Page 37 of Sins of the Fathers
“Frank and Rebecca were investigating a problem with rogue vampires who were kidnapping humans for food and either killing them or making them blood slaves,” Denny went on. “Dangerous as hell, because it wasn’tjustvampires—Frank believed the rogues were connected somehow to vamps high up in the Syndicate. But law enforcement couldn’t go after vampires, and both Frank and Rebeca apparently felt strongly about stopping the problem.”
He sipped his whiskey. “I was just a kid when all this happened, so I didn’t find out the details until later. All I knew at the time was that Frank and Rebecca dropped Aaron off to stay with us and the grownups talked in the kitchen for a while. Then Dad came to tell us later that Aaron’s parents were dead and that he’d be living with us from now on and be adopted as a King.”
“How old were you?” Grady asked.
“I was four years younger than Ethan and two years younger than Aaron. That was forty years ago, so I was six. But something like that sticks with you. Not easy to forget.” Denny grimaced.
“I remember that my mom and dad argued, and then he went out. Didn’t come back until almost dawn. Now that I look back on it, I think he cut a deal with one of the Syndicate vampires to leave our family alone in exchange for stopping the investigation,” Denny replied. “He had three young boys, and there were plenty of other monsters to hunt. I think Dad knew he was outgunned and didn’t want anyone else to die.”
Denny was quiet for a moment, staring into the amber liquid in his glass like it might reveal the future. “At the time, I just remember that Mom and Dad seemed tense—probably waiting to see if we’d get attacked. Aaron was understandably a mess, having just lost both his parents, and while Ethan and I were okay with getting a new brother, we all had a lot of adjusting to do.”
Denny ran a hand back through his hair. “After a while, things settled down. Dad went out on regular hunts—Mom did the research—but I guess whatever deal he made held. Time passed, we grew up, Mom and Dad retired, and then they passed away. Ethan and Aaron and I took up hunting. Plenty of monsters, but the Syndicate was never on our radar. It was just understood that they didn’t kill humans, and we left them alone.”
“What changed?” Knox leaned forward, caught up in the story. Angel made the rounds, moving from person to person as if she knew her presence helped to diffuse the tension.
“Not much, for a long time. Ethan got married and had Dawson, Aaron got married and had you and Grady. All the while you boys were growing up, we hunted, but they were just regular cases. Nothing huge.”
He paused again, then went on. “Ethan went out on a hunt one time, and when he came back, he was real quiet, like he had a lot on his mind. He wouldn’t tell Aaron or me what happened. Ethan wasn’t hurt, but he wouldn’t talk either. After a while, he seemed mostly back to normal, except I always thought there was something he wasn’t telling us.”
Denny shifted in his chair. “Then your junior year in high school, Dawson, Ethan suddenly started hunting a lot more. He and your mom went without backup from Aaron or me. I’d ask him what they were after, but he was vague. That spring, he and your mom seemed excited and nervous about something. All he’d say was that they were ‘finally closing in.’”
Dawson looked down, and the loss he felt over his parents’ death felt fresh and sharp. “That was right before the crash. I never did believe it was something wrong with the plane. Especially not after I found their files. You never said anything.” Dawson tried to make it not sound like an accusation.
“You were grieving. I had three boys to take care of, and I’d just lost my brother and sister-in-law. We didn’t hunt for a while, if you remember,” Denny replied. “Or maybe you don’t. You were finishing up school, Knox was having difficulty, and we didn’t need trouble. I didn’t want to open up a can of worms that might get someone else killed. So I locked the notes away and did my best to forget they ever existed.”
“I read Dad’s journal. He thought that there was a connection between what happened to his father and Ethan,” Grady said. “I’d often wondered if magic could be involved.”
“If you’re asking whether a witch was behind the murders, I believe so,” Denny replied. “Frank and Rebecca stopped the vampire who was running the kidnapping organization. A fire destroyed the rogue vamps. I think someone wanted revenge and took it by causing the explosion that killed them.”
“But my parents died a long time after that,” Dawson said. “More than forty years later. Aaron’s death was seven years after theirs. Do you think the same witch was still involved?”
Denny shrugged. “It’s not impossible—even for a human. For a vampire, even less so. You have to understand—I didn’t go looking. I didn’t talk about it with Ethan or Aaron. If they tried to bring up what happened, I wouldn’t answer. The Kings are the guardians of this mountain, but we don’t have to sacrifice everyone we love to it.”
Denny looked away and took a slug of the whiskey. Dawson felt missing pieces slot together in his mind as he looked at his uncle.Denny never married. Did he lose someone to monsters—or to hunting? Or did he not try to find a partner, worried they wouldn’t be safe? He took me in after my parents died. After Aaron was killed, he took Grady in and looked out for Knox. And all this while, was he hiding the secret of what killed his brothers?
“Dad and I were attacked by a werewolf,” Grady said. “Was it more than what it seemed?”
Denny turned back to them, and Dawson saw raw emotion in his uncle’s eyes. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t. I wish I did. At first, I wanted to believe it was just a bad hunt. Then later, I wondered if someone had sent that werewolf to finish the job and get you and Aaron out of the way.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I thought that steering clear would keep you safe. Now I wonder if I’d helped Ethan instead of stonewalling him would it have not only saved his life but Aaron’s as well.”
“You did the best you could,” Grady told Denny. “It made sense to stop investigating. You couldn’t have known they’d still come after us.”
“Where does the attack on Knox come in?” Colt asked. “Is it really as simple as him overhearing something in the bar? Or was someone going to come after him sooner or later?”
“What I saw in Dad’s journal made me think that Knox was safe because he quit hunting after his accident,” Grady said, with a quick glance toward his brother, who looked away.
“I hope that’s the case. But I think that maybe it’s time to look at the files I have from Frank and Ethan—and some of Aaron’s that weren’t with your other stuff,” Denny said with a nod toward Grady, “and see if we can get to the bottom of this. Having backup from those feds wouldn’t hurt.”
“You’d trust the feds?” Dawson asked. “Because I don’t completely trust Sheriff Rollins—just putting my cards on the table.”
“Rollins is a hard guy to like sometimes,” Denny replied. “I can’t blame him for being pissed about that ‘prank’ Ethan and Aaron played. That was way over the line. They shouldn’t have done that. And I don’t think they would have if they’d realized that Rollins would hold a grudge this long.”
“Rollins and most of his deputies are shifters,” Dawson said. “Do you think they’re sympathizers with the Supernatural Protection Front?”
Denny frowned. “Beau Rollins? I don’t think so. Rollins takes himself and his job too seriously sometimes, but his respect for the law is what’s at the bottom of most of the run-ins he’s had with the Kings over the years. So breaking his oath to support a terrorist group? He’s not my favorite person, but I really don’t see that in him.”
“What about other members of the sheriff’s department?” Grady pressed. “They’re shifters—if one or more of them liked the SPS, would Rollins even find out?”
