Page 96 of White Raven
“Your bitterness for me is justified. But we want the same things.”
“I want nothing from you.”
“There was only one other being that felt hate as deep as I, for Dahlia Van Hausen,”he argued, voice poised in victory at her sudden gasp of intrigue.“When Athan Kane proved to be the sword that struck down the queen, the only surprise after watching him for so long was that my own daughter wielded the sword.”
“I never used him. He’s my mate.”
“That he is. Another surprise. And if I told you that the fallen queen still had a card to play…can you tell me you wouldn’t seek to stop her?”
“She’s dead.”
“Dead, she may be. But her evil knew no bounds. I do not claim to be a good man, and I’ll never earn the gift of hearing you call me your father. It’s time the two of you finish what I started centuries ago.”
“Athan wanted her dead so he and the coven could be free. Whatever started between you and that fucking witch isn’t our problem.”
“Oh, but it is. Her selfishness cost her her life. Mine cost me you. If you truly want freedom for your coven, and for others you love…then put your pieces on the board, Lenore. Make your move.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It was not my involvement that brought you here. By executing Dahlia, and letting the coven scatter, the innerworkings of her twisted soul have been allowed to play out. It’s her story, don’t you see? Your meddling, and the meddling of those close to you have introduced the danger I’ve fought so hard to contain.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“The wolves! You foolish girl. If you want him back, then it’s time you play the detective. Sort out what you’ve found, and you won’t be the only one that finds all the answers you seek. I’ll be waiting on the other side.”
Sarah’s eyes lined with tears and rage as she raised them to Rhaena, who stood frozen in shock. She’d heard every word with her heightened senses.
“Wait,” Sarah begged, “What do the wolves have to do with this? Why are you punishing me?! All we want is our fucking freedom!”
“Punishing you?…I’ve spent long years keeping to the darkness in which I belong. To protect you. To guard you. To make sure that the stigma of what we are doesn’t—”he paused.“I’ll not harm him. You have my word. All your questions will be answered in due time. Though, you should know…you’ve held all the answers all along. Farewell.”
“Wait!” she cried, grinding her teeth. The call ended, and Sarah shrieked. “You fucking bastard! Where is Athan?!” She slammed the phone down on the floor and a small crack budded over the screen. “Fuck!”
“What did he say? I don’t understand!” Wren yelped, angrily. Brent stood silent by the window, pale and distant. Sarah stood and threw her arms out as she turned toward an equally silent Rhaena, who hadn’t moved an inch since he’d uttered the word “wolves”.
“What are you not telling me?” She stood chest-to-chest with Rhaena, who didn’t balk. “What does he mean,‘meddling’?”
“It had nothing to do with either of you!” Rhaena spat, dropping her arms by her sides.
“What didn’t?! Tell me, Rhaena! Athan isgone!”
Rhaena leaned into her face and trembled with anger. “And that’s suddenlymyfault, is it?! This all started when you brought a dead fucking bird to my house! That was onyourfront door! Not mine! All I’ve ever tried to do is help the two of you!”
“What was in those reports Athan gave you? What is it that John Allan has on you, that somehow has something to do with me?”
“Nothing!” Rhaena screamed, turning and gripping her hair in frustration. “Every damn lead we have takes us nowhere! All we know is that your creepy vampiredaddyhas left useless, cryptic messages, and that Ryan Sykes was some undead harlot psycho that does hisbidding!” She spun around, chest heaving, and a thin sheen of sweat beading on her brow. “The only other thing we’ve worked on, was a side quest to find out where the rest of our pack was, and that wasn’t even my doing! I’ve let sleepingdogslie! Foley wouldn’t let it go. He had me help him go through Lindsay Trainor’s junk in storage, and we found out that she was working with Dahlia to experiment on wolves!”
Sarah conceded a step, and Rhaena clenched her fists, turning away. Brent finally had enough of sitting out the fight and stepped forward.
“Was my father a part of this?” he asked, turning a shade of green. Rhaena glanced over her shoulder, breathing heavily.
“It doesn’t look like it.”
Wren folded her arms and bit her lip. “Remember that blame game we were talking about at my place? This isn’t gonna help bring Athan back or figure out what the fuck this guy is up to. I can’t believe I’m the one saying this, but everybody needs to put their claws away and stop pointing fingers at each other.”
“She’s right,” Brent agreed, coming to her side. “Sarah, when you were attacked, and I got questioned at the precinct, you were the center of a whiteboard. That put so much in perspective for me. Made it more real, in more ways than one. Showed me the bigger picture. I was part of something that should have never been, and I continued to do my father’s dirty work because my focus was singular. It wasn’t until I saw that board that I realized just how wrong I was, and how it connected us both to so many bigger things.”
“The web,” Sarah choked, batting away a tear. “You’re right.”
