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I stepped toward the door, hand held above the handle. “Sylvie?” I said. “There’s something I need to tell you before we do this.”
29
Sylvie
Riggs hesitated at the door. His big frame loomed over it in the darkening room like a deadly shadow. He always seemed so in control and confident, but now there was doubt in his eyes.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The reason I hate them so much. It’s not only about my sister. The part I never told you is that my father was a werewolf and my mother was a vampire. Kyla and I both were born with wolves, and my parents agreed they’d take us to live with a pack where we’d be accepted. The pack let my mother in because of us.
“Neither of us were ever really accepted,” he said. “To the werewolves, we were half breeds. Our mother was seen as a monster—like some dirty secret we kept in the cellar. My father was strong enough to compete for a place as the Alpha, but he was viewed like dirt.”
“Riggs,” I said slowly. I still didn’t agree with his hatred, but I already felt my heart going out to him. I could only imagine how it must’ve twisted his mind to deal with so much growing up.
He shook his head. “None of this is an excuse. But I want you to know what I know. Maybe then you can understand.” He walked to the nightstand and put his hands there, gripping it as he seemed to ready himself to continue. “The vamps eventually found out about us. I was sixteen at the time, and I’d grown strong enough that the other werewolves had stopped fucking with me. I’d sworn I’d get stronger until nobody would give my family shit one day.” He chuckled to himself sourly. “Stupid teenage stuff. Like I could’ve punched the world in the face to change its mind. But I’d snuck out beyond the town limits one morning to be with this girl I was seeing. My parents sent Kyla to come find me because it was a full moon that night and they wanted me back. That’s when the vamps came. The Coven has strict rules about hybrids. Extermination.”
I put my hand over my mouth, stomach clenching as I imagined where this was going.
“And guess what my dumbass accomplished by getting stronger and starting to clear our name? Loyalty. Nobody would say who the kids were or where they were. My parents didn’t talk. Not a single person in the town talked, so they killed everyone just to be careful. Every single werewolf in the town. Fifty-five bodies. That’s what the Coven does, Sylvie. That’s what their fucking curse brings.”
He was shaking while he talked. At some point—I couldn’t say when—I’d gotten up and put my arms around him. Riggs hugged me back, and I could feel all his vulnerability as he leaned into me.
God. I wouldn’t have imagined someone so strong could carry such a wound. But through his words and the way he was holding me, I could feel it. I could feel how damaged he was and how much he carried. It was no wonder he was the way he was.
“Kyla turned her back on them when she let herself get turned,” he said. “She turned her back on everything, including me.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry, Riggs. Nothing we do is going to make any of that right, but you see it, right? If we killed Victor, we’d be creating another line of people with just as much reason to hate as you had. It has to stop somewhere. Somebody has to eventually let go. To be strong enough to shoulder the burden.”
He pulled back from the hug, then kissed me. It surprised me, but I kissed him back. I wanted to stay in that tender moment where his lips were scorching hot against mine and his arms swallowed me up. I felt safe there, like I didn’t need to ever step outside that cocoon. But I knew what waited for us beyond this room, and I knew the others needed us.
We pulled back from the kiss and Riggs thumbed my chin with a small smile. “I could get used to that.”
“No kidding.”
30
Riggs
Our plan was as simple as I could manage. Sylvie would stay in the room just long enough for me to meet with Lazarus and find out where he was keeping the others. After that, I’d go back, get Sylvie, find a place to hide her, and then confront Victor. If things went well, I’d go get her, if not, she’d try to escape, as unlikely as that was.
I had to admit I didn’t feel great about the plan. There were too many things that could go wrong, but we didn’t exactly have the luxury of sitting around and trying to fine-tune it. The others were being held, and we had no idea how long Lazarus would wait before deciding to change his demands.
