Page 17

Mack took the cup without looking at me. His shoulders were rigid beneath his skin-tight black T-shirt that made my heart skip a beat, and a faint amber glow lingered in his eyes.

“He remembers,” he growled again.

“That clears up absolutely nothing.”

“Jacqueline.” His gaze remained fixed on Logan until the vampire disappeared around the building. “He remembers her coming here after he was dumped in town. He remembers what he said to her. He remembers her cursing him.”

That got my attention.

I knew the broad version of what had happened. A newborn vampire had arrived in Arrhythmia terrified, starving, and abandoned by the woman who had made him. Jacqueline Fortman had offered assistance. Logan had responded with spectacular rudeness. Jacqueline had decided to teach him a lesson, because apparently being the most powerful witch in town left her with the emotional regulation of a toddler denied a shiny object.

I had never understood why Logan claimed not to know what happened.

“So the curse blocked his memory?”

“That’s what it looks like.” Mack dragged a hand over his face. “I tried to tell him the day after she cast it. Every time I said Jacqueline’s name, he went blank. If I pushed, he got confused or walked away in the middle of the conversation. Eventually, I thought he was refusing to admit what he’d done.”

“And you stopped trying.”

His jaw tightened. “Yeah.”

I moved closer and leaned against the Mustang. Mack immediately frowned at the rivets on my jeans and shifted me several inches away from the paint.

His guilt might have been eating him alive, but apparently it still respected automotive finishes.

“You thought he deserved it?” I asked.

“He was an asshole.”

“So are you. No one has magically destroyed your balance or completely fucked up your life.”

“You threatened to shoot me once.” A smile spread across his face.

“That was foreplay, and you know it.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the memories running through my head.

His mouth twitched again, but the humor disappeared almost immediately. “I thought Jacqueline would let the curse run for a few weeks. Maybe a month. Long enough to knock the arrogance out of him and teach him not to start fights with people who could turn him inside out.”

“And when she didn’t lift it?”

“I told myself it wasn’t my business.” The admission came out rough. “I told myself Logan had made his choices and Jacqueline had made hers. He wasn’t pack. He wasn’t an employee. He wasn’t anyone I was responsible for.”

“That sounds convenient.”

“It was.”

Mack finally turned away from the door. Regret sat heavily on his face, making him look older than he had when I walked in.

“I watched him get worse,” he continued. “I watched everyone in town laugh whenever he fell. Half the time, I laughed too. The magic pushed us, but it didn’t force us. Not completely. There were moments when I could have stopped it. I could have helped him up instead of standing there while he pretended it didn’t bother him.”

I folded my arms. “What changed?”

“Carolina.”

That was not the answer I expected.

“The High Priestess’s daughter?”

“She’s Logan’s mate.”