“Michael is right,” Kenneth said, his voice deep but calm. “We don’t know if it is a witch that was responsible or a vampire.”
Karson glowered. “We do know a witch blocked Sarah from being tracked. We know a witch had a hand in the bone dagger they stabbed me with.”
“We don’t know that for certain,” Michael retorted.
Kenneth’s eyes widened. “You were stabbed with a bone dagger? Why didn’t you tell us?” he implored.
“I had more pressing issues.” Karson swallowed another mouthful. “It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but as you can see, I survived.”
Kenneth folded his massive arms. “A bone dagger … I thought they had all been destroyed?” His jaw clenched. “What if there are more? If they are placed in the hands of warrior witches, many vampires could die.”
The words cracked through my chest—witches like Dahlia, witches like me. I wanted to shout that not all warrior witcheswere bad, but given I only knew two, including myself, it seemed a rash comment. I gnawed at my bottom lip between my teeth.
“I’m confident it’s a one-off, which is now safely hidden. But I will do whatever I need to do,” Karson’s voice dropped an octave, “to find out who is responsible.”
I drew in a deep breath, trying to ease the pressure in my lungs. “What if they didn’t have a choice?” All eyes turned to me. “If someone threatened them or their families, they may not have had a choice.”
Karson blew out an annoyed breath. “There’s always a choice, Amelia.”
“Dying or helping,” Georgie said, her voice weak. “Most of us would do anything to protect the people we love.”
Her eyes shifted to me, and I saw affection and gratitude in hers. Another lump swelled in my throat. At this rate, the lump might as well be a mole dwelling in the cave of my throat.
“Georgie is right,” Michael said. “And if that is the case, we may draw more answers if we offer to help rather than destroy them.”
Karson opened his mouth then closed it again, as if he thought better of the protest he was about to verbalise. He slumped down to the couch, leaning back against the leather, weariness falling over his features. I wanted to go to him, to sit next to him, slip my arm around him, rub the muscles in his tight neck, but I couldn’t, not in front of Kenneth.
“The girl from the bar was a college student.” Josh breezed into room. He halted as he took in Georgie’s face.
“Hey,” he said softly. “That looks nasty. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Georgie dropped her gaze to her hands wringing in front of her. “What more do you know?”
Josh cleared his throat and dragged his eyes away. “She was supposed to meet friends at a restaurant for dinner and shedidn’t show. The last anyone saw her, she was at the library studying.”
Karson and Michael shared a look. “Thelibrary?”
“Yes, that library, but she was downstairs where the humans hang out.”
“What library?” Georgie was now perched on the arm of the couch.
Josh ran a hand through his damp, windswept hair. “There’s a really awesome magic library witches and vampires use.” His eyes lit up. “The walls move. I’ve seen books slipping off the shelves. And it has a lot of supernatural history, spell books, that type of thing.”
Georgie’s mouth dropped open as she grappled with the information. “There’s a magic library?”
No one responded, our minds too busy trying to figure out who was working for Sarah.
Kenneth had moved to the fireplace, where only a few softly glowing embers remained. “Which means whoever compelled the girl was probably at the library and she was chosen at random.” He unfolded his arms. “Is there a way to find out who was there? If we can get names, we could narrow this down pretty quickly.”
“I’ve already asked, and it’s extremely confidential. I thought the witch was going to strike me dead with the glare she gave me.” Josh visually shuddered.
“Does the bottom floor have security cameras?” Monique asked.
“Thought of that too. They are down, apparently.” He raised his brows.
Monique raised her brows to match. “Convenient.”
“How many vampires are capable of compulsion?” I asked.
