There was another long silence, and then Kirsten spoke first. “She’s right. I’m sorry.”
Dashiell tipped his head. “Human emotions and reactions still feel strange to me,” he allowed, which was as close to an apology as we were likely to get. To be fair, I did often forget how difficult it must be for the vampires to be around me, given what they are. The wolves retain their human emotions—often, like their metabolisms, they’re even revved up—but the vampires seem to lose their grip on feelings over time.
“Okay,” Jesse said after a beat. “You’ve told me what we don’t know—who is working with Olivia, and how she became a vampire. So what do we know?”
Will said diplomatically, “I think one thing we can all agree on is that there is some kind of pattern or plan here. Olivia is working toward something.”
“Kirsten suggested that Olivia wants Scarlett,” Jesse said. I had a sudden elementary-school urge to punch him in the arm for tattling. All the eyes in the room turned toward me with speculation, like they were all trying to figure out what Olivia saw in me.
I started picking at a cuticle, my hands hidden under the table. This was probably the most uncomfortable I’d ever been in my life. Everyone at the table knew that I’d been Olivia’s puppet, and that I’d fallen for her psychopathic bullshit for years. Not to mention that the two men I had a sort-of thing for were both sitting right there in front of me, aware of each other. I wanted to get up and leave so badly that all I could think about was the route I’d need to take from where I was sitting to the front door. Even if I made it that far, though, I didn’t have my van. Jesse had driven us. I fought the urge to bury my face in my hands.
“You’re probably right, Kirsten. But if all she wanted was Scarlett, she could have taken her after Scarlett’s…injury…last fall. She had the opportunity, and Scarlett’s defenses were down. And there would be no need to have an accomplice or kill the two witches,” Will said thoughtfully. “There is something else at stake here, as well. I’m guessing that Olivia is saving Scarlett for last.”
Jesse said, “My concern is that we won’t find our answers until it’s too late.”
There was a moment of grim silence.
Eventually, Dashiell broke it. “Given what we do know about Olivia’s past behavior,” he said, “I think we can safely say that Scarlett needs to be protected.”
There was a round of agreeable murmurs. Now? Now they all decide they’re going to get along? Unbelievable. I was thoroughly annoyed, mostly because I had been trying to convince myself that I wasn’t pee-your-pants terrified of whatever machinations Olivia had in motion. The last thing I wanted was for everyone to agree that I was in deep trouble. And when had they all started discussing me like I wasn’t actually a person?
“Scarlett,” I retorted, “who is sitting right here, by the way, can protect herself from one newborn vampire.”
“I agree,” said Jesse, to my surprise. I felt a flush of gratitude that he was taking me seriously. But then he added, “Scarlett shouldn’t be alone, though, if for no other reason than to trap Olivia when she does decide to come for her.”
“Yes, of course,” Dashiell said smoothly. He gave Jesse a cool smile. “Someone will need to either kill Olivia or keep her still until I can arrive.”
Jesse looked perturbed, but didn’t comment, and I felt like I’d missed a chunk of the conversation. Dashiell seemed to be daring him to argue, while the rest of us glanced back and forth between the two of them in bewilderment. Finally Dashiell continued, “It’s settled then. For the immediate future, Eli will handle all cleanup problems, except any future crime scenes that relate to Olivia. Detective Cruz will stay with Scarlett for the time being. When you need time away, call one of us at this table to be with her instead.” He looked around as he spoke, making eye contact with each of us in turn. “Do not trust anyone else with Scarlett’s life. We don’t know who else Olivia may have gotten to.”
Everyone but Jesse and I simply accepted this pronouncement and began gathering their belongings to leave. Jesse looked confused, his eyebrows knitted in a classic wait, what just happened expression, and I sat there sputtering. Dashiell is the cardinal vampire in Los Angeles, but I was a person, not a pet kitten that had to be kept inside while there was a coyote running loose in the city. This wasn’t three months earlier, when I had temporarily lost my radius of protection. Olivia—or the witch who was helping her—couldn’t lay a fang or a spell anywhere near me now. In some ways, I was better equipped to handle Olivia than any one of them.
I was just mounting a really reasonable and articulate argument along those lines—really, I promise, it was inspiring—when Eli, who had been watching me flail for words, spoke up to stab me in the back. “It’s for the best, Scar,” he said woodenly, not exactly meeting my eyes. “You’ll be safe with Jesse.” My jaw may have dropped open a touch. After everything we’d talked about the night before, after I’d let him sleep in my bed sober, he was going all white knight on me? Hell, he was pushing me toward Jesse?
Bullshit.
Chapter 11
As Jesse and I approached the car, he helpfully distracted me by humming the theme song from The Bodyguard.
I wanted to smack him, but I settled for a glare. “It’s not funny, Jesse. What the hell just happened in there?”
We were still in Dashiell’s makeshift parking lot, and he tilted his head to urge me to get into the car to continue this conversation. Fine. I opened the passenger door—and spotted my own gym bag sitting on the driver’s seat. I frowned. There was a yellow Post-it note stuck to the strap, secured by a couple of extra pieces of Scotch tape. Thought you might need this. Molly.