Page 38 of Secrets and Ruin

It was all too easy to come up with a few reasons my family would consider.

“To get back in Callahan’s good graces is the most straightforward,” I said, staring at my glass of water. “To get back into the good graces of the other Alphas in North America to make a play against Callahan would be another, depending if they thought Heath was willing to go against him further. Killing a member of my family when Callahan has never been able to.”

“He wouldnever,” Landon growled.

“I know, but you wanted to know why my family might think he would,” I reminded him softly. “What I need to do is reach out to Niko’s home and get someone to come pick us up. I have no idea where to find his territory, and we don’t have time to look.”

“You’ve never been?”

“I’ve never been to most of my siblings’ homes,” I said as I hit call for Niko but not his cellphone number. Not many kept landlines, but I had a secondary number for Niko and hoped that was it. His staff would pick up, I was certain of it.

“Ansel speaking.”

“It’s Jacky. I’m going to assume there’s no update on where Dirk and Niko are, and they haven’t come back.”

“You would be correct. Is there something you need from me?”

“A ride from the airport. Landon Everson and I touch down in three hours. I hope I’ve given you enough time to put something together.”

“Excuse me? Miss Leon… we don’t allow unannounced guests here, certainly not without Nikolaus available to give his approval.”

“I’m his youngest sister, and I have intel. Everything I tell you must be kept between us. No one else can know, not even other members of the family. Not permanently, but for now. We can’t start a panic. Is that understood?”

“Of course. It’s no different from how Nikolaus runs this household,” Ansel replied. “We’re adept at keeping secrets.”

“Have you ever heard of a Rainer Brandt?”

“Brandt is Nikolaus’s ancestral surname, which is why he brought it back to use for Dirk’s last name, but I’ve never heard of a Rainer. Is something wrong? Did you learn something?”

“We have a werewolf in the pack with documents that state he may have been called Rainer Brandt at one point. Now, that werewolf is missing. I can explain more when we touch down. I think it would be easier in person.” I had those documents in my bag. It was going to be a strange experience to show them to a human. He might know about the secrets, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t be expecting what I had to show him.

“Thanks to the connection in name, you believe this Rainer Brandt has something to do with the disappearance of Dirk. Which would mean Nikolaus is handling it. More than that, you think he’s connected to Nikolaus’… childhood.”

“That’s right, but since this werewolf came from my neck of the woods, we’re coming to help deal with it.”

“I shall… make an exception, and if Nikolaus fires me, I will expect you to fix it,” Ansel said, clearing his throat. “We have a member of staff at the household in Berlin who can meet you when you land. They will drive you to the territory, and I will meet you here. If you intend on investigating anything in and around Nikolaus’s territory, there will be a lot I must teach you.”

“Teach me?”

“I will see you soon, Miss Leon.” Ansel hung up without an explanation.

I looked at Landon, concern growing in me.

“Teach me?” I repeated softly, wondering if Landon had any idea.

“There might be other factions in the area to stay away from, hazards, magical traps…” Landon gave a half-shrug. “Dirk doesn’t talk about home, and it’s not because he doesn’t know. He’s always careful about it. There are clearly some secrets about whatever Niko has going on in Germany.”

“Good point, but he could have explained that,” I muttered. “Do you have a plan before landing?”

“Yeah.” He grabbed his cracked phone and called his father. “Hey, Pa.”

“Landon, it’s good to hear from you. Jacky?”

“I’m right here,” I said, smiling because Landon put Heath on speakerphone.

“Good, good. I’ve been watching your flight. You should be touching down soon, right? Another few hours?”

“Yeah, how is everyone?” Landon asked, leaning over the phone on the table between us.

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