Chapter 100

Jill’s POV

“How could you keep me in the dark about this, Gavin? Why did you not tell me she was back in your life?” Jill asked as she stood at the doorway of Gavin’s office.

It was the next morning and Jill tried to be respectful enough to not bother him last night. However, after witnessing their embrace that turned into much more, she could hardly sleep all night.

She kept thinking about how that horrid she-wolf, someone who was supposed to be her brother’s fated mate, rejected and broke his heart. Now she was back and dangling her heart on a string in front of him.

She was playing games with him and it wasn’t fair.

Jill could see right through that.

She should have known something was up when she saw Erin that night she saved Jill. She knew that woman looked familiar but couldn’t figure out where she had seen her. It was from pictures that her brother had sent her when she was away at boarding school.

They looked so incredibly happy together and she loved it when her brother was happy.

But then, she tore his heart out and stomped all over it.

It was an act of selfishness, and she was only going to do it again.

Gavin had to see through that; right?

“There’s nothing to tell,” Gavin said with a shrug. “We are old friends, nothing more. But the way you spoke to her was way out of line.”

“I care about you, Gavin. I only want to protect your heart from getting broken again,” Jill pouted, putting her arms across her chest.

“I don’t need you to protect me, Jill,” Gavin said, shaking his head. “I need you to protect yourself.”

“And when were you going to tell me that you already made up your mind about sending me away?” Jill snarled, almost forgetting about that fact.

“I’m not sending you away,” Gavin said with a high.

“You have a safe house arranged for me already. What am I supposed to think?”

“It’s an option if you were to choose to stay there. If not… I’m not going to force you. But I would like you to be safe,” Gavin explained.

“I can take care of myself. I have things to do and places to go, Gavin. You know I can’t be tied down to one place…” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not going to a safe house.”

Jill turns away and walks out of the office without another word. She didn’t stop walking until she reached her small car in the front lot of the packhouse.

She wasn’t sure what her plan was, but she knew she needed to go back to that restaurant.

She needed to speak to Erin.

…

Erin was serving a table when Jill arrived. She looked very engrossed in her work and hardly noticed that Jill was nearby.

Jill waited off in the corner for a while, assessing and watching as Erin continued her work.

It was early in the morning, so there weren’t a lot of customers.

“Can I get you a table?” A young brown-haired girl asked.

“No, I’m just waiting for someone,” Jill explained.

The girl gave her a polite smile before going to another group of customers that had just walked in.

Once Erin was finally alone and counting some money at the front counter, Jill took the opportunity to confront her.

“Can we talk?” Jill asked, approaching the front counter.

Erin raised her brows, seemingly surprised to see her standing before her.

“What are you doing here?” Erin asked, peering around the restaurant like she was expecting Gavin to be there as well. “Did you come alone?”

“Yes,” Jill answered. “My brother doesn’t need to know that I’m here. It would only make things worse.”

“Worse?” She asked. “Is everything okay?”

“No, it’s not,” she said, eyeing Erin carefully. “It’s not okay. You know why it’s not okay? Because you are playing with my brother’s feelings again and I’m not okay with that.”

“I’m not sure what you are talking about…”

“Don’t play dumb,” Jill said, lowering her tone so she wouldn’t cause a scene. “You must know that he still loves you.”

“I’m married to a wonderful—”

“I saw you two together last night,” Jill blurted. Erin’s eyes widened and the color drained from her features.

“I’m sorry?”

“You and Gavin… I saw you kissing and then—” Jill’s voice trailed off. “Just please… woman to woman, stop playing with his feelings. It’s not fair to him. Stay away from Gavin going forward, okay?”

“That’s not a problem,” she said quickly, nodding her head.

Jill was relieved to hear that and didn’t want to give this woman any more of her attention. She turned on her heel and she left without another word.

…

Erin’s POV

My heart remained heavy after Jill left.

She was right though; I was playing with his emotions, and it wasn’t fair to Gavin. It also wasn’t fair to Henry.

I went back to work, trying not to think about my conversation with Jill.

As I continued to serve tables, I started to smell something burning. I looked at the kitchen window and didn’t see any smoke coming from them. I wasn’t the only one who noticed the strange smell; others were lifting their noses in the air and sniffing as well, including Kelsey from across the restaurant.

Soon, it started to get warm and that’s when I began getting really nervous.

“Oh, my goddess!” Someone screamed from their table. “There’s a fire outside! The building is on fire!!”

I looked out the front door and saw that they were right. The building was catching on fire. Without thinking, I used my powers to cause the hose, connected to the kitchen, to spray out the window and diminish some of the fire before it got really bad.

Everybody had jumped from their tables and was screaming. Kelsey was attempting to calm everybody to no prevail.

“Get everybody out the back door!” I ordered her as I made my way toward the front door.

“What are you doing?!” Kelsey yelled from behind me.

I didn’t answer her; I had a feeling I knew exactly how this fire started. Or maybe who started the fire.

As I walked outside, using the water from the hose to guide my way through the sparking flames, emerging from a cloud of smoke, I wasn’t surprised to see Susanna.

Her eyes were black with a tint of gold, which meant she was completely taken over by the Slayers.

As she rose her hands, the fire began to rise and reach the building once again. I stared up at the sky, watching as the clouds filled with water, darkening, and tinting the grounds around us. Soon, the clouds burst, and rain fell upon us, drenching everything, including the fire.

The fire started to go out and Susanna looked furious.

She rose her hands again and more fire emerged from her; I made it rain harder and the water on the ground, causing puddles, I managed to splash at the building as well.

Susanna screamed with frustration. Every attack she made, I would counter-attack even stronger.

She should know that her abilities were no match against mine.

Susanna was seething and breathless; her hair was drenched and sticking around her features as she glared at me.

“You aren’t going to win,” she growled; I knew it wasn’t her talking.

“I’ve already won,” I said in return, stepping closer to her. “I know you aren’t really Susanna. You are the leader of the Slayers. We might not know who you are just yet, but we will find out. Once we find out who you are, we aren’t going to rest until you are defeated. That’s a promise.”

She was quiet for a moment as she continued seething through her gritted teeth.

Then she stopped.

She stared around my face for a moment and her normal blue eyes were returning to her. They were releasing their hold on her mind.

“Susanna…?” I whispered.

For a moment, she looked relieved, but then a glazed look appeared in her eyes, and they grew misty as she stared at me.

“I’m so sorry…” she managed to croak.

Before I could say anything, she did something that I was never expecting.

She grabbed each side of her head and twisted, snapping her neck, and killing her.