Page 64 of Sins of the Fathers
I owe him. Both of them. They’ve saved our asses a couple of times over.
Gibson climbed into the front. Dawson helped Grady into the back and waited as he slid across before following. The cabin exploded behind them before they had left the driveway, and Dawson glimpsed flames dancing high against the night sky in the rearview mirror.At least with the rain, it won’t set the whole forest on fire.
“So the Kings have an ‘agreement’ with the fae, huh?” Gibson asked as Denny drove.
“Devil’s bargain. I suspect you feds know all about those things,” Denny replied, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Goes with the territory,” Gibson replied. “What’s the saying from that British show? ‘Needs must when the devil drives’?”
“I never did figure out what that meant,” Tucker volunteered, but his grin put the lie to his words
“Kings have been here for a very long time,” Denny replied. “And unlike a lot of the English, we respected what the tribes here knew and believed. Protected them as best we could. They knew about the creatures here. We learned from them. They went out of their way to avoid the fae, but where they couldn’t, they understood the…complications…of making deals.”
“So this ‘deal’…” Gibson asked.
“We leave them alone, and they leave us alone,” Denny said. “A few fae have permission to spend time in our world, but there is a lot of fine print. The fae are notoriously legalistic,” Denny added with a grin. “They like footnotes.”
“When did you learn Welsh?” Dawson piped up from the back seat.
“I speak Gaelic too,” Denny replied. “I never was as good in a fight as Ethan and Aaron. I was a bookworm. I mean, I can handle myself on a hunt, and I know my way around the weapons, but I’d rather figure out the spells and the lore. So my brothers left me to it, for the most part. When our father died, I became the emissary to the fae—in case something like this ever happened,” he added.
Dawson pressed up against Grady from shoulder to hip in the back, holding Grady’s hand in both of his. He’d managed to get most of the blood off Grady’s skin, but Grady’s clothing was still soaked and it stank in the close confines of the car. Dawson couldn’t care less, not if it meant that his lover was alive and next to him.
“I’m sure Ophelia planned to steal Daelin’s magic from him, the way she did from all the other witches,” Gibson observed, changing the subject. “It didn’t exactly go as she planned. I wouldn’t be surprised if Daelin intended to kill Ophelia and her goons or feed them to the mound creatures. They were both the double-crossing type.”
“If she was really behind the HDF and the SPS, what happens to them with her gone?” Dawson couldn’t help wondering aloud.
“Chaos. Anarchy. They’ll claw each other to pieces trying to pick new leaders,” Tucker replied. “That’s assuming, after what happened tonight and the explosion in town, there are many of them left. We’ve got what we need to go after them—shut them down and haul them in. Can’t promise others won’t pick up where they left off, but we can wipe the slate clean for now.”
“Thank you,” Dawson said, squeezing Grady’s hand as he spoke. “You guys really came through for us.”
Gibson turned in his seat to flash a cocky grin. “That’s what we do. Glad to be of service.” His eyes took on a teasing glint. “You’re not too shabby yourselves—for civilians.”
“I can make you walk,” Denny threatened. “Don’t test my patience.”
Gibson raised his hands in surrender. “Yes, sir. Wouldn’t dream of it, sir. Right you are, sir,” he joked.
“Fucking feds,” Denny muttered, but the grin took the heat from his comment.
EPILOGUE
GRADY
“We stopped her.”Grady stood in front of his father’s black granite headstone in the King family plot of the cemetery. “Dawson and Denny and some friends and I ended it. She cost us all so much—but it’s over now. You can go in peace…all of you.”
He looked toward the marker for his grandparents and Dawson’s parents, all victims of Ophelia’s power. Grady didn’t know if any of them had chosen to stay behind as spirits, but if unfinished business bound them here, it was high time they were released.
A light breeze stirred, and he chose to take that as confirmation that his comments had been heard.
Dawson wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “They know,” he said quietly. “I’m sure of it. If they hadn’t already gone on, I hope they can rest now.”
“When I was in the cabin, and I was drained and hurt, the mountains sang to me,” Grady said quietly as they walked back to the car arm in arm. “They gave me hope.”
“You and Knox both have a touch of the ‘Sight,’ as Denny would call it. Welcome to the club. Makes it damn hard to win at cards if everyone’s a psychic,” Dawson joked.
“I don’t know if the genius loci understand gratitude, but I’d like to plant a tree or build a little shrine or something,” Grady confessed once they were back in the car. “Even if they don’t notice, it would make me feel better.”
“Pick out whatever you want to do, and I’ll help you. People all over the world have built spirit houses in places where they sense a presence,” Dawson replied. “I think it’s a cool idea.”
