My parents exchanged confused looks. “Where is who?” my father asked.
“Don’t play dumb. What did you do with Ivan?”
“We didn’tdoanything with your husband. Why would we?”
“So, you don’t recall your threats?”
“That was years ago.”
“He’s missing. You know all of the things that have been happening to us. Do you still want me to believe you had nothing to do with it?”
My mother placed a hand to her chest, a genuine look of concern on her face. “We haven’t done anything to you, sweetheart. In fact, we’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on. We were terrified when we didn’t hear from you.”
My father stepped forward, cutting in. “As much as we may not have approved of this marriage, what’s done is done. We have to accept it. Not to mention how dangerous it would be for you if something were to happen to Ivan. I assume you’re mates now. If he were to die, we could lose you too, and we don’t want that.”
I narrowed my eyes, not sure I believed them, although my father had a point. Mates were bonded for life. Even a muting wouldn’t prevent the possible death of one mate if their partner died. Omegas were the most at risk of death if the alpha died, and my family had to have known that. Suddenly, it seemed less probable that they would be behind the attacks. But that didn’t mean they were innocent of the memory spell.
“So, you really had nothing to do with getting a spell put on him to make him forget me?”
My father crossed his arms over his chest, his graying brows furrowing together in concern. “As I’ve said before, no, dear. I’ll admit, we’ve been cruel in the past, but to place a spell on your mate to have him forget you would be more punishment to you than him.”
Once again, he had me there. Was my family really innocent of everything going on? “Did you know that our family caused the death of Ivan’s uncle years ago?”
My father dropped his shoulders and closed his eyes momentarily before speaking. That wasn’t a reaction of surprise. He knew. “Yes, I did. It’s not something I’m proud of. My family had ways of running things that were quite cruel to dragons.There were other deaths and maiming. We had a reputation and grew enemies. We aren’t like that now in any of our businesses. I put a stop to it, and it wasn’t an easy thing to do. There are many who rightfully will never forgive us. And others in our business who looked at me as weak for changing things. Including my own father.”
He trailed off, and for a brief moment, a moment I’d never seen in my father, he looked remorseful. Almost weak. That wasn’t a bad thing. It made him real. Multilayered. Not the uptight, stubborn, and controlling man I saw too often. Living and working under grandfather had hardened him. My mother used to tell me so, and I never believed her. Until now. My father believed in the image of the family, it was our armor. But it helped him to ignore when wrongs were happening right under his nose.
My father opened his hands in surrender. “Look, I may not have wanted you with Ivan, and I may have threatened him, but there were limits. And I cared about your safety. I knew his family had a vendetta against us. To a degree, rightfully so, like many others. That was until they had my son murdered.”
I looked to my mother in surprise, and she looked away, pressing her lips tightly together, face pinched. There were no surprises here. I was the only one not in the know. “You knew his family had something to do with Armen’s death?”
My father nodded. “We suspected but had no proof. It’s another reason why we were so concerned about you being with Ivan and that monstrous family of his.”
“His parents and siblings weren’t behind it.”
“And neither was I behind their uncle’s death and yet they came for my son!” my father spat. “They are dangerous people, Jalisa. You have no idea who you aligned yourself with.”
I rubbed my forehead. None of this was making sense. So many things could have been avoided. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
My mother placed a hand on my shoulder. “Because we didn’t want you to know how horrible our family had been, and we didn’t fully know at the time that Ivan’s family was behind what happened to Armen. By the time we learned more details, the perpetrators were killed.”
I raised a brow. “So, you didn’t kill Armen’s killers?”
My mother looked to my father, her eyes neutral. That was suspicious. Did she not know? My father looked back and forth between us, eyes wide. “I had nothing to do with their deaths. I only heard about it. I wouldn’t mind thanking who killed them though.”
“So, do you think Ivan’s family is behind what’s been happening to us? I could see them trying to hurt me and doing that spell, but hurting Ivan?”
My father rubbed his chin in thought. “It would be odd. However, we don’t have the answers. You’re his mate. You can connect to him if he’s here.”
I looked up at the high ceiling, wanting to kick myself. That should have been number one. I couldn’t reach him in the human realm, but maybe I could find him here. I shut my eyes and reached out to Ivan with my mind, calling to him. No response. Either he was unconscious or something was blocking him. Maybe I should have brought Billie with me to do the locator magic. I sighed in frustration. “He won’t respond.”
My father gave me a stern look, startling me. Why was he angry? I was the only one who should be upset. “You’re giving up too easily. You are his mate. You connect to him. Let your body take over. It’ll know where to go. But,” he raised an index finger, “you’re not going anywhere alone. We don’t know whathappened to him or who he’s with. If we’re going to rescue the dragon, we need reinforcements.”
I leaned back, eyeing my father with suspicion. “You’re going to come with me to find Ivan? The person you just said comes from a monstrous family?”
He huffed. “Of course. You married him, and he’s your mate. As long as he treats you right, well, I guess we have no choice but to accept it. If we’d accepted it years ago, maybe it would have been better for you now. But we are going to find him, and we’re going to bring others too. He’s part of the military. We have resources. Let’s be smart. For once, we’re going to do things the right way.”
I almost smiled, although it might be too late. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of happiness at seeing my father so adamant about helping me. I was going to find my husband. I would not lose Ivan again.
