Chapter 4

When Seanand I arrived at Charles's house, his head of security, Bryan Smith, escorted us directly to Charles's office.

The enormous two-story room featured a sitting area in front of a massive fireplace, a full bar, and the office area, with a large desk and guest chairs. Charles displayed his collection of fine art in the upper gallery. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases covered three walls of the ground floor. A two-story window in the exterior wall overlooked the estate's backyard. The curtains were closed tonight.

As usual, Charles was not there yet. He preferred to make an entrance. I was a little surprised at how annoyed I was about that tonight. Before, I'd never minded because it was just one of Charles's habits. Now I saw it more through Sean's eyes, as a power play and a sign of disrespect, as if our time was worth less than his.

Bryan interrupted my thoughts. "Would you like a drink?" He gestured at the bar as Sean and I settled into the two armchairs in front of Charles's desk. "Water? Scotch?"

On previous visits, I'd usually said yes—if not to whisky, at least to water, but I wanted nothing from Charles. If I was right about him messing with my head, it might be all I could do to let Sean say what he'd come to say and not take a pound of flesh for myself. I didn't want his booze.

"No, thank you," I said. Sean also declined. Either he took his cue from me, or he felt the same way I did about accepting Charles's hospitality.

If Bryan was surprised by our refusals, he didn't let on. He went to the bar to pour a drink for his employer.

Sean leaned over and pressed his lips to my ear. "Morgan Clark and Vaughan had sex earlier in this room," he said, his words barely audible.

Stunned, I sat back in my chair. Morgan was the daughter of Bridget Clark, the High Priestess of the Silver Thorn Coven, a local coven of black witches. The Court had enlisted Bridget and Morgan to investigate how Mira? had been able to steal my magic and memories, and to restore my magic. My good friend Carly had once belonged to the coven, but left almost twenty years ago when they began to practice black magic in earnest. She and Morgan had been like sisters before her defection. Morgan's teenage daughter, Katy, had recently left black magic behind. She now worked in Carly's coffee shop and had joined her coven.

Jealousy and anger lanced right through me like a blade. Magic sparked on my fingers and the bowl of flowers on the small table on my right nearly slid off onto the floor.

Sean's expression darkened. I wasn't sure who he was angry at: me, Charles, the Court in general, Morgan, or all of the above.

I gritted my teeth and squashed both the surge of magic and my anger. I didn't care who Charles slept with. My thoughts and my reactions didn't match. My brain said "Hmm…that's interesting" to the news, while my body's response was irrational fury and jealous rage. To me, the dissonance was more evidence of Charles's influence.

"That wasn't me," I murmured. I hoped Sean would understand what I meant, and what had caused my near-violent reaction to his news. His frown deepened, but he gave me a slight nod.

Bryan set a glass of Scotch on the desk pad. He waited behind and to the right of Charles's chair, his eyes on me.

I stared at the glass on the desk. Charles and I had shared many glasses of whisky over the years—in his office at Hawthorne's, on my back porch, here in his house. Was there any truth in any of the things he'd said over those Scotches, or had it all been lies?

From the moment I'd met Charles during my first case working for the Court, I knew he couldn't be trusted. Later that same night, he'd told me he would see my secrets laid bare, and his meaning was clear. He wanted me in his collection and in his bed.

I'd told him it would never happen—"Not in this lifetime" were my exact words. He'd simply smiled as if to say, We'll see. I knew then he was planning something, and made up my mind he wouldn't win.

And yet, somewhere along the way, he'd gotten under my skin and into my head.

Maybe Sean wasn't the only person in our relationship whose heart had gotten softer than it should.

Sean glanced at me, then over his shoulder in warning. Charles was approaching. I strengthened my shields and waited.

Familiar footsteps shuffled on the carpet behind us. Charles's gait was slower than usual, his steps uneven. He'd nearly died when a vampire object of power that once belonged to legendary vampire Vlad Tepes poisoned him with dark magic. Nearly two months had passed, but he still hadn't fully recovered.

Charles came around our chairs and stood beside his desk. He wore a gray suit with a purple tie and pocket square. I caught a glimpse of matching checkered socks, like those he'd worn the night he'd traded the cuff I needed to save Sean's life for a drink of my blood. I had no doubt he'd chosen his attire deliberately to remind me of that night. It was such a transparent ploy that I almost laughed.

