Page 62 of Call of the Blood

“You could have told me you found him,” Alexius responded, his face going hard as the blame game kicked off. “You should have told me the moment you saw him or spoke to him.”

“You have always told me that my uncle was for me to deal with however I wanted!” I didn’t scream, but I definitely raised my voice. “And you have known that he was fucking exiled like a criminal for nearly a year!”

“It never came up! You’re right, I should have mentioned it immediately. I was hoping to spare you discovering whatever may have gotten him exiled on your own. I wanted to…”

“You were coddling me,” I hissed.

“Yes,” he confirmed.

I turned and started to storm off. Ten months. He’d hidden it and then forgotten it for ten months.

And he wasn’t the only one I was mad at, as all of Henry’s lies started to repeat in my head. How he’d softened it all. How he danced around how he and Jacob had agreed for him to leave and how he enjoyed being at Maria’s nest.

“Everly, let me make this up to you,” Alexius said, calling after me. “Tell me what I can do. I know I shouldn’t have initially decided to hide it. I should have told you from the moment I knew. Please tell me⁠—”

“I was opening up to him!” I turned and screamed. “I was telling him about us. He heard about the blood club, and I told him about us! He heard about the werewolf party and Declan, and I told him about that!”

Alexius was suddenly in front of me, reaching.

“And I would have known if not for you,” I hissed, pulling out of his range before he could grab me.

“What do you want to do?” Alexius asked, his hand dropping to his side.

“I want to know everything,” I snarled. “I want to know who he’s pretending to be, how he makes money, how he hid for so long. I want to know why he was exiled.”

“Then we’ll do that.”

“No. I’ll do that,” I said, defiantly looking up at Alexius. “You will work for Maria as you promised. My uncle will be mine to deal with.”

“Everly—”

“No. Stop.” I held a finger up at him. “I am good at this. We both know that. I was distracted by all the drama with Declan and Lexi and whatever is going on with us that I didn’t dig hard enough on Henry. I will now, and when I’m done, I’m going to know secrets he doesn’t even know he has.” I turned on my heel and went toward my room, hearing Alexius follow me.

“You didn’t bring anything to do that sort of work,” he reminded me. I went into my room, and honoring our rules, he stopped at the doorway, not crossing the threshold. For a split second, I considered giving him points for that. But as I told Declan, we were going to keep the bar off the floor and make people jump a bit higher than not being the absolute worst.

“Okay, then I’ll do it the hard way⁠—”

“Rupert can send your traveling kit by next nightfall. We’ll get Maria to facilitate it.”

That’s jumping a bit higher.

“We can do that?” I was staring at the small laptop I had brought, one for entertainment, not work. It ran games and wasn’t loaded with the right tools.

“We can do that,” he confirmed. “I won’t stop you from engaging with your uncle. I just needed you home to tell you the truth of why he disappeared all those years ago and… how I had discovered it and kept to myself. He is still yours to deal with. And don’t think I’m saying this recklessly or to get your forgiveness.”

I turned and met his eyes.

“I’m saying this because I believe in your skills and your temper. That when you set your mind to something because you’re angry, there is no barrier too high you can’t climb it. There is no wall you can’t break through. You have killed bigger monsters, Everly Abbott. The world has witnessed this. Henry Abbott is nothing but an insignificant flea who has harmed you in a way he doesn’t have the right to. All I need is for you to tell me how I can help, and then I will go back to what I am working on, and you can do what you need to do.”

Alexius didn’t speak without purpose. I knew that well. He preferred silence to small talk. And from what I knew of him after so long in his close personal space, he meant every word he’d just said.

It was a very high jump over a very high bar. It reminded me why I picked him time and time again when people wondered why I would live so dangerously.

“I’m too angry to sleep with you,” I said, staring at him.

“Of course. I will wait for you to tell me you’re ready before attempting to… seduce you again,” he said, looking away for a moment.

“I need my travel kit,” I said. “I need a lot of money.”