Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) by Sarah Ashwood (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

justice to their criminal behavior. As a reward, she’d also gotten dragged into the war between Sean and Nosizwe, had been able to make no arrests, had been kidnapped and held prisoner, and had been forced to cover up the truth of what was going on. I honestly think she’d reached her limit. She knew she might lose everything, but she probably felt like she was a failure anyway, so what was the point of keeping silent? At least she had the chance to vent her frustrations, which she did.

“You’re a murderer,” she said, edging even closer. Her hand hovered over the butt of her gun, not in an intimidating way but rather defensive, like she was prepared to draw it if her words provoked the man into an attack. “You’re a liar. You’re a thug. You’re no better than the common pimp or drug lord living on the streets. You’re the same caliber of criminal, you just happen to have a little nicer home, wear a thousand-dollar suit, and drive cars that cost more than my house and car put together.”

“And you’re merely a pennyante cop in a cheap suit who should know when to quit, but doesn’t.” I saw the cop’s fingers flex over the butt of her gun, but she didn’t draw. “I’d admire that, Detective, if you had any common sense like your friend here.” Mr. Costas indicated her partner, who, again, shuffled his feet. His head hung and he looked uncomfortable. Guilty, even. Briefly, I wondered how deep this police officer was. “But you don’t,” Mr. Costas continued. “I’m tired of you trailing after me, starting fires that we have to put out.”

“Then come downtown with me to central booking,” she retorted.

Sean chuckled, but it was ugly. “No, thank you. I have a better idea.” He turned to her partner, snapped his fingers. “Take her out.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The words seemed to hang in the air, quivering with danger. Detective Ewing’s partner didn’t twitch a muscle. I think he was in shock. Sean Costas must’ve thought so too.

“Take her out,” Mr. Costas repeated a little more forcefully. “We can accomplish something here tonight anyway.”

This broke through the officer’s wall. “What? What?” he stammered, backing a step away. “I don’t… I can’t.”

“Do it, Tozzi. You work for me, don’t you? I’m giving you a job. A hit. Not the first hit you’ve done for me, is it?”

I felt my eyes widen at the brutal insinuation. Candace’s chin whipped her partner’s way. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly. If this was taking me by surprise, it must’ve been like a storm breaking over her.

“You haven’t,” she breathed. I could hear the pain of betrayal, of disappointment in her voice.

Detective Tozzi raised his palms. “Now, Candace, calm down. I never actually took anybody out…”

“Then what’s he talking about?”

If Sean Costas had been intending to cause confusion in the ranks, he’d accomplished it. He’d sort of taken a step back now, and stood there, arms folded, smiling a twisted little smile as if he were enjoying the show.

“I didn’t actually kill anyone. I didn’t. I just…sort of…looked the other way a time or two when…”

“Looked the other way? You’re a cop, Gary! You’re sworn to uphold the law! You—”

“Oh, like you haven’t looked the other way since you were dragged into this world? I warned you. I told you not to pursue this. You wouldn’t listen. Admit it—you’ve done things since you got sucked in that you never dreamed a good cop would do.”

Detective Ewing’s face was like a thundercloud, her expression potent with warning. Before she could even say anything, offer an excuse or rebuttal, Ciara Costas spoke up.

“I love how smoothly you’ve managed to turn them against each other, Sean. I applaud you. You’re so very skilled at controlling your enemies and manipulating people, aren’t you? It’s why you’ve hated Nosizwe so badly. You couldn’t control or manipulate her into your way of thinking. You couldn’t stand that. You couldn’t stomach being challenged, could you, dear?”

Just like that, the pressure was off the two police officers and the pendulum had swung back to the Costases. The twisted pleasure Sean Costas was deriving from seeing the two cops go at it had vanished, replaced by a scowl as he glowered at his wheelchair-bound wife.

“That sounds like your bitter, biting logic, my love,” he said to Ciara. “Never mind the Stones and what they represent for the safety of our people.”

“The safety of our people?” Ciara snorted a laugh. The sound was almost shocking, coming from someone as classy as her. “Since when have you cared about that? Admit it. You haven’t. It’s always been about control and furthering your enterprises. You wouldn’t have cared if every shifter that didn’t bow the knee to you was butchered, so long as your empire stood secure. You still don’t care. If you did, you’d have been willing to listen to Nosizwe, to negotiate with her…”

“And I haven’t tried?” Sean threw his hands in the air. From where Carter and I stood, several feet away, I could almost feel the frustration rolling off him in waves. “This has been years in the making, Ciara, which you know. This is not some quarrel that escalated overnight. I’ve done my part. I’ve tried. God knows I’ve tried. You know. You’re simply discounting my efforts.”

“Oh, I know your efforts. I know your efforts to bend the world to your will. The world around you, the human world. The world of shifters. Even this other world that Carter visited. You want the mastery of them all. Some things are outside of your control, though, dear.” She spat the name like an expletive. “I think you’re finding that out now, here, tonight, which has you frustrated, doesn’t it?”

“She’s trying to make him mad. Throw him off guard, provoke him into an attack,” Carter muttered next to me. “Sean’s got a temper. A bad one, when he loses control.”

“I know,” I murmured, remembering seeing him bash in the