She rushed in, dipped a finger in her blood, then drew binding sigils at Ares’s wrists and ankles. “Done.”
Hauling Ares up and onto the cot where she had been lying, Midas arranged her in an upright seated position. Gwyllgi can take a beating, and they heal fast. She was already coming around, her eyes twitching behind their lids.
“The way this works is—” Grier caught sight of Linus in Grim Reaper mode and sighed. “Linus.”
That she could watch him approach in full nightmare regalia and simply sigh at him…
Yeah.
That was love for you.
The tattered edges of his cloak fluttered one last time then vanished along with his cowl and scythe.
“Thank you.” Grier blew him a kiss. “I’ve got this.”
Joining me, which gave me the heebie-jeebies after that display, Linus murmured, “It never gets easier.”
Skin attempting to crawl off my body and hide, I impressed him with my ready wit. “Hmm?”
“Watching someone you love put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of another.”
“Oh. Yeah.” I got myself under control. “I’m starting to see that.”
A tiny smile tugged on one corner of Linus’s mouth. “I believe Midas is seeing it too.”
“I can’t be anything other than what I am.” I spread my hands. “I tried to warn him off me.”
Never taking his eyes off Ares, Midas rumbled, “Don’t make me come out there and bite you, Hadley.”
I made a noise halfway between a laugh and a cry of indignation.
“He’s very bitey,” I confided in Linus, aware Midas would overhear. “Must be a gwyllgi thing.”
“Grier is very bitey too,” he confessed in an equally low tone. “But then, her father was a vampire.”
“I can hear you.” Grier glowered at him. “I won’t bite you again if you go around advertising it.”
A slight pinkness tipped his ears, and I was very uncomfortable all of a sudden.
“So.” I clasped my hands together loud enough to ring in my ears. “Are we ready to get started?”
Amusement bright in her eyes, Grier waved us over to them. “Yes.”
Careful not to get too close in case Midas made good on his threat, I focused on Ares. “How does this work?”
“This sigil loosens her tongue and guarantees she’ll talk to us.” Grier pointed to Ares’s forehead and then her chin. “This one indicates whether she’s telling the truth.” She shrugged. “Sadly, they’re not mutually exclusive. I haven’t worked out the quirks combining the two yet.”
“Does it hurt when she lies?”
“There’s a slight twinge, but it’s no worse than a bee sting.” She glanced at Linus. “Or so I’m told.”
Since I didn’t want to know why she would have interrogated Linus, or what it led to, I erased it from my memory. I’d had no idea Linus was so kinky, and I wish I had stayed ignorant. It was called bliss for a reason.
“Would you like to handle the interrogation?” Grier watched me. “She can answer anyone.”
No, I didn’t want to hammer away at her façade and watch it crack, but it was my job.
“Where can we find Liz?”
“The old meat packing plant.”
A red sheen, brighter than gwyllgi crimson, rolled across her eyes.
“She’s lying,” Grier interpreted. “Try again now that you know what you’re looking for in a response.”
“Where is Liz?”
“She’s my mate.”
Green.
“That doesn’t change the fact she’s killed a lot of innocent people.”
“It changes everything,” she said tiredly. “I can’t let you hurt her.”
Green.
As much as I hated the certain knowledge bubbling in my brain, I had no choice but to ask. “You’re not coven, are you? Not a host either.”
The dark circles under her eyes creased when she smiled at me. “I’m a worse monster than that.”
Green.
The test hadn’t failed. The results weren’t flawed. Abbott hadn’t given himself enough credit.
Midas couldn’t keep his silence. “You’re helping Liz of your own free will?”
“Free will?” Ares’s misery was palpable. “She’s my mate.”
Green.
“We’re your pack.” Midas curbed his growl. “Your family.” He glanced at me. “Hadley is your friend.”
“I protected Hadley as best I could,” she whispered, “but it was only a matter of time.”
Green.
“You were luring me away from the sites Liz chose, or detonating them early when you couldn’t.”
“Yeah.” She rolled her shoulders. “It was the best I could do.”
Red.
Down deep, she didn’t believe that, and neither did I.
Mate bonds were powerful things, but you couldn’t let love blind you to the cost of dozens of lives.
On the heels of that revelation ran another one. “You kidnapped my family.”
“Liz was pissed you kept slipping through her fingers, so she targeted them to put you off balance.” The lines creasing her face made her appear older, as if the past week had aged her. “I booked the dining room for a private party and put it under their names. That’s how I cleared the restaurant of patrons.”
Green.
Patrons were only half the collateral damage. “What about the staff?”
“There was no staff present when I arrived.” A certain grimness tightened her mouth. “There were no bodies either. I checked. I’m not sure what Liz did with them before I got there.”
“Liz was present?” I verified. “How did you get my family past her?”
“I spooked her off with a lie about you being on your way to join your family.”
Midas keep the ball rolling when I couldn’t find the words. “What happened next?”
“I drugged the Whitakers and the Pritchards then brought them to the old clinic until I could figure out what to do with them.”
Green.
“Why wouldn’t she have waited for Hadley to join them and then taken them all out at once?”
Midas made a good point, and I lent weight to his argument. “That would have fixed all her problems.”
“I think…” Her mouth stretched thin. “I think she figured out what I was doing, minimizing the damage, protecting Hadley.” She wet her lips. “I think she wanted them as hostages
