Page 42

Why had she been naked? What happened to her?

Fury returned, snuffing out her confusion, and she seized the opportunity before her. She was free and finally able to seek revenge. Supernatural energy charged the air as the raging fire licked the sky.

She gasped. “I saw the fire.”

“What?” Adriel drew back to look at her, their faces close enough that she could see the sprinkle of cinnamon freckles scatted across her upturned nose.

“Last night. I was there.”

“At my house?”

“I guess.”

Juniper had siphoned the fire’s power into her body and let it blast out of her. She remembered her aura glowing like a white-hot poker as her rage spilled free in a violent burst of light. She channeled the energy, and, one by one, the vampires had fallen to their knees. At that moment, she had full command of her magick. She could have killed them all and probably would have ifthe females hadn’t screamed for mercy.

She knew that guttural sound of grief all too well. They were somehow experiencing the pain she’d inflicted on the males. How? Were they somehow connected? She couldn’t justify hurting innocent people to simply cleanse the wicked. She didn’t have that level of cruelty in her, and that tiny realization fractured her powers with doubt and left her vulnerable.

How foolish of her to feel sorry for them. The moment they sensed a tremor of weakness, they attacked.

She shivered, recalling the burn of claws slicing through her skin the moment the spell broke. “I saw him.”

“Who?”

“Cerber—”

“Shh.” Soft fingers covered her lips. “Do not speak his name. Tell me what you know.”

“He was there. Last night. The house was on fire. I could tell him apart from the others.” She frowned, wondering what gave him away. “He wasn’t dressed in Amish clothes.”

“You’re just remembering this now?”

“I…something happened to me. I don’t know. I was running, and then… I was on the ground. There was a woman. She was hurt.”

“You’re not making sense.”

“I know.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense to me either. Maybe I blacked out. I was panicking, you know?”

“What do you remember?”

She remembered unleashing her magick and then… She twisted out of Adriel’s arms.

“What is it?” Adriel stood, her eyes pinched with concern.

Juniper’s hand went to her back, searching for an open wound or torn flesh, but she found nothing. Had it been a dream? It seemed too real and detailed to merely be a figment of her imagination.

“Juniper?”

“It’s…nothing.”

The vision of Adriel ripping into that man’s throat was still fresh in her mind. She might look young with her pixie red hair, youthful ivory skin, and those big, green, innocent eyes, but she was centuries old and could be as vicious as the rest of them.

“Did you give me blood?”

“No.”

“You swear?”

“Juniper, you were there. I tried, and you refused.”