Framed (29 page)

“I won't be the one you want to kill by the end of this, Sean,” she said, pinning her hateful eyes on Sophie momentarily, before turning them to Ares.

“No, Ares. I may be
many
things, but I am
not
a woman scorned,” Scarlet proclaimed after regaining her composure. Her attention flashed back to Sophie as a wild and feral smile crossed her face. Three little words were about to turn the tides, and she reveled in the irony of it all as she whispered into the darkness.

“But she is.”

24

Every man on the roof turned their attention to Sophie who stood steadfast. She looked every bit as confused as the others. Scarlet saw right through her.

“Deep down, under that sweet, calm façade, is an angry, bitter child that would do
anything
to get what she wanted. Isn't that right, Sophie?” She stared at Scarlet, expressionless and unmoving. “Ruby never really could figure out what Jer's motivation was this whole time, and, to be honest, I couldn't either. Sure, he hated my very existence, and Sean for allowing it, but it seemed unsporting to frame me for murder because of those minor details. He may not have been the brightest of henchmen, but he had aspirations, and I'm quite certain that death wasn't one of them.”

Scarlet strode slowly and confidently towards the unfaltering Sophie. It was taking everything she had to keep up her bravado—I could feel it.

“But then Ares was so kind to put that piece of the puzzle together for me,” Scarlet said, circling behind Sophie like a shark around bait. “
You
were his motivation. I'd
love
to know all the sordid details as to how that pairing came about.”

“You're disgusting,” Sophie snarled, breaking her silence as Scarlet carried on her conspiracy theory.

“Oh no, Sophie.
I'm
not the one who fucked Jer into doing my bidding,” she countered. “
That's
truly revolting.”

“I did no such thing,” she exclaimed, turning to Sean for support.

“Didn't you?” Scarlet asked, looking her directly in the eyes from only inches away. “Then please do tell me how you managed to convince Jer to kill his own brothers.”

“I don't know why Jer did what he did. Maybe he was desperate to see you dead and knew there was no other way to see that happen. He knew that if you were found guilty that Sean would die too. He's wanted to be in charge for a century. Maybe
that's
why he did it,” she rationalized.

“That could be true, but Jer wouldn't have risked death
just
to be in power. Power is such a fickle thing,” Scarlet said, her lips gently brushing Sophie's ear. “It comes and goes
so
easily, doesn't it Sophie? And when it leaves you, the desperation is
endless
. Jer didn't know what that felt like, but you do, don't you? And now isn't the time to lie...you
know
I know your little secret.”

Sophie's anxiety seeped through my skin. Scarlet soaked it up like a sponge, letting the fear fuel her further.

“
Oh
, that's right. They don't know about your...
shortcomings
. But you had to know that they'd find out sooner or later. You could only fake it for so long. Were you hoping to have Peyta be your protégé, so you could take on a...less
hands on
role?”

“Fake what?” Ares asked, sounding genuinely intrigued. Scarlet looked to Sophie, awaiting a response.

None came.

“Sophie sustained some...damage,” Scarlet said with hesitation, searching for a delicate way to describe what had happened between them. “She didn’t escape my healing with all her assets intact.”

“Shut up, whore,” Sophie spat.

“She seems to be lacking some of her previous
talents
,” Scarlet continued, “though screwing doesn't seem to be one of them.”

“You fucking bitch,” she yelled. “You've been nothing but trouble since you showed up.”

“Sophie?” Sean called softly. She clammed up again, regaining her stone-like expression.

“So you duped Jer into slaying his own brothers with your feminine wiles, I get that—you are a hot little package,” Scarlet said, continuing to circle. “But what I
don't
get is why you wanted Sean dead. You knew what my sentence would be if found guilty of the murders, so why hand the PC my head on a platter when it would cost Sean his? You told Ruby yourself that he could be killed, did you not? Were you really
that
angry?
So
angry that you would watch the love of your life murdered, just to satisfy your vengeance?”

"That's why I came to Ruby to try to get her to convince him to revoke it,” she protested, her voice quaking. “I knew that the Elders wanted you dead. I didn’t want him to suffer that fate too.”

“But you knew he wouldn't, you said so yourself. Did you do that just to save face? Were you
really
that angry at him?”

“No...,” she whispered, looking longingly to Sean.

“No, you weren't that angry with him?” Scarlet badgered, “or no, he wouldn't have been killed? Couldn't have been killed?”

“No...,”

“Did you do it to send him a message? To let him know you have the upper hand?”

“No...,”

“Or was it out of sheer spite? You just wanted to take Ruby away from him to make him as miserable as you are?”

“NO!” Sophie shouted in Scarlet's face. “I never would have let him die! He would have recanted his oath once I made him see you for what you truly are. We would have watched you die hand in hand...,"

Holy shit...

“But you ruined everything! You always ruin everything!” she screamed, pulling her hair into total disarray. “Jer had
almost
convinced Sean of your guilt. Jay's murder would have been your end. Sean was
so
close to doing what needed to be done.” She turned on Scarlet with a fury that I was certain nobody present had ever seen in her. “Cass's death was an accident, but Jer capitalized on the situation by butchering up the body to make it look like a werewolf attack. When I returned to Portsmouth, he confided in me about what he'd done. He'd always had a sweet spot for me. He wanted
everything
Sean had.

