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They were silent for a long moment until Adriel asked, “Was Dane the one who fed?—”

“No.”

When she said nothing more on the subject, Adriel instinctively reached into her mind?—

Juniper jerked her body toward the door, and the car swerved. “Hey, back off!”

Adriel gasped, pressing her hand to her temple. “What was that?”

“What was what? You’re the one who came at me.”

“You deflected me.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

But she had. There was some sort of barrier protecting her mind from trespassers, which meant that if someone abused her, they did so without the anesthetic of compulsion. That only left force.

Shaking off the ache in her head, Adriel asked, “You won’t tell me who hurt you?”

“I can’t. I never saw his face.”

If an immortal had Juniper’s blood in theirsystem, they would be able to track her. “Do you think they’ll come after you?”

Silence stretched as the scent of regret shifted to pungent anger. Juniper’s grip tightened on the wheel, the color bleaching from her knuckles.

“Let them. My hands aren’t tied anymore. As soon as I get settled, I intend to figure some shit out. No one will ever get me in a cell again. I plan to make sure of it.”

Adriel appreciated her honesty and believed Juniper would seek the protection she needed to feel safe again. “To relieve your guilt about Dane, Cybil is undead. She does not need to breathe consistently to live. Her lungs will pump again as long as her head and heart remain intact.”

“That’s how you do it?”

Adriel frowned. “Pardon?”

“Kill a vampire. You need to cut off their head or rip out their heart?”

While she wanted to once again argue the terminology, she was startled by her preoccupation with death. “Take my advice, Juniper. Knowing how to end an immortal life and possessing the capabilities to do so are two very different things.”

She glanced at Adriel nervously. “Will you try to kill him, the one that’s after you?”

The breath in her lungs turned heavy like a cold mist. “Cerberus is older and stronger than me. I will do whatever I need to do to survive him, but he is not easily destroyed.” And if shecouldn’t accomplish that, she would find peace in leaving this world.

Juniper shifted lanes again. There seemed to be fewer vehicles on the road than earlier. “I’m glad Dane’s sister is still alive.”

“For Dane’s sake?”

The witch nodded.

Adriel could not match her sentiment. Cybil was perhaps closer to being vampire than anything else. After her brutal transition, her soul was lost. Dane refused to accept that his little sister, the last of his mortal family, was gone, so he clung to the hope that he might one day save her.

“If Isaiah took her, I don’t know how long she has.”

Juniper frowned. “I don’t know about that. The way that thing acted with Dane… It was like he was trying to protect her. He saw Dane as the threat. I don’t think he wanted to hurt her.”

“Isaiah has committed unspeakable atrocities. I assure you, he is not protecting that child—may God have mercy on her soul.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in God.”

“I never said that. I said my faith had crumbled long ago. I believe in a God, but I don’t necessarily believe He is good and always on our side.”