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“Father demanded I return to him, to Black Hat, time and time again over the years, but I always refused him. Your mother was meant to be his leverage over me, but she was beloved by the wargs, and they guarded her too well. After you were born, I gave my father another target, and he has excellent aim. He set his sights on you, and we made an innocent mistake that cost us everything.
“That night…” grief, somehow fresh and raw, twisted his features, “…the pack was running under the full moon, and Vonda begged to go. I hated to deny her anything, so we went. Only to watch. Only for a little while. I hoped it would help her to heal after Megara’s death, but instead it left us exposed.”
Back in her wilder days, Mom had run with Meg’s pack, who viewed her as family.
Asa, once again, found his voice before Dad or me. “Your father attacked you out in the open?”
“The wards around our home were too strong for him to breach. He had to find another way.”
With thoughts of Meg at the forefront of my mind, I had to ask, “What happened to the pack?”
“He put silver bullets in their skulls.”
“Against all odds, you survived the massacre.” Asa erased any censure from his voice. “Your wife…?”
“As far as I am aware, she is truly dead.” He closed his eyes, collecting himself, then he explained to me, “That night, your grandfather stunned you with a spell too strong for use on a child. We thought it killed you.” His aura darkened until a black-gold halo of power ringed him. “When your mother ran to you…” his eyes, trapped in that moment, held the vast darkness between the stars, “…he killed her.”
“He killed her. Not you.” I broke on the words. Not my voice. Me. “He killed Mom, and you left.”
There were more questions, bigger questions, but that was the one I couldn’t trap behind my teeth.
Where have you been?
Why did you leave me?
Did you ever love me?
However much of him I had forgotten, standing before him, I wanted to hurl caution to the wind and fling myself into his arms.
I wanted him to absolve me. Of what I had done. Of who I had become. Of what I had become.
But his hands were as red as mine, his heart as black, and neither of us could exonerate the other.
“I lost myself to rage, trying to protect you and your mother’s…” He couldn’t say body. He tried. More than once. Then he stopped, as if giving permission to quit tormenting himself. “He riddled me with bullets to slow me down, and six of his henchmen pinned me. They took my wand, broke my hands. I killed them, but it required time, and it distracted me from his real target.” He set his jaw. “When I got to my feet, he held you in his arms, his wand to your throat.” He spoke through his teeth. “I had no choice. I would have done anything to save you. Even become his prisoner.”
“You’ve been incarcerated all this time,” Asa confirmed, for my sake. “How did you escape?”
“Four months ago, a woman paid me a visit. Luca. She offered me freedom in exchange for a favor.”
Four months.
It fit the timeline for Clay and Asa showing up on my doorstep, assuming the director had waffled before pulling the trigger on contacting me. He’d had one shot at reeling me in, tempting me back, and only the case he brought me would have done it. So had he orchestrated the copycat? Or merely cashed in on it?
“What favor?” Asa held me in check. “What did she want?”
“For me to dismantle Black Hat and destroy my father.”
Oh, so no big then.
