Priceless (18 page)

“
Dead. I don
’
t . . .
”
He
shook
his head.
“
How did this happen?
”

I wasn
’
t entirely sure what he was talking about.
“
Milly, what happened?
”

“
I knew you were in trouble, could feel the vibrations stronger than anything ever before
.
”
S
he pushed a long strand of
dark
brown hair off her forehead to reveal eyes that at times could be a soft green, and when she was pissed deepened to an almost neon green that flashed. Right now they were as soft and gentle as I
’
d seen them in a long time.

She went on.
“
I came out to the house, but they had already trapped you. O
’
Shea and his partner showed up
—
”

“
Those people attacked us, we shot at them and . . .
.
”
O
’
Shea
stared at me as if I was going to have the answers. Oh, this was not going to be good.
“
Our bullets
swerved
,
came back and hit Martins
, right in the forehead
.
”

“
Was it your bullet that swerved back?
”
M
y mind already
caught
on to the implications.

O
’
Shea frowned.
“
What does it matter
? He
’
s
been killed in an impossible situation.
”

The sirens were almost here.
“
Listen, there isn
’
t a lot of time. Think, O
’
Shea. You
’
re going to tell people the bullets did whatever the fuck they wanted, swerved back and shot your partner with YOUR bullet? You
’
re about to be implicated for murder.
”

His face paled.
“
They won
’
t believe me.
”
He put a hand to his head.
“
I wouldn
’
t believe me.
”

I couldn
’
t help it.
“
Just like you won
’
t believe me when it comes to B
erget
.
”

Again, he just stared, his eyelids twitching as I watched emotions run across his face. Anger, fear, disbelief.

“
Come on,
”
I said.
“
We can
’
t be here if you want to stay out of jail tonight.
”

“
I
’
m not going with you. That
’
ll only prove I
’
m guilty
,
”
he
said.
“
When you run
,
it shows your guilt more than anything.
”

Well if that wasn
’
t a dig at me
,
I didn
’
t know what was.
I laugh
ed
;
I couldn
’
t help it. Milly, standing beside me in her
fashion-
forward bright white pantsuit, was shaking her head.

“
Rylee is right, Agent O
’
Shea. You can
’
t prove your innocence. There
aren
’
t
even any of the perpetrators here to point fingers at. Unless you did manage to shoot one of them?
”

He shook his head
.
“
No, but you
’
re innocent until proven guilty
.
Y
ou should know that, Adamson.
”
Already the shock was wearing off and he was sliding back into this usually difficult self.

Shrugging
,
I turned my back.
“
Come on, Milly, if he wants to spend the rest of his life in jail for a murder he didn
’
t commit, then let him.
”

We started to walk away, but it was Alex who stopped
us with words he shouldn
’
t have
been able to
utter
.
“
Man with gun. He come with.
”

I spun in time to see O
’
Shea stumble backwar
ds
, eyes wide
at really
seeing
Alex
.
H
e
pull
ed
his gun
on the werewolf
. I bolted toward them, but it wasn
’
t me that got to O
’
Shea first. It was Milly.

She slammed him with a
knock
-
out
spell that rolled his eyes back into his head and dropped him to the ground.

“
Good shot
,
”
I said.

“
Thanks
.
”
She
gave me a smile.

Grabbing Alex by the collar, the three of us ran around the side of the house as the fire trucks and police cars screamed into the yard. We pointed around the back of the house and they sped off in that direction.

As I shoved Alex into the Jeep,
a black unmarked pulled in.
“
Damn
.
”

Three hours later, we
—
Milly and I
—
were still explaining the same story over and over. I had been trapped in the cellar, Milly had showed up and heard
gunshots
,
but neither of us had seen anything. Now it was up to O
’
Shea
as to
whether or n
ot he dug his own grave
.

We were released just as they brought O
’
Shea out of the house. In handcuffs.

I was surprised to feel a pang of guilt hit me. What the hell was that about? I tried to push it away, but it overrode any attempt I made to shrug it off. O
’
Shea hounded me for years
;
with him locked up, I wouldn
’
t have to worry about who was following me around anymore. I let out a sigh.
“
You know this complicates things.
”

Milly touched my arm.
“
Your life would be easier without him in it.
”

“
And yours would be easier without me in it
,
”
I said.

She ducked her head
, shame flushing her face
.
“
You
’
re family, you
and Giselle. The
Coven
gave me leave to help you on this case
.
”

“
Why?
”

She didn
’
t answer, our conversation interrupted.

O
’
Shea and his guards walked passed us. I wanted to make a smart remark
;
I knew that walk of shame
.
I
n fact, it had been O
’
Shea who
’
d walked beside me.

But I couldn
’
t make the words form. He was as innocent as I was. Magic had a funny way of making humans believe the wrong thing.

We were allowed to stay while the police did their investigation
,
they told us ahead of time that it would likely take all night
. They had lights on tall stands li
gh
t
ing
up the yard as if it wasn
’
t close to midnight in the middle of October.

Milly helped me make a late
—
very late
—
dinner of pasta and steamed veggies from the garden.
Neither of us spoke as we cooked, except for the
“
pass the salt
”
variety of conversation.
As soon as
the food was ready
, I put
Alex
’
s share
in his bowl
.
H
e
cleaned
it
in
about thirty seconds flat
—except
for the carrots
, which
he
left in the bottom
of the dish
.

“
Eat your veggies, Alex
,
”
I said.

“
No, Yucky
, poopy
,
”
he
grumbled
,
poking at them with the tip of one claw.

Milly leaned over.
“
You can have some dessert if you eat them.
”

Two bites later
,
and he was waiting patiently beside the fridge for ice cream.

I stood and scooped out some of the Tiger
-
flavoured dessert, the black and orange stripes visible even through the thick plastic tub.

“
I
’
ll stay the night. But then I have to go
,
”
Milly said, finally breaking the silence.

“
You won
’
t get kicked out of your new club? Your new friends will let you come back?
”
I couldn
’
t stop the words
;
maybe
I
didn
’
t want to. She
’
d hurt me and
I
was not good at taking hurt
,
unless it was of the physical kind.

She glared at me.
“
And what would you do if your parents came back, if they said you could be a part of their family
,
but you
’
d have to give me and Giselle and Alex up? You
’
d do it.
”

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
“
No, I wouldn
’
t. They proved they don
’
t give a shit about me. Why would I choose them over people who I love and care about, and who I thought felt the same?
”
I stood up, grabbed the plates from the table and stomped over to the sink.
“
One thing I do want to know, how long before you told your new friends I was looking for India?
”

Her eyes filled with tears.
“
I never told anyone.
”

“
Not even your new boy toy, whoever the hell that is?
”

Her tears turned into a flush. Bingo.
“
What does it matter?
”

I couldn
’
t stop the anger burst
ing
out.
“
Because someone left a nasty message for me only hours after I spoke with you
,
and
because whoever has India knows I
’
m coming. And the only person I told about the case was you.
”

Milly stood, her white pantsuit splattered with flecks of spaghetti sauce.
“
He would not have shared it. I trust him.
”

“
Just like you trusted the last one? And the one before that?
”

Alex decided to chime in.
“
Before that?
”