Page 68 of When Bones Whisper
His face blanched, eyes widening. Charlotte had never seen Alexander afraid. He was always so well put together, but in that moment, he looked as if he might pass out. “Gertrude Avery has returned. I swear, I would have thought I was seeing things if it wasn’t for her interacting with Katherine. She’s alive. I don’t know how, but the bitch has returned.”
Charlotte’s heart hammered. She’d heard that name before, but it couldn’t be the same one who cursed her bloodline.
Nathaniel stood upright and quickly crossed the courtyard. “That is impossible.”
“Yet, it is true.”
“It must be a trick,” Nathaniel said, shock carving into each of his words.
“Then it is a good one.”
“How can she be alive?” Charlotte asked. “She lived over three hundred years ago, unless, she is a vampire.”
With a squeeze of his eyelids, Nathaniel’s fingers dove into his hair. “It might not be her,” he said, with a desperation she’d never heard in his voice before.
“She’s not a vampire,” Alexander confirmed, only adding to their confusion.
Before she could press him further, Katherine hurried through the doors, followed by an incredibly handsome vampire who she guessed was Zachariah. He flashed his fangs with the most charismatic, contagious smile.
“Nathaniel, the head of the Avery family is asking for you,” Katherine said, standing beside a woman of bright red hair andblue eyes. Judging by the way she held herself, with the same fearlessness that only immortality afforded, Charlotte knew she was the other vampire.
“Zachariah,” Nathaniel said lowly when the doors shut behind them, addressing the young man with dark-blond waves, wearing a deep red and black tuxedo. “How many are there?”
“Fourteen, well fifteen if you count the man they brought.”
“He doesn’t count,” Nathaniel replied quickly, straightening his posture. Charlotte understood what he meant. Men couldn’t be witches, only women. A man wouldn’t have any magical ability and therefore, would not be a threat.
Katherine cleared her throat. “I introduced myself and from what I could tell, they didn’t notice the spell when they walked in.”
Charlotte pressed her lips tight together. They wouldn’t have, considering it didn’t exist.
“Very good,” Nathaniel said, his eyes flickering to Charlotte’s for a second with an approving smile. “Where are they now?”
Charlotte’s stomach tumbled and she swallowed thickly, trying not to reveal anything in her expression. If it was true and a three-hundred-year-old witch was in fact with them, then she had made a huge mistake in disabling the spell.
“The reception hall,” Zachariah answered. “Gertrude is asking for you.”
“I will go,” he said with a nod. “Before they disrupt the rest of the guests. Zachariah, you will come with me and Alexander, guard Miss Lovett.”
Zachariah leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his crimson waistcoat, which was half-way undone. “Yes, my Lord,” he drawled.
Charlotte stepped forward before they could leave, and placed her hand on Nathaniel’s arm, the move not going unnoticed by Katherine, who glared at them. “How will you know it’s really Gertrude and not an illusion?”
Alexander grimaced. “If anyone would know, it’s Nathaniel. After all. She is his mother.”
Charlotte’s mouth fell open in disbelief, the revelation shooting shockwaves through her. The woman responsible for condemning the souls of her family to a purgatory, forever trapped within the bounds of a graveyard, was his mother!
“You failed to mention that,” she said when her brain finally caught up with her mouth.
“It wasn’t important,” Nathaniel said simply.
She begged to differ, considering that had to be the reason Gertrude cursed her bloodline, out of vengeance for her ancestor cursing her son with vampirism.
“Why would she be aligned with your enemies?”
He didn’t answer and instead turned to Alexander. “Keep her safe.” Nathaniel’s eyes locked onto hers, and he added, “Do not leave this courtyard. She’s dangerous and will stop at nothing to get to you.”
“Why?”
