A Shade of Doubt (A Shade of Vampire #12)(24)

“Don’t mess with me, Aiden,” he snapped, his face now merely inches from my own.

My shock was beginning to turn into anger at his accusatory tone of voice. “I wasn’t even at the lake last night,” I said. “And Adelle and I are just friends. Even if I did feel something for her, I would never, and I mean never, poach another man’s woman.”

My words barely seemed to register. “How long have you two been seeing each other?” His hands shot out and gripped the collar of my shirt.

I clutched his hands, pushing them away from me.

What is wrong with this man? He’s crazed.

My motion only seemed to agitate him further. His hands shot out again, this time, to my shock, his claws extending. I had to jump back to avoid being grazed.

I stared at him, stunned. “Eli,” I gasped. “What the hell?”

He lurched forward, aiming for me again. I caught both his forearms before he could reach me and pushed him backward.

By now, Kailyn had abandoned her tea, too shocked by what was going on. She approached Eli from behind and attempted to restrain him. But as soon as she was within three feet of him, he lashed out at her too, catching her cheek with the tip of his claw.

Sweat dripped from his forehead, his chest heaving. “You’re a cheat, Aiden,” he hissed.

That hit a raw nerve.

“How dare you,” I growled. “Whomever you saw Adelle with last night, it was not me.”

I didn’t wait for Eli to lunge again. I dove for his waist, sending us both thudding to the floor. Gripping his neck with one hand, placing my other round his back, I flipped him over until he was lying face down on the floor.

Perhaps the one advantage I had over him was that, despite being a vampire, Eli was not trained in combat. He used his brain far more than he ever used his muscles. So he barely had time to struggle as I snapped his neck with one swift motion.

There was a grunt in the corner. I turned to see that Kailyn had now turned into a werewolf. She padded over to me, and we both stared down at Eli’s unconscious form.

He’d be back to normal soon enough. I grimaced, thinking that we’d have to take him to Adelle to get fixed up and I’d have to speak to her.

I didn’t know what to think as I stared down at Eli—always the most gentle of people. It sent chills down my spine, the way he had looked at me with such hatred… such darkness. How he could doubt me, and what I had done to deserve such doubt, I could only wonder.

And who had he seen down by the lake last night? How had he managed to mistake that man for me?

I could only wonder what had gotten into his head.

Chapter 15: Sofia

During the second day’s meeting at the Great Dome, we finally came to a decision—albeit temporary. Mona would enforce a boundary, separating their part of the island from ours. No werewolf could cross it without permission.

We’d discussed the idea the day before, but I’d felt deeply uncomfortable about it. Now, after another day of discussion, we were no further forward. It seemed that this was our only choice if we wanted to keep this island from going under.

I hated it. It caused a divide far deeper than the physical. I had begun to make friends with them. It felt like we were going backwards. I was grateful at least that Mona seemed to be understanding about it. Although she’d made clear in no uncertain terms that the werewolves were like her family, she was at least helping us deal with the situation and come to a compromise.

Once this was decided upon, Derek and I paid a visit to Kyle and Anna, who were doing their best to care for Caroline and Thomas’ children—a ten-year-old boy and a thirteen-year-old girl. Jack and Stephanie.

Our witches were still scouring the island. I hoped they’d find the bodies soon and we would be closer to discovering the cause of their deaths. Part of me was afraid to find out who would have done this. If it was a vampire, it would be devastating—likewise, if it was indeed a werewolf, the animosity would become greater and there would be no chance of getting the boundary removed any time soon.

But if it was not a vampire or a werewolf, the other explanation was far more chilling. I wondered if we could have another imposter living among us, just as we’d had Micah.

After the meeting was over, I called Mona to stay behind with Derek and me. From the look on her face, she seemed to guess what this was about.

“We need to screen everyone on this island. Just in case an imposter has managed to infiltrate us,” she said, before we could even express ourselves.

Derek and I nodded.

“As soon as possible,” Derek said.

“How will we do it?” I asked.

Mona took a seat next to us, placing a palm over her forehead.

“We’ll have to arrange for every single inhabitant of this island to see me. I’ll cast a spell on each that will force them to reveal their true forms.”

I breathed out, just thinking about what a colossal job this would be.

Derek stood up and began making his way to the exit of the Great Dome. “We have no time to lose,” he called back. “I’m going to start appointing managers to help with this.”

I realized with a shudder that we’d even have to screen the children. Of course, I wasn’t sure why a black witch would bother to kill Caroline and Thomas. But we ought to screen them anyway. In fact, we should have done this the moment we suspected Micah had been an imposter.