"It was when Jer showed no sign of remorse for what he'd done that I knew I could use him.  He wanted the sympathizers dead just as badly as I wanted you gone. He also wanted Sean eliminated and me at his side, though that was never part of
my
plan..." Her eyes narrowed viciously and she continued her confession, oblivious to the presence of anyone but Scarlet. "
My
plan was so simple: Jer killed them, found the holes in your alibi, and then I lied about time of death so you couldn't be ruled out.  It should have worked seamlessly.”

“But it didn't, did it Sophie?" she sneered. "Too bad you put in all that time on your back for nothing.”

“Fucking Jer was a small price to pay for ensuring your death.”

“And winning Sean back,” Scarlet added condescendingly. “That's a strange way to show your love for someone.”

“You have no idea,” she spat, lunging in closer. “You don't know the first thing about
love
.” She turned her attention to Sean, who was visibly shaken. “I did all of this for
us
. I just wanted us to be as we were not so very long ago—in
love
.”

“It's been a century at least since I loved you,” he growled.

“And a century from now you could love me again, Sean,” she pleaded before turning hateful eyes to Scarlet. “After one hundred years, he wouldn't even have remembered your name.”

You could have heard a pin drop amid the PC. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke, with the exception of Scarlet. She couldn't help but get the last word in edgewise.

“And in a hundred years from now, he won't remember yours,” she purred as she watched the reality of what she'd done strike Sophie down and leech all the color from her face.

Ares broke the PC's silence as Scarlet took a step back towards Sean, sinking the knife into Sophie's back further.

“Sophie?” he asked, with a cautioning tone. “I think we need to talk. It's time to go now.”

She turned to him, batting child-like eyes that pleaded for forgiveness. She received none. She turned frantically, looking from face to face, meeting nothing but anger and resentment until finally landing on Sean's.

“Please, Sean...,” she begged. “I never would have let them harm you. I had everything worked out so that wouldn’t happen.”

I felt her panic rise as he said nothing.

“I did all of this for us,” she cried, a single tear escaping.

The look on Sean's face spoke volumes. His hatred was plain, though you could see that everything he'd witnessed hadn't quite processed yet. She killed his brothers. She let Jer die. She almost killed me.

He said nothing in response.

Ares took Sophie by the arm and guided her to the fire escape. She called for Sean as the PC closed in around her, turning their backs on us to escort her to her punishment.

“What will they do to her?” I asked Sean delicately. Scarlet had allowed me to come out once she was satisfied with her performance and its outcome.

“They will strip her of her bond.”

“And then what?”

“Her immortality is forfeit,” he said, staring off into space. “She will age as she should have until she dies. It will be quick but excruciating.”

He was pained by what he told me, and I felt for him. He'd loved her once, and though those days were long gone they were not forgotten. Her impending death brought old emotions to the forefront for him. Before that moment, I wasn't certain that he was capable of that depth of emotion.

I touched his arm lightly in an affectionate gesture.

“I didn't want this,” I told him. “I never wanted any of it.”

“I know,” he responded weakly. “We need to go get Ronnie.”

He turned without looking at me and headed back across the line of roofs. I chased behind him, unable to keep up with his brooding, driven pace. As I hopped across the narrow gaps between the buildings, I worried about what I would find when I arrived. I prayed to God that something would go right that evening.

I nervously awaited His response.

25

I was reminded that night that God does answer prayers; sometimes he just gets to them a little later than expected. When I finally made my way down to street level via the fire escape, I rounded the corner to see a small circle of people gingerly loading Ronnie into the back of an SUV. I was hurried into the vehicle myself before we drove in excess of twenty miles an hour over the speed limit through town to get to Ronnie's house. I had no clue how Sean knew how to get there, but, in fairness, I had no clue how Sean knew a lot of what he did.

When we arrived, the lights were off, and we were able to park the car in the garage to avoid spectators. Regardless of whatever rumors were out there about New Englanders being standoffish and cold, they enjoyed being extremely nosy.

Upon entering the house, Ronnie was brought immediately up to her room—Peyta never left her side. She was semi-lucid, her neck primarily healed, but angry looking. Nobody had any insight as to how the next few days were going to play out for her. Ares had said that she would turn into what had made her. That was not a reality I wanted for anyone, let alone Peyta's mother. If he was being truthful and Ronnie did Change, there was only one thing for the PC to do. I shuddered at the thought.

The boys left us alone upstairs and filed down to the living room for a meeting of the minds. On my way to join them, I stopped and snagged some clothes from Peyta's room, intent on showering first. I needed to clean the night's events out of my pores. Unfortunately, scrubbing it out of my mind wasn't an option.

By the time I was finished, the boys were standing in the kitchen munching on the food they'd pilfered from the fridge, pantry, and anywhere else they could find. I grabbed a bag of Pirate's Booty and joined the early morning buffet; stress tended to make me hungry. I hopped up onto the counter next to Cooper and offered him a handful. Instead, he put an arm around me and drew me nearer.

“Wasn't sure I would be seeing you again,” he said, his tone smacking the slightest bit of hostility. “Glad to see you managed to keep yourself alive,
despite
your best efforts.”

He was definitely angry with me, but there was an undercurrent to it—fear. The realization that I was slated to die that night settled in and made complete sense of his reaction. He'd feared for my life.

I knew that I was likely about to further complicate the issues we were having, but I snuggled into him anyway. My rock.

“I think I'm actually getting pretty good at death avoidance. I wonder if I could make a living doing that? I wouldn't have to fiddle with Quickbooks.”