“You’re not moving. Why aren’t you moving?” Jenna asked.
Dahlia appeared behind her.
“You were supposed to keep her inside,” I said in a flat voice that didn’t sound like me at all.
“Circumstances have changed. I judged her safer outside.”
I made a harsh sound that had Dahlia’s chin lifting in challenge.
Jenna’s gaze darted between the two of us. “Wait a minute.” An ugly, raw laugh tore at her throat. “Don’t tell me—you’re a monster too.”
Ice enveloped me.
“What if I was?” I asked in a soft voice, not certain I was ready for the answer.
Jenna’s flinch opened a pit in my stomach. But it was the step she took away from me that felt like a dagger in my heart. The sharp punch of a wound you knew would be mortal once the numbness wore off.
Connor’s form blurred. He appeared directly in front of her. “Sleep.”
The power he sunk into that command made my teeth ache.
Jenna never had a chance to resist. Her body went limp as she collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been severed.
Connor caught her before she fell.
“Personally, I think you should have let her answer.” Callie shook out her hair. Her glamour shredded to reveal a tangled mass of snakes where her curls had been. They hissed and nudged each other, sliding along her shoulders in a never-ending dance. “You might have been surprised.”
“There’s no need. I’m quite clear on what she planned to say,” I said with a calm that hid the turbulence I felt.
Or at least I thought it did until Callie and her snakes gazes landed on me with far more understanding than I was comfortable with.
“You shouldn’t let this bother you,” she advised.
“Why would I? She would only have spoken the truth—Iama monster.”
By any definition.
I drank blood. To survive, I fed off humans.
“Don’t hate yourself for what you are, darling. Only humans are stupid enough to do that,” Callie murmured. “Us monsters are too evolved to fall for that trap.”
Leaving those words of wisdom behind, Callie disappeared into the night as mysteriously as she’d come.
“I don’t know if your aunt is awesome or terrifying,” Caroline said quietly.
“It’s safe to assume a little of both.” I redirected my attention to the roof. “Natalia, how are things looking up there?”
She leaned over its edge. “It’s clear. I found no signs of a battle either.”
That was a relief.
“I’m going to search the surrounding area,” Natalia informed me.
I nodded. “Let me know if you find anything.”
If the harpies were still alive, they were witnesses and needed to be debriefed.
Vampires were protective of their own. This death wouldn’t go unanswered. That was for sure.