Though I never would have admitted it to anyone, I'd once thought Sean's anger and distrust of Charles was excessive, a result of his protectiveness or even a touch of jealousy of a romantic rival. Now, with the benefit of a clear head—or at least, a less-clouded one—it occurred to me that he'd just seen Charles for who he was. How frustrating it must have been for Sean to not be able to get me to see what he saw.

Charles's eyes glowed softly. "You seem angry this evening, Alice."

I opened my mouth, but Sean spoke first. "We're here on official pack business, Vaughan. Our appointment was for ten o'clock. It's nearly ten fifteen."

Charles studied Sean as he seated himself behind the desk. "My apologies for my late arrival, then," he said, his eyes moving from Sean's face to mine. "Mr. Smith offered you refreshments, I assume?"

"This isn't a social visit." Sean's voice was cold.

Charles's eyebrows raised slightly, his eyes still on me. "Can Alice not speak for herself?"

"She can, and will, once you and I have discussed the matter that's brought us here tonight." Sean's eyes turned bright gold. "That matter is your attacks on Alice, which are attacks on me and our pack."

Bryan's eyes narrowed. Charles's expression was thunderous. "I have never attacked you, Alice," the vampire stated. "What is the basis of this allegation?"

Charles persisted in trying to address me, despite how clearly Sean had stated he was taking the lead in this confrontation. I gritted my teeth. "This is a conversation between you and Sean, as the alpha of our pack. Talk to him."

Disbelief flashed in Charles's dark eyes. "Why does he speak for you? When did you abdicate your authority to speak for yourself?"

I knew he said it to bait me and drive a wedge between Sean and me, but the accusation still stung like a whip.

Unwilling to be distracted from the reason he'd asked for this meeting, Sean ignored both Charles's words and my reaction. "By your own admission, you bit Alice without her knowledge or consent while she lay in a coma. That was not only an attack by any definition of the word, but also against both human and vampire law. She may not have pursued prosecution for your crime, but that doesn't make it any less of a crime."

"Is that why you are here tonight?" Charles asked me. "To demand redress for that lapse in judgment?"

If it had truly been a lapse in judgment rather than a coldly calculated act, I'd eat my boots.

"No," Sean said, which seemed to surprise Charles. "Alice exacted her own punishment for that bite, as I'm sure you recall. It was her choice to do so, and if she considers that debt paid, I accept it. We asked for this meeting to inform you we are aware you've deliberately manipulated Alice's thoughts, emotions, and actions for a period of months, if not years."

Charles seemed stunned by the allegation. "I most certainly have not."

Sean continued as if Charles hadn't spoken. "This physical attack on my consort is an unprovoked act of violence against our pack. Like your earlier bite, it was a violation of both human and vampire law. After discussing the matter with Alice, we agree the best option for justice is for you to provide a full confession of your crime and pay restitution. Both will be considered confidential, and the matter need not go beyond the walls of this room, unless you wish to reveal on the record in a trial what you've done."

I'd argued against demanding restitution, but Sean was adamant. The Vampire Court had provisions for settling such matters through remuneration, and since we had no interest in dragging Charles in front of the Court for a trial, it was the most logical choice. I told him if Charles agreed to pay any money—and that was a mighty big if—it would go to the pack's account. I wanted nothing from him, least of all money.

Charles was on his feet before Sean finished speaking. "These accusations are completely baseless. What you propose is nothing more than extortion. I am aware your pack faces numerous difficulties, most of which you have caused yourself through poor leadership, but I did not think you would stoop to such a level." He turned to me, his expression bordering on incredulous. "Surely you are not a willing accomplice to this, Alice. Our relationship goes back almost six years. I have been more honest with you than any person I have ever known since I was turned."

Bile rose in my throat. My fingers tightened on the arms of my chair.

"If that is true, which I doubt, it says far more about you than about Alice," Sean told him. "You've done nothing but lie and manipulate since you met her. If there were grains of truth, it's only because you had to sprinkle some in every so often. If that's as honest as you've been in two hundred years, I have less respect for you now than when I walked in here tonight."

It was Charles's turn to ignore Sean. "You know I have spoken my heart," he said, his eyes boring into mine as if no one else existed on Earth. "Many times I bared my soul, though it made me vulnerable to do so. Whatever the wolf has told you and you may now believe, that does not change our past. We are kindred souls, Alice." His eyes pleaded with me to remember the physically and emotionally intimate moments we'd shared.

Despite my shields, my body—my flesh, my blood, even my bones—surged in response to his words. My certainty about his manipulations faded, buried under an avalanche of protectiveness and longing. Maybe it was remembered desire, or maybe he'd just unleashed the strongest blast of suggestion he'd ever used on me.

