Page 51 of Fire Touched

I straighten. ‘First of all, I’m not a “boy”, and I’ll thank you to show me a little courtesy.’ When his brows raise, I push on, ‘As I have shown you.’ I lower myself into the chair opposite him. ‘I’m sorry.’ My fingers tap on my legs. ‘I didn’t know about—about the hall, the past. The coup. It must have been a massacre.’ As an afterthought, I add, ‘Though, they must have tried to kill you. How did you survive?’

Verron’s hand cracks down on the desk. ‘We all have secret weapons, boy. Is this why you came to my office in the middle of the night?’ His chest rises and falls rapidly.

Clearly, I’ve hit a nerve. I lean back. ‘No.’ I beat down the strange curiosity, the gnawing sense that he’s hiding something. ‘No, that’s not why. Like I said, I’m here to discuss much newer wounds.’

Verron huffs, expelling a calming breath. ‘Yes. Right. Katherine, you said. The Tide Witches tried to kill her. Are you sure?’

Images flash behind my eyes. Katherine. Drowning. The bright horror in her eyes when she’d woken, choking on a river of water. I bite my lower lip to keep from growling. ‘Yes, I’m sure.’

‘Hmm.’ Verron stares off into space for a moment. ‘Elga can see the future, other presents, too. Sometimes the past. Perhaps a Tide Witch can do the same… at least, in a sense. Perhaps they know that Katherine and the young Water wolf boy are meant to unite us. Perhaps… they view her as a threat.’

‘Why would they? A threat to what?’

Verron chuckles humourlessly. ‘Ah, I forget how young you are. You don’t know anything.’ I bristle, but he ignores that. ‘Before you were even born, there were constant battles, Killian. Different packs trying to assert themselves as the leaders of us all. The witches kept changing sides, though Elga—she’s been allied to us for… a long time. Anyway, for as long as I have been alive, the packs have battled each other. Perhaps that’s the way the witches like it.’

‘Or perhaps they’ve chosen a side.’ My words hang ominously in the air between us.

Verron nods. ‘Yes, that’s a possibility.’ He taps his desk impatiently. ‘But Katherine didn’t succumb to the water. What do you want of me?’

‘I know I’m not the alpha of Fire Pack, but I will be someday. I want you and I to forge a lasting alliance.’

At that, Verron smirks. ‘A noble pursuit, bo—Killian, but as you say, you are not the alpha. Get your father to come and have this conversation with me and we might get somewhere.’

My hands clench into fists. ‘I haven’t heard from him.’

‘Stubborn goat,’ Verron supplies.

I bark a laugh. ‘Yes, it would seem so.’ I run my hand through my hair, weary. I heave myself to my feet, pacing back and forth, chewing on the question I desperately want, need, the answer to. I walk over to the window and stare out into the dark expanse. Under the light of the moon, the outlines of the hills peek through the gloom, stars winking high above. This is a place of peace, of kind people. But it hasn’t always been.

I have to know if my father had a hand in the wounds and distrust they still carry, the missing members of each family.

Without turning to face him, I raise my voice. ‘Was it my father? Who betrayed you, all those years ago in the hall?’ I hold my breath. Images flash in my mind, of faceless men and women screaming, torn apart. Elijah’s mother among them, leaving her baby boy without his mother. I know what that’s—I whirl. ‘My mother—’

Verron pales, raising a hand. ‘No. I said I wouldn’t speak of this—’

‘Tell me—’

Verron gets heavily to his feet, crossing the room. He sets his hands on my shoulders. ‘You are not much older than my daughter. Than Prescott’s son. Believe me, I want to tell you the truth, as much as I want to protect you. But the answer you want is not so simple.’

I shove his hands off my shoulders. Could it be true? I never learned how my mother died. Dad always brushed me aside, claiming it was either an ‘accident’, a ‘bad hunting trip’, or just ‘things happen’. It drove me mad when I was little, but I grew up without her. Those conversations just… faded away over the years. Tears prick my eyes. If her death was somehow involved in this great betrayal all those years ago… ‘Please, tell me.’ My chest burns with loss.

Verron reaches up and squeezes my shoulder. ‘When you’re older, you’ll learn that some stories are not ours to tell, son. I suggest you go and get some rest. Perhaps tomorrow we can discuss this alliance of yours.’

I blink, unsure what to say or do. After a moment. ‘You said I’m not the alpha.’

Verron gives a nod. ‘That’s true. You’re better, and you’re the alpha heir. Whatever we agree on, you can take to your father.’

I can’t think about going home now.

Verron pushes me, not unkindly, toward the door. ‘Go. Sleep. Don’t think on this right now. For all its hurts, the past is the past, Killian. It doesn’t do to dwell on it.’ He offers a smile-grimace before closing the door behind me.

As though in a daze, my feet carry me from the quiet hallway, from Verron’s office, toward the hall. I duck my head in. There are still a couple of people clearing up, setting tablecloths in bags to be washed, putting away salt and pepper shakers, and wiping down spills.

A young woman’s voice drifts into my mind. Ask her to dance. Ivy.

Who is Ivy’s mother?

I turn and stare up at her handiwork, the deep, smooth gauges in the hall’s door, painted with greens and gold.

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