Chapter 55
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Deaths
“Just so we are perfectly clear, you want to offer me up as bait to draw Sarah out?” I sat the champagne Josh had poured me on the white marble coffee table.
“That’s right.” Monique’s smile was saccharine. “All you have to do is look pretty, go up to Karson at the party, dance, smile, and look madly in love. The photographer will do the rest.”
“I don’t like it,” Ethan growled, his stance wide, arms folded.
“You want to draw her out? When Sarah sees they’re happy, living their lives, while she has to hide away, it will send her crazy with jealousy. She won’t be able to help but come for her then.”
“One problem,” I said. “Karson doesn’t act like he loves me in front of anyone. Quite the opposite.”
“You only have to get him to dance. The photographer will take care of angles.”
“And this is at the nightclub opening, a party for vampires?”
“Yes.” She brushed flint off her orange silk blouse. “There will be a lot of humans there too.”
The storm in my stomach didn’t abate. “Witches though, will there be witches?”
“A few.” She flapped her hand out as if it was barely worth mentioning. “He does have some witch friends. It’s an inclusive nightclub. He wants to bring everyone together. Besides, you wear your ring and no one knows what you are.”
Ethan scowled. “I still don’t like it.”
Monique shot him a hard look. “Do you have any better ideas? Or do you want to spend months searching for her?”
Ethan’s brow flickered, his jaw tight. He had put his life on hold like the rest of us.
I slumped into the couch and sighed. It seemed a half-baked plan at best, but better than none at all. “When is the opening?”
“Tonight.”
“How do you even know Sarah will see the pictures?” Georgie asked.
“Old habits die hard. She’s like Michael, she likes to keep up with the news in areas she frequents. She will see you looking gloriously happy, and it will be too much for her and she will try to kill you.” She smiled, taking a sip of champagne like the thought was pleasing to her.
“Karson won’t allow his photo to be taken,” Ethan stated.
“I have that covered. The photographer will use his phone, so he won’t be noticed.”
“You’re forgetting he can mind-read. He will know.”
“I have thought of that too. The photographer is actually a reporter. He is a witch who uses his intuition to help solve cases. He has strong walls. Karson won’t be able to read him.”
“What about Rodney?” Georgie’s mouth twisted bitterly. “I assume he’s going—can he read him?”
“No, not without touching his head, and why would he bother trying some random guy reporting on a nightclub opening?”
“A witch helping a vampire. What’s in it for him?” Ethan asked.
“I helped him out a few years ago when he got himself in a spot of bother. He owes me.”
“How many died?” Josh asked dryly.
She waved her hand dismissively. “A handful, drug dealers, bad people.”
I pinched my forehead, trying to ease the knot crowding my brain.
“I didn’t take you for a coward,” Monique quipped.
“I’m not scared, Monique. I’m worried about Karson’s reaction.”
She put her glass down. “Firstborns are many things, but rational they are not. When they are angry, well … let’s just say hell hath no fury. Karson left a trail of blood to discover who hurt you. And he wanted to hunt down your birth parents for putting you in that predicament.”
I doubted the welfare department had my name and records on file.
They definitely wouldn’t have my parents listed even if they did, but that wouldn’t stop him looking.
Which meant the other people he probably questioned would be Caron and Dahlia, and God knows who else was high up enough in the witch circle to have the answers he sought.
My stomach dropped. “He wouldn’t find out who they are. No one knows. Is Dahlia alright?”
“She’s fine,” Monique said. “It took four of us to talk him down. Without us in his ear, there would be quite a few dead social workers now.”
I crossed my arms. “What’s that got to do with this?”
“Sarah doesn’t have anyone to talk her down. If you want your freedom, he needs to know you are safe, and Sarah is the main threat out there. The sooner she turns up, the sooner we can sort this mess out and we can all get back to a normal life.”
I craved a normal life. Freedom, safety, happier times. Georgie needed that too, needed to be able to go to work, needed to go to sleep at night knowing she wasn’t being hunted.
“Does Karson know?”
“Of course he doesn’t know,” Ethan answered, his tone grinding. “He will be furious with Monique for dangling his girlfriend like a bait on a hook.”
“Sarah won’t be at the party. Amy is safer there with all of us than she is anywhere.” Monique tossed back the glass of wine. “If we don’t do something to end all this, Sarah wins.”
We all stilled and stared at her. Sarah wins. She was right. We were living like scared rats; she was already winning.
I looked to Georgie, my eyes pleading. “Alright, but I think it’s safer if Georgie stays a few more days. If Sarah does get angry, it might tip her over the edge to come for her again.”
“No need to worry,” Georgie said a little too brightly. “I’m coming to the party too.”
Josh slumped against the couch. “One picture is worth a thousand deaths,” he groaned. “We are all going to die.”