“The book—one of those sacred tomes, the one that needed to be transcribed. I read it.”
“You read it?” I glance around the woods as if trying to land on the answer to about a dozen different questions. “That’s not possible. Wait, Marshall and Ezrina helped decode it. Is that right?”
“Parts of it.” He stretches his neck to the side. “Once they gave me the compass, I was able to transcribe it on my own.”
“And that’s where you found this so-called secret?”
“Yes. But it’s not quite a secret, because I’m by far the only one that knows. Your father, I’m betting Marshall, and hell, anyone who’s not remotely human, they’re all in on it.”
“What about Rory?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay, what is it? Laken is either growing weary or falling under Oliver’s spell. Spit it out. I’m getting cold.”
“Wes.” He bows his head a moment and takes a breath. “This isn’t some random musing. This is explosive. This doesn’t change some things. This changes everything.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” I knock his head to the tree in front of him. “Speak, dammit. It’s me, Coop. I’ve switched sides. I’m all about Celestra. I’m your biggest cheerleader now. But I won’t tolerate you keeping something from us that might make Gage eat shit. It’s not up to you to determine who should know this. My book. My damn secret.Speak!” I roar right next to his ear and he lets out another sharp howl. “I’m a damn Fem, Coop. In the least run it through your deceptive mind.”
I tweak his arms until Coop tips his head back and thunders out a cry. And when he doesn’t speak up, I press harder until I can feel his bones bending.
His thoughts come at me all at once. I see the book clear as day. It’s opened up a quarter of the way to the end, and I spot Coop’s fingers scribbling something onto a piece of paper next to it. He scratches it out so fast and rips the paper to shreds. Whatever it is he’s gleaned, it’s something he knew immediately was for his eyes only.
“Come on, Coop.” I don’t let up on him this time. “I’m going to hear a satisfying snap in about ten seconds. Either way, I win. Don’t make me put you in a double cast. Think of the kids. Think of your kid, Charlie. Not holding your princess for six weeks is really going to suck.”
Fine.“Geez,” he grunts.But I’m not breathing a word of it out loud.Coop lets out a cry for mercy, but I’m not interested in giving it until he delivers the goods. I pry into his mind as Cooper begins to weave an unbelievable tale. And then he hits me with the whopper, and my hold on him goes slack.
“No.” I shake my head as I take a stumbling step back. “That can’t be right.”
A wash of red flashes before my eyes. Anger, confusion, and outright rage begin to percolate in me.
Coop turns around to get a better look at me.
“It’s right, Wes.”
I shake my head at what this might mean. If it’s true. If everyone knows. If they know…
Instant rage grips me.
“You tell nobody,” I bark over at him as I pull him in by the shirt. “Not until I’m good and ready to tell them myself.”
He nods. “I’m thinking after Skyla gets back to where she needs to be. She thinks her wedding is her best shot for that to happen. I agree. I wasn’t going to say anything until after the dust settled from the wedding.”
I swallow hard as I give a quick nod.
“I’ll make the final call on this one,” I say as I bend over a moment as if I might get sick. “Oh God.” The words rip from me as if my very soul were being torn from my being. I lean back and stare up at the sky, dizzy from the effort.
A primal cry evicts itself from my throat, and I unleash all of my fury into this world.
I hope the universe takes it as the warning it is.
I cry out for myself—hell, for Gage, for this stupid shit show we’ve been a part of for so damn long. And lastly, I thunder out my rage for Laken, for my children, for everything I thought I knew and wanted.
It’s all up in smoke.
And I am fit to kill.
11
