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“Who do you think tipped Egan off about the return of the infamous Josephine Dumont?”
“You sent the werewolves after me?”
She frowns. “Egan has been fixated on getting the moonstone amulet back for decades. He thought you were his ticket to finding it.”
“Why? What’s so important about it?”
She shrugs. “No idea. I’ve never cared enough to ask.”
Didn’t ask? How could she not care why the alpha werewolf wants with such a powerful magical artifact?
“Why are you helping him?”
“You’re mistaken, Josephine. I asked for his help. He’s not the most reliable for getting the job done. I asked him to do one thing twenty-five years ago, and he still hasn’t followed through.”
“I can finish the job right now if you like,” Egan says, flashing the razor-sharp claws of his beast at me with a grin that makes my insides turn. “I’ll end the Dumont line right now.”
“The hell you will,” Rune snarls while I’m left reeling.
The room blurs as my entire world is tilted on its axis.
Egan killed my parents. He’s responsible for turning my life upside down, not Sebastian.
My entire life, I’ve been terrified of vampires and harbored a hatred for their kind because of what happened to my mom when, in reality… it was the werewolves.
No. It was Adelaide.
It was a jealous, power-hungry witch this whole time.
I turn to where Sebastian is plastered against the wall, held immobile by Adelaide’s vines. “You didn’t do it?” Emotion clogs my throat. “Why didn’t you tell me it wasn’t you who killed my parents?”
I can barely push the words out—can barely breathe.
“Would it have mattered?”
“Of course it would!” The thorns binding me cut deeper into my skin, but the pain barely registers.
He shakes his head, his long, dark hair brushing against the sharp features of his face. “Pretend I somehow convinced you I was telling the truth—would it have changed your opinion of me?”
Would it? Grandmother taught me to hate him from the time I was four years old. Still… he should have told me. I had a right to know.
“Look on the bright side, dear,” Adelaide says. “The Dumont family will soon be whole again.”
“If you were so eager to see Mommy and Daddy, all you had to do was ask.” Egan drags a claw down my arm, leaving a long scrape that oozes blood.
I look past him to Adelaide. “You killed my parents. At least tell me why.”
“It wasn’t about your parents, dear. It was supposed to be Claudette, Celine, and you. All the oh-so-powerful Dumont witches eliminated in one fell swoop. Sadly, you can’t trust a wolf to get things done.”
My fingers curl into claws and if I wasn’t bound, I’d be launching at her and scratching out her eyes. “But you still got what you wanted when my grandmother fled the country. You were free to take her place as High Priestess to the Sun Witches.”
Egan regards me with a look of malice. “I took joy in ending your parents, as my wolves enjoyed playing with Celine before her death. Still, that’s nothing compared to the joy I’ll take from putting an end to the Dumont witches.”
Tears cloud my vision and when I blink them away, Grand-Mère is here, standing over me. So is Mom. Both of them appear more solid this time around. Their ghostly figures stand with me, here to usher me to the afterlife.
“Josephine.” Sebastian’s harsh tone cuts through the mental spiral. “Process later. Fight now.” His eyes flash from cold blue to vampiric red as he turns from me to address the enemy. “We may not be able to touch Egan without restarting the war, but you, High Priestess, are fair game. You fall under my dominion. And I will enjoy hearing your gargled screams as you beg for my mercy.”
Adelaide blinks at Sebastian and then tips her head back and laughs. “You think so, do you?”
