Calder shook his head. “No, she’s not lying, but she didn’t tell me the entire truth either. She’s hiding something and I’m not sure what it is. But I’m going to find out.”
We fell silent as we both heard footsteps approaching my back door. A few seconds later there was a light knock before Kerry Gayle stuck her head in the door. I felt a shaft of pain when I saw her. A witch like my mate Belinda had been, Kerry was now the head of her coven, having taken over when Belinda died. She had also been Claimed by a vampire named Finn not long after the Faction had been disbanded. Seeing her reminded me of what I had lost.
She smiled at us as she entered, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She seemed almost…sad. “Hey, Calder. Lachlan.”
“Things getting too wild for you over at my house?” Calder asked with a smirk.
Kerry shook her head and I noticed the envelope in her hand. “Uh, Calder, would you mind if I spoke to Lachlan alone? I have something for him.”
Calder studied her for a moment then picked up his beer and headed toward the door. “No problem. I’ll just go check on Ricki and the pups.”
When he reached her side, she put out her hand and touched his arm. “Don’t go too far,” she murmured softly, her blue eyes communicating something to Calder that I couldn’t read.
He seemed to understand though because he nodded. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
When the door shut behind him, Kerry didn’t move from her spot in the center of my kitchen. She looked at me, the sadness I sensed earlier clear on her face.
“You look better,” she stated softly.
I shrugged and sipped my beer. “I’m alive.” I realized I was being rude and gestured toward the chair that Calder had just vacated. “Why don’t you have a seat and tell me why you’re here?”
Kerry sighed and sat down, her fingers tightening on the envelope in her hand. “I’m not sure how to explain this. What I have to say is difficult.”
The back of my neck tightened at her words, the tension spreading to my shoulders. “Maybe it’s best if you just tell me.”
She took a deep breath and held out the envelope. “I have a letter for you from Belinda. It, uh, appeared in my library yesterday with instructions to give it to you today.”
My heart stopped beating at her words and I stared at the creamy paper she held out to me, my name scrawled across the front in elegant script. Slowly, I reached out and took the envelope from her, hyperaware of the coolness of the paper and the smooth feel of it beneath my fingers.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Do you want me to, um, stay or would you prefer if I—”
“I’d like to do this alone, if you don’t mind,” I told her, not taking my eyes from the envelope in my hand.
She released a shaky breath. “I’ll ask Calder to—”
“No,” I stated, lifting my eyes to hers. “I’ll want some time alone after I read this. Tell him I’ll call him if I need him.”
The witch looked as though she wanted to argue, but she finally nodded and got to her feet. Before she opened the back door, she glanced over her shoulder at me. “I’m sorry, Lachlan.”
Then she was gone.
After the door shut behind her, I laid the envelope flat on the table, staring at my name. I could hear the quiet murmur of Kerry speaking to Calder outside, but I had little interest in trying to decipher what they were saying. My entire focus was on the letter in front of me. I didn’t want to open it. Didn’t want to see the words that Belinda had written to me before she died.
When I realized she was my mate and began my pursuit, Belinda had tried to keep me at a distance. She told me, over and over, that it was for the best if I waited until the threat of the Faction was gone. I’d managed to convince her otherwise. I’d marked her not long before she died.
Sometimes I wondered if she fought our connection so hard because she knew she was going to die and she didn’t want me to perish with her.
I heard Calder and Kerry walk away from my back porch and realized I needed to read the letter now. Calder would return in a little while, that much I knew. Whatever Belinda had written on these pages was private. For my eyes only. I didn’t want to share any of that with Calder or anyone else.
I flipped the envelope over and ran my fingers across the wax seal affixed to the flap. There, in the crest, was a wolf. It was Belinda’s crest, one she used when sending correspondence to other Covens. A magical seal that could only be opened by the person the letter was intended for. I’d laughed the first time I saw it, saying it was clear that she was meant for me.
I slid my thumb beneath the flap and the seal released easily. I withdrew several small sheets of cream-colored stationary, Belinda’s beautiful handwriting covering the pages.
I yearned to read it, to hear her voice speaking to me in my mind, yet I hesitated because I knew the heartache it would cause. It would hurt to remember her. Hurt to hear the words as though she were right here with me again.
I steeled myself for the pain and began to read.
