Page 106 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
Before Tariq could respond, the manor’s heavy oak door swung open with a sharp creak. Isla emerged, ginger hair pulled up in a harsh ponytail, freckled face flushed. “Rory, are you okay? I’ve just heard what happened.”
“It’s all fine,” I said quickly, not wanting to cause more drama. “My friends shouldn’t have popped up uninvited. That’s on them.”
Isla turned to glare at Tariq and Callum. “They were hardly staging an invasion. Christ, you’d think they were carrying pitchforks the way you all reacted.”
I caught the way Callum’s entire posture shifted when Isla spoke. His shoulders straightened, his eyes raking over her like he wanted to devour her whole.
“Edina has requested to see Rory,” Tariq told her pointedly.
Isla’s expression softened with sympathy as she looked at me. She reached out to touch my arm gently. “Good luck. You know, I’d love it if we could spend some time together before the gathering on Friday. If you’re not too busy, of course.” She shot a knowing look at Maxwell, complete with a cheeky wink.
Standing there, watching my cousin’s genuine concern and warmth, I felt a stab of guilt. Maybe I’d been too quick to write off my entire family in my head. It made me think that perhaps I could make an effort to reconnect with the nicer ones who weren’t actively trying to kill me.
“I’d like that,” I found myself saying, surprised by how much I meant it.
“Edina is waiting,” snapped Callum.
I laughed. “We haven’t spoken properly in years. I think she can wait five more minutes.”
We entered the house, and I caught sight of Bernard scurrying across the corridor. Isla and Callum peeled off at the entrance hall, leaving us to follow Tariq up the spiral staircase to the first floor. The path was achingly familiar from my childhood—too many times I’d been marched up these same steps.
Despite the anxiety gnawing at my insides, I reminded myself that I was returning here as my own person. Not part of the pack, not a manipulated child anymore, but a confident, accomplished—semi-accomplished—adult, with my wonderful, sexy-as-fuck, extremely intelligent boyfriend beside me. Well, pretend boyfriend.
We reached the door of my father’s old office—clearly now Edina’s. Tariq knocked, two sharp raps.
My mother was sitting at her desk when we entered. Her gaze swept over me, lingering with obvious distaste on my tight-fitting tie-dye shirt—the bright pinks and purples seeming to offend her personally. Tariq bowed to her before silently retreating, shutting the door behind him.
The office was exactly as I remembered it, complete with the Scottish flag hung on one wall and landscapes of the Highlands on the others. The desk’s feet had been carved to look like wolves’ heads, their snarling faces frozen in eternal aggression.
She addressed Maxwell. “I expected Rory alone.”
“You might need to readjust your expectations, then,” Maxwell replied coolly. “Rory has asked me to be here with him.”
Edina made a clicking noise with her tongue, a habit that had always set my nerves on edge.
Maxwell moved to take a seat in front of her, dragging me along with him. I sank into the chair, trying to appear more confident than I felt.
Edina eyed me for a long moment. “The intruders made it to their transport successfully?” Her tone made it clear she already knew the answer.
“Yes. I didn’t realise they were coming. They… just wanted to see where I grew up.”
“They know what you are? What we are?” she asked carefully.
I panicked, not quite knowing the right answer. “Um… no…”
Edina laughed, the sound brittle. “You were never any good at lying, Rory. But you can drop the pretence. I know that you all work together in London, under a vampire called Sebastián Salazar.”
I gasped, my mind reeling. “How—”
“You thought we’d let Kit go without keeping tabs on him?” she asked. “As soon as he left the military to head to London, we had people on it.”
My mind was reeling—Kit and I had no idea. We hadn’t heard from our pack in so many years, it was like they existed in a different universe. To learn we’d been watched all this time… was unsettling, to say the least.
“How much do you know?” I asked.
Edina shrugged. “To be clear, I dinnae really care what the pair of you get up to. You’ve left my pack, made your choice. My point is, you don’t need to play games with me.”
“So why did you invite us back here, then?” I demanded. “You tried to ring me for the first time since Dad died, and then Alex made it sound like you were desperate for us to come in his email to Kit.”
