Page 73 of Old Secrets

“You are.” As there weren’t many who could witness me do it, I leered at my husband. “At certain times, when you’re properly doing your duty.”

He mouthed something at me, which I assumed was a promise I would be paying for my commentary at a later time, in bed, where he could put on a good show solely for my benefit.

“You can rise,” I said, and sighing, I added, “Please tell the others to as well. I’ve no use for posturing. I only need those responsible for everything to be lured out somewhere I can wring the life out of their pathetic bodies.”

“She takes the retribution part of things quite seriously,” Jake said, and he took care to keep his tone gentle. “Who was behind the London shooting? Was it these sinners?”

“Yes. We were to test her immortality. The sinners demanded it, or they would begin the next wave of sacrifices. We have seen your picture, but we did not know then that you have been gifted with immortality as well. But you are her husband. Of course, she would grant you her gift of immortality.” Rosalie got to her feet, and she bowed to Jake. “The sinners wanted to know more about you, but they could not find anything special, and it was not worth the risk; you were under close watch by outsiders, and it would have risked our exposure.”

Right. Fenerec could withstand injuries that would kill Normals like them, and it would not take much for a religious fanatic to believe he had immortality rather than a severe case of wolf. “Are the sinners aware there are so many of you who know of their sins?”

“They value our dedication to the cause,” Rosalie replied, and her tone changed to one of utter disgust. “They lost sight of our cause, and they failed to understand that by awakening a goddess of retribution, they would be the ones to face retribution. We are prepared to pay for our sins. We knew that this day would come. We must be made pure so that we might have a chance at another life.”

Once I made it back to the United States, I would request retraining on the subject of religious fanatics and martyrs. That way, I might have a better idea of what to do if I happened to need to negotiate with them.

“How can we get these sinners to show up?”

Rosalie smiled. “That is simple. We will tell them of the return of your givers of life, and they will show up to monitor the situation—and issue threats about what will happen to the next of your blood-kin should they not produce more children. We are not monitored so closely that most of us cannot reach Refuge before their arrival, and then we can strike and make the sinners pay for the crimes they have committed against you and the Earth.”

If the religious fanatics wanted to guide us to my parents’ sanctuary and put an end to the leaders themselves, so be it. “And all of them will attend?”

“All those who decide who live and who die will be in attendance. The rest are easy enough to find. They are not the dragons twisted to evil.”

I considered the others in the group capable of speaking English, and I settled on the one with the strongest aura of red and black, a bent old man with a graying beard that hung halfway down to his knees. Any other time, I would have marveled at its length. “Why did you change your heart?”

“You honor me, Dawa. I changed because I saw your light. I end my days, and I have stained my skin and my soul with the blood of too many children. This redemption will never be enough, but I take this first step and hope for a chance at another life so that I might do better next time.”

“Your life has more value than your death, and I expect you to all remember that. I expect these sinners to pay for their sins in death so they may not hurt another. But I expect you to live and repay the debts you owe to the dead who no longer have a voice. Today, retribution is removing those who have not seen their sins. And when this is done, my retribution will be to see that you all spend your every last breath working to undo the tragedies you have wrought.”

Rosalie bowed three times, as did the others in the group. “It will be as you wish, Dawa.”

NINETEEN

“Those who like being worshipped are crazy.”

An hour before my parents were scheduled to land, Xigazê’s airport reopened. The Chinese government handled the details of the closure, and Maurice took my gun along with Jake’s, promising we’d have them back in a better environment.

According to the witches, the defectors were the personification of sincerity, bordering on entering a state of religious fervor. I struggled to cope with their view of me—and of Jake.

We were far from being what they thought of us, and neither of us were truly immortal.

At my request, the group scattered to gather everything we would need to make the journey to Mount Everest, which they called Refuge because that was what my parents called the mountain. According to a map Rosalie referenced, we would be hiking for more than a hundred miles through a tunnel and cavern system cutting through the Himalayan mountains.

It turned the journey from perilous to safe, and once within the mountains, the temperature regulated to a chilly forty degrees, warming to a pleasant seventy deep within the sanctuary itself. As we had not come prepared for venturing to one of the most treacherous places on Earth, Rosalie took it upon herself to gather the supplies we would need to make the journey as humans.

I expected to transform into my fox shape to ensure they continued to believe.

If it brought the true heart of Greenwich crashing down, I would do more than prance around as an oversized fox prone to chittering at anyone who bothered Jake.

Uncertain of what might happen, I turned to Maurice and asked, “Would it be wise for us to travel using an alternative way?”

With uninvolved Normals in the airport, I didn’t dare to mention our ability to shapeshift.

“Yes. Once we are out of the vehicles at our next stop, it would be wise. I’ve already notified the pilot of your parents’ plane that the situation here has been defused and that we have some allies. I asked that they be warned that they have to work with some of these people to lure out the ones truly responsible.”

“I’ll talk to them when they arrive,” I promised.

“Thank you.” Maurice nodded in the direction of the gate where my parents would enter the building. “While we’ve impressed upon them that you should not be bothered unless it is important, we’re dealing with those truly dedicated to their beliefs. They will want to see you and your mate. Doing as you suggest will cement those beliefs, but we may also have to deal with more bowing.”