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“That doesn’t make sense, Ares. Why take her?”
“To get back at me? I don’t know,” I tell him.
“No. It goes deeper than that. Come into my office,” he tells me before turning and walking back into his office. I look at Karen, but she just shrugs, so I follow him. Once inside, he motions for me to sit down, which I don’t. Instead, I cross my arms over my chest and stand in front of his desk.
“I didn’t know if I could trust you the first time you came in here. I was being wary of you,” he admits.
“Meaning what?”
“Her name. What’s your girl’s name?” I tell him Sage’s name and where she lived. I tell him everything I know about her and watch as he types away at his keyboard. My heart is hammering in my chest as I think about what might be happening to her.
“I’ve been looking into Bellmont for a very long time. The things I was told and things I’ve seen never added up. Nothing made sense.” He doesn’t look up from his computer; he just keeps typing.
“I didn’t know the half of it until I came here,” I add.
“That’s the point. The prince, or you, in this case, is kept in the dark. They don’t know anything until it’s time for the ritual. I don’t know all the inner workings, but I have pieced things together over the years,” he explains, still typing.
“What else do you know?”
“I know after twenty-one years have passed, they come back for the girls. Not all of them, just certain ones. They are to be sacrificed to the Gods. You will be the one doing the sacrifice, at which time you’ll be crowned as the next king of Bellmont.” I shake my head. This is all too much. It doesn’t make any sense.
“What if I refuse?” Now he looks up from his computer and eyes me.
“Would you?”
“They took my girl, Ranger!”
“That’s not what I’m asking you. Would you refuse?”
“For her? Yes.” He nods his head, looking back down at the computer for a long second.
“How far are you willing to go for her, Ares?” That’s an easy answer.
“Into the depths of hell. I’m already in too deep.” Ranger smiles when he looks back up at me.
“Then I’ll help you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just as I said. I’ll help you.”
“Why would you?” Ranger looks at me for a long second before he looks at his door. Then it all clicks, making sense. He cares about Karen.
“Does she know?” He jerks his eyes back to mine, shaking his head.
“No. I haven’t attempted to tell her either. I know she worries about this stuff, and one night, she actually confided in me. She told me everything she knew about it, and I knew she feared them. I vowed that day to protect her from them, and I’ve built an army of my own to do just that,” he informs me. I raise my eyebrows, a little impressed by what he’s saying to me.
“An army? Such as?”
“Old army friends. All they need is for me to say the word, and we take them down.”
“And you’re willing to help me?” He nods his head.
“I am. For her,” he nods toward the door.
“So you understand what I’m feeling then?”
“More than you could know. I understand the anger and helplessness. I never once thought I’d be helping a Scott do anything, though, I must say,” he chuckles.
