stage.
“I enjoyed talking about the different glows, Jennifer.” Rae smiled sweetly at Breena’s sister.
Jenny glanced at Breena and spoke quietly to Rae. “Me too.”
Hell’s bells. How many times had she told the girl to hold onto a secret?
Jenny never listened.
* * * *
Who the hell did she think she was?
She has no right to my sister.
Biting down on her bottom lip, she squeezed her eyes shut, but the insistent noise wouldn’t stop.
She was a wreck. What was wrong with her?
Myles walked her back to the apartment but she stopped in front of the door, blocking his way.
“Breena, I should stay.”
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