Neither Eli or I moved. When Jesse had retreated through the kitchen doorway, I spread my hands on the counter. “What else can I do, Eli?” I asked. “Do you have any better ideas?”
“Stop trying to save Molly,” he said immediately, and I realized I’d walked right into that one. Stupid, stupid Scarlett. “You’re the only person in this whole mess who’s trying to get her out of it. If you let it go—”
“Molly dies,” I interrupted.
“She did it, didn’t she?” he countered. “She admitted she killed those girls. She should be punished. And you don’t owe her anything. She’s barely spoken to you in years, over something that was never your fault.” For the first time, I realized that Molly keeping her distance from me had actually offended Eli, on my behalf. It might have been really sweet if he wasn’t being pigheaded and stupid.
“So because Molly hurt my feelings three years ago, the people who are actually responsible for killing eight girls and turning four against their will should just . . . go free?” I said hotly. “No fucking way.”
“Have you considered that pushing to save Molly could actually make things worse?”
“What?”
“Honey.” His voice gentled. “Look, at the end of the day, Molly killed a bunch of girls. She goes on trial, she’s sentenced to death, that’s clean. The system works. But if you wade into this mess and tell everyone that someone’s controlling vampires in LA and Dashiell can’t stop them, that causes chaos. At the exact time when we can’t afford it. And I don’t know about Kirsten, but Dashiell and Will know all this.”
“They said I could—”
“What? Look for clues?” he said, his tone derisive. “Dashiell has about as much faith in your crime-solving abilities as I have in Scooby-Doo’s. He might have moved Molly’s trial until tomorrow night, but think about what he didn’t do. He didn’t mobilize his security team to help you, or delay the Trials for a few nights, or even put the word out for vampires to be on their guard against this boundary witch. Because he expects you to fail.”
I sat there openmouthed, staring at him. But it wasn’t enough to stick the knife in. He had to twist it. “Scarlett,” Eli said in a pitying tone, “he sent you on a wild goose chase to keep you calm and well-behaved before the Trials. So you wouldn’t kick up a fuss.”
I scooted back in my chair abruptly, causing it to squeak on the linoleum. “I need some air,” I said through my teeth. “While I do that, how about you call your alpha and see where he wants you tonight?”
Without waiting for a response, I stalked out the back door, which I did not slam, because I am a motherfucking grownup.
Chapter 23
Jesse was out of the cottage and nearly to his car when he heard Eli’s voice behind him. “Hey, Wunderkind! Wait up!”
Jesse rolled his eyes and turned around to see the werewolf jogging—no, loping, he thought, that was definitely a man-shaped lope—toward him. Jesse waited next to the car until he caught up.
“I thought you and I had an understanding,” Eli practically growled.
Jesse was taken aback. “Is this like a ‘stay away from my girl’ speech? Because I promise you, the last thing I’m interested in right now—”
Eli batted a hand in front of his face. “That’s not what I mean. You’re no threat to our relationship.” Jesse found himself feeling weirdly insulted. “But I thought you and I were both committed to keeping her safe.”
Jesse shrugged. “I want her to be safe, yes. But she’s strong, man. She can handle this.”
“She thinks she can handle this,” Eli corrected. “But she’s never really been tested, and the people she’s up against—the people we’re all up against—they don’t play fair. They’re not going to be impressed by one knife trick, and Scarlett refuses to see that. I thought you would know better.”
Jesse leaned against his car for a moment, collecting his thoughts before he answered. “Three years ago, after she cured you,” he said finally, “and the nova wolf was running amok killing women, you were stuck on the sidelines.”
When Eli started to protest, Jesse raised his hands. “I know, you had no choice. I’m not blaming you. But because you were sidelined, you didn’t see how she conducted herself during the investigation, or how well she handled herself against physical threats, even when she needed a cane to walk. She did great, and from what I can see, she’s only gotten stronger since then.”
“You think I don’t know she’s strong?” Eli demanded. “Who do you think got to be her practice dummy when she was learning aikido throws? You see all those tiny scars on her fingers from the knives? I was the one putting on the Band-Aids. I know she’s strong. But I’m pretty sure a bunch of biker thugs are stronger. Plus they have guns, and they’re not exactly bound by strong ethics. Scarlett’s overconfident.”
Eli stepped forward. He’d already been fairly close, like two friends having a conversation, but now he was in Jesse’s personal space, trapping Jesse against his car. “And she cares about impressing you,” he said through bared teeth. “You’re egging her on, making her think she can play detective and walk away unscathed. It’s going to get her killed.”
Jesse found himself suddenly exhausted. He half-wanted to be mad, but Eli looked so upset and worried that Jesse just pitied the guy. He’d known plenty of cops’ spouses, and a lot of them were like this: half-blinded with terror whenever their husband or wife wasn’t right in front of them. They were the same spouses who would urge their cop partners to transfer to a safer district, to wear Kevlar all the time, to be more careful. What they really meant was be something else.
But although Jesse wasn’t upset, it was obvious that Eli was spoiling for a fight. His nostrils were flaring, and when Jesse took a quick glance down, he saw the man’s hands balled into fists. Werewolf, he reminded himself. Whoops. They had a hard time controlling their emotions, and Scarlett wasn’t here to negate the werewolf magic.
Jesse dropped his gaze and took a careful step sideways, sliding away. “I’m not your enemy, man,” he said to Eli. “And I’m not going to fight you. That won’t keep Scarlett safe.”
Eli’s body relaxed a little, and he shook his head with a sheepish look. “You’re right. I’m out of practice with keeping a lid on . . . things. Sorry.”
“No problem,” Jesse said, but he took another step for good measure.
Eli blew out a breath, pacing a few feet away and then turning back. “Look,” he said, “you’re a good guy. I’m just the overprotective boyfriend, but Scarlett trusts you and she cares about what you think. If you tell her to drop all this, she would listen to you.”
Jesse laughed out loud, prompting a look of surprise on the werewolf’s face. “No, man,” he said. “She wouldn’t. And even if she did, I’m not going to tell her that. Like it or not, Molly needs her, and so do those missing girls.”
Now it was Eli who took a step back, looking surprised. “You’ve changed,” he said after a moment. “Three years ago—”
“A lot of things were different,” Jesse cut in. “I was her partner then, and yeah, I wanted something more. I would have done a lot to keep her safe. But now I’m her friend, and she needs someone to believe in her a lot more than she needs my protection.”
The anger returned to Eli’s expression. “Fine,” he said, his voice a half-snarl. “But if something happens to her . . . I’m going to remember this little talk. And we will have a very different conversation then.”
Something in his eyes, or maybe his tone, made Jesse’s stomach clench. He hadn’t spent much time around werewolves without Scarlett, and none at all for years now. He’d forgotten how unnerving it could be. There was something very primal about talking to someone who could literally rip you in half.
Eli spun around and began stalking back toward the house.