Every inch of my body came to attention as my mind struggled to process what now seemed almost obvious. “Everyone’s been focused on Brooke, looking into any possible motives for her murder, but what if we’re looking in the wrong place? She was in Evie’s room. She looked like Evie. So much so that anyone who’d been given a description would probably assume they had the right person.”
“Fuck.”
I was trembling, I realized distantly, and my hands were clamped so tightly around the steering wheel that my knuckles had turned white. “Yeah. I feel stupid not figuring it out sooner, but I can’t see why anyone would want Evie dead either. At the same time, she’s the one with a sister who’s been sleeping with a demon. She’s the one who’s dating a werewolf.”
“You think it was a hate crime?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
I pulled the car into the parking lot of my apartment building.
“I’ll go see the wolves in the morning. Evie’s been seeing one of them—Liam.”
Kyla nodded. “He’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, I thought so too, but he’s been suspiciously absent since her life fell apart. And I caught a hint of wolf at the scene. I’ll text you when I’m done there, and we’ll figure out our next step.”
She slid me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, Danica.”
“We don’t know for certain that she was the target.”
Kyla was quiet as we got out of the car, and I blew out a breath. “Yeah, I’m sorry too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
My mind raced as I made my way up to my apartment. I needed to get Evie out of here. If I was right, she was in danger if she stayed in Durham.
We had a cousin in Chicago. I hadn’t seen her since I was a kid, and she was a loose cannon, but she’d take my sister in.
And there was no way Evie would go. I wouldn’t if I were in her shoes.
I pushed open my apartment door and Evie jumped to her feet.
“I learned something very interesting today,” she said quietly, and I bit my tongue to hold back a deluge of curses.
“What did you learn?”
“I learned that Brooke was beheaded.”
“Yeah.” Fraught silence stretched between us and I sighed. “I was planning to tell you. I just didn’t know how.”
“Why, Dani? Did you think I couldn’t handle it?”
I threw up my hands. “Yeah. I thought you couldn’t handle it. Because I can barely handle it, and I’ve only met her a few times. It’s horrifying, and you shouldn’t have to handle it.”
Evie stared at me. “You lied to me.”
“I didn’t. I just didn’t tell you everything.”
“Because you think I’m fragile.”
“No,” I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes for a long moment. “Because what you’ve been through is so awful, I wanted to spare you from more pain for as long as I could. I tried to protect you from the truth, and I’m sorry. But there’s more.” Hiding my suspicions from Evie would only piss her off. If I were in her shoes, I’d be tempted to take a swing at me for even considering it.
“Tell me.”
“I can’t find anyone who could want Brooke dead, and believe me, we’re looking. She lived a normal, quiet life. But she looked like you, Evie. She was in your room. You need to be careful, because there’s a chance that someone was trying to kill you. And by now, they would’ve learned that they fucked up.”
Evie collapsed back onto the sofa, burying her head in her hands.
“She died because someone thought she was me?”
