Rituals (Cainsville 5)

"Greg Kirkman," I said as Pamela took her seat across from me.

"I told you, Eden, I don't know--"

"Try again."

Pamela's lips tightened. "This woman--Seanna--is sending you on a wild-goose chase, and I can't believe you're allowing it. She's an idiot with just enough animal intelligence to know where to strike. Where it will hurt. For you, that's your father. You need to guard your weaknesses more carefully, or your enemies will never stop using them against you." She sat back in her seat. "I see Gabriel isn't with you. I'm going to interpret that to mean he's tried to dissuade you from this path, knowing his mother and her schemes. As much as I hate to say it, he's right. Drop this, Eden."

"Can't. Not until I have answers."

She let out a hiss of frustration. "You're better than this. You have blind spots. You need to recognize them and--"

"Oh, but I do. I recognize them, and I work to overcome them. Sometimes I'm even successful, like when I finally realized I couldn't trust you to tell me the sky is blue. You fancy yourself a good mother, Pamela. Tough love. Preparing me for a harsh world. Like criticizing me when I'm making mistakes, when I'm not fulfilling my potential, not as clever as you expect."

"You are clever. That's the point. You aren't utilizing your intelligence--"

"Do you know what's worse than telling your kid that you're disappointed in her? Using that to manipulate her. Telling her she's made a stupid mistake, when in fact she hasn't--you're just trying to grind her self-confidence into the dust so she'll stop chasing questions you don't want answered."

Her face hardened. "I am trying to stop you from making a mistake, Olivia."

"Yep, you are. Except that 'mistake' isn't chasing a false lead. It's following it to a conclusion you don't want me reaching."

"You--"

"If you hate fae so much, stop acting like one. Stop manipulating and diverting and distracting. You don't know anything about Greg Kirkman? I'll refresh your memory. He killed three young women and then disappeared shortly before you went after the Tysons. All signs point to him as the guy who murdered those girls. One of his victims was from Cainsville. She had fae blood--I've confirmed that, which would make her killer a Cwn Annwn target."

"What does that have to do with your father?"

"You made a deal with the Cwn Annwn. That much is undisputed fact. But the details aren't entirely clear, like how you contacted them in the first place. It's not like you can look them up in the Yellow Pages. You know what Cainsville is now, but you didn't when you were growing up."

"How do you--?"

"I have visions, remember? I've seen you in them, as a child."

Her composure rippled. "You've seen--?"

"You only got the full picture once you made that deal. Maybe not even then. So how did you make contact?"

"I'd heard things, growing up. I figured out what Cainsville was."

"Bullshit."

"You asked, Olivia, so I answered--"

"With a lie, which comes as naturally to you as breathing, so I won't take it personally. I think my father knew his lineage. He knew what the Cwn Annwn could do. So he told you. You realized that was my best hope. The problem was how to contact the Hunt. I mentioned those visions of mine. They give me all sorts of tidbits, pieces that seem random but eventually come in handy. Like this one I had of a guy trying to contact the Cwn Annwn. He interrupted their hunt. He knew their target and waited for the Huntsmen. That's one method. A better one? Find someone who fits their criteria and do the job for them. Someone like Greg Kirkman. That's how you contacted the Cwn Annwn, isn't it? You and my father killed him--"

"Not your father. Just me."

"Then why did Seanna visit him?"

"Because she's an idiot. How many times do I need to say that?"

I paused, then said, "You killed Greg Kirkman."

"Yes. I found him. I killed him to lure the Cwn Annwn, while providing them with a gift and a sign of my willingness and ability to do more of the same."

"So you admit to this, yet when I accused you and Todd of killing the other four, you said you weren't responsible. You blamed him."

She flinched. "It wasn't like that."