Whatever the cause of my reaction, and whatever Charles hoped to achieve, what he got was two hundred pounds of angry werewolf leaping over the desk. Sean threw Charles into a tall bookshelf. Books, several sculptures, and an antique globe crashed to the floor.

With a hiss, Charles flipped to his feet and swung at Sean, who blocked the punch and drove him back into the bookshelves with his shoulder.

The last time Charles and Sean fought, it was at my house, over Charles's accusation that Sean intended to bite me and turn me into a werewolf. That fight demolished almost every stick of furniture in my living room and ended with Sean in Vamp Court custody for assaulting Charles. If I'd thought that fight was brutal and destructive, it was nothing compared to this one. Unlike the earlier fight, I didn't try to intervene. Sean had every reason to be angry.

Bryan, however, did try to interfere—and ended up sprawled on the floor with a swelling jaw and a dazed expression. I wasn't sure who had punched him, truthfully, and I wasn't sure if he knew either.

Also unlike that earlier fight, Sean didn't shift. That made sense given the potential consequences of attacking Charles in wolf form. But even in human form, with the power of the pack bonds and the fuel of his rage, Sean wasn't much slower or less powerful than Charles, and he was a more skilled fighter. Their punches flew faster than I could see.

The fight moved from the office to the sitting area, smashing bookshelves, two tables, three chairs, and various antiques and sculptures. Whether on purpose or accident, it didn't stray into the bar, for which I was relieved—both because of how much potentially deadly glass was in the bar, and because if Charles's collection of expensive single-malt whisky was destroyed, I might cry, just on principle.

Bryan was back on his feet, but he didn't try to interfere again or summon backup. That had to have been on Charles's telepathic order, which meant Charles wanted this fight to continue.

It ended very abruptly, and very differently than the first one. Sean slammed Charles against the wall by the throat, breaking the painting hanging there. They were both bloody, clothes torn and knuckles busted. Charles's fangs were out, and Sean's eyes blazed gold.

"Tell her the truth," Sean snarled into Charles's face. "Tell her the truth, you lying bastard."

"I have," Charles said icily.

Sean's grip tightened. "She knows already. She's known since the sorcerer's lair, when his wards cut through your influence and freed her. Deep down, on some level, I think she's always known. That's why your manipulations never worked. Someone who's been abused will do everything in their power to keep from being victimized again, even if they don't realize they're doing it." He lowered Charles to the floor but kept his hand on the vampire's slim, pale throat. "Tell her."

"Or what?" Charles sounded genuinely curious. "What will you do if I refuse to say the words you wish to hear? Will you kill me, wolf? Drag me in front of the Court so my peers may hear your baseless allegations? Call me before the Council and inform the world you cannot protect your consort from anyone—shifter, witch, mage, sorcerer, or vampire?"

For a moment, I thought Charles was deliberately trying to provoke Sean into trying to kill him. But though his eyes blazed, Sean didn't take the bait. Instead, he released Charles's throat and took a step back. "None of those things," Sean said. "I will give Alice the chance to make a choice between your truth and mine."

Confused, I rose from my chair. "What do you mean, Sean?" He'd gone totally off-script, and I had no idea what he was talking about—though apparently Charles did.

"It's the only chance you'll have to come clean and make your case," Sean added, without looking at me.

Charles glanced at me. "See how your wolf tries to possess you? I knew it would only be a matter of time. I warned you it would come to this. An alpha must assert control."

How had I never seen how manipulative Charles was before this? Did he have that much influence over me, or had I just not wanted to see it? Was he to blame for my blindness, or was I?

"I want the truth, Charles," I said. "Or this is the last time you speak to me outside of Court business."

Charles studied me. "Because the wolf says so?"

His tactic of trying to make this about Sean, rather than his own betrayal, was getting old fast. "Because I say so." I slid onto a tall chair at the bar and turned to face him, my legs crossed. "So if you have something you want to tell me, now's the time."

"And once she's heard us out, Alice is free to make her choice," Sean said. "It's a better deal than you would have gotten otherwise."

"Why do this?" Charles demanded. "She may choose to stay with me."

"She might," Sean allowed. He met my eyes with his softly glowing ones. "But whether she stays with you or leaves with me, or just leaves, I want us both to know she did it of her own free will, and with a clear head. So no more games, no more manipulation, no more influence." His voice turned to steel. "Tell. The. Truth."

"Will you tell her your truth?" Charles countered. "If I must speak plainly, so must you."

