Page 42 of Conflicted Fate
We’d won, but nobody was celebrating. There was too much death to feel like shouting out in glee.
“What about the guards on the walls?” I asked.
“They’re either surrendering or fleeing. Some even asked to join our side,” he said.
“Maybe there’s hope for them after all,” I said, glancing over at where another knot of Wulfhere stood, most of their armor gone or marked with white to signify they’d changed sides. Not many, but there were some.
“There’s always hope,” Kiel said, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t ever forget that. No matter how hard things get.”
“I won’t,” I promised, gripping his hand, holding on to it, reveling in it. “Now comes the hard part. Waiting for their response.”
“Eventually,” he said. “But there’s something you must do before that.”
I frowned. “What? We have the city. I did everything I was supposed to do.”
“Not that,” Kiel said. “But your parents are here still, Jada. Living in the safehouse. You should find them. Talk to them. To your mother.”
Right. The mother who’d lied to me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Istared at the plain brown wood door. The nondescript rectangle was no different from any of hundreds of others in the city. The gray stone building was just another of hundreds, built along the same lines and the same simple, blocky style. There was nothing special about the house itself. Only what it contained.
People wandered the street, minding their business. Few glanced at me as I leaned heavily against the building across the street, watching the door. Trying to decide whether I wanted to go over and tap out the pattern Andi had given me to let the occupants know it was safe to answer. Five minutes turned into half an hour.
What would I say? WhatcouldI say?
Can’t say anything if you’re a coward who doesn’t even knock.
Pushing off the wall with an elbow, I went for the door, threading my way past bystanders until I stood in front of it. From there, I could see the lines of thefilmoretree planks used in the door’s construction. Some of the brown stain was flaking off. I picked at a large chunk, flicking it free.
It would be better to just get it over with. No more idling and wasting time. Just do it.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked, then waited impatiently, telling my knees the entire time that they’d better stay locked. I wasn’t the one who had to explain themselves.
The door opened.
“Jada?” my father exclaimed. “Is it really you?”
“Hi, Dad,” I said, letting him gather me in a hug. I patted him on the back, but my eyes were on my mother, who was still coming to the door. “It’s good to see you.”
“You, too. Come in, come in, before anyone sees you.”
“It’s fine,” I said, entering. “The city is free now.”
“All that commotion we heard?” my dad asked, looking past me and out into the streets with a suspicious frown as if he didn’t believe me.
“That was us,” I said. “We tossed out the last of the Wulfhere. For now.”
“For now?”
“It’s a long story,” I said, patting him on the shoulder, still looking at my mother.
“Jada,” she said with a smile, coming toward me. Yet she didn’t run to gather me in a hug either.
Could she know why I was there?
“Hi,” I said awkwardly. “We need to talk.”
