Page 54 of Cruel Revenge
“No updates on the children yet,” Subira said, sighing. “We’re about to listen to what happened from Jacky and… your name was brought up.”
“The witch who led the attack, Davor and I have seen him before… He said your name. He had messages he wanted me to pass along if I survived. You were one of those…” I explained.
“Tell us everything,” Heath said, his words devoid of anything telling. I couldn’t smell how he felt. I could smell Landon, though. He was angry, he was heartbroken… he was afraid. I could only imagine Heath was feeling the same things. “I really want to know why Teagan told me Carey’s blood was in your mouth.”
Everyone was in my line of sight, and I saw the wave of reactions, even though my eyes were focused on Heath’s.
Zuri’s expression turned horrified. Hasan cursed. Subira closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Davor and Niko gave each other uncomfortable looks. Dirk’s mouth dropped open. Landon’s lip turned up in a snarl.
But nothing was so terrifying as Heath’s storming blue eyes turning ice blue in a blink, his cool stare on me.
“She was dying,” I whispered. “She threw herself out of a moving SUV that was taking a turn too fast. I had to move her… and she was dying.”
“So you made the call?” Heath asked, his brow furrowing.
One thing I didn’t tell Subira, one thing I kept for this moment.
Only for Heath, so he could smell my honesty, the truth of it.
“She told me to… after she told me she c-c-couldn’t feel… anything,” I explained, my voice breaking, cracking as I tried to relive the moment one more time for him. “She was… she was trying to survive, and I knew help wasn’t coming in time. She did so well to escape. I couldn’t… say no…”
Heath stepped forward to the other end of the dining room table.
“What were her exact words?” he demanded.
“Bite me,” I answered, the words quiet, but explosive in the emotional current of the room.
“If any child knows what they are asking for when they say that it’s your daughter, Heath,” Subira said evenly, looking at the man I loved. While Subira kept her tone even, that didn’t change the fact that it was a plea for him to be sane.
Heath’s breathing grew harder as he closed his eyes and put his hands on the table, leaning down, his hair falling over his face just enough to block me from seeing his expression. Landon grabbed his shoulder, not pulling him away or anything, just squeezing. Heath’s breathing slowed again. He lifted his head and opened his eyes, looking directly at me once again.
“Tell the rest of the story, then, and whatever these messages are.”
I nodded and launched into the tale. The first clues of something being wrong, the violence, the chase, and how I found Carey. What happened from the bite to losing her once more.
“He had three messages and one thing that I should note… his voice sounded… strange.” I swallowed. “There was a second voice, in a way. Feminine, I think, like overlayed or underneath his. I hadn’t heard it the first time Davor and I encountered him in the house. Niko, I don’t remember you seeing him?”
Niko shook his head.
“He sounded normal then,” Davor agreed.
“Well, this time there was this second voice, like speaking out of his mouth at the same time. Saying the same things…” I wrapped my arms around myself. “I was trying to get up, but I was losing strength. He said if I survived, I could be useful and had three messages. Heath, you have to choose between your werewolves and… Carey,” I said, almost finding it impossibleto get those words out. “Subira and Hasan, he won’t stop until he wipes you and your influence off the face of the earth… and Kushim…” I tried to remember the details. “Something weird happened. There was like a moment that reminded me of the moon cursed, when we’re struggling for control. The feminine voice grew louder, stronger. He said he wants his necklace back? Maybe she wants her necklace back?”
“No,” Kushim exhaled.
“I knew I recognized the smell of the magic,” Hasan whispered, stepping back. He didn’t stop moving until he was out of the building. His shock was pungent in the room.
“Your mother?” Zuri snapped. “Is she alive?”
“No. Hasan killed her ages ago. I buried her when I found her broken, dismembered body,” Kushim said. “I remember the place. I can take you there today.”
My head was spinning.
“What necklace?” Heath asked.
“It’s how Kushim and I met. It’s the one heirloom he kept of his mother for all these thousands of years. It’s lost all its magic thanks to time. It was stolen by a young werecat, and he ended up meeting me. We got it back from her,” Zuri explained. “And his mother…”
“Is the witch Hasan ran into before you and your brother were born,” Subira said. “I need to follow him.” She brushed a hand on my shoulder before jogging after her mate.
