Chapter 159
He paused and looked back at me. His gaze was as cold as it always was.
He blinked.
“Well?” I hissed. “Aren’t you going to answer me?”
“I hope your current vagueness is not an attempt at effecting some sense of mystery...” He cocked an eyebrow.
“What--?”
“Precisely,” he said. “What are you talking about?”
I growled at him. “In the forest! You attacked me.”
He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Hardly.”
“You made me drink something. What was it?” I glared at him. “Did you turn me? Did you—”
“I would not have wasted the effort,” he said. “Nor would I have needed to. It doesn’t matter what I gave you, only that it saved your life and stopped Damian from taking your power.”
The fact that he wouldn’t answer made me even more suspicious. It did matter. Whatever he’d given me had changed me somehow. It was probably the reason why I couldn’t feel Candido any longer, the reason that I felt so different.
“What does that even mean?” I shrieked. “I’m so sick of you not telling me anything and acting like I should know what you’re talking about!”
“I though Pandora was supposed to be the brightest mind of Moon Shadow?” He sneered. “Perhaps it was merely by the Goddess’ grace that all of werewolf kind hasn’t been drained by Damian’s faction if you are the best they have to offer.”
“Stop making fun of me,” I growled. “Stop mocking me! You don’t know anything!”
“It is your understanding of the situation that is lacking, Hedy,” he said. “And I am not obligated, nor do I feel compelled, to enlighten you.”
“You have to explain! You made me—”
“Stop expecting everything to be handed to you,” he hissed. “Think. Use whatever brainpower you have left between hunger and hormones and consider what happened.”
His eyes narrowed at me. “Are you so naïve and prone to fantastic imaginings that you think Damian would go through the trouble of kidnapping and killing you in a ritualistic fashion for the sheer fun of it?”
I frowned. “What?”
“Do you really think you rank so high on his radar, on anyone’s radar, that he would feel compelled to torture you in such a manner?” He growled. “If he had nothing to gain from doing so? I assure he is not prone to the flights of cruelty you believe all vampire kind are prone to, you--”
Raven placed a hand on his shoulder. “You have to calm down… It’s not… She doesn’t know much of anything, Uncle Ian. I know it’s frustrating.”
The glint of fury in his eyes faded and he lifted his head.
“She’s not thinking either.”
“Well, no, but—”
“More than that, she saw.”
Raven gasped and looked at me. “Is that true?”
“Saw what?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”
“The ritual before he put you on the slab,” she said. “Did you see anything?”
I frowned. “I…”
Images flashed before my eyes, hot and quick. A figure and lights. I saw the stone slab. The rush of blood. The terror. My stomach heaved.
“You did…” Raven said almost breathlessly. “Uncle Ian, she—”
“I know,” he said. “Yet she denies it. More than that she saw Hedwig’s death and still she has made this choice.”
Raven went pale as she stared at me. “But… But that can’t be… She wouldn’t.”
Ian said nothing. “She did.”
Her jaw trembled and her gaze dropped to the floor. She looked gutted.
“I haven’t made any choice,” I growled. “Stop making it seem like I’ve made all these decisions and should know all of this stuff when I don’t know anything!”
He eyed her. “You chose to not know anything… A luxury granted by years of being coddled, of years of being your Daddy’s little princess—years of stepping all over the gift of life Hedwig gave you.”
I grit my teeth. “You know nothing about what’s happened to me! My life was—”
“Poisoned,” he said evenly. “Abused, sure. Your father is a special kind of monster, as is your step mother, but you knew that woman wasn’t your mother from the first moment you met her.”
I flinched. How could he have known that.
“You knew that the food was poisoned,” he said. “Maybe not immediately, but when you were old enough to have tasted food that wasn’t, you knew. And you can’t tell me you didn’t.”
I staggered back. No. That wasn’t true. What was he trying to say?
“More than that, you let it affect you,” he said, glaring at me. “You let them whittle you down to a diminished state hoping that it would get you what you wanted instead of doing the one thing you should have from the beginning: sought refuge elsewhere.”
“You don’t know anything.”
Ian met my gaze. “In the Wolf Fang Pack Estate, there was a room just off the basement door. A stone archway.”
I went still, staring at him in horror.
“You went through it when you were barely four years old.”
“Stop it,” I said, pushing the memories back. His eyes narrowed.
“Then, do not speak to me of things you should and shouldn’t know.”
Raven’s eyes widened. She covered her mouth, and she turned away from me.
I couldn’t speak. I didn’t even know why, but I could see that doorway in the house. I could feel myself standing in that hallway.
“What was the ritual meant to do?” Candido asked. “What was Damian supposed to gain?”
“Power,” Ian said simply. “And killing Hedy would have been the perk.”
He scowled. “Originally, it was used for… punishment.”
“Punishment?”
“You have a system of law, do you not?” Ian asked. “Poorly upheld and half vigilante based or not. We have more permanent means of ensuring that criminals are punished and can no longer bring harm to the public.”
He shook his head. “Damian, like many of his line, has no respect for our ways. It was why he was cast out.”
“And how do you get to decide who deserves to stay and who gets cast out?” I asked. “Who gave you that right?”
Ian smiled, something vicious and knowing. His eyes began to glow. His hair began to shine like sunlight. It was as if he had been possessed by something more than what he was. My stomach jumped.
“I am a child of Lunae,” he said. “The firstborn of her first born. I know my place, and I do not run from it.”
The glow faded. He turned to Candido. “I think you may be intelligent enough to understand the window of opportunity you have now that Damian believes that the ritual worked and your forces are subdued.”
Candido lifted his head. “You said we were doomed to fail.”
“Yes,” he said and turned to the door. “However, does the potential of failure stop any king from seeking to reclaim his kingdom?”
Shiloh and Messiah glanced at me before turning to leave. Raven didn’t move.
“I leave you, Raven, to do as you feel you should,” Ian said, his voice soft and paternal. He pressed a kiss to her temple that made my eyes burn.
Then, he, Shiloh, and Messiah left. The doors closed. The sound echoed through the room and Raven didn’t look at me.
It seemed like several moment passed of her just standing there. I set my jaw. She lifted her gaze and narrowed her eyes. Then, she glanced back to Candido.
“I take it back,” she said softly. “His dick game isn’t my concern. What you choose to do with your life isn’t my concern.”
“You—”
“But,” she cut in. “I still gave my word.”
She looked up at me, her eyes were glossy with tears as she met my gaze. Her eyes glowed burning red as her jaw trembled.
“Eat,” she said stiffly. “I will come back with clothes for you. When you’re done, you’ll be shown to where you all will be staying.”
She turned and opened the door before turning back.
“This time,” she said. “Do not go into any caves, rooms, or anywhere else you could be taken from. Stay glued your choice’s side as much as possible. Go back to bed when you can and rest.”
She hesitated before turning and leaving swiftly.
I felt gutted. The glimmer of tears in her eyes and the way she seemed to hate the sight of me, tore at my heart. Why did she look at me like that? What were they so upset about?
“Come on,” Candido said gently, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Sit so you can eat. You’re probably starving.”
I couldn’t speak. Francia looked at me steadily before she stood and left, leading the rest of New Moon out with her, including Julia who didn’t even spare me a glance.
Francium and Claire wavered in between the door and us.
“You need not come,” Francia said softly. “I understand you have ties, Claire. Francium, stay if you wish.”
