“Like what?” Leigh fidgeted on the mattress, her knuckles turning white as she fisted the corner of the pillow. “That I’m mated to a freaking werewolf? Do you want me to join the family?”
“Would that be so bad? Is the idea so repulsive?” A stupid question, if Sadie counted her own misgivings to Leigh in the past about having a werewolf lover and partner. “Not all of them are like Trey. Nathan is different. I’ve seen the way he reacts with people. He’s got a big heart. He’s a Beta because he has a genuine concern for others. He’d take care of you. When you disappeared he was worried sick. You should have seen him when I left. He’s terrified for you, Leigh.”
“I don’t love him,” Leigh grated through clenched teeth, lowering her head. “I can never love him. My heart belongs to someone else. It always will.”
“What?” Sadie had known Leigh’s wounds ran deep but she hadn’t known the young woman loved someone from her past so deeply. “Who?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Leigh went from enraged to somber. “That time in my life is over.”
Certainly Leigh had mentioned understanding love. She’d even said she’d been in love before her change from human to vampire. But she hadn’t taken the matter further. Sadie should have asked questions about Leigh’s past, tried to get answers. Instead she’d given the fledgling space, figuring they had plenty of time to discuss Leigh’s issues.
Just another thing I didn’t think about until it was too late.
She started reaching out to Leigh, wanting to share what she knew with her friend, when a floorboard creaked in the hallway. Turning on her heel, she came face-to-face with Geneva. The head of the coven stopped in the doorway, cocking her head to the side. Her disapproval was evident, her ever-present attitude kicked to full-blast.
“So you’ve finally decided to grace us with your presence,” their coven mistress observed.
There was zero concern from the woman. None.
Geneva was a cold person. But this seemed…unnatural.
As usual, her thick brown hair had been pulled into a French twist that allowed multiple corkscrew curls to fall over her head and surround her face. Her strange, yellow-hued eyes always seemed to know more than they should. Sadie’d never paid attention to it before but she should have. Geneva had always been ahead of the curve, seeing things before anyone else. And she’d been so interested in Aldon—almost obsessed.
There had to be a reason for it.
What has the sneaky bitch been up to?
“What can I say?” Sadie crossed her arms over her chest, taking her usual back-to-business stance. “I’ve been busy tracking Aldon. That takes time.”
Geneva arched one of her dark brows. “Have you had any success?”
Talk about a dilemma.
If she indicated she had succeeded in her work, Geneva would want more of Sadie’s time. The head of the coven would demand a private audience with Sadie that could last for hours. As much as the opportunity appealed to Sadie, since she wanted to grill Geneva for information, she had to get Leigh to safety. A bit of clarity had certainly changed things. For the first time in centuries she didn’t have faith in the people she’d once placed her trust in—women who vowed to put each other’s well-being over any others.
She’d never have believed she couldn’t rely on her very own coven.
“Nothing that would interest you,” she answered, trying to seem bored.
Geneva’s eyes darted to Leigh then returned to Sadie. “You’ve been gone a long time to return with nothing of interest.” Her nostrils flared and her irises lightened near her pupils. She snorted to clear her nose. “You’ve been around shifters again. I caught the stink of it in the hall. I’ve let the question go unanswered long enough.”
Sadie braced herself, trying to think of an answer to the inquiry she knew was coming.
“What have you been up to?” Geneva asked. “What have you been keeping from us?”
I should ask her the same question. “I’ve been working, like I said.”
She kept the conversation all about business and directed her thoughts to her job and numerous hunts. It was against the rules of the coven to invade a housemate’s thoughts but she didn’t trust Geneva. Not now. She wasn’t letting the vampire get a glimpse of her mind.
“I’ve been investigating,” she added, giving Geneva a cursory glance. “That takes me to all kinds of places and puts me in contact with all kinds of people.”
“Not people—a werewolf—and a male one at that. You’ve been close to this one in particular, on more than one occasion.” Geneva inhaled deeply and didn’t try to hide it. “His smell is so potent it’s practically oozing from your skin. I detect his blood. I can smell his seed on you.”
The leader of her coven locked her in place with a wave of her fingers. Sadie didn’t have a chance to arm herself. Geneva’s magic spread through the bedroom. How had she not seen this before? How had it escaped her attention? Geneva was bad fucking news.
“There’s only one way that could be possible.” Geneva seethed, her face warped into an ass backward scowl. “It’s not bad enough you took him into your body. No better than a common bitch in heat. You drank from him, didn’t you?”
Sadie’s heart missed a beat and started to pound. Oh shit.
Geneva’s magic was potent stuff. Paralysis rushed over her.
Soon she’d be caught and unable to phase. Things had just gotten serious.
“Leigh, phase out. Right now. You have to trust me. Please. Something’s very wrong here.”
Thank Goddess, Leigh didn’t argue. “Where?”
“Meet me outside the warehouse where we found Trey. I’ll explain everything. Go.”
Leigh phased, breaking Geneva’s attention just enough for Sadie to visualize the parking lot outside the building Trey had been trapped inside. Geneva’s face—one that generally gave away nothing—contorted in rage. She tried to extend her magic, to keep Sadie caged in the bars of her magic. Sadie fought back, calling on the magic that was all her own. The two energies collided, bursting together.
“Bedding with wolves. You are a traitor to your blood. A disgrace to our kind.”
“That may be,” she hissed between clenched teeth, concentrating to phase. “But my intentions have always been honest. Everything I’ve done has been for the good of the coven. Can you say the same?”
She didn’t give Geneva the opportunity to answer. Something was definitely not right. The coven had been betrayed, but not by Sadie. Whatever their leader had been up to, it wasn’t good. Geneva had her own agenda. Perhaps she wanted Aldon removed but for reasons that benefited her and not the coven.
After the dust had settled and Leigh was safe, Sadie intended to return. Something of this magnitude couldn’t go unquestioned. She had to protect the innocent women in her coven.
As the haughty and furious vampire reached for her—Geneva’s yellow eyes glowing neon—Sadie called on the full power of her magic. Her reserves were weak but she had just enough to teleport from the room. The blinding white surrounded her, answering her summons. The world shifted and fell away as she phased, allowing her to slide out of Geneva’s grasp, obliterating the vampire’s hold on her.
But she saw Geneva’s eyes as the vampire’s mask fell away and revealed her true face.
Son of a bitch.
Geneva was not the woman she claimed to be. She never had been. Not only was Aldon a danger, so was the leader of a coven of vampires with numerous powers.
Sadie’d thought things could possibly get worse.