Page 90 of Crossroads Magic
“You lied about being with Benedict on the night of the solstice,” I told her. “He just told me you weren’t. So where were you?”
Harper smiled. “None of your business.”
“It’s Haigton business, Harper,” Hirom said, from the bar, which made me realize neither of us was moderating our volume. “Best tell her.”
Harper scowled. “I was in bed and asleep.”
“Liar!” I cried, although I knew nothing of the sort. I just knew she was lying because that was what Harper did.
Harper dropped her boots from the table and stood. “I didn’t kill your mother! Why would I? She was a weak hack of a witch and I’ve got bigger fish to fry!”
I shot my hand out and gripped her wrist.
“What the fuck! Let go of me!” Harper cried and tried to wrench her wrist out of my grip.
I let her go, studying her as she rubbed her wrist. “You’re telling the truth.” It didn’t make sense. “You hate vampires. YouhateBroch.”
“I’m the bigger fish,” Broch said, from just beside me. He’d walked up silently. He considered Harper, who hissed at him. “Harper’s mission in life is to destroy all of us, one by one. Only she can’t touch me here in the Crossing.”
“The rules of the highway,” I said. I looked at Harper. “Why do you hate vampires so much? They’re colleagues, now.”
“Because a rogue vampire killed her parents when she was a small child,” Broch said. “And she has spent her life making all other vampires pay for that single crime.”
“It is in your nature to kill!” Harper shot back. “You’re all predators. You can’t take that away, no matter how you try to civilize yourselves.”
“The vampire who killed your parents was executed, thirty years ago,” Broch said, in a gentle tone. “You know that. Damien and Nicholas in New York gave you evidence—”
“More vampires!” she spat. “I can’t trust a word any one of you says!”
I stared at her, at the twin tracks of tears that trickled down her high cheekbones. She did not seem to be aware of them.
Broch turned to me. “The night of the solstice, Harper followed us through the woods. There and back. I could smell her scent. It’s quite distinct.”
“He’s lying again!” Harper cried, speaking to me. “You can’t believe him!”
“Why would you follow Hirom and Broch all night?” I asked her.
“I. Did. Not.” She spoke through clenched teeth.
“Because she continues to hope I will step outside the boundaries of the Crossing, when she will be free to deal with me.” There was a tired note in Broch’s voice. “But we stayed on the trail and inside the wards.”
Harper made another hissing sound, full of venom and fury. She picked up her hat from the table and shoved past us.
Just from that brief contact with her, I could sense no rot of lies, nothing but the heat of her anger.
Broch gave a small shrug. “The truth lies uneasily on her shoulders. It is not you she resents.”
“Whyisshe so angry all the time?” I asked. “It can’t simply be because she can’t deal with you the way she wants to.”
“There is a price on Harper’s head, now,” Broch said. “She killed a vampire. A hunter. One of her own. Now, hunters everywhere have her on their list. She came here because she knew I was here, and because she didn’t understand how it works here. Now, Harper can’t leave Haigton Crossing.”
That would be enough to make many people angry. I felt a touch of pity for Harper. “She did sow herself a rough row, didn’t she?”
“She did,” Broch agreed heavily.
I thought about the drink I had wanted. I didn’t want it anymore. “I need to think.”
“Of course,” Broch said smoothly and returned to his table.
