“I don’t know what they were digging for, but Gavin was pissed one day. He punched a guy out right in front of me, killed him on impact. The guy had brought something back that was apparently big news. Gavin lost it. I only saw a spark of glowing red blood in a bottle before Gavin carried it up the stairs.”
Something shatters, and my head pops up to see a pitcher has just been dropped to the floor, and Chaz’s eyes are wide. The hell?
“What?” Gage prompts.
“You’re sure that’s what you saw?” Chaz asks her, looking a little too pale to be immortal.
“Yeah. I remember it because it was so beautiful, almost weirdly seductive. I blamed it on the fact I was so hungry, that anything blood related would look amazing.”
His hands actually make a grinding noise when his fists tighten too much.
“What the hell, dude?” I prompt.
He’s younger than everyone in this room except for Ella. How could he possibly know more than the rest of us?
“It could be nothing, but I should check something out.”
“Where are you going?” Ella asks as she stands up.
“To see my mother.” He disappears before anyone can argue, and I notice the absence of gold glitter in his wake. There’s always a gold glitter trail.
Considering that’s the least of my worries, I return my attention to Roslyn.
“I think that’s enough chat for now.”
Kissing her head, I prompt her to stand up, and she laces our fingers together as Ella studies her. Why she looks so skeptical, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t want to believe the object of her school girl crushing deserves to die, and she’s looking for a fault in the victim he keeps terrorizing.
“So they did give you blood, and they let you out a lot?” Ella asks her, fishing for information.
“Drop it, Ell. Stop looking for redemption. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Her eyes meet mine, and I see a flicker of regret.
“I wasn’t—”
“They kept me in solitude until the last six months. I was given a collar and a leash after that, and they drug me around in wolf form. The collar was magical, able to keep me in wolf without the ability to shift back. It had the power to kill me if I disobeyed. And I was starved,” Roslyn tells her with more patience than I could show if the roles were reversed. “They only gave me drops of blood for tracking purposes. And they only gave them to me in spacious intervals. I need a few pints a week to feel satisfied.”
“But you never tracked, right?” she asks, still being a bitch.
“Ella,” I growl, and she immediately backs off.
“Sorry. I’m just trying to catch up. How do you use your witch powers so well? Reese said he trained you to fight, but he couldn’t have trained you to use that side of your powers. Considering you were raised by various humans, you shouldn’t be too good. And you’re damn good, according to what Zee told Chaz on the phone.”
Roslyn’s body relaxes, and a ghost of a smile crosses her lips. “That’s because—”
The door blows open, and Reese practically runs in, eyes searching wildly for Roslyn.
“Dad,” Roslyn says on a choked sob, and I watch something I never thought possible. I watch Reese, the biggest, baddest asshole in the world grab his daughter and hug her like she’s the most precious thing that has ever existed.
Chapter 27
ROSLYN
“We should stay near town instead of in town,” Dad says for the hundredth time.
Everyone is sick of arguing, but arguing is all he’s done since he found out I have a Gemini wanting me dead.
“We can keep her safe here,” Thad says, wrapping his arms around me from behind.