“That’s for humiliating me,” he hissed.
Ethan grabbed me around the waist, holding me back. There was obviously still something warring around inside of him. Wide-eyed, Roark stared at the body on the floor, then looked at his brother. When he met my gaze, it was as if he had just realized the mistake in releasing him.
“What the fuck, Drake?” I shouted, trying to get out of Ethan’s grasp. I could easily escape, but I didn’t want to hurt him in the process.
Drake turned to face me, his expression blank. “I may still love you, but I’m a different man, Sophie. I will not have people walking all over me. This man humiliated me today. For that, he must pay.”
Roark cleared his throat. “Spoken like a true leader.”
Both men turned around again, leaving me and Ethan in the hall with the body. I hurried over to see if the man was still alive, knowing the chances of that were slim. It was then I saw the burn marks on his chest. Drake had burned his heart. I knew a snapped neck wouldn’t have killed a Witch, but what he did to the heart would. I no longer knew what to think of the man who just walked out. Just when I thought I had the old Drake back, the new one shocked the fuck out of me.
We followed them up the stairs and stood in the doorway, watching until they were completely off campus. I didn’t want any more dead bodies. What did the Magicteer do that pissed him off? The more important question was did Drake even have any morals left?
Ethan wrapped an arm around me as we walked back inside. “We did all we could, Sophie. Don’t blame yourself.”
Of course I blamed myself. I should have put Drake in a more secure location. I really should have locked down Jenna instead of allowing her back to work. I needed to fire her. There was no other option. We may have been best friends, but when you worked for the High Mistress, everything was confidential. I wouldn’t allow someone to work for me if they couldn’t keep secrets.
Pulling away from him, I strode to my office and looked at my cell. Ethan watched me with a curious expression. Just as I sent her a text message telling her to report to my office, Mikey magically appeared in front of us, his face contorted in pain, his arm hanging limply at his side.
“Ethan, put my shoulder back in,” Mikey ground out, inching toward the Mage.
Ethan furrowed his brow, then grabbed a hold of him. With an abrupt movement of his hands, he popped the shoulder back in. I cringed as Mikey cried out, gasping for breath, tears forming in his eyes. He looked at me, swallowing.
“Jenna has gone rogue.”
“What?” I clenched my hands at my sides.
“She went to Roark and told him Drake’s whereabouts.” Mikey shook his head in disbelief, rubbing his shoulder. “I can’t believe she’d do that. Why the fuck would she betray us after all this time? I tried to stop her, but you know how good she is in a fight.”
I sat down in my seat heavily, unable to hold myself up anymore. “After all we have been through. We’re best friends. I don’t know what I did to cause this giant rift between us.”
“I searched her room, but she completely cleaned it out. I managed to follow her magic signature, and boom, there she was, carrying her bags through the gate to the Vampire mansion.” Mikey sat down in one of the chairs, cradling his arm. It was probably going to hurt for a while.
Feeling bad for him, I walked over and called to the magic of the necklace. I placed a hand on his shoulder, sending some healing into him. He sighed and looked up at me gratefully, still holding his arm.
My necklace used to be my grandmother’s, who was the Lady of the Lake, and had been passed down through the generations. It contained a lot of power from her and the Ancestors. In my opinion, the Ancestors were creepy as hell, but they were a powerful bunch who liked to get their way. I could never take the necklace off, either. Supposedly, once it felt like it could trust me to keep it around, it would release its hold, but so far, that hadn’t been the case.
The pretty opal was larger than my typical jewelry, but at least it went with everything. So far, it had helped me more often than not. Whenever I needed an extra boost in my powers, it was there to back me up. I was already a strong Witch, but situations sometimes called for more than I could give.
I played with it absently as I watched Ethan close the door to the office. He seemed pretty concerned that Jenna would turn on us. Even though he didn’t know her that well, I was confident he knew her dedication to our kind. She’d never betrayed us before. I didn’t know what to make of this new erratic behavior of hers.
“I’ll give her time. Tomorrow, I will contact Drake and ask for an explanation. He has to know something by then,” I told them as I took a seat back at my desk. “Maybe we can fix this before it explodes in our faces.”
Mikey laughed, clearly not amused. “I doubt it. Jenna is on a mission, and when she’s focused like this, you know there’s no stopping her.”
“We just don’t know what that mission is.” Ethan crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles bulging.
I tore my gaze away from him, ashamed that I was even admiring his body right now. I glanced at Mikey, seeing him roll his eyes when he realized what I’d been doing. He was far too observant for his own good. I just stuck
