Page 66 of The Secret of Pain

After Colt got the other Hunters settled in a hotel in the center of Salem's Bay, he came back with Nate and Maddie in tow. While he was gone, Bauer helped Dad about, getting cleaned up, while I sat and talked with Creek. I didn't mention the dream, because if it wasn't a dream, if it was real, then I’m sure he knows, and I have no idea how to tackle that. I don't know if we've ever discussed it before, in our lives between then and now, and it’s making me feel anxious as hell.

"Are you okay?" Creek asks me, watching me closely as I nurse my cup of coffee.

I let out a huff and blow some hair off my face. "I'll be fine."

I hope the answer is enough, but I don't have to worry, because Dad and Bauer appear in the kitchen, where the rest of us are seated, waiting. Being watched and analyzed is not on my to-do list today, hell none of this was, though I can't be anything but happy and relieved my dad is finally awake.

He makes his way across the room, shrugging off Bauer’s helping hand, but Bauer moves like his shadow, just in case.

"I am not decrepit, boy. I can walk," my dad scolds, but Bauer rolls with it.

"I never said you couldn't, old man. But you've been out cold with no food for days; the likelihood of you falling is real, considering how long you've been healing. I'm pretty sure you don't want to be sidelined again because you fall and break something," Bauer bites back, and I catch my dad’s smile before he wipes it away and sits down at the head of the table, exactly where he should be.

Creek jumps up, and starts rummaging through the fridge, as if not knowing where he can help with this, and so, he'll feed us all. The room is quiet other than his movements for a few moments while everyone waits for my dad to speak.

"Have you found out what they used to injure me?" He roams his gaze over the room, meeting each one of ours until settling on Nate.

"Not yet, but I'm working on it. I've been using limited resources, because I didn't know who attacked." My father nods at his words, and now that I know more, it makes sense that we kept this mainly in house and why Colt was touchy about Dad still being asleep with the other Hunters here.

"I brought the Bellos’ back with me from Africa. We need more manpower here with the surge in numbers, I thought they would be best. Abel agreed to come," Colt tells him and my dad nods.

"Good idea. They have been friends of ours for many years. I do not believe they would turn against us now."

"You said we were betrayed?" I ask, since no one else seems to want to say it.

"I was attacked by a Hunter. I do not know who, the coward attacked from behind with the shots before I disarmed him, but his face was covered. I only know he was human from his eyes. No amber ring. No silver flecks." He bows his head as if ashamed before straightening.

"Do you know why?" I ask, the rest of the room deathly quiet, and he shakes his head.

"I have no idea, but for it to happen so soon after knowledge of your Angel mark spread, I do not believe in coincidences." I suck in a breath at his words.

"This is my fault?"

He looks me in the eye, hesitating before shaking his head, but the hesitation was enough.

"It is no one’s fault but those who sanctioned it, or those who carried it out. There has been unrest in our faction for many years now, but the splintering grows. The Elders do not seem worried about it, but warring amongst ourselves when our enemies grow in strength and number is not what we need to be doing. That said, I want to know more about the bullets, the blades he used. Maybe if we can find out what, we can discover who and why."

"I'm working on it," Nate says.

"I'm glad you're okay, Denny," Maddie says softly. "Now, how about for a change, instead of storming off to the depths of battle, we just celebrate that you're back with us and healthy. Creek is already cooking enough to feed an army. How about we bring Abel, Celeste, and Gabriel back, and invite Marie, Fallon, and Rebel over? Make a night of it."

"Maybe he should rest," Bauer inserts, but my dad shakes his head.

"I think a night with my family, including our extended family, is exactly what I need." I read between the lines, knowing that my dad will speak to Abel, Celeste, and Marie about what happened to him. Find out if anyone has heard anything. How better to disguise a meeting to our enemies than as a revelry.

But a spark of hope ignites in me, and I hold on to my father’s words. Dissent in the Hunters, while terrible, could be exactly what I have hoped for so long. Maybe others have discovered what I have, that not all is as it seems, that things do not have to be the way they are, the way we have been told they always were. The lies of the Elder council poison us, and while no one seems to know why the change happened, I know that it did.

Another thing for me to think about later.

Colt leaves the room, his phone to his ear, most likely calling Gabriel, while Maddie calls Marie. I pick up my own phone and see a message from Kain.

Kain:

A war is coming. We will not flee when all we have dreamed of is within our grasp. K

I steady my reaction, careful not to portray anything but mild disinterest at the screen, before I tuck it back away in my pocket. Hope swells in my chest, but I school my emotions.

"Who is patrolling tonight?" I ask, since it has been so long since I've been out, but the opportunity to get out and speak to Kain feels within my reach.

---