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Finally she stopped, and her breath was warm through his shirt.
Hunter held very still, feeling the tension in her body.
“I didn’t tell you the whole truth about my mother,” she finally said.
He waited, knowing this admission hung on a thin line, not wanting to upset the precarious balance of whether she’d keep talking.
“I knew she was going on an assignment,” said Kate. “I wanted to go. She said I needed to keep training.”
Hunter nodded and kissed her temple again. He knew a story just like this one.
His own.
“I went anyway,” said Kate. “I hacked her computer . . . found out what flights she was taking . . . I booked different flights for myself. I found out what her mission was. I followed her everywhere. She had no idea I was there.” Kate sniffed and swiped at her eyes.
“But then I saw who she was after,” she continued. “It was this little restaurant owner, up at one of the fishing towns in Maine. Tiny diner, right on the water. He was using his powers to draw the best seafood. Silly, right?”
She was still crying, and Hunter wasn’t sure what to say to that.
The bad parts were coming, though. He could feel it.
“I didn’t even think it was a big deal,” said Kate. “I mean—is that any different from having a gift that makes you a better cook? I kept waiting to see if he was hurting people at night, or if there was anything worse than that. Mom was learning his routine, so I learned it, too. She had no idea I was there.”
“And what did you learn?” asked Hunter.
“I learned that he had five kids,” she said. “I learned that he was a good man who gave restaurant leftovers to the homeless people in town. I kept waiting for him to do something wrong, and at the same time, I kept waiting for my mother to do the right thing and leave him alone.”
“She didn’t.” Not even a question.
“No. She went after him.”
“And he killed her.”
Kate shook her head fiercely. “She waited until he was alone in the restaurant, and she confronted him.” Now she was crying in earnest. “And you know what he said? He said he understood, and he wouldn’t put up a fight if she promised to leave his family alone. Then he put his hands up and said, ‘Do it.’
“He was willing to sacrifice himself for his family,” she said. “Just like that. He was going to lie down and die to protect them. And my mom was going to take a father away from that family. She was going to kill a good man because it was her duty.”
Hunter’s brain was spinning, trying to figure out how this man had gone from being ready to sacrifice himself for his family to murdering Kate’s mother.
Kate swiped at her eyes again. “She pulled out her gun and told him she appreciated his willingness to do what was right.” A short, harsh laugh through the tears. “Can you believe that? His willingness to do what was right.”
“How did he kill her?” said Hunter.
“He didn’t,” said Kate. She sat up, moving away from him, pressing her hands to her eyes, sobbing into her fingers. “I did.”
“You? But—”
“I shot her. I shot her in the shoulder just to keep her from killing him. And she turned her gun on me, then fired.”
Hunter knelt in front of her, wanting to touch her, not knowing how she’d take it. “Did she know it was you?”
“Maybe not when she fired the first shot. But she aimed at me again. Twice. She knew it was me. I fired back. I didn’t—it was all too fast. I’d been through all that training—I just—it was me or her. She died, right there on the floor of his restaurant.” Kate looked up at Hunter, tears shining on her lashes. “And if I told anyone I did it, they’d kill me. If I told anyone the Water Elemental had done it, they’d send more Guides after him and probably destroy his whole family.”
“So you told them he killed her, and that you killed him.” He paused. “You let him go.”
She took a shuddering breath. “Yeah.” Another breath, steadier this time. “Do you think I’m a horrible person?”
Hunter reached out and stroked the hair back from her face. “I think you’re an amazing person who had to make a terrible choice at a terrible time.”
