“Who is Bennett to you?” Jamison asks, and the question makes me frown. Does he think there’s a personal connection between the two of them?
Lord de Vere gnashes his teeth, trying to evade the truth, but the ring wields the curse too well, and the truth spills into the air. “My son. Your half-brother.”
There’s a stunned moment as we all digest what he just revealed. The magnitude of what this means. No wonder Lord de Vere was on the run. He’d been helping the mage who created the weapons, led an attack on the council’s security forces, and is basically trying to overturn the entire council.
Jamison’s face turns to stone, and he orders his father to tell them everything.
“After your mother passed, I lost touch with reality for a while. Became careless,” he begins, and it’s apparent from the self-loathing in his tone that he’s ashamed of this period in his life. “Classic story. One of them became pregnant. She wouldn’t give it up. I spent the next two hundred and seventy years paying for one stupid mistake.”
If he told Bennett that, no wonder he’s a little crazy.
“Go on,” Jamison commands him.
“He’s more like me than I care to admit. Ruthless, greedy, power hungry,” he says with a hint of pride. “But he has no moral compass. Or integrity. His every thought is how to manipulate the world to fulfil his needs. He doesn’t believe in the greater good. Only power. Any way he can get it.”
“Sounds familiar,” Jamison says, pointedly looking at his father.
His father glares at him. “That’s where you’re wrong. Without rules, we would have chaos. Supernaturals would run amok. Humans would overwhelm us. And the gods would decide to finish what they started. It would be a disaster.”
“True,” Jamison concedes in a dry tone.
“To be honest, I thought Bennett was crazy when he mentioned Phaedra, but then he found the panel and key in Nolan’s vault, and I realized he might be on to something. So, I did the only thing I could to stop him: I told Nolan.”
“That was your plan?!” Jamison shouts at him.
His father glares at him. “It worked, didn’t it? He didn’t get his hands on the panel or the key. And while Nolan’s death was unfortunate, it spurred the vampires into action.”
I almost laugh at his twisted logic, but his ‘damn the consequences’ plan did prevent Bennett from getting his hands on the panels. I shudder to think what he would do with the power to open the portals.
“You don’t understand. Bennett wants the supernaturals to rule this world, and he’s not the only one,” Lord de Vere says in a hard voice. “The vampires are a formidable force. They’re the only ones who can stop Bennett, because they will use every measure at their disposal. They’re not bound by rules and justice like you are. Then you and your team and the army you’ll put together will stop the vampires.”
He looks smug for a minute, but then his gaze falls on me. “The only thing I didn’t count on was her and the gods.” He looks me up and down. “Why would they supposedly give you the power to open the portals?”
I lift my chin and tell him. “Because I’m the one who opened them in the first place.”
Shock twists his features.
Jamison gives me a look, then turns to his father. “I’ll make sure you forget that before we leave.” He leans forward. “One last question. Where can we find Bennett?”
“I don’t know,” he admits with a heavy sigh. “He’s paranoid. Sleeps in a different location every night and never returns to the same place in a given period of time. He could be anywhere.”
“So, we have to draw him out,” I insert, my mind racing. “And we know what he wants. Me.”
Hawthorne curses. “Not happening.”
Jamison stands and shoves the chair to the side. It goes skidding across the floor. “That’s not a fucking option.” He begins pacing the room. “We’ll use one of the panels as bait.”
“Bennett will do anything for the panels, so that might work,” his father says.
Jamison and I exchange a glance.
Frustrated, I step in front of Jamison and force him to stop. “I’m the sure bet. We can’t afford to have another panel in our enemies’ hands. And as much as I hate to admit it, your father’s right. We can’t fight both groups. We can take down one but not two.”
“Thank you,” his father pipes up, and we both turn and glare at him.
Jamison thrusts a hand through his hair. “You’re not bait. That’s not acceptable. To any of us.” Hawthorne relaxes and gives him a firm nod. Jamison pivots and paces back the otherway, then stops. “That’s it. The vampires have two panels. Maybe there’s a way we can use one as bait.”
“You say Bennett has eyes and ears everywhere, right?” Jamison asks his father, who nods. “We’ll simply make sure the truth gets out. When Bennett hears the vampires have one of the panels, he’ll make a play for it. And with Mathias’ help, we’ll be there to capture him.”
