Chapter Thirteen
“Did you know he planned to marry me off to Andy?”
Austin’s mouth drops open in shock. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I am. At a guess, I’d say those pages came from Porter here as an incentive.”
Austin turns to look at Porter. “You planted those seeds into his head. He was a fucking kid, just like your daughter. You and your fucking games turned one into a victim and the other into a monster.”
I look at my dad and have to swallow down the vomit rushing up the back of my throat.
“I think Porter planned to get to me first.” I can’t say the word dad while contemplating if he planned to rape me.
“He likely spun Andy a yarn. Something along the lines of keeping his hands off me until my powers came in at eighteen. And if he waited, it would make him immune to my gifts and maybe give him some kind of power over me. Andy would have loved getting one over on me, if nothing else. All along, though, you were going to break me in first because there is no way you’d risk me having power over you. ”
“You’d have blamed her, too, right? When Andy realized he’d held out for nothing, you would have painted her as a whore.
But you underestimated Andy because of his age.
He was a born hunter. He knew about witches.
Hell, we had the Hart family grimoire. He would have recognized her powers coming in and known she was prime for the taking.
I saw the change in her birthmark that day. I bet you Andy did too.”
“And when I dragged myself home, blood staining my thighs, you knew what had happened. You thought Andy was going to upstage you somehow, and with a witch in his pocket, he’d be unstoppable.
You were so pissed at me. You couldn’t kill me, because you’d lose the ranch, but you couldn’t let me stay either.
Well, joke’s on you, Andy wasn’t interested in you or me.
He was a fucking kid who hated me. Hell, he hated the world, but Austin apparently held the top spot,” I snap at him.
Austin inspects Porter as if he were a bug. “You really thought I’d agree to Andy marrying Calliope?” Austin laughs loudly. “She’s right, you’re a fucking dumbass.”
“Right?” I nod before I sigh. “None of it matters now. If you’d have just stayed away, I’d have let it go, you know.”
“Bullshit. You killed Dale.”
“Only when he broke into my home and became a threat to me. What exactly did I do to you other than take back what was mine?”
“You took my wife—”
“I helped liberate a victim from her abuser. And she came to me. You cannot think I would stand by and watch you do to her what you did to me, and then move on to my little sister. Not on my fucking watch. You could have moved on with your life, but you just couldn’t let it go, could you?
Now a beautiful woman is dead, and you’ll burn in hell because of it. ”
“I didn’t kill Dawn. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s true. I have an alibi for when she was shot. You think I’d risk losing Hannah? Fuck that.”
I rub my jaw in thought. “And your alibi?”
“I was in Buxon. I went to a bar, stayed in a hotel with a woman. I’d have been caught on dozens of cameras.”
“How convenient.”
“Isn’t it? Convenient or not, don’t change the fact I didn’t kill Dawn. Now you’re going to let me out of here, and you’re going to give me back my daughter.”
“Odd that he knew what time she was shot if he wasn’t there,” Austin points out.
“It’s odd he went away when he’s been turning up at the ranch almost every day.”
Austin nods. “He sure did seem to clock those cameras, huh?”
“Noticed that, did you?”
“I’m a criminal. Wherever I am, I know where every camera is.”
“What about at the ranch?”
He gives me a look as if to say, What do you think? Yeah, I’m not touching that right now.
I focus back on Porter. “How about I make you a deal. You tell me what really happened with Dawn, and I won’t set your ass on fire.”
“Yeah, you’ll just shoot me.”
“Nope. I won’t let Austin kill you either.
In fact, I’ll go one better. You tell me the truth about Dawn’s death, and I’ll let you leave this place alive.
It won’t take the cops long to track you down anyway.
And with me fucking the sheriff, I doubt any of them will care if you tell them what happened here. I really have nothing to lose.”
He doesn’t want to, I can see it in his eyes, but his hands are tied—literally. He may not think I have it in me to kill him, but he knows what Austin is capable of.
“Fine. Get this thing off me first.” He yanks the shackle.
I shake my head. “We’re not negotiating here.
I’m going to ask you a question. And you’re going to answer it with the truth, because if you lie, I’ll let Austin here slice off your tongue.
Once that happens, you’ll have to write down the answers to my questions.
Of course, if you lie again, Austin will remove the rest of your fingers.
And if that happens…well, then you’re of no use to me anymore, are you? ”
If he could incinerate me with his gaze, I’d be nothing but a pile of ash.