I was ready to dismiss Charles's comment as just another attempt to get under Sean's skin, but Sean nodded grimly. "I'll tell her."

I wanted to demand, Tell me what, but that would just play more into Charles's little game. Instead, I waited.

I didn't have to wait long. Sean turned to face me. "When we first met, Vaughan told you a member of my pack, Mike Holleman, let it be known I intended to find a mage and turn her into a werewolf to be my mate."

I nodded. "I remember. He spread that lie to try and get you killed."

"It wasn't entirely a lie." A muscle moved his jaw. "I did say I wanted to turn a mage to be my mate."

I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.

His expression was unreadable. "About ten years ago, not long after I became alpha, I heard of another alpha who'd turned a mage to be his mate and thought it wasn't a bad idea. I would never have turned someone against their will, but I did want to explore the possibility of finding a mage to be my mate and turning her if she was willing. Jack and I discussed it numerous times—which is how Mike found out about it later. Jack or Delia let something slip in a conversation, and Mike decided to use it to his advantage."

For so long, I'd believed there was nothing to the rumor about Sean's intention to turn a mage. Charles must have uncovered the truth and held onto the information until he could use it.

"And when did you decide against turning a mage?" I asked finally. My voice didn't sound like my own.

Sean kept his gaze locked on my face. "Jack and Delia talked me out of it years ago. You know how dead-set they were on my mate being a born shifter. Before too long, they had me convinced choosing anyone other than a shifter would be a colossal mistake, for me and the pack." He flexed his bloodied hands. "After that, I didn't think about it again. And I never thought of you as a powerful mage I wanted so my pack would be stronger, or that I wanted to turn you, especially after I knew you had no desire to become a shifter. For me, from the night we met, you've simply been Alice, the woman I want and love." He exhaled. "And that is my truth."

"All right." My voice still sounded funny. I turned my chair toward Charles. "Now, you tell me the truth—all of it, or I walk out of here right now, and I won't look back."

As Sean revealed the grain of truth behind the rumor that had almost ended our relationship before it began, Charles had weighed his options. I recognized the expression he wore when he was calculating the best move to make. Vampires were fairly inscrutable, but there was a slight tightening of his eyes and a tiny crease between his eyebrows when he had to make a difficult decision. I supposed whether to tell the truth was a difficult and unfamiliar choice for someone like him. I figured it was a fifty-fifty chance the next words out of his mouth would be a lie.

"It is as the wolf says," Charles said finally. He drew himself up to his full height. His aura of fragility vanished, and though he was still thin, I saw no hint of infirmity. The lingering sickness from the Tepes stone and depression after using the spelled cup to walk in the sun had been an act. He'd pretended to be weakened and almost suicidal to play on my sympathy.

It took every ounce of willpower I had to not get up and walk out right then.

"Go on," I said. If my voice had sounded strained before, it was like a taut wire now.

"My campaign to ingratiate myself to you began very soon after we met." Charles folded his hands behind his back, his gaze locked on mine. "As you may have surmised, my intentions were primarily focused on making you my lover and ally so I might utilize your power and ingenuity for my own ends, and to advance the interests of the Court. Because you proved so thoroughly immune to my overtures, I influenced you very subtly so you would not detect my manipulations."

"At Valas's request? Or was it your idea, and she approved the plan?"

A pause. "She approved my plan."

Sean had been right about that too.

After a moment, Charles continued, "Our acquaintance soon turned to a business relationship, and then to the closest friendship I have enjoyed since I was human. My motivations grew more…personal. I came to realize that in your presence, I am human again. I laugh. I feel sorrow, and hope, and curiosity, and protectiveness."

He took a step closer, despite Sean's warning growl. "Alice, I love you. I did not think myself capable of love after the loss of my wife, but I have found it again with you. What I did, I did for your sake. I can protect you from your enemies, far better than the wolf. I can ensure you will have a long and happy life, free from your past. You will want for nothing. I promise only truth between us from this moment forward. I ask nothing of you in return, not even your power or your body, unless you choose to share them with me. Stay with me, so I continue to feel as though I am human. I wish to learn to be a better man, so I may be more worthy of you."

"Did you know Darius Bell and Moses Murphy had teamed up to draw me out?" I asked. "Did you deliberately feed me fabricated intel about the weapons deal Murphy was in town for, so I'd go out to his house and walk into the trap?"

He didn't hesitate. "Yes."

