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I smiled. The agent sputtered, but there was nothing he could do. His own fault for not bothering to know enough about werewolves to realize they'd be able to hear from the hall.
I sat back and waited. Sean was here. Elena and Clay were here. Lucas was coming. It would be fine. It
had to be.
TWENTY-THREE
When Sean came in, Thomas got to his feet. His gaze was wary, but there was no mistaking the sudden spark of warmth.
"Sean," he said. "How was your flight? I'm sorry you had--"
"Bryce isn't doing so well, Granddad. Thanks for asking. And thanks for calling to check on him. He appreciates that."
"I--"
"You've been busy." Sean walked toward his grandfather. "The supernatural world is going to hell. Demonic spirits are breaking through everywhere. A hell-beast materialized in the New York subway. Supernaturals are racking up body counts faster than the demons and hell-beasts combined. Of course you're too busy to check on Bryce. Yet somehow, with all this, you've decided you can take a break to put my sister on trial for treason."
Treason? What? How?
"Miss Levine is not your sis--"
"She is!" Sean roared, making everyone draw back. Most had probably never even heard him raise his voice. "I'm told there's a special escape route from this building secured by locks requiring Nast blood. Her blood opened them."
"Don't bother, Sean," Mom said. "He can't hear you. Won't hear you."
Sean turned. He saw my mother and blinked. "Eve."
She walked over and put her arm around him, leaning in to whisper, "Your dad sends his love. Always." Then she turned to Thomas. "Are you going to look at me now?"
He sat first, then slowly lifted his gaze. When his eyes reached hers, his face stayed immobile.
"Been a long time, hasn't it?" she said. "Twenty-two years since our little chat."
"We've never met--"
"Oh, cut the crap." She stepped up to his table. His bodyguards kept their positions, but everyone else inched back as she swept aside the pages in front of him and planted her hands on the surface. "You remember that chat. You threatened to--" She stopped. Almost imperceptibly, she turned toward Sean.
"You scared me off," she said after a moment. "I let you scare me off. I was young and I was stupid, and I let you screw up my life and Kristof's life and our daughter's life, and I've never forgiven you for that. I don't care if you acknowledge Savannah or not. She doesn't need you. But you are going to let her leave. Savannah and Adam will walk out that door, and you can keep me in their place and--"
A soft, metallic tinkle. The wire binding her sword had fallen to the floor. "About time, ladies," Mom muttered as she reached back for her sword. "Strike that. Maybe I won't stick around, Thomas. You'll let me go and--"
She shimmered. Not just the sword, but her whole body.
"No," she whispered. She looked up. "No!"
She shimmered again, almost fading completely before coming back, midsentence. "Give me five minutes--" Her gaze shot to mine, and I ran to her, ignoring the shouts of the guards.
Then she was gone.
Just gone.
I knew it had been coming, but it felt as if someone had slammed me in the gut. It was like every time I'd pictured her death. I'd never known what happened, but I'd imagined it, in all the ways a daughter could torture herself with thoughts of her mother's murder. Yet nothing I'd imagined had felt as horrible as this moment. This moment when she was here. And then she wasn't.
Adam got to me first, pulling me into his shoulder. I let myself collapse against him, not sobbing, not even crying, but wishing I could, the grief just building.
"Let Savannah go," Sean said to Thomas, his voice low. "Please, Granddad, just let her go. Eve said she's not going to fight you about recognizing Savannah. I'm not either. Not anymore. Eve was right. You don't want to see it, so you won't see it. Just let her go. Let it all go."
I lifted my head. Thomas wasn't looking at me. Wasn't looking at Sean. He was staring straight ahead at the spot where my mother had stood. He looked tired. Old and tired and frail, and I knew he didn't want to do this anymore either.
