“Leave it.” Karson snatched the duster from my hands. “I’ll do it.”
I strode up the stairs, slammed the door, hard, and sat down on the bed. I googled whiskey glasses from Italy, found some, five hundred and fifty dollars for the set of four, thanks for coming. I ordered them and a decanter for good measure.
Chapter 81
An Ancient Law
BJ walked in around mid-afternoon, holding a large glass jar full of green colored cream. It looked like mouldy mowed grass.
“Sorry it took so long, we had to go to Two Peaks to get some—” He caught sight of me and his mouth cranked open. “Oh, Amy, who did this?” He rushed forward.
“Hang on, my—” I never got to finish the sentence, he threw his arms around me, squeezing my bruised chest. I sucked in a breath through my teeth.
“Are you okay?”
“I will be if you lighten up on the squeeze, BJ,” I breathed.
He released me and stepped back. “Sorry.” He peered into my face like he was a doctor searching for splinters. “Did Matt find them?”
I averted my eyes. “They’ve been dealt with.”
He made a clicking sound in his throat. “I don’t suppose I want to know how?”
“No,” I agreed, “you don’t.”
He shifted his gaze between Ethan and Karson. Shock swept across his face like a white fog. “The car accident . . .” he said ina hoarse voice. “All of those car accidents. Jesus. What’s wrong with you?”
We all looked at him for a moment, wordless.
Ethan cleared his throat. “Not all, BJ, far fewer than you think. The roads are treacherous and human driving skills are appalling.” He moved over to the side cabinet, turned his back and poured three whiskeys.
BJ glowered at his back. “What about the missing hikers? I suppose their walking skills were appalling too.”
I felt my insides grow cold. I shivered and rubbed my arms.
“I believe you came here for a reason, BJ,” Karson stated. Conversation dismissed.
BJ made a disgusted sound through his nose. “How many of them did you murder? All those missing faces in the diner. Lucy, the journalist, the girl you had a drink with who disappeared. Did you kill her?”
That at least, he could safely deny. He wouldn’t need to kill her, if she’d known something she shouldn’t, he could mind control her to forget. I waited for the denial.
Ethan stilled.
Karson shifted his gaze to me and in it was filled with both annoyance and—oh, God—guilt.
Shock stole my breath. I felt a cold sweat break out on the nape of my neck. He killed her. It was written all over his face.
I closed my eyes, willing it not to be trued. Her image flashed in my mind, she was so young, so vibrant, so dead. The ground seemed to sway under my feet.
“My hand was forced, I had no choice.” Karson’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet.
I dragged my eyes open. “No choice?” My voice shook, “you had a choice. You could have mind-controlled her.”
He held up his palm, silencing me. “I could not.” He dropped his hand back down. “There are some humans whose mindscan’t be altered, either they’re too strong, or they carry witch blood somewhere in their genetics. It makes them immune to persuasion or unpredictable at best. She knew too much. She threatened to tell the world about our kind, about the witches and about the waters. I had no choice.” He tried to keep his tone casual but couldn’t entirely disguise the defensiveness in his voice.
“Jesus,” BJ whispered.
I plonked to the couch, staring at the wood grains in the floor, running it through my head. He’d killed her because he had to, not because he wanted to. I’d never outright asked him if he did it. No wonder he steered me in another direction when I’d talked about looking into her disappearance. He could have lied about it, but he didn’t. The notion was more consoling than perhaps it should have been.
