Page 48 of Cruel Revenge
“Where’s Heath? Where’s everyone?” I demanded. “I need to make sure Heath knows I tried. I need to tell him everything.”
“First, you’re going to tell me because Hasan and Heath are in an emergency Tribunal meeting. It’s why I decided to wake you, so we could have a private moment. There’s no one else in the house except our family. Me, you, Davor, and Niko. The men are downstairs, making sure no one tries to enter the building. Dirk is allowed to talk to us, but with his mate bond with Landon, we haven’t let him in.”
“Why?” I asked, my struggle ending as I tried to comprehend the strangeness of that choice. Dirk and Landon needed to know everything, too.
“Because first and foremost, we need to discuss why Carey’s blood was in your mouth,” Subira said plainly, letting me go slowly. “We haven’t told Heath about that. The obvious assumption?—”
“Because I bit her,” I said, sinking down to the floor next to the bed on my knees, staring at my mother in horror.
“Did you?” Subira grabbed me again, yanking me closer. “Jacky, answer me clearly. Did you bite Carey Everson with the intent to Change her?”
“Yes,” I answered, no power in the word, shellshocked as everything was rushing back to me, the pure horrific reality of the situation everyone was now in. The horror of everything I saw and the horror of what I had done.
“Why?” Subira said, her eyes wide. “Jacky…”
“She…” I closed my eyes, and Subira patted my shoulder.
“Let’s… let’s start from the beginning. I need to know everything. With Carey missing and bitten, three missing werewolves, and one dead, the humans are trying to get more information. You were on their news.” A slight shake in her hands, she patted the bed, telling me to get back on it. “Supernaturals are worried about backlash from this. I need everything from the beginning. Then we can talk more about what to do next.”
I nodded, tears already in my eyes. Subira was shaken. After everything this powerful woman had seen in her long years, much of it a mystery to me and all others except Hasan, this was shaking her resolve.
I climbed onto the bed once again and pulled my knees to my chest.
“The desperation was real,” I started, putting my forehead on my knees. “Her mother was desperate. She lied about so much, but Carey wanted to let her mother lie. When we tried to leave because Carey was done listening before we were even served… her mother grew desperate. SheneededCarey, and I realized something was wrong.” I felt the fury and terror rise up. My nails turned to claws as I dug them into my legs.
“Stop doing that,” Subira whispered, pulling my fingers from my legs, forcing me to leave the ball I had curled into. “We don’t want someone smelling blood in here. You need to hold on to control as tightly as you can, or we can’t show you to Heath at all.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Tell me what happened. Keep talking.”
And I did, telling her about the witch who was able to grab me away from Carey and hold me to the wall by my neck with nothing more than magic. The terrible metal spikes that held me on the wall. Subira’s grip on my hands tightened as she listened. Watching Carey fight to get away, not to be forced into the SUV. I would have died on that wall without her charm. It gave me the magical push to keep going.
“It helped, but it was you who decided to keep fighting,” Subira said fiercely. “Don’t give me credit for your power.”
I nodded, but at that moment, I didn’t feel powerful. Not while watching Carey get taken, not now. I felt terribly powerless.
“What happened to her blood mother?” Subira asked.
“Disappeared. Probably got into her car or SUV and drove away with everyone else. I wasn’t paying attention to her.”
“Dirk is reviewing all the footage from the restaurant. We’ll tell him to look for her,” Subira said. “Davor, did you hear me?”
“I heard,” Davor said from downstairs, his words muffled by walls, but still clear to us werecats. Most of the time, I actively ignored conversations in my own home, focusing on other background noises like the fans, pipes, television, or even a clock if I had one. It seemed my family didn’t do the same, and therefore, I was being listened to by both brothers.
“And let’s make one thing clear, Jacky…” Subira grabbed my chin and made me look at her. “Carey is your daughter.”
I thought about that as I thought more about the dinner itself. Tears overflowed from my eyes as I remembered Carey’s words clearly. There was so much, it felt like it was all coming back in an overwhelming wave. How did I even begin to make sense of it all for someone else to understand?
But one moment was clear.
She called me her mom. Carey is my daughter.
“She is,” I agreed. “B-But it’s not because I bit her. It’s because that’s what she told Courtney. She said she had a mother…” I touched my own chest as a sob wracked through me. “It’s m-me. She said I am her m-m-mom.”
“Oh, sweet girl,” Subira whispered, pulling me close.
“And I tried so hard to get her back. She’s my little girl, and I never got to tell her that!” I cried out, falling into Subira’s lap. “I tried so hard, and I lost her. I failed her! She jumped out of that SUV, and she…” I cried harder, letting Subira rub my head.
