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“Peri.”
“Peri.” The pale eyes widened. “I thought…” Her hand remained pressed against her throat, as if suddenly realizing what had made her feel as if she was choking.
“You thought I was dead?” Peri finished for her.
Destiny nodded. “Brenda told us that she’d killed you and disposed of your body while we were unconscious. Where have you been?”
Of course her mother had lied to the others. She wouldn’t want them realizing just how badly she’d botched her attempt to kill Peri. Besides, the older woman had probably assumed that Peri crawled off and conveniently died. She’d been gravelywounded and losing blood at an alarming rate. Brenda couldn’t have realized the level of power pumping through her daughter, or how swiftly she would heal.
“I’ve been trying to avoid the women who wanted me dead,” Peri said dryly.
Destiny shuddered, her gaze lowering to the floor where the bodies had been discovered.
“They’re gone. They’re all gone.”
“What happened?” Peri demanded.
“I don’t know,” Destiny muttered. “I…I wasn’t here.”
“She’s lying.” Valen’s cold voice sliced through the air.
Destiny jerked her head up, but before she could respond, Peri smoothly turned Destiny’s attention back to her. The witch was already trembling with fear. She didn’t want her shutting down completely.
“What happened, Destiny?”
The witch hesitated, obviously reluctant to admit what she’d seen. At last she heaved a harsh sigh of resignation.
“It started shortly after you were…” She faltered. The woman hadn’t hesitated to join in the attempted murder of Peri, but she found it hard to say the word. “After you left.”
“What happened?”
“Brenda was even worse.”
Peri arched a brow. That covered a lot of territory. “Worse in what way?”
“She was constantly leaving the ranch in search of powerful artifacts at auction houses and cheesy magic shops. She claimed that she wanted to protect us, but she was never around. The place started falling apart. But that wasn’t the worst.”
Peri shot a quick glance toward the stables. That explained the creeping rot. “What was worse?”
“I don’t think she was entirely stable.”
“Mentally or physically?”
“Mentally.” Destiny sniffed back her tears. “We all thought it must be the grief at being forced to kill her own daughter.”
Peri made a strangled sound. “Are you serious? My mother wouldn’t recognize grief if it smacked her in the face. She was like a reptile. Nothing but basic survival instinct.”
“A lesson learned too late,” Destiny whispered.
Valen stepped forward. “Why did you believe she was suffering from grief?”
Destiny glanced toward Valen, only to have her gaze slide away. Few people could actually look a vampire in the eye.
“She had a bizarre certainty that there were demons in the world.”
Peri jerked in surprise. “Demons?”
“Crazy, right?”