I could have asked him about a dozen other incidents, but I wasn't sure any of the answers would matter, really. Would it change how I felt to know he'd allowed me to be almost killed by the bomb that destroyed Hawthorne's, or to be shot by Kent Stevens, or nearly seduced by Niara? No, it wouldn't.

I'd listened to his speech with my senses tuned to detect the slightest hint of influence and watched closely and listened for any indication of deception. Every word he'd said sounded and felt true. I didn't feel any push to believe him or that he'd tried to sway me in any way. And yet…

…And yet, I didn't believe him. Or maybe I did, but that didn't change anything.

Something died inside me in that moment. I didn't know what it was, exactly, but it was a physical sensation of intense, painful loss. Maybe it was the last of my hope that Charles wasn't the lying bastard Sean had always said he was.

When I finally accepted the true scope of Charles's campaign to influence me, it called into question nearly every action I'd taken, every word I'd spoken, every choice I'd made for almost the entire time I'd been in the city. How much of my life had been of my own free will, and how much was influenced by Charles?

It really didn't matter, I decided. What was past was past. I could choose to let this kick my feet out from under me, or I could find a way to let it go. If I didn't, Charles would still be influencing me—only this time, it would be by my own choice. He'd already taken up far too much real estate in my head.

There was no sense prolonging this conversation. I'd sat in silence for at least a full minute already, while Sean and Charles watched me and waited.

I slid off the barstool and stood. "It's not my responsibility to make you feel human, Charles, or teach you how to be a better man. Don't put the burden for either of those things on me. Those are choices you have to make. And clearly my presence hasn't made you feel all that human if you see nothing wrong with what you've done to me."

His face was impassive. "I did not say I was not wrong to do it."

"You knew it was wrong, but you did it anyway because you believed the ends justified the means."

"Have you not done the same on many occasions?" he countered. "What would you not do for love, Alice?"

"I've done a lot of things for love, but one thing I would never do—would never even consider doing—is make someone my slave or steal their free will. I told you that months ago, when you tried to blackmail me into working for the Court. I put on that cuff to free Sean from his, went into debt with Valas, and died to free us both rather than bind him to me without his consent. That's how deeply I believe love and partnership mean nothing if they aren't freely given, or if they're coerced in any way."

Sean's expression told me he wanted nothing more in the world right now than to touch my hand or put his arms around me. He stayed where he was because he didn't know whether his touch would be welcome in the wake of his admission. That was fine with me, because I didn't want comfort right now. I needed space, and to finish this thing with Charles, once and for all.

"Alice—" Charles began.

"No." My voice was quiet. "What you did was the worst and cruelest thing anyone has ever done to me, and there is a hell of a lot of competition in that category. My free will is the most important thing I have. It's the only reason I'm alive and not in chains, and you knew that."

His eyes blazed. "My honesty has meant nothing to you?"

He just didn't get it. He never would.

"You don't get a medal for doing the bare minimum, Charles—especially when you only did so because you had no other choice." I headed for the door of the office. "And no, it doesn't."

It didn't escape my notice that nowhere in all those pretty words had there been any facsimile of an apology. If he had apologized, it wouldn't have changed how I felt, but it might have made a difference. Then again, if I'd learned anything from years of working with vampires, it was that they seldom if ever felt the need to apologize for anything.

"Alice, a moment, please." Suddenly, Charles was in front of me, in one of those uncanny flashes of movement vampires could do when they didn't care about appearing human.

He grasped my hand. You will regret choosing the wolf, he said in my head, his voice grim. The sorcerer's power has changed him. He is not the man you knew.

Magic blazed from my other hand, forming a black-edged blade. I slashed at his throat, but he released me and moved like lightning to avoid the deadly edge.

"Don't ever touch me again," I warned him. "The next time, I won't miss."

Sean joined us by the office door. "The next time you touch her without her permission, she won't have to lift a finger," he said, his voice cold. "It will be me who kills you, and I won't make it as quick and painless as cutting off your head."

Charles's eyes met mine. In them, I read a message: I warned you. He has changed.

"You might be right, but I've changed too," I said aloud. I lifted my hand to show him the magic blade on my fingertips and the rainbow spiral of magic down my arm. I let my wolf raise her head and stare out through my eyes, turning my vision gold. She growled, and the sound rumbled in my chest. "You'll never play me for a fool ever again, Charles. Not ever again."

My wolf snapped her teeth at him. He recoiled.

I turned to Sean. "You two can work out the particulars for the restitution. I'm going to Northbourne. I'll talk to you when I get home."

I turned on my heel and walked out.