Page 56 of Cruel Revenge
“I’ve got her!” a masculine voice broke through. “Let her go, Zuri. I’ve got her.”
I was lifted and didn’t register anything except my own pain until I was put down. I clung to whoever was holding me. I cried until my chest was empty and my throat was raw. My eyes hurt, and my nose was running. Finally, I looked up and saw Hasan, just holding onto me.
“Breathe,” he ordered.
I did, taking a ragged breath in.
“Now out,” he continued.
I exhaled.
“Good. Now let me tell you why I’m here and not killing your fiancé.” He rubbed my head. “He’s going through hell right now. Jacky, we all grieve in our ways. He needs to remain in that state, or he’ll break, and there will be hell to pay for the entire world.He controls over ten thousand werewolves right now. If all of them went to war on his command, bombs would drop.”
I stared at his human eyes, the brown that seemed so mundane for the man who walked through time and controlled the werecats.
“You need to think about how you can control yourself. I don’t like this.” He grabbed one of my hands and showed it to me. Claws, real werecat claws coming out of somewhat misshapen human hands. “Your mother didn’t seem nearly as surprised as she should have been when we saw Zuri trying to hold you.”
I pulled that hand back to my own chest. I recognized that my father had brought me to my room. My most secure and private place. A wild cat would have a den. This room was mine.
“I’ve seen it before,” Subira said softly from outside the door. “I’ve been trying all night, from when she woke up, to get her to contain it as best as I can.”
Hasan growled softly, looking away to glare at the door. I didn’t need to wonder what silent questions he had. I would have had the same if I was in his shoes. He didn’t ask any of them out loud, looking back down at me.
“You’re going to have to accept that, right now, Heath needs the space. He needs to focus on his own control. You’re lucky he didn’t see this. I know werewolves are very strict about signs of the Last Change.”
“Landon knows,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes again. “He’s going to hate me now. I destroyed their family. I lost Carey.”
“Don’t even think of those things right now,” Hasan snarled softly, his face close to mine. “You must be focused, Jacky. One step at a time. Just as I am not thinking about the witch I hate most in the world, seemingly back from the dead after I killed her. First, we must investigate. We must discover where theyhave taken Carey and the other children. Then we must rescue them. After all that, we will figure out where you stand with the Everson family. After all that. He needs us to help him through all that. We need him. That will at least keep everyone close. Until this is over, you must steel yourself…” Hasan’s tone was hard, but his expression finally softened. He brushed a hand over my wet cheek. “And when you need to cry, when the pain is too much, you can lean on us.”
I sobbed one more time and leaned into him, feeling now how wet I had made his shirt. He just rubbed my head as the door opened, and light steps approached. A soft kiss touched my temple.
“And when the tears dry, we work,” Subira whispered.
21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Igot into my car with Hasan, Zuri, and Subira an hour later. Someone had gotten my subcompact SUV home after everything, and it was ready for me now. Another truck was already running beside ours. It was decided that the two witches of the family wanted to see the restaurant. They would be able to investigate the magic that might have been used. While the witches were still able to hide the scent of it from a werecat or werewolf, Subira and Zuri could feel it.
I was in the truck because I needed to point out the direct things I could remember and my positioning. Hasan was there as pure muscle.
In the second truck were Heath and Landon, there to listen to what Subira and Zuri had to say. Davor and Dirk were working overtime on their computers, now working together. Dirk was reviewing footage, trying to get good images to identify any of the witches. Davor was continuing what he had been doing for months now—trying to crack the code of the witches, which kept changing, kept the locations secret and hid their identities. Niko was now helping him as well.
“Have we heard anything from the humans?” I asked as I turned on my car and started for the restaurant. I was feeling steadier now, but I knew it was a time thing. I would have good moments, and I was going to have bad moments.
“I’ve discussed this with Heath already,” Zuri said from the passenger seat. Our parents were in the backseat for security reasons. “There’s going to be press on location. You’ll need to park behind the building. As it stands, the BSA is currently more focused on cleaning up the mess and bringing down the temperature, with or without any statements from us. Some have already tried to reach out to Heath, and he’s directed them to speak to Callahan. Before I left the Tribunal, I talked to Callahan. He’s gotten a couple of calls looking for you.”
I growled softly.
“Obviously, they know they can’t get you through Callahan.”
“They think I murdered someone in a parking lot,” I muttered.
“Humans. The news anchors, pundits, podcasters, and streamers. They think you murdered someone in a parking lot.” Zuri groaned. “They think you were wholly out of control. I don’t believe the BSA does. They know you. They’ve worked with werewolves for a long time. They know there’s more to this. Beyond that, it happened late; it’s now the middle of the night. We’ve luckily reached a point where people are expecting news in the morning, not right now.”
“Politicians?” I asked. “Any big statements from anyone in government?”
“There have been a few comments. Werewolf packs are already using their political connections, those they donate to under the table and the like, to keep those to a minimum. Politicians can be bought. They’ll all bend under the pressure of the money. I’ve already talked to Callahan about bringing in more funds for that if some start thinking this is a problem. Ibelieve once they get the full story of a witch group kidnapping ahumangirl from her legal guardian and adoptive mother, we should see a swing in public perception. People relate to a mother who’s trying to save her child.” Zuri sighed. “They can’t know she might not be human anymore or for much longer.”