Shame it has no effect on me, though. That’s the thing about being treated like shit all your life—you become numb to it all.
“It was Derek. We made a pact. He’d take care of Dawn, and I’d take care of Jackie.”
I move to wrap my hand around his throat, but Austin holds me back.
“I never planned to kill her. Why would I? Dawn is dead, and I’m home free. Why the fuck would I risk that for a woman who means nothing to me? I just needed Derek to believe that.”
“You were both going to be prime suspects, so you switched victims and made sure you had alibis for the times of their murder,” Austin states, his voice even, which helps calm me.
“Why kill Jackie? Despite everything, she still loves Derek.”
“Love doesn’t pay the bills. You got him fired. He needs the life insurance payout from Jackie’s death. When his dad died, he left everything to Jackie because they were still technically married. Derek has nothing.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re talking about casually killing someone because he lost his job? Millions of people lose their jobs every day. They don’t kill their spouses or parents in response. They get another fucking job.” I seethe.
“I don’t agree with the logic either, but it worked in my favor.”
“You’re no better than him. You prey on women because, to you, they’re the weaker sex.
Why should they have powers when you’re just as ordinary as they come?
But killing Dawn was nothing but an act of revenge.
You didn’t love her. You didn’t need her.
You couldn’t accept the fact that she didn’t want you anymore. ”
“She was nothing without me. Just like your mother.”
“Why do men always say shit like that?”
“Ego,” Austin grunts.
“Did you kill my mother?”
He narrows his eyes at me, but he doesn’t answer.
I shake my head in disgust. “I hear severing the bond between a witch and her bonded can be excruciatingly painful for both parties. How much you must have hated her.”
“She was a conniving, manipulative bitch. I gave her everything and she—”
I twist my hand and suck the air from his lungs. Not a sound comes from him, even as his eyes lock on mine in horror and his face turns a waxy shade of blue.
“I thought I’d have so much more to ask. That I’d spend half the night torturing all your darkest secrets out of you. But you know what I’ve found out instead? I don’t care. The second I walk away from you tonight, I won’t think about you ever again. You’re not worth it.”
I twist my hand again as oxygen floods his body, making him gulp down lungfuls of air as he dissolves into a coughing fit.
Austin chuckles. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
“You always piss me off. Besides, this shit doesn’t work on you.”
“I’m sure you could get inventive,” he murmurs, moving behind me and pressing in close so I can feel his erection.
“Austin Dyer, are you turned on right now?”
“My dream woman is standing in front of me, with murder in her eyes. Of course, I’m turned on.”
I roll my eyes at him. The man is a walking, talking horn dog with a side of homicidal tendencies. Not that I have any room to talk.
“I’m hungry. Let’s get this over with so I can get home and eat.”
“I could eat,” he agrees.
I look at Porter before turning to Austin. “Let him go.”
“Wait, you’re serious?”
“I’m a woman of my word, Austin.”
“Well, I don’t give a fuck. I’m not letting this—”
I cut him off with a kiss, surprising us both. “Trust me, okay?”
His eyes stare into mine, and for a moment I think he’s going to take matters into his own hands, but reluctantly he takes a step away and nods. “Alright. This is your show.”
He walks toward Porter, who has a glint of smugness in his eye.
I twist my wrist and steal his air before checking out my nails.
I’m not particularly girly, but even I have to admit my nails have seen better days.
The joys of gardening, I guess. Even so, I decide I’m going to find somewhere to get a manicure when everything has calmed down a little.
I’ll take Hannah and Jackie with me. And maybe Sarah and Mary, if they’re interested.
Perhaps I should find someone who would come to us. Yeah, that might be easier.
“Cece?”
Do I go for a full color, though, or a French tip? The last time I painted my nails, I was a preteen and looked like I’d painted them with my eyes closed.
“Cece?”
Maybe I’ll let Hannah decide. Yeah, I think she’ll like that—
“Calliope!”
I snap out of my thoughts and see Porter on the ground, twitching.
“Ah, crap.” I flood his lungs with air again before looking at Austin sheepishly. “I must have zoned out.”
He looks amused, judging from the smirk on his face. “I have no problem letting him die, but you said you didn’t want that.”
“Right, and I keep my word.” I nod, checking the time on my watch. “It’s actually a little earlier than I thought. Any idea what time the cemetery closes?”
“Around seven, I think. Why?”