Free Forever and Beyond by Jayde Scott Page A

secrets. I shot Aidan a glare. “And you’re considering telling on him, maybe even killing him.” I shook my head vehemently and yanked at his arm to get his attention. “No, Aidan, you can’t do that. He was your best friend. If I can forgive and forget, then so can you.”
    He frowned, his expression brooding, intense. A shadow crossed his features a moment before he realized the meaning of my words. “What? No. Of course I’d never betray my brethren. An oath stays an oath. Kieran wasn’t talking about me. We think someone found out Blake’s secret, but they don’t know how to prove their claims. So they might be trying to blame him for Julie’s death to get rid of him.”
    My mind wandered back to everything I knew about Blake. I didn’t get it. What secret could he possibly have that someone would want to frame him for a murder he didn’t commit?
    Aidan inched closer and whispered in my ear, “He’s different.” I raised my brows, signaling I still had no clue. “Do you remember when I told you I saved his life?” I nodded so Aidan continued, “Without me he’d be dead.”
    “Like in cold as a stone,” Kieran chimed in.
    I waved my hand about. “Yeah, I know Blake’s a vampire.”
    Aidan cocked a brow meaningfully. “Yes, but his people don’t know it.”
    Did he say his people? And that’s when it dawned on me. Blake wasn’t just a vampire, he was also a male witch: a warlock—and the people of Morganefaire had absolutely no idea about it. I shrugged. “So what’s the deal? They’ve welcomed your kind for hundreds of years.”
    Aidan sighed. I couldn’t tell whether from frustration or from the realization that I really had no idea about anything. He pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me, whispering, “Remember our gates back home? They’re infused with magic to keep out the Shadows.” I nodded, unsure where this conversation was heading. He continued, “They contain witch’s blood. But the witches and warlocks of Morganefaire stopped selling their blood hundreds of years ago. Blake let me use his own blood without their knowing, which makes him a traitor.”
    “Add the fact that he’s one of us now when he’s actually mentioned in the prophecy as Morganefaire’s future leader, and that’s a sure death sentence,” Kieran said. “The Council will never allow a vampire warlock to lead them, and particularly not when it looks like the vampires planned the whole thing by turning Blake.”
    The gravity of his words sat in the pit of my stomach like a rock. “But no one can prove anything, right? It’d be his word against the other person’s.” The room fell silent for a moment as I tried to make sense of the chunk of information. One question remained unanswered though. “How come Blake’s not sensitive to light, like Clare? The Shadow ritual wasn’t performed on him.” I thought back to our talk about silkworms. Silk was more light filtering than satin. Maybe he used it as a protective shield. It sounded far-fetched, but I couldn’t dismiss the idea.
    “That’s right,” Aidan said. “Since witch’s blood courses through his veins, he only had to perform—”
    “His own magic to get rid of it,” I finished, finally understanding.
    “There’s still some sensibility, which is why he wears thick clothing,” Aidan said. “Witches and warlocks are mortal; Blake isn’t. But, unlike us, his wounds take longer to heal, and if they’re vicious enough he could even die.”
    And that’s when it dawned on me. “Is that why you pulled out your dagger and went all cuckoo for all people to see?” I whispered in disbelief.
    Aidan nodded gravely. “The plan was to hurt him so everyone would see his wounds didn’t heal instantly, which would’ve proved he wasn’t a vampire.” My jaw dropped.
    Kieran laughed. “Did you really believe we’d kill him?”
    I lowered my gaze, ashamed that I really thought Aidan was about to turn into a raging psycho. “So it