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An object rolled to my feet. My stomach turned as I recognized Ariston’s head. Alicia covered her mouth to stifle a gasp.
“This is the monster responsible for murdering Charles Diamond,” Josie said.
Alicia’s brown eyes widened at the sight of the severed head. “Can I take a picture for my Snapchat?”
“No,” Kane and I said in unison.
“What if I post it on a private discord channel?”
“No,” we said again.
“Did you question him before you chopped off his head?” I asked. I tried not to show how desperate I was to hear the answer.
“Didn’t have to. As soon as I realized we were dealing with a vrykolakas, I knew he was guilty.”
“What’s a vrykolakas?” Alicia asked.
Josie turned to her. “They’re linked with vampires, except they don’t drink blood; they eat livers.”
“Cool,” Alicia said.
Josie narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”
“Alicia.”
Josie seemed to notice Dantalion for the first time too. “What’s going on here?” She glanced at Kane. “How many others did you tell that you were on your way home?”
My chest tightened as I looked at Ariston’s head. I’d commanded him to leave town. I should’ve told him to run.
“I’ve never seen a vrykolakas in Fairhaven,” Kane said, observing the head with interest.
“There’s a first time for everything,” I said. “I bet no one had seen a prince of hell in this town before you came along.”
Josie gestured to the head. “How do we know he wasn’t sent by The Corporation?”
“Are they known to employ vrykolakas?” I asked.
The vampire frowned. “Not to my knowledge. The species seems too lowbrow for them.”
“Hey!” I didn’t know why I felt the need to object to the characterization. Okay, I knew why; it was my ego. Nobody’s perfect.
Kane skipped over my reaction. “I don’t think there’s a connection between Charles and The Corporation. I suspect this was a rogue vrykolakas drawn to the crossroads.”
“Or through the crossroads,” Josie added.
Kane scratched the back of his head. “I think Miss Clay is right about the crossroads. It’s time to get serious about protecting the entrance to Fairhaven.”
“Why now? We’ve gotten by all this time without the need for extra security.” Josie’s gaze landed on me. “There’s only one recent change.”
I forced a nonchalant laugh. “You think I’m the only change in the past year? How many others have moved into town in that same timeframe?”
“How many others attract supernatural trouble wherever they go?” she shot back.
Kane spread his arms wide, seemingly to keep us apart in the event we decided to jump each other. “This isn’t Miss Clay’s fault, Josephine. The Bridger witches were responsible for the deaths in spring and summer. The Corporation is responsible for the house on Thoreau Street. And let’s face it, Diamond was going to get his comeuppance eventually. It just so happened to occur at the hands of a vrykolakas. None of those events has any connection to Miss Clay.”
Little did he know.
“This one is my fault,” Alicia said, pointing to Lamashtu.
