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Her eyes widened. “What?”

“He came to my office this morning.”

“What did he want?”

“He said he wanted Kelly and Jason, but I’d bet he was checking I was out of the way.” He paused for a moment, and then continued. “He also wanted you, and when I wouldn’t give you up, he warned me against you.”

“Warned you against what?”

He shrugged. “Actually, he was very cryptic, but he did tell me not to trust you. That when it all came out, you were just as likely to be on their side as mine.”

She frowned, then turned her head to gaze out of the window. Caleb could almost see her turning the thoughts over in her mind, and she was not happy with the results.

“Do you want to tell me what he’s talking about?” he asked.

When she turned back, she’d wiped all expression from her face. “I have no idea.”

“Why do I find that hard to believe?” he asked.

He glanced down. Kelly’s blood stained his hands. He stared at them in disgust, then walked past Regan, through the hall and into the bathroom. He washed his hands then went to the linen closet and pulled out two blankets.

“What are you doing?” Regan asked as he came back and stood over Kelly’s body.

“I’ll take them out and bury them away from the house.”

“I can—” she paused, and he looked at her curiously. “I can get rid of them for you.”

“What? You mean magic?” He thought about it then shook his head. “No thanks. They have friends who might like to know where they rest.”

“They’re gone, Caleb.”

“I know, but some people get comfort from a grave.”

∞∞∞

Regan watched him as he laid one of the dark red blankets across the back of the sofa, and then wrapped Kelly’s body in the other. He picked up the bundle with ease and carried her, cradled against his chest, from the room. Blood had pooled beneath her and dripped onto the cream carpet. Regan whispered a word, and the blood was gone.

She moved across to Jason, picking up the second blanket. Crouching down, she rolled the body onto it and wrapped it tight around him, then sat back on her heels and stared at the shapeless bundle that had been a living person only a short time ago.

She should be elated. Caleb had finally agreed to help her and go up against his father. With Caleb’s help, they would find Ethan and finish him off forever. But the price of these two lives was too high, and she couldn’t rid her mind of the misgivings. Something was wrong.

She hadn’t lied when she’d told Caleb she had no clue what Ethan was talking about when he questioned her loyalty. She could think of no one who would believe they possessed the power to claim her allegiance. Well, no oneliving.

A nagging thought hammered at her mind, refusing to be dismissed. But it couldn’t be Sardi. He’d been utterly annihilated two thousand years ago. In her mind, she could see his face as she’d spoken the words that destroyed him.

Not for the first time, she wished her mother were here. The Morrigan was the only other person who knew what happened so long ago, had been there with her at the time. But what was the point of wishing for her mother. She hadn’t listened in the past; why should she come now?

She was still staring at the body without really seeing it when Caleb returned.

“Tell me,” he said.

“Tell you what?”

“You know something.”

“I don’t—honestly, Caleb.” He looked skeptical, and she knew she had to give him something else. “I was thinking about someone, that’s all.”

He tilted his head to one side and regarded her. “Thinking about who?”