The staircase was lit only by the pale moonlight filtering through the stained-glass windows. It cast an eerie glow over everything, making the marble floors shine like ice and the dark woodwork seep with menace. After I made my way down, I walked swiftly through the halls, my mind whirling with questions and concern. Tor, Riley, and Enzo were already waiting in the library when I arrived, their expressions grim.
“What’s this about?” I asked, closing the door behind me. The only other person in the place besides us was my Uncle Harris, but he was still passed out in the dungeon where I’d left him. Tor’s dad was back home where he belonged, and everyone else had scattered a while back, taking shelter elsewhere after Carlos’ attack on the estate. It was nice having the manor to myself without my parents and Lyle-the-snitch-butler hanging about. As long as Maroni’s henchmen didn’t come back any time soon, we were good here. At least, as good as we could be with our world crumbling around our ears and Sierra missing.
Torin’s face tightened as he ran a hand through his hair, and my gut clenched. Whatever his reason for getting us together wasn’t going to be fun.
“What is it, Murphy?” I asked, dread making me stiff.
“I have something to confess,” he said quietly. “And I need your help.”
Riley and Enzo exchanged glances, quickly concealed shock passing through their expressions. They knew Torin well enough to understand when something was off.
When Tor remained quiet, I asked warily, “What’s going on?”
I started to use the spirit connection between us to search for information but decided against it. With Sierra’s disappearance, Harris and Gerald returning from the grave, and Carlo Maroni’s goons running wild, it was probably a bad idea to delve deeper into darkness.
Tor let loose an f-bomb under his breath, low and raw. “I cast a memory spell on Sierra,” he admitted in a rush. “To make her focus more on the positive experiences with us. Enhance her desire.”
The room fell silent as the words hung in the air like radiation after a nuclear explosion, the fallout of which is immediate ... then long-lasting.
Apart from the initial shock that he’d done it behind our backs after we’d agreed not to mess with her memory, the implications were setting in with regard to the bonding ceremony: She had to have mated with us willingly for it to work.
“You motherfucker!” Enzo shot out of his chair.
Riley grabbed him before he got hold of Tor, though Riley’s expression was filled with disappointment.
“What the hell, man?” I whispered harshly, a cocktail of anger, betrayal, and hurt burning my throat.
“I know,” he said miserably, and Riley, still between Tor and Enzo, sighed.
Rye’s expression was equally disappointed, but not entirely surprised.
“Did you know about this?” I asked, not sure I could handle a betrayal from him too.
He shook his head. “But I was afraid he might,” he said, and Tor glanced at him sharply.
Riley shoved him back. “But I never thought he’d be stupid enough to do it.”
“I should fucking kill you,” Enzo snarled, towering over them.
Torin bristled, readying for attack.
God damn it. I wanted to throttle the shithead myself, but we couldn’t afford to fight amongst ourselves right now. We had greater enemies to defeat and too much at stake.
“What do you want us to do?” I asked, my voice cold and emotionless.
“I ... Fuck, I don’t even know.” He shook his head, his gaze on the floor. “I asked my dad ...”
My brows quirked. “And?”
Torin swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “He didn’t really say, other than we have to stick together to try to save Sierra.”
Enzo scoffed. “Easier said than done.”
Tor’s resentful glace went sideways at Salvatore, but he kept his mouth shut.
“What else,” I asked harshly, feeling there was more to Murphy’s story.
“He said we need to do what my ancestors couldn’t. But I don’t know how. And we have to find her first.”
“Well, you’ve already fucked that up. What your ancestors did was betray her. Your job, apparently, was to not do that.”
Tor flinched as if Enzo had punched him, and to my surprise, only hung his head rather than fight back. My shoulders dropped, as did my anger. Tor was hurting, that was clear.
“Listen, we can’t stay here much longer,” Riley spoke up. “Sooner or later either Maroni or your parents are going to come back, and we need to find Sierra before then.”
Enzo punched the fireplace mantel, muttering curses under his breath.
Torin pushed his hands through his hair, frustration and worry etched into his face.
My head hurt from the thoughts of Sierra - of wanting her and worrying about what she might become. “What if she’s not possessed?” I asked.
Tor rubbed his head and stopped to glare at me. “Then she kills us all.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “Or worse,” he added, then turned away.
Worse? I guess the fact that she would not only be killing us, but our families as well. That didn’t mean much to me, and probably not Enzo either - our families were shit. But the Quinns? Tor’s parents?
But what if she wasn’t? What if she was meant to be our Reaper, like in the damned fucking Murphy curse?
We were all thinking it, I could tell.
