“I’d like to see Tait dead just for attacking Imani in the castle,” I shared.
“Yeah, it does sound like a fun idea,” agreed Sam.
We fell silent then as we continued through the passages. The three suspects were being kept far apart to prevent them from communicating and to make them feel further isolated.
When we halted outside another cell, Sam said, “Someone likes yoga.”
“You should try it,” Juliet told Sam, doing some weird stretch. “It might help with your aggressive nature.”
“So might punching you square in the face.” Sam tilted her head. “Tell me, Juliet…Just how much do you hate Imani?”
“I do not know her well enough to hate her,” replied Juliet. It sounded like a perfectly honest response.
Sam regarded her carefully. “You work in Lazarus’ lab, don’t you?”
“If you are asking if I have access to the serum, no I do not.”
“Who does have access to it?”
Juliet’s expression blanked. “A handful of my nest.”
The evasive answer pissed me off. “You’re very loyal to your nest. It’s admirable. But loyalty can be a fault if it’s taken too far. You’re showing loyalty to someone who betrayed you all by attacking a member of the legion and bringing you all under the scrutiny of the Grand High Pair. Now your precious Sire is facing an execution because, let’s face it, he’s the most likely suspect.”
Performing another weird stretch, Juliet sighed. “Three vampires have easy access to the serum. But I do not believe any of them targeted Imani. Somebody else got to it.”
“Who are those three people, Juliet?” asked Jared.
“Lazarus, Eleanor, and Eleanor’s partner, Davis.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “Who do you think attacked Imani?”
Juliet shrugged. “I have no idea. But I know you have the wrong people incarcerated. I may not have warm feelings for Imani, but I have no reason or wish to end her existence. Tait despises her, but such a sly manoeuvre is not her style.”
Jared pursed his lips. “What about Marco?”
Juliet’s gaze briefly cut my way. “If the target had been Imani’s consort, I would have believed the culprit was Marco. He is very cunning and indeed vindictive enough to commit such an act. But he would not cause Imani any pain.”
“He already did that by Turning her,” I snapped. “Does no one get that?”
“But he did not do that out of a wish to harm her,” said Juliet. “He did it to keep her.”
“I don’t agree,” I told her. “I think he wanted to hurt Imani for being with me. I think that to him she’s nothing but a toy that he didn’t like losing. He wanted to punish her.”
“You are wrong. He would never end her life.”
“You act like he’s protective of her but the truth is he wasn’t with her when she needed his support,” Jared pointed out.
She paused in her stretch. “What are you talking about?”
“He abandoned her after he Turned her,” said Jared. “Why would he do that if she was important to him?”
Juliet blinked, looking sincerely surprised by the question. “Because Lazarus sent him away, of course. Lazarus only allows his vampires to Turn those who come to this life willingly. Marco broke that rule. The penalty is usually death, but Lazarus is fond of Marco. He ordered him to stay away from the castle and away from Imani.”
Jared snickered. “Maybe that’s the story that Marco fed you—”
“Ask anyone in the castle,” said Juliet. “They will tell you that he did not willingly leave her. After she left, Lazarus allowed Marco to return to the castle, but he forbade him from contacting her. You see, Lazarus let Marco live, but he had to punish him. He needed to be seen to punish him so that others would not consider repeating the crime. Marco’s punishment was to be kept away from Imani.”
If that’s true, why would Lazarus lie about it to Imani? Jared asked me.
No fucking clue.
“That didn’t stop Marco from watching over her,” continued Juliet, confirming what we had already suspected. “He hired vampires to erase her trail and keep her safe from hunters.”
Sam snorted. “He was keeping tabs on her. Be honest.”
Juliet sat on the floor, lotus style. “Yes, he was also keeping himself updated on her whereabouts. But it was her safety that concerned him most. I do not think he has ever given up hope that she would return.” She closed her eyes, her features settling into a calm mask. “Now, if you will excuse me, it is time for my meditation.” We’d been dismissed.
