Page 44 of Touch of Evil

Farrah rolls her eyes. “Who?”

All right. Now I’m mad. “Iam the healer of the Wird sisters.Ihave the power to soothe and cause pain.” I clench my teeth. “AndI’mthe one who can crush you without ever lifting a hand.”

I use myforceand give them a small shove to prove my point. My anger and desire to prove myself makes me a bit aggressive. They land on their tails, well, Merche, I mean. Farrah face-plants into the water. In my defense, I think she rather enjoys it.

It takes all that I have not to apologize and hurry to help them back to their feet. It’s hard to be kickass when my nature is to be kind.

I shove aside my gentler disposition, reminding myself this is not the time for compassion, and take several deliberate steps toward them. “I’ll speak to Genevieve, not as the pack alpha’s sister-in-law or the sister of the Mate, but as the friend and colleague the Head Witch of the Lake Tahoe Region has grown to admire.”

They jump when I point to the vampire. I almost jump too, stunned by their reaction. I clear my throat. “What about him?” I demand. “Why is he here?”

“He spotted me waiting for you,” Merche says. “Una sent me to hex your phone so you couldn’t call for help.” She stands slowly, careful to avoid facing me directly. “We were to wait for you to leave the bar and follow you. Once you got to the highway, Una had planned to take you.”

Merche assumed I’d be alone. “You didn’t expect me to be with anyone?”

“You’re never with anyone,” Farrah says. Her face remains under water and bubbles balloon and pop along the surface with every word. “At most, we would have to get rid of the Uber driver.”

Wow. To them, I was merely this lonely and pathetic young woman they needed to snag. It’s why they presumed Ted wasn’t my boyfriend.

Merche continues, unaware of the insult. “The vampire came after me. He would’ve killed me if I hadn’t made it to the beach and summoned Una.”

Gerald’s decapitated body huffs. “What did you expect?” he demands. “The master told me to kill anyone who tried to hurt the Wird Girls.”

“The master?” Merche squeaks.

Gerald laughs, his chest moving up and down while the sound echoes from his mouth. “Yeah, bitches.The master. You not only went after Aric Connor’s sister-in-law, you targeted a friend—wait, you are just a friend, right, Emme?”

“Yes,” I say, worried where Gerald’s headed with this.

“You’re not doing the master, are you?”

This time, I’m the one squeaking. “I haveneverbeen intimate with Misha.”

“She calls the master vampire by his first name, too,” Farrah bubbles out.

“Oh. Must be the other one,” Gerald reasons out lout. “Either way, you girls are fucked. You took me, and you took one of the women my master swore to protect.”

“This is why you’re here,” Merche squeaks to Gerald. She swipes away angry tears. “You couldn’t keep quiet.” She lifts her little nose, her attention returning to me. “When the vampire told Una you were under his protection, it infuriated her.”

I take in Gerald’s debilitated state once more. “I can see that,” I agree. I think matters through. “But why didn’t Una just kill him like she did Ted?”

Bubbles spume under water as Farrah explains. “Oh, because Una needs to eat,” she casually offers. “She tore Ted apart to feast, but then had to drop his pieces to save Merche from the vampire. The otherweresarrived before she could return to consume her meal.”

Merche plays with her little paws. “Una had to disable the vampire so he wouldn’t cause trouble. He’s to make up for the nourishment she was supposed to receive eating Ted.”

Gerald’s hands lift Gerald’s head off the ground. “Wait a minute. I’m here so she can eat me?”

“And I’m a pawn to be disposed of,” I bite out. My glare trains on my captors. “Una didn’t care if I suffered. From the moment she formed her plan, she counted on my death. It guaranteed I could no longer heal and protect Celia, as well as offered a demonstration of her supposed strength.” I shake my head. “It’s sickening. All this to win evil’s favor and hurt someone I deeply love.”

“I don’t want to be eaten,” Gerald interjects.

Shame hunches Merche’s small frame. “We didn’t want you to die, Emme. We didn’t want anyone to die. All we wanted was a place to belong.”

“There are better ways to find your tribe,” I tell them.

“Not for us,” Merche replies.

I cross my arms, tired of their excuses. “Why didn’t Una kill me outright? Why did she just toss me here and leave?”

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