Page 45 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 3
Balthazar waved his hands before him as if warding off Grayson’s words. “No, no, not in the least. The reporter’s charge of murder was, of course, sensationalized. There are just rumors. Your stepfather died rather spectacularly. You disappeared without a trace right afterwards. It’s all very mysterious. Hence newsworthy. But–”
“How did they find out about Grayson’s past so soon?” Ryder asked. He had just heard it the other night when Grayson had confessed it to him. But then he knew his answer. “The Sect of Dawn?”
Balthazar nodded. “Of course. They lose an operative and three Vampires and somehow this human survives? No way they would ignore him even without knowing he’s Ashyr reborn. They have found out everything about him and are using the press as their attack dogs.”
“Did they hurt the owner of the store?” Grayson asked, his voice cracking slightly. “To find out about me? I assume that’s where they would have started. Not that he would have known anything.
“Neither the owner or his family can be found so I assume they did more than that,” Balthazar said and ran a hand through his hair. “We should have had people protecting them, but I didn’t think they’d focus on Grayson. I half suspected they would assume he got away by luck and Jill’s incompetence. But they were smarter than I thought.”
“There’s a lot going on. Too much for you to think of everything and handle it, Balthazar,” Ryder said. “Grayson was right that we needed to meet and coordinate. We’re all focused on diverse things but not working together. That has to change.”
He might only have two people in his pack right now that he was certain he could trust but if Grayson confirmed that the others were, at least, not working for the Sect, he would use them and their various abilities to hunt the Sect down and end them.
We need our army, Weryn muttered inside of him.
For once, they were in complete agreement.
“We should bring Grayson’s mother in. Give her protection,” Fiona suggested. She half rose from her seat. “I can get her wherever she is. Grayson, do you have a picture of her or–”
“She’s not my mother, Fiona,” Grayson cut off the Wyvern Vampire.
Fiona’s brows drew together, clearly confused about this statement and Grayson’s abrupt change of tone and attitude. “But I thought–didn’t Balthazar just say and–”
Grayson stood up straighter. His beautiful face was a chilly mask. “She’s just a woman. Immortals don’t have mothers or fathers for that matter.”
“Yes, but we did this time around.” Fiona’s forehead furrowed. “If my birth family were still alive I would–”
“Well, I’m not you, and, thankfully, what happened to me didn’t happen to you. So your memories this time around were sweeter,” Grayson answered in a way that indicated this subject was closed. “I think there is enough on our plates without some human attempting to make a nuisance of herself–”
“But she may be in danger,” Fiona pressed back.
“They won’t kill her if she’s in the public eye,” Grayson said. “They need her out there. Bleating her tale of woe or whatever it is to the press.”
“Unless they decide that killing her in a Vampire attack would get them the type of press they really want,” Fiona countered, but gently. She clearly sensed how close to the bone this conversation was. “I can see that you want nothing to do with this woman, Grayson, but that doesn’t mean we can simply ignore her.”
Grayson stood very still and very silent for some time. “You’re right, Fiona. You see farther.”
“I see… what I see,” she said with a wave of a hand. “I just know that we can’t allow her to be out there doing whatever the Sect wants her to.”
“Indeed, not. I expect you will take care of this, Balthazar,” Grayson’s voice was cold and clipped. “I don’t care what you do. Just make sure she has no adverse effect on our king and–”
“She claims she’s been looking for you since you disappeared,” Balthazar offered.
Grayson, if it was possible, became more rigid. “I don’t care.”
“Don’t you?” Balthazar pressed. “You thought she abandoned–”
“In every important way she did. But that doesn’t matter. All I care about is our king and us.” Grayson gestured to them all. “As I said, there is enough complexity in what we are doing that we don’t need such distractions. I know you are all thinking that I should be upset and anxious about this person, but I am not unless she has a negative impact on us and our plans. That is all.”
Balthazar’s eyes flickered over Grayson’s face. “Well, there are some things I can do to handle this, but I believe–”
“Then do them,” Grayson said and turned away from Balthazar as if the subject of his stepfather and mother were of no consequence to him any longer.
“I’m going to need your assistance with that,” Balthazar’s voice rose slightly.
Grayson, however, did not turn back to him. “You hardly need my help to make someone and their story disappear.”
“Disappear? You want your mother–” Ryder began then stopped himself.
