Chapter 20
PHAEDRA
Jamison grabs a chair and sits down in front of his father.
He begins with a couple of questions that must have been burning within him for a very long time.
Personal things about his mother. I move back a few steps to give them some privacy.
The anger I’d felt toward his father slowly dissipates as I realize my plan worked.
When Jamison agreed to let me offer the knife to his father, I’d had to work fast. I knew he would never forgive himself if he was forced to kill him, and I couldn’t let that happen.
The most recent curse I’d used was the paralyzing one I’d devised for Hera’s enemies and placed on the peacock pin.
It was simple and easy to wield. Easy to replicate and cast on the knife too.
Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that Lord de Vere wasn’t going to take the damn knife, so I’d had to improvise.
When he reached out to grab me, I’d transferred the curse to my shirt.
The ring I’d brought from home. A truth curse comes in handy when you’re interrogating someone. And with what Jamison had told me about his father, I realized he’d rather die than tell the truth.
“Well done,” Mathias says, murmuring in my ear. His tone sends a delicious shiver down my back, and I look up at him. Obsidian eyes drift to my lips as if remembering our kiss, but he quickly looks away again.
“You too,” I tell him. “Tech geek. Warrior. You’re a man of many talents.” I look at Jamison and Hawthorne, then return my gaze to him. “But your best role is friend. Jamison called, and you came. No wonder he trusts you.”
He looks startled for a second. “He showed up for me first. The day we met, in fact.” A nostalgic smile crosses his face, and I’m caught by the simple joy in the gesture. “Unfortunately, I just received a text and have to leave sooner than I expected.”
I turn and grip his shirt, unable to help myself. “Don’t go. We can find another way to get the panel. It’s not worth your life.” He hesitates for a second, and I press on. “Please.”
His hand comes up and removes my hand, dropping it to my side. “I must. This is the only way to…” Firm lips compress, and he steps back from me. “You don’t know what you’re asking, and I don’t have time to explain it.”
Nonplussed, I search for answers, but his walls are too high. Guess this is how it feels when someone deliberately distances themselves and refuses to divulge their secrets. Touché.
He strides over and murmurs something to Hawthorne. Hawthorne frowns back at him and shakes his head. Mathias continues talking for a minute, and Hawthorne finally dips his head in agreement.
After he leaves, I tune back in to Jamison and his father.
“Why did you put a curse on my ring?”
His father tries to press his lips together, but the words come tumbling out anyway. “To make you appear weaker than you were.”
I raise an eyebrow. Still playing games. Answering with the truth but in a way that’s completely frustrating. Jamison must think so too because he slams his hand down on the arm of his father’s chair.
“Why did I need to appear weaker?”
His father looks at me and narrows his eyes, as if to say this is my fault. I smile. Damn right it is.
“So, he wouldn’t target you,” the elder de Vere murmurs.
Jamison straightens and stares at his father. “Who?”
“Bennett,” his father admits, his jaw ticking with anger.
“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 other way, 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.”
Jamison’s father pulls against his restraints as he shakes his head. “He already knows. My guess is he’s waiting to see who will win Nolan’s crown.”
“That will be too late for him and us,” Hawthorne interjects. “We can’t predict the winner. Maybe an ally, maybe not. Nor can we afford for the two groups to join forces. We must take out Bennett before the vampires choose their next leader.”
“I agree,” Jamison assures him. He’s quiet for a minute as he thinks through the options. “I have an idea, but I’ll need to run it by Mathias first and see if it’s feasible.” He turns to his father. “Do you have somewhere you can hide until this is all over?”
A relieved smile blooms on his father’s face. “I do. Does that mean you’re letting me go?”
“It means you better find a rock to hide under until I can take care of Bennett,” Jamison shoots back.
He pulls his phone from his pocket and shows it to his father.
“I taped this entire conversation. Your actions are reprehensible and unworthy of a de Vere. And your days of leading the council are over. But don’t worry, you aren’t the only one we’re going to remove from office. ”
“You’ll never get away with it,” his father spits, fury coating his voice.
Power fills the room. The walls bulge and the windows crack. His father flinches.
“For the longest time, I’ve hidden my power from you, worried you might feel threatened, but no more.
” Jamison’s voice is calm and strong, the underlying anger gone as if he’s made peace with their relationship.
“Any trouble from you, and I’ll bind your powers for the rest of your life. I’m leading this family now.”
His father gulps and looks to Hawthorne for help, but he simply turns back to the window. Blue eyes, so similar to Jamison’s, drift to me, and I watch as his hope dies when he sees the disgust on my face.
“Everything I did was to protect you and our lineage. You don’t understand. Bennett’s only focus is more power,” he says, pleading his case.
Jamison taps the silver on his father’s wrists, then places a finger on his forehead. “The cuffs will release you in an hour. Oh, and I added a geas that will prevent you from repeating this conversation to anyone.” He ignores his sputtering and turns to grasp my hand. “Let’s go home.”
It’s my turn to be shocked. He called it home.