Wolf's Bane

Alibi

They knew they couldn't save him without a plan. Peter would likely be expecting them to retaliate, so he would be on guard.

"Wouldn't the Elites handle him after all he's done?" Desiree wondered.

"Not likely. As he pointed out, he had an explanation for every action. He only stabbed you when you attacked him, so even that could be seen as justified."

"He killed his parents."

"We have no proof of that." His phone rang and he frowned as he looked at it. After a moment, he answered, putting it on speaker phone. "Poppy?"

"I'm sorry." Her voice shook and she was clearly crying. "I never meant for any of this to happen. He guessed that I'd been caught and he was going to mark Heidi. I panicked and told him everything. He said the ring would be in your room or your office. He told me the safe combination. I was scared. I didn't think he'd..." Her rush of words was cut off as she started sobbing. "I just wanted to protect my sister!"

"What were you doing at his house tonight?" Andrew demanded.

"He wanted to hire me on since I was no longer any good to him at your house." The sentence was punctuated by sobs. "I thought it would be a good way to look out for my sister. No one was supposed to get hurt. I swear I didn't think he would hurt anyone. He promised he wouldn't."

"I'm not sure you fully understand the gravity of what you've done."

"Is Desiree okay?"

"No," he answered before she could. "Is there any reason I shouldn't turn you and your sister over to the Elites?"

"I never wanted anyone to get hurt."

"It doesn't matter because people are hurt and dead. You're responsible for that. You have to take responsibility."

"I will, but please don't turn my sister in. She didn't do anything."

"She is a vampire. We can't just let her go after all of this."

"Please! Do whatever you want to me, but don't hurt her."

Andrew was silent for a minute before he said, "You're going to do exactly what I tell you from now on, understand?"

Her voice was barely audible as she answered, "Yes."

"Good. We have a long night ahead of us."

"We can't make him spend the day there," Desiree complained when she heard Andrew's idea. "There's no telling what Peter is doing to him."

"If you have another plan, I'm all ears," he told her. "I don't like the one we have, but we're past being able to do much else."

She still didn't like it. Throughout the day, she thought about how much she didn't like it. She spent hours imagining every horrible thing that might be happening to Sebastian. When Andrew said it was time to go that night, she was no longer able to contain herself. She dashed out the door, but wound up running past the car. Getting used to her werewolf strength was going to take a while. She walked back to the car and climbed inside.

"Remember to follow my lead," Andrew said. "We have to be careful about this. One wrong move and we could all be punished severely."

"I know," she assured him. "I won't do anything stupid."

It was nearly midnight when they reached his house. They had parked just off the grounds and crept up to it. Desiree had to focus to avoid letting every sound and smell distract her. They reached the back door and Poppy opened it for them without a word. She immediately walked away and they entered the house in silence.