Chapter 26
Gravestone
Ididn’t stay in the shower long, didn’t allow myself the luxury of falling apart.
There were questions we needed answers to.
I covered the injured leg in a series of cap-sized plasters and wrapped it tight.
The other ankle I wrapped with a support bandage.
I got changed into a thick navy knit jumper, jeans, socks, and sneakers and went downstairs.
The foyer was spotless, as if nothing had occurred at all.
“I hear you took down a vampire, Amelia,” Michael said as I walked into the sitting room. “Quite the feat, you should be proud of yourself.”
“Not quite,” I answered as I glanced at Karson. “Karson took her down, I just enabled her to hold my leg while he did it.”
“How are your wounds?” Karson asked hesitantly. “Do we need a healer?”
For my ankle, I probably needed Dahlia. “No. They’re scratches.”
Monique ran her eyes over me. “You look like shit.”
I folded my arms over my chest and ignored her. “What did you do with her body?”
“She is at the morgue. It will be reported tomorrow that she was hit by a car, and her gravestone will be in the cemetery, so the children will have somewhere to visit. I spoke to Lester. You will be pleased to know Billy’s father has been located.
He was unaware of his existence apparently.
He and his wife are keen to take both children.
She is a schoolteacher and he is a police officer, and they do not have their own children.
They will be here to collect them this morning. ”
I let out a long breath. “What are we going to tell the children?”
“The same story the paper will report, but I will need to wipe their minds of everything prior. It’s for the best, given the circumstances.”
“How did she find them here?”
A heavy silence fell over the room. “She killed their case worker,” Karson said grimly.
“She still had the old couple down as their carers.” He paused and my stomach sank.
Whatever he was about to say wasn’t good.
“She killed them too. They must have given her my car license plate or my name.” He shook his head, perplexed.
“How did she get in the yard and who let her inside?”
Karson’s jaw tightened. “There was a distraction in the forest behind the house. They all headed to it, thinking it was Sarah.”
“What kind of distraction?”
“Someone gutted one of the vampires on guard and strapped him to a tree like Jesus on the crucifix.” Monique gulped her wine down.
My face paled. “Which guard?”
“Luken.”
I didn’t know which one he was. I barely knew any of them, not that that made it any better. “Is he … dead?”
“Yes, he was finished off after he had screamed long and loud enough to attract everyone’s attention.” She poured another drink. “She must have snuck in then, and someone let her into the house. I checked for scents, but they’ve all been inside, so it’s impossible to know.”
Karson paced the room, the pain of betrayal on his features. All the guards he trusted with his life, with our lives. “We don’t know who is responsible, yet …”
“I think an equally prudent question to ask is who turned her?” Michael said. “Because we may have more than Sarah as an enemy.”
Karson’s face tightened. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to find out.
” Because we were too busy arguing. I grimaced.
He must have read the look on my face because he said, “It was my fault for not being more alert. She woke far faster than she should have done.” He thrust a hand through his dark hair.
Michael leaned forward abruptly. “What do you mean?”
“I broke her neck. It should have kept her out for ten to twenty minutes. It was barely a minute, and she woke.”
Monique and Michael exchanged concerned glances.
“How did she manage that?” Michael asked, frowning.
Karson shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe you didn’t break it properly,” Monique said.
Karson’s hazel eyes slid to her. “I’ve snapped a lot of necks in my lifetime and think I’d know if I hadn’t broken it.”
“How do you explain her waking so fast, then?”
Karson turned away and poured a whiskey. “I have no idea, and it doesn’t really matter.” He walked back to the fire.
“Perhaps it has something to do with drugs in her system,” Michael threw out.
Karson stilled. “Or a witch’s concoction.”
“Of course, what else,” Monique said dryly, polishing off her wine. I’d never seen her drink so fast, so I knew she was rattled. “Unless Leah was a witch?”
“It’s possible,” Michael agreed. “Not all witches are easily detected when the linage is weak, and we know it’s enhanced when you turn, but her vampirism would be enough to mask it.”
“It doesn’t matter either way.” Karson threw back his drink. “Nothing would have saved her. She was dead the moment she stepped into our territory.”
“Georgie messaged.” Josh rushed into the room, flustered. His cartoon t-shirt was untucked, brown strands of hair stuck up in the wrong direction, and his shoelaces were undone as if he’d been woken up and rushed to get here.
We all stared at him. His gaze bounced around the room. “What’s going on?”
Karson’s jaw clenched. “Leah murdered Luken and then entered the house.”
Josh’s face paled. He spent a lot of time inside, but all the vampires were close. Sometimes I’d hear them laughing and teasing each other. “He’s dead?” he repeated as if he couldn’t comprehend what he’d just heard.
Karson poured another drink, his fingers tightening on the glass subtly as he nodded.
“And Leah?”
“Also dead.”
Josh’s eyes flew to me for confirmation. I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to; he could see the truth on my face, the guilt, and yes, grief, even though the woman would have killed me.
“The kids,” he rasped. “Are they okay?”
“They are fine, they didn’t witness any of it,” Karson answered.
Josh slumped to the couch with relief, placing his elbows on his knees and cupping his face in his hands.
Karson nudged his arm with his elbow. Josh looked up, blinking back tears with a hint of trepidation, as if he thought Karson would berate him for weakness. Instead, he handed him a glass of whiskey.
Josh took it gratefully, clutching it between shaking hands. “Where are the others? They must be upset.”
“I sent them away. I will deal with them later. Someone let Leah into the house, and I will find out who, one way or the other.”
Josh stiffened, and this time his voice came out strong and sure. “Not one of the vampires would have done that. It must have been someone else. Someone who has been here before. They have their … quirks, but that crew is loyal to a fault to you.”
Monique rose, walking to the window and staring out. “It has to be one of them.” Her voice came out despondent. “I didn’t pick up any new scents.”
The room stilled as the gravity of the situation hit us all, but Karson the most. I could see it in the subtle tightening of his fingers, the sharp intake of breath.
But I could read him as if he spoke the words out loud—Karson was angry because he was hurting.
He loved those vampires, trusted them with his life, with all our lives.
“You may not have been able to pick the scent if they cloaked themselves.” All eyes shifted to me.
“It’s possible that while the vampires were distracted, a witch came in and let Leah inside,” Michael said.
“They wouldn’t need to be distracted if she was cloaked,” Josh said. “She would walk right past them and they wouldn’t know.”
Karson’s lips thinned. “I’m not entirely convinced a witch had anything to do with this. Leah said anyone can be convinced if you say the right things.”
Michael cocked his head to the side. “You think she used blackmail?”
“Why else would anyone risk their lives to help her? And they would all know she didn’t stand a chance against me.”
“Yes, but you aren’t normally home that early,” Michael responded. “Leah or whoever let her in probably didn’t expect you to be here.”
Which meant whoever she’d bribed was fine to risk our lives. My life, Georgie’s, the children’s lives.
“Why did you come home early?” Monique asked.
A line pinched between Karson’s brows. His eyes fell to me, and in them was confusion. “I don’t know … I just …” He shook his head. “Everyone, get some rest.” He waved a hand, dismissing the conversation. “It’s going to be a long day.”
Monique placed her glass on the tray and rolled her neck until it cracked. “When hasn’t it been?”
“I might go see Georgie and the kids, if that’s alright?” Josh asked.
Karson nodded his approval. “Don’t mention Leah to them.”
Josh’s shoulders slumped, and his head bowed as he left.