Page 73 of Blood Moon
He was the first to speak. “I want to apologize for the other day. For snapping. For letting this case get to me.” At that, he folded his lips, cleared his throat. “I imagine seeing me in that way probably scared you, and I’m sorry for that, kiddo. I wanted to be sure—about everything with your mom—before I presented the information to you.”
“I’m sorry, too.” I nodded, and all I could think about was how much I missed him, and how much I missed our old life. I didn’t know it then, but it was so simple and so seamless. And I’d be okay with letting him nag me if I could go back to before I knew about my death sentence, before I acknowledged the existence of werewolves and vampires. “I overstepped a few boundaries,” I said, but then I was jolted by the cover of the newspaper. There had been another attack.
Bobby noticed me eyeing it. “I know. It’s unfortunate.”
I swallowed, understanding the truth now. Werewolves were to blame for this, and to know it continued to happen made my bones ache. I pulled the envelope from my bag and placed it on the table. There wasn’t a better time than right now.
Bobby widened his eyes. He looked at me before he grabbed it, and it wasthatlook that told me he hadn’t heard from Rena since the day she left. My heart broke for him.
He opened it, pulled out the letter, and I watched his eyes flit from line to line. He read it twice, three times. After, he was speechless, blankly staring at the off-white paper.
“What do you think?”
Bobby shook his head, and he looked as if he wanted to set the paper down but couldn’t.
“Honestly, I’m stunned. Seems like she’s been keeping a low profile because she’s trying to protect us from something. Or rather,you, I should say,” he said, looking me square in the face, and then observing my pendant. “You know, she never wore that necklace. She kept it locked in a box.
“Don’t know why. Never questioned her about it, but now I see she’d been reserving it for you, risking whatever cover she’s had to make sure you got it.” He took a second. “But she had to have known we’d have questions after this.”
I pressed the opal between my fingers. “Do you know anything about her family? Could she be with them?”
He huffed, sat back, and placed the letter and envelope on the table. “I wondered that. She always told me she’d lost touch with them, but that they were much older than her, had separate lives. It’s hard to know if they’d be so willing to invite her in since they were practically strangers. I did try looking them up, searching for them in the databases, but either she gave me the wrong names, or they just don’t exist. Your mother was secretive in that way.” I wondered what else she was hiding if she never even told Bobby about her family.
“Did she ever mention being of …royalty?” I asked, because I didn’t know how to announce that due to her bloodline, I was being hunted by wolves and vampires.
Bobby raised his brows. “Royalty?” he repeated with a slight laugh. But then something in him changed. He shifted in his seat as he peered away. “Huh,” he said. And then, “I don’t know.” He shifted again, almost as if a light had switched on. “It’s possible. Rena had what’s called ‘old money.’ We always had separate bank accounts because of it. She paid for the wedding, our house, the cars. I feel a bit silly saying this aloud, but I never questioned her. I didn’t have a reason to until she was gone.” He scratched the fuzz on his face. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, because of this opal … it seems expensive, sacred.” It was the easiest way to describe it because it wasn’tjustsacred. It was magical. But I wondered if he thought so, too. “She mentioned the world wasn’t as it seems,” I said. Bobby nodded, looking down at the letter again, as if memorizing every word in his head. “What do you think she meant by that?”
He held a knuckle to his lip, a tremor there. “It’s hard to decipher. It’s concerning, though,” he said, and he sat upright. “I don’t know, Bug. This letter … it’s making me wonder if you should consider coming home while we try to figure out what your mother meant. It was a lot to digest, and until we can make sure this isn’t paranoia …” He paused. “I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
I swallowed, tapped my foot beneath the table. Bobby had every right to want me to come home. Perhaps it was safer with him. But what if the wolves and vampires followed me there? What if something happened to him, and it was my fault? I couldn’t go back knowing I could put him in danger. “Dad …” I breathed. “I appreciate you looking out for me, for wanting to figure this out, but I’m safe where I am,” I lied. “There’s security at my school. I have my friends, and if anything happens, I can always call you,” I said, trying to reassure him. “I know you can get to me faster than anyone.” And even if he couldn’t, I knew he’d try with everything he had.
He folded his lips but nodded. “You’re right.” And after convincing himself, he said, “But you have to promise to call. Keep me updated.”
“I will. I will.” I took a sip of my drink, and then I pulled the newspaper closer to me, pointed to the headline. “Dad, um … what are your thoughts on werewolves?”
He scratched at his beard before merging his brows together. “Werewolves?” The word being repeated to me, from him, felt odd. His glance flickered around us, skittish almost.
The others in the coffee shop didn’t pay us much mind. It helped that Bobby wasn’t in uniform today, but he was Chief, so I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone recognized us without it. “Yeah …” I said, trying to read what he wouldn’t say. Something was afoot. He was fidgeting. It wasn’t like him.
“I mean, what do you want to know, Bug?” He asked, lowering his voice. “I suppose it makes for good television, books, fandoms, this old town.”
“That part,” I noted. “This old town. What are your thoughts on the lore here?”
A chuckle, and a look that said he very much wanted to know what my point was. “It’s all just an old wives’ tale. You know, stories you tell your kids to get them in the house before midnight. My mother and father told me these stories, and so on and so forth. It makes the city feel small, in that way. But it’s all just a fun legend we share between ourselves. It’s for the kids, you know? The teens.”
“But did you ever think those stories werereal?”
“Now you’re talking how you did when you were a kid.” He took a small sip of his coffee. “God, you were so obsessed with those stories.” He took a breath in. “But that’s just it. They’rejuststories.”
My foot tapped harder. “Fine, that’s fair. Tell me this. What do you think has been attacking people in the woods?” A stutter, and I could see how the mask he wore peeled ever so slightly. Bobby bit around for his next lines, but wavered. “The truth,” I said. “It’s not a bear, Dad. Not mountain lions or coyotes.”
Bewilderment distorted his features, crawled down his hands as he gripped his cup. He looked at me inconclusively, perhaps deliberating what I knew. What I’d seen.
“It’s not …” he uttered, and he glanced at the table glumly. “I haven’t witnessed it, but this animal—there’s an abnormality about it, and I don’t know whatitis, but I’m afraid, too.”
CHAPTER37
