"What are you doing here?" Ava couldn’t shake the feeling of betrayal as she watched Jude from her peripheral. On her other side, Ava could feel Matthew’s eyes boring at her.
She sighed and stopped thinking about Matthew who stood like a boulder, imposing and intimidating, at the corner of the room. Ava couldn’t help but feel a little aggrieved at everything that was happening all at once.
Earlier, Matthew chose to stay while Amore and her witches left. And while she wanted to tell him leave, she couldn’t. Not when she could feel the jealousy coming from the man. Hell, she could have felt it coming from a mile away, considering its intensity.
It was Matthew’s instinct and Ava understood that.
Still, his gaze was starting to make her really uncomfortable.
"I can’t tell you why I’m here." Jude’s words interrupted her stupor.
Earlier, Jude actually asked Matthew to leave as he needed to talk to her alone, but Matthew firmly refused, leaving Jude speechless.
"Then why show up?" she asked.
"Because I had no other choice. Fighting against an entire coven would be the end of you."
Ava pursed her lips. She wasn’t fighting against an entire coven. However, she had to agree that she almost couldn’t contain her anger earlier.
A part of her knew that Amore was powerful. The other part of her also knew that she could have defeated everyone in that room. She didn’t know where the confidence in her came from.
"So, you are saying that you only did it for me?" she asked. She immediately knew that Jude was lying.
"Of course."
"You know almost everything about me Jude. You know I am an empath. I can sense your lies."
"But you cannot do something about it."
*BOOM!*
Just as those words escaped his lips, a loud thunder made the whole mansion shake. The lights flickered.
Ava smirked as she met Jude’s eyes.
"Is that right?" she asked.
"You cannot touch me Ava. I am still your boss."
"Ex- boss."
"You— "
"Unless of course... you will stop the suspension. Which I know you wouldn’t do."
Jude lifted his chin, his expression ugly.
"You know nothing V. So, I suggest you drop it."
"Drop what?"
"Everything. Leave Alaska. It’s the only way... to achieve peace."
"Bullshit."
"You were not meant to come back, V. You were not meant to take the case."
"But I did." Ava hissed. "And I came back."
"And now look at you? Running around with a Lycan while standing up against the most powerful coven in the US. Do you even know what you are doing?" The frown on Jude’s face deepened.
"Because you don’t..." Jude added. "I would like to remind you that you still have a brother. So, if you care for him you would stop this... this fiasco and leave."
"You are threatening me," she stated, her pulse surging, threatening to erupt anytime soon.
"I’m not. But other people might take offense that you actually chose to work with a Lycan,while trying to make enemies of other covens."
"Other covens..."
"I know about Patricia."
Ava clenched her jaw.
"She came to warn you too. But you didn’t listen."
Ava snorted. Did these people think she was that stupid? How entertaining.
"What happened to your mother was unfortunate..." Jude continued. "But she’s dead. It’s unfortunate but you have to move on."
Again, a snort escaped Ava’s lips.
"Jude... I want to ask you something."
"Ask away."
"What do you think of me?"
She finally turned towards him and watched his expression turn complicated.
"What do you mean?"
"Did you ever... think of me as stupid?"
"What?" Jude asked. "No. Of course not."
"Good." She took a step towards Jude. "Because I know what you are trying to do."
"I am trying to save a friend."
"A friend?" She chuckled. "You are trying to save me?"
Ava stopped approaching Jude. She lifted her head and looked at the man’s eyes.
"You knew about Lovella, didn’t you?" Ava was talking about the witch, the one who received a powerful hex. "The hex... came from a very powerful witch. Of course, it had to be a very powerful witch, someone as powerful as... Amore."
"Ava..."
"You planted the memory in her head, confusing me."
"What memory?"
"You made me think that it was my brother. You thought that I would run away from the truth, right?"
"I— "
"But I didn’t."
"Ava, what are you talking about?"
She smirked.
"Again, I can feel your emotions, Jude." Jude’s calmness doesn’t make any sense. "Lying is useless."
"I only did it for you."
"Bullshit."
"You are making things difficult, V. It’s not good to be so hardheaded."
For a moment disbelief flashed in her eyes.
"I want the truth Jude."
"There are some things that you are not supposed to know."
"Again, bullshit." She made sure to pronounce the word bullshit as slowly as possible. "Trillium... is protecting a criminal."
"Trillium does not protect criminals."
"Then what are you doing now?" she hissed, eyes narrowed.
Seeing her reaction, Jude shook his head.
"Don’t do this, V. It will only snowball and— "
"Do what?"
"Amore is very important for Trillium."
"So, she is more important than the lives of witches that her son killed?"
Jude opened his mouth but closed it without saying a word.
"Is that why they had to kick Samuel out?" Slowly, the puzzle pieces are fitting in. "They don’t want me here but Samuel actually assigned the case to me. So they sent him somewhere as punishment. Is that true?" Sadly, she only gained another silence from Jude. She snorted.
His silence was enough to confirm everything.
Samuel discovered the truth and immediately sent her here without the approval of the higher ups. But they couldn’t just make it so obvious, so they suspended her and punished Samuel.
It was an elaborate scheme.
And they did it to protect a criminal.
"The advantages far outweighs the disadvantages." Jude said almost too gently, it only made her more irritated.
She took a step back and settled a few feet away from him.
"So, you protected a criminal," she chuckled.
Jude said nothing this time.
"You wanna know something, Jude? I never saw you as a friend..." she stated exasperatedly. "God, I hated your guts."
Jude pursed his lips, not knowing where this was going.
She lifted her hand, and all the bulbs from the chandelier exploded. Glass shards flew from all directions, yet none of them were touching either Ava or Jude.
"Don’t do it, V." Jude warned. "You will regret it."
Again, she snorted. "You were never my friend. But I never once thought... that you will betray me."
She lifted another hand and all the books from the bookshelf fell to the carpeted floor with a loud thud.
The burnt smell of her unleashed magic filled the air.
"V...."
Ava smiled. But before she could unleash another spell, Matthew pulled her towards his chest, his strong arms enveloping her.
"What are you— "
"We are leaving." Matthew growled. Then without any warning, he carried her and used his speed to run out of the mansion.
Dizziness took her by surprise.
"What are you doing?" she asked when she regained her composure. "What the hell are you doing? Let me down!!"
"Not unless we leave this place." Matthew said. And without saying anything else, he sprinted into the forest that surrounded the mansion, taking cover in the darkness that the trees offered and enveloped them in shadows.
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