Heart of Vengeance (Alice Worth #6) - Lisa Edmonds Page 0,28
told me sooner so I didn’t have to hear about it like this, but it’s not like I’ve told him everything I’ve said and done—not even close. So who the hell am I to hold it against him that he didn’t tell me every last thing about himself?”
“You can still be angry about it, even though you’re still keeping secrets,” he pointed out.
“I know. I’m not angry, though—just a bit blindsided, and annoyed that I had to hear it in front of Charles, who was probably hoping I’d dump Sean on the spot.”
“No doubt he was,” Malcolm said with a scowl. “I guess he doesn’t know you quite as well as he thought he did.”
“I guess not. Sean said he wouldn’t have ever changed anyone who wasn’t willing, and I believe him. We’re going to talk about it when I get home, after you and I meet with Valas.”
“And what about Vaughan’s meddling? How are you dealing with that?” He read my expression. “Not well, I see.”
“Not well at all, but at least I didn’t do anything rash like lop off one of his appendages or burn down his house.” I cleared my throat. “Not that I thought about it, of course.”
“Of course,” Malcolm said dryly. “You probably also didn’t almost cut off his head.”
I coughed.
“Or smash a couple bottles of his fancy whisky.”
I sucked in a breath. “What kind of monster do you think I am?”
He chuckled. “Good to know there’s a line you won’t cross.” His smile faded. “I’m sorry he’s such a bastard, but I’m glad you know the truth.”
“Me too.” I turned the radio volume up. “Anyway, we’re headed for Northbourne to meet with Valas about that errand she wants me to go on. Sorry to interrupt date night.”
“No worries. Ghosts are laid back about that sort of thing.”
“You and Liam are pretty smitten with each other, though, huh?”
He gave me a look. “I like the guy, yes. We have a lot in common, besides being dead.”
“Such as?”
“We’re both snappy dressers, and we’re both funny as hell.”
I laughed. My heart still felt bruised, but as usual, Malcolm dragged me back from the edge of gloom.
I glanced at him. “I love you, you know.”
“Don’t get sappy, Alice,” he said, but he was smiling. He loved me too.
I looked ahead toward Northbourne’s gate and sighed. “Lots of protestors here tonight. You’d think they’d get tired of waving signs and yelling.”
“Some people always seem to find energy for hate,” Malcolm said.
Protestors frequently gathered in front of Northbourne’s gate these days. Anti-supe demonstrations were rare in the city when I’d moved here, but ever since the West-Addison Harnad murders, they were regular occurrences—and they were getting larger and more violent. People were angry at vampires and mages. Hate groups like Human Future and the Daylighters fanned the flames constantly. With the rise of several prominent anti-supe politicians and attacks by domestic terrorist groups against supes, things looked to get worse.
I turned into the drive. The protestors moved aside, since by law they couldn’t block the driveway. Several yelled insults and one spat on my windshield. Lovely.
A group of black-clad Court enforcers converged on the gate to ensure none of the protestors attempted to enter the grounds of the estate. The metal barricades in front of my SUV retracted into the ground.
As the gate rolled aside, it occurred to me there was no way Charles had confessed to meddling with my thoughts without Valas’s permission. That meant she’d either ordered him to tell the truth when we demanded it, or she’d planned on this happening and already told him to do so. She’d also allowed me to be taken by Miraç and tortured, and then manipulated me into killing him so I would absorb his power. Why she’d wanted me to do so, I wasn’t exactly sure, but it had to have been for her benefit. It sure as hell wasn’t for mine.
I was so tired of dancing on the end of Valas’s strings.
“I’m done with the vampires after this,” I told Malcolm as I drove past the gate and headed up the quarter-mile winding driveway that led to the estate. I used my wipers and washer fluid to clean the protestor’s spit off my windshield. “Once I fulfill my obligation to Valas, I’m done. No more cases, no more favors.”
“Easier said than done, especially when you’re still bound to Valas by her bite. And you know they’re not going to let you go without a hell of a fight.” Malcolm