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Chapter Thirty-Six
They dozed only tocome awake as one, the fragile union between them still stunning them both.
The fading light of day streamed in through a narrow gap where she hadn't pulled the curtains together all the way and she tracked the angle of the sun, trying to guess what time it was.
Both of them were aware they had unfinished business and when Nico eased away to sit on the side of the bed, Zee joined him.
His hands rested on his thighs, clenched into fists, the bones of his knuckles stabbing into his skin.
“Grady—Brandon's parents and older brother died years ago,” Nico said quietly, staring off into nothing. “Lee Jenkins, his wife, Marie, Isaiah, their oldest. They'd always bounced between Durham-Starfell and Vidalia, down in Alabama, sometimes as often as two or three times a year. The boys hardly ever spent summers in the area. She had family up north.” He grimaced and looked at Zee. “I'm assuming there's a connection to Greylock.”
Zee nodded. Voice tight, she said, “Brandon had a cousin in the pack. His mom and one of the adults in Greylock were sisters. She visited once or twice, but I was very young then. I don't remember her well.”
“Chances are Lee didn't like her going anywhere without him. They were bonded, which makes it that much sadder for her. She was a doormat, hardly any spine to speak of. Lee obsessed over her. Guess it was love in his eyes, but she was more of a prize to him than a real wife. Treated her like shit and he always worried she'd leave Durham-Starfell and head back to her family up north. He eventually stopped letting her go back to visit her family, but the boys kept going.”
“Sounds like cruel and crazy ran in the family, at least among the males,” Zee murmured, covering one of his fisted hands with her own.
Niko smiled humorlessly. “Pretty much. I've heard enough talk from the older ones in the pack to know that Lee came from a long line of mean and crazy. More than once. Dad would send one of his lieutenants over there. More than once, Dad went himself, even beat the shit out of Lee a few times himself. But Lee wasn't going to change and Marie wouldn't leave him or their kids. There's no sign the boys were ever abused directly, so Dad's hands were tied.”
“Not abused?” Zee shoved up from the bed. She tried to pull the sheet with her, but it was still tangled with the heavyweight quilt and caught under Niko's weight as well. Irritated, she wrenched at it.
Fabric tore and the sound made her freeze. “What the hell?”
Niko, wisely, said nothing as he rose and finished pulling the rest of the mangled sheet from the knot of fabric on the bed. Then, unsheathing one claw, he finished what Zee had inadvertently started and offered her the larger half of the torn section, which she wrapped around her torso, sarong style.
“Thanks.” Cheeks flushing, she looked away. “Sorry. I didn't mean to wreck your pretty linens.”
“Be quiet.” He cupped her chin and lifted her face, angling her chin so he could claim her mouth in a slow, thorough kiss.
But when he started to back her up to the bed, she stopped him. “You have matters to attend to, Prime,” she said gently.
Green rolled over his eyes but he gave a short nod and turned away.
“You think the pack should have taken the children away,” he said, gathering up the rest of the shredded sheet and folded it neatly.
“Neglect is its own form of abuse, Niko.” Vulnerable and not liking it, she wrapped her arms around her midsection. Moving to stare out the window into the night, she said, “I know Samuel loved me in his own way. He loved all of us. But he'd grown up in a pack where kindness and empathy were seen as weaknesses to exploit, even when shown to your own children.”
Niko was quiet so she continued.
“I never knew Royal's father but there were rumors he was even worse than his son. I’ve heard rumors about how that man came into Greylock, worked his way up through the hierarchy, then killed the former Alpha while they were out together on a hunt. Dad, the others his age grew up with that, with nobody to shield them.. He spent almost his entire life forging the path that would allow for Royal to be removed so Greylock could begin healing. But that doesn't change that I grew up with the equivalent of a stone wall for a father, and no mother.”
She heard him coming to stand behind her and shifted her attention to the wavery reflection he cast in the window. As he slid his arm around her, her heart sighed in relief. Being with him like this, the walls between them gone and the pain within her healed, she felt complete... whole. Letting her head fall to rest on his chest, she closed her eyes. “You said his parents and Isaiah were dead. When?”
“It was the summer before you came to Durham-Starfell. Isaiah had gotten into trouble with the local law cops—again. It ended badly, the idiot almost killed a cop. It happened near Amorata Alley. The only reason the cop survived was because Sylvan stepped in.”
Zee stopped breathing. “Sylvan. The Nightdweller Fae?”
“Yes.” Niko was rigid as he recounted the events as he knew them. “Isaiah had gone to the Alley looking for a hook-up.” Amorata Alley was famous for them, home to several strip clubs and a few brothers, all policed by Sylvan, a Nightdweller rumored to be an incubus. “Although the attack wasn't in the territory he considered his domain, he decided to intervene. But he had to choose between subduing Isaiah or saving a man's life. He chose to save a life. Isaiah ran home, told his father he'd gotten in trouble and his parents packed him up into their car and took off down to Vidalia, thinking they'd hide him until the storm blew over. But they never made it. The car crashed. They were driving down a steep grade, lost control and went off the road.” He grimaced and added, “Way off the road. Vehicle exploded on impact. No survivors.”
“It's said to be unwise to flee from the Fae. They'll catch up, one way or another.” Zee stroked her hand across his tense forearm, staring out into the night. “So it was just Brandon, then.”
“He went to live with Hannah's family. They're good people.” A heavy sigh, laden with the responsibilities he now carried, escaped him. “This is going to hurt them.”
“I'm sorry—”
“Don't. This isn't on you. None of it.”
“No,” she said quietly, agreeing. “But it's going to be hard for you —and them. I can be sorry for that without accepting any of the blame. Brandon has people who care about him. He didn’t have to become his father’s child. He's a coward, an abuser but he hid that part of himself. That's not on them.” She thought back to Isaiah, to that summer and murmured, “Maybe if he'd never come to Greylock, he might have had a chance. Who knows?”
