Fractured (Deep In Your Veins 5)

Jared looked at Sam. “Yeah, but it has to chafe that he still acknowledges someone else as his first-born, right? I mean, Tait does all the work. Imani doesn’t even send him birthday cards.”

Sam slowly nodded. “Ah, I never thought of it like that.” She turned back to Tait. “You know what surprises me? That he hasn’t renounced Imani. Why do you think that is? Personally, I think the psycho loves her, in his way.”

Tait’s fists clenched. She obviously didn’t like that idea any more than I did.

“At the very least, he’s obsessed with her, right?” Sam went on.

Lifting her chin, Tait scoffed, “He feels guilty for Turning her against her will; that is all.”

Jared spoke then. “Just how pissed off were you that she went to the castle after all this time? Some would say she didn’t belong there. Some would say you made a good point that she was a bad little first-born. Some might even say it was only natural that, feeling defensive on behalf of your Sire, you would feel the need to challenge her.”

“I think so,” said Tait.

Well I fucking didn’t. “But that’s not why you attacked her, is it? You wanted her to hurt you. You knew she could. Maybe you weren’t expecting her to put you on your ass so easily, but you knew she’d hurt you. You thought it would make Marco pissed at her; you thought it would make him so angry with her that he’d finally renounce her.”

Jared grinned. “Didn’t work so well, did it?”

“In fact,” added Sam, “it was you he was pissed at, wasn’t it, Tait? That had to sting. And it must have been pretty embarrassing as well.”

“Maybe you decided that if he wasn’t going to get rid of her, you’d do it yourself,” I mused.

Tait scraped her nails on the table. “It wasn’t me.”

Jared lifted a brow. “Who else could it have been? Marco? Juliet?”

She leaned forward. “I don’t know. I don’t care. But I sure hope that whoever it was tries it again.”

I growled, and she jerked back so fast she almost unbalanced her chair.

Sam smiled. “Such a black-hearted honey pie, aren’t you?”

Jared snorted. “I think we’re done here. For now.” He turned and led us down the long hallway of cells. “I’m not sure what to think about her,” he said when we were too far away for her to overhear.

“I think she’d definitely like to see Imani dead,” began Sam, “but that’s not to say that she’s responsible for the attempt on her life.”

“I’d like to see Tait dead just for attacking Imani in the castle,” I shared.

“Yeah, it does sound like a fun idea,” agreed Sam.

We fell silent then as we continued through the passages. The three suspects were being kept far apart to prevent them from communicating and to make them feel further isolated.

When we halted outside another cell, Sam said, “Someone likes yoga.”

“You should try it,” Juliet told Sam, doing some weird stretch. “It might help with your aggressive nature.”

“So might punching you square in the face.” Sam tilted her head. “Tell me, Juliet…Just how much do you hate Imani?”

“I do not know her well enough to hate her,” replied Juliet. It sounded like a perfectly honest response.

Sam regarded her carefully. “You work in Lazarus’ lab, don’t you?”

“If you are asking if I have access to the serum, no I do not.”

“Who does have access to it?”

Juliet’s expression blanked. “A handful of my nest.”

The evasive answer pissed me off. “You’re very loyal to your nest. It’s admirable. But loyalty can be a fault if it’s taken too far. You’re showing loyalty to someone who betrayed you all by attacking a member of the legion and bringing you all under the scrutiny of the Grand High Pair. Now your precious Sire is facing an execution because, let’s face it, he’s the most likely suspect.”

Performing another weird stretch, Juliet sighed. “Three vampires have easy access to the serum. But I do not believe any of them targeted Imani. Somebody else got to it.”

“Who are those three people, Juliet?” asked Jared.

“Lazarus, Eleanor, and Eleanor’s partner, Davis.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Who do you think attacked Imani?”

Juliet shrugged. “I have no idea. But I know you have the wrong people incarcerated. I may not have warm feelings for Imani, but I have no reason or wish to end her existence. Tait despises her, but such a sly manoeuvre is not her style.”

Jared pursed his lips. “What about Marco?”

Juliet’s gaze briefly cut my way. “If the target had been Imani’s consort, I would have believed the culprit was Marco. He is very cunning and indeed vindictive enough to commit such an act. But he would not cause Imani any pain.”

“He already did that by Turning her,” I snapped. “Does no one get that?”

“But he did not do that out of a wish to harm her,” said Juliet. “He did it to keep her.”

“I don’t agree,” I told her. “I think he wanted to hurt Imani for being with me. I think that to him she’s nothing but a toy that he didn’t like losing. He wanted to punish her.”

“You are wrong. He would never end her life.”

“You act like he’s protective of her but the truth is he wasn’t with her when she needed his support,” Jared pointed out.

She paused in her stretch. “What are you talking about?”

“He abandoned her after he Turned her,” said Jared. “Why would he do that if she was important to him?”

Juliet blinked, looking sincerely surprised by the question. “Because Lazarus sent him away, of course. Lazarus only allows his vampires to Turn those who come to this life willingly. Marco broke that rule. The penalty is usually death, but Lazarus is fond of Marco. He ordered him to stay away from the castle and away from Imani.”

Jared snickered. “Maybe that’s the story that Marco fed you—”

“Ask anyone in the castle,” said Juliet. “They will tell you that he did not willingly leave her. After she left, Lazarus allowed Marco to return to the castle, but he forbade him from contacting her. You see, Lazarus let Marco live, but he had to punish him. He needed to be seen to punish him so that others would not consider repeating the crime. Marco’s punishment was to be kept away from Imani.”