Binding the Shadows (Arcadia Bell #3)(6)

“Are you sure?” Lon asked.

Dare nodded. “Earthbounds using strange knacks.”

“Like Merrimoth.”

Dare nodded. “You couldn’t pick out anything from his thoughts that indicated what caused this?” Dare asked Lon as he pointed the flashlight beam across the burnt-out second-story window frame where Merrimoth had blown fire at us. “Anything at all? A spell? A person? A name?”

Lon squinted into the surf. “I almost caught an image of another person when he was bragging. Think it was a male, not sure. He blocked me out of his thoughts before I could fully catch it.”

Dare flicked off the flashlight and handed it to one of his henchmen. “Retrieve the body before it floats away and I’m forced to pay a boat and a crew to drag the water for it later. Have Caine comb the house and dump anything remotely incriminating into garbage bags. He can load them up in one of the SUVs and take them to Swan Drive until I can sort through it tomorrow. Then call the police.”

His man nodded and began following orders as Lon and I trekked to the front of the house with Dare. “Are you just going to wait and see how all this plays out?” I asked.

“Right now most of the crimes are happening in Morella, but if it spreads here to La Sirena, then everyone’s going to be looking to me for answers. So what do you think, Ms. Bell?”

“I think you’re going to ask me to start poking around Morella.”

He gave me a tight smile. “Why would I want you to do that when you couldn’t even handle the simple task I gave you tonight? All you had to do was bind Merrimoth.” He looked at Lon. “And all you had to do was read the man’s mind. Instead, you not only fail to get the information I wanted, but you also managed to kill the target. My grandson could’ve done a better job. You’re both worthless.”

“Excuse me?” Lon was pissed—really pissed. So was I.

Dare ignored Lon’s stare and looked at me. “I’ll find someone else to do the job you couldn’t. Consider yourself temporarily relieved from your Hellfire duties. When I need you for something less important, I’ll call.” Dare pointed a gloved finger at Lon and me. “Regardless, appearances are important, so you’re both coming to David’s funeral. He wouldn’t have wanted you there, of course. But he should’ve thought of that before he decided to jump into the ocean. Goodnight.”

And with a half-hearted wave, he began marching back to one of the waiting cars.

Lon was seconds away from doing something he’d regret later; I could practically feel the anger radiating from him. But this was my fight—not his.

My fight, and what was I going to do about it?

I don’t know if I felt empowered by the magick I’d done, or stressed over the vision of my mother, or upset over the fact that I’d just accidently killed a man. But I did know that at that moment, I wasn’t going to just stand there and take any more shit from the jackass walking away from us.

I was finally ready to do what I should’ve done the first time Dare threatened me.

“No.”

Dare stopped and turned around. “What?”

I shook my head in annoyance. “Forget it. I’m done.”

“Fine,” Dare said. “I don’t give a damn if you come to the funeral or not.”

“I’m not talking about the funeral.” I strode to meet him, everything suddenly clear to me. There were a lot of things I couldn’t control, but this was one I could. “I’m done being your slave.”

“Slaves don’t get paid.”

“I never asked for the job. You bullied me—no, you blackmailed me into working for you.”

“It’s not my fault you’re living a lie.”

“No, but you’re a dick for taking advantage of it. And I’m done with you. Don’t wire me any more money, don’t ask me to do anything else for you.” Surging anger heated my chest and loosened my tongue. “If it weren’t for me, seven of your club’s children would be dead by now and Central California would be overrun with Æthyric demons.” I stuck a finger in his chest. “You should be kissing my feet. You have no idea what I could do to you, demon. No f*cking idea. If you did, you’d be sending me roses everyday, begging for my forgiveness.”

He didn’t look like he was about to fall on his knees and ask for said forgiveness any time soon. But he did look surprised. Probably because no one ever stood up to him.

“I—”

“What? What are you going to do? Have your lackeys shove a gun in my face and force me on another job? Go on, I dare you.”

Now he was angry, too. “If you want to negotiate more agreeable terms, I’m open to that. But you seem to be forgetting that I could bring down your matchstick framework of an existence with a couple of phone calls.”

I stepped closer. Close enough to smell the expensive aftershave clinging to his leathery skin. Close enough to see a muscle jump in his jaw. “Go right ahead,” I goaded. “Tell the whole world. I’m not going to pay for my parents’ crimes for the rest of my life. If I end up in jail for living under a stolen identity or aiding and abetting my parents’ disappearance, then you’re just going to have to bail me right back out, because I can’t charge your damned Hellfire summoning circles from prison. And if you even think about using Lon to get to me, or threatening anyone I care about, you and I will be enemies. And you’d do well to remember all my enemies are dead. Including the man you’re about to fish out of the water.”