Page 95 of Wounded Soul
A hint of a smile tugged at Raph’s mouth before disappearing again. He turned to the officers pointing their guns on him. “Is this room soundproofed?” They nodded. “Good. I’d like a word alone with my coven member please.” He gestured to the microphone on the table. “And I want that turned off.”
Someone was listening because Jesse heard them give the okay over the radio. The other officer—obviously senior to Blake—kept his gun trained on them as he motioned for Blake to open the door. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
As soon as they’d gone, Jesse turned to Raph. “I didn’t kill Ian. Peter had already drained him by the time I got there.”
“I know,” Raph replied, taking Jesse by surprise. “Or at least I suspected as much.” At Jesse’s confused expression, he added. “Peter’s an excellent liar, but I’ve known him too long to fall for his bullshit. I should never have sent him to investigate Ian. I’m sorry.”
“Why did you?” Jesse couldn’t help but ask.
“Because that’s his role in our coven, and I stupidly thought his ego would force him to do a good job. I didn’t consider his jealousy would get the better of him. I underestimated his feelings for you, and Ian paid the price.”
“Feelings?” Jesse scoffed. “He doesn’t have feelings for me.”
Raph shook his head. “Not the kind I suspect you have for Ian, no. Peter’s always been possessive of his things, and unfortunately he considers you one of them. I thought you were handling it well enough without me having to intervene, since you never came to me about him.”
Jesse glanced down at his hands, feeling suddenly guilty. If he’d gone to Raph before any of this started, Ian would probably still be alive. “I did turn him, though.” He couldn’t meet Raph’s eyes as he said it. Couldn’t face him while admitting he’d broken their agreement with the VLCD. The one Raph had fought so hard to keep. “I didn’t mean to.” He shook his head, still amazed how it had happened as he told Raph in detail.
“Fuck’s sake, Jesse.” Raph reached out and held his wrist, a wry smile in place. “Only you.”
“What do we do now?” Jesse hoped Raph had some ideas, because he had nothing. “If Ian’s saying I killed him and then turned him, I’m pretty much fucked.” Harper’s list of punishments played on a loop in his head. “Where’s Ian now?” He looked up, not liking the expression on Raph’s face.
“He’s outside in one of their waiting rooms. With Peter. They seem oddly joined at the hip, and I don’t believe Peter’s story that he freed him from your room. I take it that’s bollocks? You wouldn’t have been stupid enough to bring him into the coven and not tell me, would you?”
He raised an eyebrow, giving Jesse a look that said he knew exactly what Jesse had done. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I panicked.” His mind seemed to catch up with what Raph had said. “Wait, where’s Lys? She was supposed to be with Ian, but she’s not been answering her phone.”
Raph grimaced. “Yeah, I’m not surprised. I’m pretty sure Peter tried to kill her.”
“What?” Jesse jumped up out of his seat, chains pulling taut, but Raph was quick to push him back into it. “Calm down,” he hissed. “I don’t know details yet. The text she sent me was a little hard to decipher, but it said something along the lines of ‘Peter did it’ and ‘Send someone you trust to my room fast.’”
Jesse’s hands curled into fists.
I never should’ve left her, never should’ve got her involved in the first place.
“Who did you send?”
“Liam.”
Made sense. Raph and Liam were close, best friends for as long as Jesse had known them. Probably closer than that at times.
Raph ran a hand through his hair and fixed Jesse with a look that said he wasn’t going to like the next bit. “Liam found her on the floor with an iron spike through her chest. Peter’s scent all over the room.” Jesse’s mouth fell open, shock stealing his voice. “She’s alive,” Raph added quickly. “He pulled the spike out and got enough blood into her just in time. But she’s still coming around.” He pulled out his phone and set it on the table. “He’ll let me know when she’s coherent enough to explain what happened.”
Jesse had a fair idea. “He waited until I’d gone, then somehow got Lys to leave Ian alone.” He met Raph’s gaze. “He’s threatening him with something.” Despite his earlier doubts, Jesse knew deep down he hadn’t misjudged Ian. Hadn’t imagined the spark, the solid connection he felt when they touched.
“That would be my guess.” Raph glanced at the time on his phone. “I imagine he thought Lys was as good as dead. Look, we don’t have much longer. We have an advantage at the moment as Peter doesn’t know we found Lys. He’ll know you’ll have told me your version of event’s though, so we have to hurry. I need you to think.” Raph leaned towards him over the table. “What could Peter use to get Ian to lie for him? He’s got to know Peter’s likely to try and kill him the first chance he gets after this.”
Jesse tried not to think about that. If the VLCD convicted Jesse, then Peter and Ian would be free to return to the coven. Raph couldn’t protect Ian all the time. And Jesse would be—
No. He couldn’t think about that right now.
Although he hated to admit it, his knowledge of Ian’s life was minimal. Jesse knew nothing about his family, but he did know who his best friends were. And so did Peter. Fuck. That was it. Blake was safe in the VLCD building, but what about Cate? Would threatening her life be enough to get Ian to do what Peter wanted?
Jesse had her number in his phone, but Harper had taken it when they arrested him. “Ian has another best friend,” he said quickly as their time ran out. “Peter’s used his fucking mind trick on her before. Try and get Blake to call Cate, make sure she’s okay. I think Peter could be using her to get to Ian.”
Raph nodded just as the door handle started to turn.
“Another thing,” Jesse added quickly. “Peter said he could turn his tracker off, that’s why they can’t place him, Michael, or Simon in that alley, but they were fucking there, I swear it. Someone took that photo, right?” The door opened and Harper walked in, Blake and another guy flanking him.
“They did indeed.” Raph squeezed his wrist once, then stood and left the room with Harper.
