I sent my power into the potion. This time it pulled more than the others. It was good that I drank Lydia’s blood, or else I wouldn’t have made it through this last one. I thought again of the dead body, of whoever was trying to ruin my life, and of my chances at a normal, happy life.
“And done!”
I stopped, breathing hard, but that was all. Lydia spun to me, excitement in her eyes. “Well, did it work?”
I held up a hand, trying to listen. For an instant, I believed we’d failed. Had we done the spell wrong? Maybe I hadn’t met the person who was setting me up.
But then, words, as soft as a caress.The killer is fae.
I waited a moment, expecting more, expecting it to add vampire onto the end, but the voice died out. I looked at Lydia in shock. “The murderer is fae.” I could barely believe it. Sephira had been right. The murderer hadn’t been a vampire.
The creature, who’d somehow deprived his victim of blood to set me up, was fae.
Chapter 11
“Itcan’tbeDarcy.”I don’t know why those were the first words out of my mouth.
Lydia looked at me. “Why can’t it be him? Doesn’t he hate you?”
We’d been enemies long enough. It very well might be him. But after our somewhat reconciliation, I didn’t want it to be him. Maybe itwasJohn Rittle after all.
I shook my head to clear it, running my hand through my hair. In a lot of ways, this was bigger than a vampire setting me up. Fae held most of the power in our society. “This is bad.”
Lydia took my hand. “We can figure this out.”
“We? I don’t think so.” I pulled from her grasp. “We’re going right now to get that annulment, per our agreement.”
Her hands clenched, and she lifted her jaw in that defiant way of hers. “Fine, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop searching.”
“You agreed, Lydia.”
“I agreed to the annulment. I didn’t agree to quit searching until we found the killer.”
Frustration filled me. I wanted her by my side. I even wanted her help in solving this, but I wanted her safe more than any of that. “Fine. Let’s go get our annulment.”
She turned and marched toward the basement stairs. I followed, wishing deep down there was some way to postpone the inevitable. Yet if the murderer was a fae and organizing my downfall, a bigger event was happening. Fae, especially high fae, had more power than anybody in this town and in the magical world.
As we entered the main room, Lydia slipped on her shoes and turned to me. “I left my purse in the shop behind the counter. It has the papers you gave me,” she said, her voice clipped. “We’ll have to go through Cupid’s Confections.”
I followed her through the kitchen. We passed Kitty, still working on the bundt cakes, but she said nothing as we passed. We headed into the shop, where Lizzy and Jane were both there helping run things.The store was slow at the moment. Thescent of cinnamon and freshly-baked bread filled the air like a spell of comfort, curling into every corner and drawing sighs of contentment from the furniture itself. Jars of enchanted jam winked from the shelves, their contents swirling as if stirred by invisible spoons.
The sisters fell silent as Lydia and I passed, Lydia marching forward, her fists clenched at her sides.
I recalled Mary’s words.Convince her it’s over and let us be there for her.
The Bennet sisters would have their work cut out for them. Although I wondered if they’d gathered today because they suspected I’d stop by and press the annulment issue since none of the sisters offered me cheerful looks.
Three men entered the shop and headed straight for the counter. One man’s coat resembled my leather jacket that I often wore.
“What can we help you with?” Jane asked.
The first man glanced up, and I froze. Not only did he wear clothes just like mine, but he had the same olive-toned skin, chin-length hair, and brown eyes. He could be my twin. What was going on?
He smiled, showing elongated incisors. “We’d like a bite out of that pretty neck.”
My stomach turned to stone, sinking fast. The two companions moved to surge around the counter. Their gazes widened when they saw me, but that didn’t slow their advance.
Lizzy reached under the counter and hit a button, and suddenly the men fell back as if they’d hit a wall.
