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Odson shook his head, his eyes on Jori.
She studied him for a long moment. No one spoke.
Kymri’s impatience was about to bubble over.
The queen’s gaze finally returned to Odson. “Tell me what you know.”
Odson’s mouth compressed under the steady gaze of the queen.
Jori stared just as hard.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Why did this queen react that way when she saw his mother’s name tattooed on his chest? She’d instantly shut down the proceedings.
“And why the hell are you here, of all places?” he threw at Odson. The queen seemed to know him?
His father had called him, and the Coast Guard, to find him? What the hell? He and his father hadn’t exchanged two words in years, and he called out the hounds to find him? He thought he’d forgotten he even had a son.
Why call Uncle Odson?
And initiated into what?
His thoughts were a tornado in his skull, bouncing hard against the back of his eyeballs.
His eyes slid to Kymri’s profile beside him. What hadn’t she told him yet?
He scrubbed both hands over his face and drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, trying to ease the beginnings of a serious headache.
Odson was watching him. He was mostly unreadable, but there was a flicker of compassion in his eyes.
Jori sat a little straighter.
This couldn’t be good.
Odson drew in a breath, still hesitating.
Not good at all.
Odson looked at the queen, opened his mouth then shut it again, clearly not know where to start.
His eyes turned back to Jori. “I’m not just a family friend, Jori, we really are blood.”
“But why-”
“It’s complicated.”
“Just fucking start somewhere,” Jori snarled, his nerves fraying. Maybe he was in the grip of a solid delusion. He already thought he’d been seeing dragons. He was probably still stranded on the little island with is crashed plane, eyes blank and drool oozing from his mouth waiting for rescue, because none of anything that’s happened since had made any fucking sense.
He had the feeling that it wasn’t about to get any clearer, either.
Kymri’s hand slid into his again, and his heart rate slowed at the contact. He gave her fingers a little squeeze of reassurance, turning to look at her lovely face. She was so beautiful. And her expression was so full of concern for him.
This really wasn’t going to be good.
Odson seemed to have found his starting point. He turned his attention back to the queen. “As you know, Elora fulfilled her mission to establish alliances with the other paranormal communities nearby on the continent. That’s where we met. We got to know each other at Black River, where I was working for the Brandt boys.
It was incredible meeting my sister for the first time—but that’s another story, for another time.” His eyes flicked to Jori. “She left, heading back here.”