I don’t think there’s anything more she can tell us anyway, said Jared as he gestured for Sam and I to follow him.
“Unlike Tait, she’s very ambivalent toward Imani’s existence,” said Sam. “I get the feeling she wouldn’t care if Imani lived or died. She’s just not on Juliet’s radar.”
I nodded. “If she’s lying, she’s good at it.”
Jared led us past more cells, turning this way and that. Eventually he stopped in front of another cell.
Marco was standing near the glass. He studied us all carefully. Then he smiled. “She’s alive, isn’t she? Good.”
Sam lifted a single brow. “Is it?”
Jaw hard, Marco said, “You can’t think I did this.”
Rolling her eyes, Sam waved a bored hand. “You’d never hurt Imani, yeah, yeah. But you already did.”
“I brought her into this life without her consent, yes,” he allowed.
“Why, Marco? What was it about Imani that made you want to start your own line?”
“Bring her here and I’ll tell you.”
I growled at that. He smirked.
Sam’s nose wrinkled. “Nah, I’ll give that a miss.”
Marco jerked his chin in my direction. “Get him out of here, and summon Imani.”
Fuck that.
“I can’t quite work out why you think you’re in a position to make demands.” Sam turned to her mate. “Can you?”
Jared sighed. “No, I’m stumped here.”
“Why do you want to see her?” Sam asked Marco.
“She’s mine,” he replied simply.
Sam made the sound of a buzzer. “Wrong.” Very fucking wrong.
“She is mine, and I want to see with my own eyes that she’s alive.”
“She doesn’t think she’s yours, does she? She severed all ties with you long ago.”
“You watched over her though, Marco, didn’t you?” said Jared. “You’ve spent all these years keeping her safe from people who would hunt and use her for their own gain. And how does she repay you? By shacking up with another guy.” Jared put a hand to his chest. “Personally, I’d be pissed. Aren’t you?”
When Marco didn’t respond, I said, “You wanted revenge. You wanted to punish Imani for being with me. You wanted to hurt us both. Her death would have achieved that.”
Marco looked at me, upper lip curled back. “I’d happily see you dead. But Imani will always be safe with me.”
Sam snorted. “Considering you’re a bloody psycho, forgive me for not believing that.”
“You’re being blinded by your anger,” insisted Marco. “Think. Why would I use serum to kill someone when I can do that with my bare hands? Why would I go through the trouble of keeping Imani safe all these years just to later kill her?”
“If it wasn’t you, who was it?” I asked.
“If I knew that, they’d be dead by now.”
My gut tells me it’s not him, Jared said. Sam gave her mate an odd look, so I guessed that he’d said the same to her. I don’t think Marco would hurt her. Yes, Turning her against her will hurt her, but I don’t think he sees it that way.
Honestly, I was beginning to think that just maybe the guy wouldn’t physically harm her, but that wasn’t to say that he hadn’t injected her with the serum. Maybe he didn’t want to kill her. Maybe he was hoping the serum would work and he was trying to repay her by giving her back her human life or something.
“Whether you’re guilty of this or not, you deserve to die,” I said. “You stole her human life from her.”
“Perhaps, but you really shouldn’t kill me,” said Marco, smiling. Freak. “I have information you’ll want to hear.”
“Is that so?” Sam snorted. “I think you’ll say anything that you believe will keep you alive.”
“You could be right. But you could be wrong.” He cocked his head. “Would you like to know what the little insignia is on the blog that’s leaking info about our kind?”
Jared stiffened. “How do you know about the blog?”
Marco’s smile widened. “You’re not the only one who keeps a lookout for such things.”
“There is no insignia,” said Sam.
“You didn’t notice the ‘O’ that had a ‘T’ running through it?”
There is a small symbol on the blog, but I didn’t think it meant anything, Jared told me.
“What do you know about it?” Sam asked Marco.
He took a step back. “Can’t say I’m tempted to help you. I don’t like you much. But there is someone I’d like to speak to.”