Wonderful. I was a bitch who knew her shit. This was a prime example of why eavesdropping was a Bad Idea. Yet I still didn’t raise the window. Hell, I deserved to hear any and all criticism. Plus, I was nosy.
“She’s my cousin.” A rustle of grass and gravel as Idris stood. “Tessa is my birth mother . . . and Katashi has her.” Even from this far away I heard the dread and horror in his voice. Katashi had brutalized his sister. Idris had no reason to believe Tessa couldn’t be subject to the same fate even though Katashi treated her well now. “I’m going to kill him,” he said, rage in his voice once again. Gravel crunched as he strode toward the truck.
“Idris. Stop.”
To my surprise, he did.
Pellini clambered to his feet and caught up to Idris.
“You and I need to get something straight,” Pellini said. The words carried clearly with them nearer. “I didn’t ask for any of this shit, but since I’m in it neck deep the only thing I can do is make the best of it. Because of that, because I’m on this team or posse or whatever the hell you want to call it, I consider you a teammate. I’ll go the distance for you and pound anyone who tries to fuck you over.”
Silence as they faced each other.
“But?” Idris finally replied.
“It’s not a ‘but.’ It’s an ‘and,’” Pellini said, voice hard and uncompromising. “And the same goes for Kara. She’s my teammate, too. As wrong as she was to dump that crap about your parents on you, you were just as wrong to tell her it’s no big deal that she lost a fundamental aspect of who she IS.”
Damn it, my face was getting all wet again.
Pellini wasn’t finished. “This arcane and demon-summoning shit is everything to her. She doesn’t know it, but I’ve done a shitload of checking up on her. I’m pretty sure that becoming a summoner saved her life when she was younger.”
Wait, what? He knew my history of acting out with drugs? Jeeeez.
“So if I hear one more fucking word from you about how it’s better for everyone that she had the craft she loves ripped away from her,” Pellini continued, tone harsh enough to melt stone, “I’ll pound you flat, and I don’t care who the fuck your daddy is. Y’got me?”
“Yeah,” Idris replied, all belligerence gone. “Yeah, I do.”
“Good,” Pellini said, friendly again. “Let’s get back to the house so we can regroup and figure out what to do next.”
I stabbed the window button as they approached, relieved when Eilahn did the same. A few seconds later the guys climbed into the truck and closed the doors. Pellini pulled back onto the highway, and we rode in taut silence.
After several minutes Idris cleared his throat and gave me a sad and uncertain look. “Sorry I was a dick.”
I nodded. “Sorry I dropped a bombshell like that on you.”
He returned my nod, and I knew we were cool again.
“Katashi has my mother.” His shoulders tensed.
“He’s been her mentor for thirty years,” I said, unable to keep the stress from my words. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think she’s in danger.” I hated that. And I hated that I hated that. I didn’t want her to be in danger. But I also didn’t want her to be so close to Katashi.
“He’s not soft.”
“No,” I said. “But he rewards loyalty.”
He stared out the window. “Especially if it fits his plan.”
Chapter 24
Idris made a quick call to Bryce to tell him things didn’t go as planned but everyone survived—in about as many words. Aside from that, the ride back to the house remained devoid of conversation.
The quiet gave me way too much time to obsessively review the entire incident. I ached for a nugget of information that would miraculously reverse what happened to me or give me a shred of hope that the effect was temporary. When that line of thinking grew too frustrating, I gave myself a headache by trying to sense the arcane, mentally “squinting” into a spectrum I could no longer see.
But at least I didn’t feel the need to puke anymore. Woo.
Pellini pulled up to the gate and hit the button on the remote. I straightened. “Y’know, we should go to the store while we’re out. We need laundry detergent.”
Eilahn put