“At the time I had no idea she was having an affair with Jefferson, had I known I might have been able to shut things down sooner.”
I lifted my head. “Do you think Mike knows about what she discovered?”
Karson shook his head. “I destroyed all the evidence, he found something with my name on it and the hikers, but it’s hardly concrete proof.”
Ethan stepped forward. “I doubt he’d bother looking into it further now that Cole’s paying generously to run stories that suit his narrative.”
“People are either puppets on a string or they’re dead,” BJ muttered. He might have been talking about Cole, but he wasn’t. He sat down heavily beside me.
Karson drew in a deep breath, I could see him struggling to remain calm. “I do not go around controlling people for the sake of it, Benjamin. I do it when it’s necessary. Tell me, if people were to find out about the powers your mother truly has and thegovernment were to come for her, would you not do whatever was needed to keep her safe, your family safe, others like Amelia safe?”
Witch and vampire surveyed each other. Our skills may be different, the history terrible, but we shared a commonality in needing to keep each other’s existence a secret and, just as importantly, the waters.
BJ swallowed loudly, he dropped his eyes to the ground, finally he nodded slowly. “So, we can assume Lucy found out about everything from Jefferson,” BJ mused, looking back up, seeming to come to some degree of acceptance. “How did Jefferson find out?”
“We still don’t know,” Ethan replied.
We all looked up as Monique swooped in front of BJ. “And who’s this gorgeous thing?”
BJ’s eyes widened, he stood up and stared at her face like she was a rare, exquisite treasure. Mostly, because she was. He flushed, and gave a lop-sided grin.
“Did you find out anything?” Karson drawled.
“No,” Michael responded. Monique was too busy staring at BJ. “We searched everywhere in Church Heights we could think of. Whoever they were are long gone.”
“You negated to tell me you had such handsome friends, Amy.” Monique’s voice was all sugar and silk.
BJ smiled, shuffled on his feet and bowed his head.
I jumped to my feet. “Is that the cream, BJ?” I tugged his arm, yanking him away from Monique. “Let’s go to my bedroom.”
“You want to do it in there?” he asked, then blurted out, “I mean, not do it—obviously,” he laughed nervously. A soft red glow blanched his skin. “Put the cream on . . . your injury, because your face is all bruised and swollen,” he babbled.Monique barely restrained laughter. I heard him groan softly in his throat.
I tugged harder on his arm and pulled him up the stairs.
“Karson, before you tear the throat out of that one, do let me sink my teeth in first, won’t you,” Monique crooned. Somehow, she even managed to make the sound of the threat alluring.
I whipped my head back. “You touch him, Monique,” I hissed, “and you will be needing more than a dentist.”
Monique laughed, a pretty, enchanting sound. BJ pivoted his head back to look at her, his mouth still agape, doe eyed. I jerked his arm and marched him up the stairs, shutting the bedroom door behind us.
Having applied the cream to my swollen face I sat on the end of the bed. It burned, stunk and itched uncomfortably, but BJ had assured me that meant it was working.
“Do you know why the men came after you? Was it random or were you targeted for a reason? BJ asked. He sat beside me.
“Targeted,” I replied, “there was an email from Cole telling them to take me to the outskirts of town, unharmed.”
“Cole?” His eyebrows shot up, he glanced at me with concern. “Does he know what you are?”
“We don’t even know if it was Cole, not for certain. It was from his server, so it looks like it was him. But he can’t know what I am. I don’t go anywhere without my ring, and if he did, he’d have known not to send humans.” The itch was infuriating, I fought the urge to rub the cream off my face. “What purpose would I serve Cole?”
BJ shuffled back and rested his head on the wall, looking up at the ceiling for a long moment, considering it all. Then realization dropped over his face. “What if the plan wasn’t to hurt you, but to get you away from Karson and Ethan? But, who else would know what they are apart from . . .” he paused and sat bolt upright. “Caron?”
I stared at him, confused. Caron’s words bounded back in my head. I’d forgotten about them, until now.
“Why? She knows Karson and I are no longer together, and she knows I’m still training to fight for them.” I frowned. “But she did mention something strange the other day. She said witches playing with vampires is treason and that she could only protect me so much.”
“Treason?” BJ sat back. “What the hell does that mean?”
