Caroline hired the daemon pulverem and spied on Taz and Rafael that afternoon and evening, saw the kiss, saw them talking at dinner, took him as a way to get to Taz. Caroline was afraid of Matthias, and even more afraid of Taz.
Anastazia glared at her. “You have every reason to fear me, you bitch.”
Taz ignored Matthias and Robertson’s efforts to talk to her, gently pushing them and Albert out of her way with her mind. The other people cowered, awed and afraid, at the far end of the conference room. Anastazia ordered Caroline to stand. Like a robot, she did. Taz marched her to the doorway and looked at the other nine.
“I have no problems with any of you. Matthias told me perhaps the best way to keep people from bothering me was to scare everyone. Well pass the word—don’t fuck with me, or those I love. Especially those I love. She murdered Rafe, and she’s going to pay.”
Taz started to walk out with Caroline when Matthias called to her, pleading. “Anastazia, please don’t. Let us take care of her. You don’t want to do this.”
She turned, and he shrank from her. Part of Taz wanted to cry that even he was scared of her. He was her lover, her soul mate. But this was her mess to clean up, for her, for him, and most importantly, for Rafe.
“I’m sorry, Matthias, but I need to take care of this. I caused it, and I’ll finish it. Come on,” she said to Caroline, walking to the Land Rover.
The woman was silent, unable to talk, every bit of conscious effort struggling to break free from Anastazia’s mental grip. Taz unlocked the Land Rover and started it, waited for the woman to get inside, and roared out of the lot.
Only then did she release the others. Matthias, Albert, and Robertson bolted for the parking lot. “We have to stop her,” Matthias said.
“We can’t,” Robertson said. “She’s too strong. She’s going to kill Caroline.”
“I can’t let her do that,” Matthias said. “It’ll destroy her.”
“I don’t know if you can do anything about it,” Robertson said.
“We have to.” Matthias got the keys from Moe and told him to keep everyone there until they returned. They left, and he paused at the intersection. South or west?
He reached out to Taz. “My love, please tell me where you are.”
Taz felt Matthias in her mind and was afraid to respond for fear of hurting him. It took every ounce of control she had to keep Caroline immobilized while driving. Caroline was beating against Anastazia’s hold on her mind, struggling to get free.
Taz flashed him a mental image that made him shudder, but told him exactly where she was going.
And what she was going to do.
He floored the Rover, heading south.
“Where?” Robertson said.
His mouth was set in a grim line. “West Thumb Geyser Basin.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Matthias cursed when someone pulled out in front of them. He recklessly passed. He knew if Taz killed Caroline, no matter how justified it was, it would drive her over the brink of madness. Right now, Taz was still encased in guilt and grief, wanting revenge. Matthias couldn’t let her jeopardize her sanity.
When Matthias slid to a stop in the West Thumb parking lot, they saw Anastazia in the distance, marching Caroline down the boardwalk toward Abyss Pool. Matthias took off at a run, leaping over a guardrail to the boardwalk, trying to make up the distance with Robertson and Albert close on his heels.
Anastazia glanced over her shoulder as they approached the Y in the boardwalk at the pool. Caroline marched to the short end of the Y and stopped. Caroline was trembling, sweating in her efforts to break free of Taz’s grip.
Serves her right, Matthias thought before returning his attention to Anastazia.
“Sweetheart,” he whispered, “please, don’t do this.”
“She killed Rafe,” Taz said.
Matthias nodded, holding his hand out to her. “I know. But please, don’t do this. This isn’t how you want to be, how he would want you to be. Let us take care of her. Let the Tribunal handle her. That’s what Rafe would want, Taz. You know that. He loved you. He wouldn’t want you to do this, not even for him.”
Anastazia forced Caroline over the railing at the end of the boardwalk. He watched Caroline struggling not to step out onto the fragile crust surrounding the deep, blue hot spring.
“This is one of the deepest springs in the park,” Taz said, her voice sounding unnaturally flat. “Did you know that?”
Matthias nodded, desperate to keep her attention on him while Robertson and Albert tried to get to Caroline. Yes, the bitch deserved to die, but not like this. No one deserved to die like this.
“Yes, Anastazia, I know.”
Taz looked at the pool, steam drifting from its surface. She frowned at Robertson and Albert, stopping them from getting closer to Caroline, who was now standing beside the boardwalk, mere feet from the hot spring’s edge.
“Did you know this pool averages one hundred eighty-five degrees?” Taz asked him. “I read it in the guide book. That’s more than hot enough to kill. Human flesh is burned in seconds by water that’s only one sixty. That’s what the book said.”
Matthias nodded, inching closer. He was within five feet of Taz.
“The book said a bison fell into one of the springs, and it smelled like beef stew for a week,” Taz said. “I wonder what she’ll make it smell like?”
Caroline cried out, trying to fight the invisible hand forcing her toward the calm, turquoise water.
“Anastazia!” Matthias barked, and when she looked at him, he saw her eyes were dark, nearly black, and full of tears. “Darling, please don’t do this,” he pleaded, “not like this.”
She didn’t look away, and he noticed Robertson and Albert close the gap toward Caroline, within arm’s reach.
Matthias thought if he could distract Anastazia long enough, he could break her connection to Taz. He saw her working the ring on her hand, like Rafael did. Anastazia’s voice cracked as she looked at him.
“Rafe was so sweet. He didn’t deserve to die,” she sobbed. “He wanted to help us, help me. He loved us.” She looked at his ring on her hand, her thumb rubbing it. “He loved me. He would have died for you or me.”
Matthias forced himself another foot toward her. He knew she didn’t want to hurt him and counted on it. “I know, darling, I loved him, too. He was like a brother to me.”
“Distract her, Matts!” Matthias wasn’t sure who that voice belonged to. It almost sounded like Rafe, but it had to be Albert or Robertson, distorted by stress.
Taz wept, anguished tears rolling down her face and falling to the boardwalk below. “He wasn’t a jerk. He was so sad, missed his wife so much, was afraid to love again. That’s why he was the way he was.”
Matthias nodded. “Rafe was a very complex and sensitive man. Few knew that.”
“He was so grateful to you. Caroline picked him because she thought he was a horny idiot, that he’d be easy to get to and use him to get to me. She went with the daemon pulverem that night. She’s the one who actually killed him. She didn’t have to kill him, but she was scared of him identifying her. She could have let him live.”
Matthias felt Taz’s rage build, knew his chance would slip away if he didn’t act soon.
“Anastazia,” he whispered, “come back to me. Please.”
She shook her head. “I have to do this, for him.”
“Anastazia, I love you. Rafe wouldn’t want me to lose you. I almost lost you once. Please, you promised. You said you cannot refuse me.”