Page 94 of Bound
“We had hoped—” Wena breaks off.
“We had hoped that it was not related,” Vish tells me, wrapping his arm around Wena’s trembling shoulders. “But I fear his death was a guise.”
“A cover up?” I supply.
He nods.
“For what?”
“Jarrah’s mother was a weaver for the Black Tower. He knew much about magick. The taking and giving of it. I overheard them before we left Tennessee. The Councilman sought Jarrah’s aid in procuring magick of his own.”
Ice washes through my veins. “I don’t …” Then it hits.
The Fae John Doe who showed no reading on the electrometer. The guard with spell craft carved into his very flesh. The selkie whose only power, his second skin, was cut from his body.
And now Jarrah is dead.
Son of a bitch.
“Ruin.” My heart beat pounds in my throat, damn near choking me as I turn. “Ruin!”
The team’s steps thunder down the tunnel before they stop in front of me.
I grab Tanner’s arm. “Get in touch with CSI and get a fucking rush on the damn clothes.”
His silver eyes glitter, but he pulls his phone from his pocket and starts down the tunnel. I glance at Ruin. “What do you know about Ralf?”
He peers at me. “He’s new on the council. Young, but with a strong backing in the supe community. Plays fair with everyone. Why?”
“I think he took the others. And I think Jarrah helped.”
“What?” Amoret’s voice rips down my spine. It’s then that I realize her sobs have stopped.
I manage not to flinch as I glance at her. “Jarrah and the Councilman were in contact before your envoy arrived.”
Her tear-streaked face reddens. “Of course. The Councilman arranged for our suite. And …” She trails off, something like horror dawning on her features.
I take a step. “Amoret—”
The beautiful glow of her eyes dims with the betrayal. The truth.
Someone she trusted like family betrayed them all. Sold them out. But for what?
I knew Jarrah from years ago. From the Sith.
He had never struck me as the kind to scheme or manipulate. What changed?
“Amoret.” Her name is a whisper into the silence. A terse plea echoed from the dead man behind her the night before. His dying word.
My gaze snaps to her face, seeing it now.
The Councilman wanted a way to get his own power. Amoret had none unless she borrowed it from others. And even her kin was careful about touching her.
But Jarrah had not been.
He loved her. I know it with a surety that sits like acid in my stomach. He loved her and he had risked them all to give Amoret the one thing she would never have on her own.
The one thing that corrupts everyone in the end.
It had corrupted me.
Power.
And he was willing to take it from her own brother to get it.
