I leaned my face against the seat so I could meet her eyes. “Maybe it’s time you started.”
We all turned to Rick. “I don’t know.” He seemed hesitant.
“Why?”
He looked back at me, and I could see the need in his eyes. The need to trust. The need to vent. He was a man full of need. But he closed his eyes and pulled away. “Because what if we get questioned about what we talk about and instead of telling them about lunch, we just clam up?” He shook his head. “That would fuck us over even more.”
I tilted my head. “That’s not how this works.” I looked out the window. “Say we go have lunch. We talk about all our secrets. But in between we have small talk, or the server asks us questions. If you are commanded to talk about the lunch, your vow will automatically select the innocuous random questions we discussed. Like the weather, or family issues. Say we talked about my family, in detail. If you were asked, you would just say we talked about my dad. That you remembered old stories about him.” I looked back at Rick. “Innocent facts the Goddess selects so that nothing can be inferred or used against us.”
“Seriously?” I nodded.
“The Goddess will do whatever it takes to keep the oath.” I smiled.
Rick looked between me and the two in the back before he nodded. “Okay.” Then he said the oath. Once he was finished, his hand shot to the middle of his chest. “Holy hell.” He sighed as he sat back. Then he looked at me. “How do we discuss this in public?”
“Easy.” I winked. I stepped out of the truck and waited for them to follow.
“That doesn’t actually tell us anything.” Rick growled as he caught up with me.
I laughed. “It’s a long story. And it might make you look at me differently, and that’s okay. But I swear, I would never hurt you or any of your families.” Everyone just looked at me, slightly confused and very much on edge. I smiled. “Let’s sit down before I get into it.”
They followed me into the steak house. “Hi, is it just the four of you?” The hostess smiled and grabbed the menus.
“Yeah.” I nodded and looked back. “If it is at all possible, can we have a table away from everyone else? If not, it’s okay.”
“Of course. It’s our lunch, but it’s dead today. I’ll give you our back booth.” She turned and beckoned us to follow. We made our way through the restaurant until we ended up in the far back corner. “How’s this?”
“Perfect.” I slid into the booth, shifting inwards until I was near the back. Alannah slid on the other side, moving to sit next to me. With Rick and Ternen sliding in after us.
“Your server will be with you in a few minutes.” Then we were left alone.
I quickly sealed the area so that no one but us could hear what we were talking about until they came within the circle. Then I turned to everyone. “There we can talk without being heard.”
“How?” Rick leaned in and froze. “Hello?” Then he looked at me. “Why is there an echo?”
“How well did you know my father?” I countered.
“I mean…I want to say well, but you have me feeling like it’s not well at all.” He looked closer at me. “Now, why is there an echo?”
I leaned in. “How much do you all know about magic?”
Rick leaned back in his chair and laughed. “Like charms, voodoo, and Hollywood CGI?”
“Magic isn’t real, Amy.” Ternen smirked and shook his head.
But Alannah was quiet. She leaned in and looked at me. “There are witches that live in the woods near my old pack. They are real, and if you cross them, they will come after your family.” She looked away. “But the witches worked with our pack, and they saved us more times than I could count.”
“Really? Then what happened to your pack?” I sat back. But I held up my hand before she answered.
“Hi y’all. I’m Stephanie, your server. Can I get you started with something to drink?” She went around and got our drink orders, then she left us alone. I turned back to Alannah and nodded.
“Our Alpha’s son seduced the priestess’s daughter and then found his mate. It wouldn’t have been an issue, but the priestess’s daughter ended up pregnant.”
“Oh, no.” The server dropped off our drinks and grabbed our orders before retreating to the back.
Alannah took a sip of her drink. “Even that would have been fine. The witches would have understood. They were just happy for a child, but the Alpha son’s mate refused to accept it. Even if the witch’s babe would never be seen in the pack.”
I slapped my hand over my mouth because I knew what was going to happen. “No.”
