Page 39 of Calling Quarters

She set all three cards back down onto the coffee table and gazed at them, tears forming in the edges of her eyes. “My daughter may have made mistakes that led to her leaving us on this plane far too early, but her sacrifice has been rewarded with you. You’re going to save us all.”

There were those words again. I had no idea what they meant and the tarot reading only confused me even further, though Lunet acted as if the message was clear as day.

“I know this isn't what you came to hear today. There are so many people jumbling your mind with their own lies and agendas; you must feel as if your world has been turned around. You need to trust your own intuition and ignore everything else. It's all background noise.” She placed a spotted, ring-clad hand across her heart and tilted her head to the side.

“Come back when you've settled your deal with the fates, and we'll talk about everything you want. You're going to be the key to erasing the darkness looming overhead. For now, you need to focus on that.”

She called Mary into the room and asked to retire back upstairs, claiming she was exhausted. I didn't argue and eagerly took the opportunity to leave before she started spouting more nonsense. Mary walked me out and apologized for the abrupt end to what she believed must have been a very pleasant afternoon. I just smiled politely and bid her goodbye, hoping that everything I'd just been told were fabricated tales spun by an old woman losing her mind.

Deep down, I knew I was only fooling myself.

Chapter 23

Remy

When he wasn't downtown, intimidating our coven members, my father spent most of his time in his study. It's where all my lessons took place growing up. He liked to keep it dark and gloomy, always one to use discomfort and intimidation against people as a power move. If you found yourself within those dimly lit, mahogany wood paneled walls, you weren't walking away unscathed.

That was where I found him today. After days of hunting Julia and her friends and failing miserably, I decided to do some digging on what Storie said Julia told her during her attack.

That it had always been the Rists and the Wildes.

I knew what it sounded like. It seemed as if Julia was suggesting that her family was somehow intertwined with our Quarter blood. But that didn't follow the narrative our fathers have been spewing at us our entire lives, because if Julia was meant to be my Counter, she wouldn't have lived past a few hours. Right?

“Remington. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure,” my father cooed sarcastically. His hands shifted slightly on the desk as he inconspicuously pushed a piece of paper beneath his desk calendar.

“May I?” I asked, gesturing toward the chair sitting across from him.

He slowly nodded with a tight smile on his lips, and I took a seat on the edge, bracing my arms on the front of his desk.

“I was hoping to get an update on how things are being handled after Mabon.”

“An update? There isn't one. You four have proven to be incapable of handling your roles and continue to do so through each training. We're keeping our temporary order in place until we find the improvement we seek.”

I bit back my defensive retort, reminding myself that I was here for a reason. “Have you found any more information about our Counters?”

His coal black eyes considered me suspiciously. “If we had, you would be the first to know.”

I nodded, leaning back into my chair. “They're the key to ending this, right?”

“I suppose so. There’s a lot that goes into being a Quarter, Remington. Frankly, you boys have been simply coasting for a while. It was only a matter of time before it blew up in your faces.” He took a drink from the glass of whiskey sitting before him. “As I said before, you should consider yourself lucky to have such supportive elders who are willing to clean up your messes.”

He was trying to get under my skin to deflect my questions. I knew that. I just hated that it was working.

I worked my jaw as we locked onto each other’s stares, challenging one another. He wanted me to react so that he could claim I attacked him, the same way they all tried to do the night of Mabon. I couldn’t give in to him, though. Not when there were so many questions left unanswered and the others were suffering more and more by the day.

“I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.” I raised my brow at him, waiting for his snarky response.

He surprised me by showing the same restraint I had. “What is it you truly want from me? I’m busy.”

“The others and I have been digging into the town’s bloodlines to scout out any information we can about our Counters,” I fibbed. I think Lux and Rhyse may have spent a day in the library on that but couldn’t find anything of substance.

His hands tightened into fists before he dropped them to his lap. “And?”

“There appeared to be a correlation between births in the Rist family and ours.” I paused and watched him carefully for a reaction before continuing. “Each time a firstborn Quarter was birthed into the family, the Rists had a child of their own.”

“What are you suggesting? That the housekeeper is your Counter?” he mocked. He was trying his best to appear unaffected, but I saw the anger flash across his eyes for a split second. I noted the way his brows pinned together and the left side of his mouth twitched.

That reaction was worth far more than anything else he could possibly offer me on the subject. It told me that I was onto something, and that scared him.

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