I wended again, blocking her path just out of sight of my brethren. “Jocelyn, let me take you home.”
“You can’t go to my home!” she shouted. “I’m going back to my territory, where it’s safe. You should do the same.” Her jaw locked and her chin rose.
“Where you go, I go,” I said slowly, reaching forward to brush the backs of my knuckles down her cheeks.
“No.” She shook her head, a fierce glint in her eyes. “You’re not coming with me. I don’t want you. Not if it means my life.”
I sucked in a breath, but it wouldn’t stop the hemorrhage of shock that stuttered my heartbeat. “You don’t mean that.”
She looked me square in the eye. “Look at me.”
“I’m looking.” Looking, but definitely not understanding what the fuck was happening right now.
“Am I lying?” She tilted her head. “I don’t want you. Not like this, and I have never loved you. Now let me go.”
I waited for the tingle, the burn, the pain that came with a fresh tattoo, but it didn’t come. There was no single sign that she was lying...because she wasn’t. “You’re telling the truth.”
She nodded once, then walked right past me.
I blinked, struggling to gather my control, my thoughts, my scattered and charred feelings, then turned. It didn’t matter if she didn’t love me, because I loved her, and I’d never leave her to be slaughtered like the Baldwins had been. Whether or not she liked it, I’d escort her back to her own territory where she’d be safe. Mating guaranteed a good genetic match for offspring, not love, and if it was one-sided, then I’d learn to deal with it.
“Jocelyn—” I stopped, my eyes scanning the forest.
She was gone.
14
Jocelyn
My heart felt like a thousand tiny knives were carving it up.
Liar. Liar. Liar.
I’d lied to Benedict. I’d told him I’d never loved him, that I didn’t want him. And it was so far from the truth, but I had to make him believe it. Had to make him leave, to keep him safe from the truth I’d found in that horrible house.
My mother. My own mother’s power drenched that house, laid over those dead bodies like a twisted blanket. That’s why there wasn’t any blood. That’s why their deaths were so fast.
It was her.
And I was not going to let her get her hands on Benedict. Not my mate. My love. And if that meant breaking both our hearts in the process? Then so fucking be it.
“Ah, daughter,” my mother’s voice echoed in the wide marble expanse of the throne room. I stopped before the throne in which she sat, the position forcing me to look up at her and her down on me. “You’ve finally returned home.”
I cringed at the word. Home implied love and warmth and support and laughter and passion. Home was where Benedict was. Not this shithole. The only thing I loved about this place was my sister and the land.
“What have you done?” I asked, no preamble. My power roiled in my veins, feeding off the heartbreak burning in my chest.
Benedict is safe. They all are.
My mother arched a thin brow at me, examining her gleaming nails for a moment. “You’re going to have to be more specific, Jocelyn. I do quite a lot while you’re off playing with the vampires.”
I curled my lips. “You know damn well what I mean,” I spat, and she dropped her hand, shock coloring her eyes.
“You’ve always been brash, daughter, but you’re crossing a line. Mind your tone.”
Oh, she had no idea how many lines I was willing to cross to keep my mate safe. “Drop the act. I know what you did. You slaughtered those vampires. For what?”
She straightened in her throne, the folds of her gossamer dress hissing against the marble at her feet. “Well, well, well,” she said. “You’re not a total waste after all. You were able to detect my magic? Even with the cloaking spell I placed over it?”
“Without blinking,” I said, my tone sharp enough to cut. “Why?”
I hated how badly I needed to know. How desperately I wanted her to say something that would explain the situation away. But I knew her. I knew my mother had a cold heart and a thirst for power, I just never suspected it would lead her to murder innocent creatures in their own home.
She huffed out a dramatic sigh, resting both arms on the edges of her throne. “We’re negotiating for bigger lands,” she admitted. “The Sons of Honor are more than willing to assist us in wiping out the vampires and allowing us to assume the role of the supreme supernaturals.” She grinned at me, stars dancing in her eyes as she spoke.
“Think about it, darling,” she said. “We’ll be the real power in Edgemont. It will be our witches deciding punishment, not those bleeding heart vamps. It’s far past time for a change in order, and with the throne in unrest, with a king who can’t even keep his sister safe…” That grin deepened, bordering on madness. “There is no more perfect time to act.”