This turns out to be a colossal mistake, signaled by the voice picking up on the other line that's definitelynotBelissenda.
"Isla, please don't hang up," his voice frantically echoes in my ear.
My eye twitches at hearing one of my least favorite people in the whole world. One I hoped never to speak to again. I can't even bring myself to respond, only barely managing not to hang up on him the second I heard his voice.
"Isla?" Alastor's voice repeats my name, "Are you still there?"
"What the actual fuck do you think you're doing reaching out to me?" I grit out.
"I can explain," he breathes. "I wasn't going to reach out. The risk I'm taking is... I mean this is just stupid, isn't it? You're not going to believe anything I tell you, and—"
I cut him off, "Why don't you just tell me whatever you're going to say, then I'll decide if I'm going to believe you? Hey wait— how the fuck did you email me from Bel's address? If you're still messing with her, I'll track you down and kill you myself."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. I'm not messing with anyone." He continues, "I had her log in stuff from when— well, from before. And I really needed to reach you, since you're obviously long gone from anywhere I could find you here. I'm on a burner phone so you won't be able to call me back here or track me anyways since I'm gonna ditch this fucking thing the second you hang up anyway but you have to listen to me."
"Fine," I sigh, hoping he finishes whatever warning he has before Eamon returns and ruins everything. "Go ahead."
"You cannot go to the baby shower."
My blood goes cold. "What do you mean I can't go?"
"They know all about it. They know where and when it is. They know you'll probably try to make an appearance, and they know it's their best chance at getting to you." He pants, shuffling on the other side of the line, "Look, I know you won't ever trust me again after what I've done. I hate myself every day, too. But I've done more than you could possibly know to destroy them from the inside."
"And that's why you tortured my best friend? To destroy everything from the inside? Why not just leave?"
A tortured laugh leaves his throat, "You think I didn't try?"
"Apparently not hard enough."
"You don't know a fucking thing, Isla." He scoffs, "You think your parents were bad? They let you run amuck, figuring eventually you'd come back one way or another. Mine treated me like a beast every time I stepped out of line. Like a cage and starving me would stop me— fuck, nevermind. It doesn't matter."
The ragged, heaving breaths between his sentences are so unlike the version of him I briefly knew. His rambling and incoherence show just how unhinged he's always been on the inside, the mask of cool cruelty finally coming off.
"So you're calling me just to tell me that I can't go to the shower," I steer him back to the topic at hand.
More shuffling on the other side, followed by a muttered "Fuck," before he really responds. "Yes, I'm telling you to stay wherever the fuck you are right now. And, in fact, you should probably warn Bel—"
I slam my hand on the table before me, closing my eyes at the pain as I interrupt him before he makes a terrible mistake,"Don't you dare say her name. You don't get to after what you put her through."
A frustrated groan escapes him, "Yeah, yeah, okay. But I'm telling you that you should warn little Red to stay home, too. In fact, I would find some way to cancel the shower altogether if I were you."
"You think everyone I know is at risk?" A coldness seeps into my skin at the idea that my real family might be in danger from the one I was born to.
"I think every day the two of us are missing, the Sanctum grows more and more desperate. There's no telling what they will or won't do to get—"
"Wait," I don't understand. "The two of us? Why are they after you?"
He whines, panic making the sound pathetic and terrifying all at the same time, "I... I stole something. Right after everything went down with— with your friend. I took it and theyreallywant it back."
"What did you take, Alastor?" What could they possibly want so badly?
"I can't tell you," he laughs, "Can't tell anyone. But they already know and when they find me..." silence fills the other end, his dread reaching all the way through the phone and wrapping around my throat. "Just stay far away, Isla. Things are going to get a lot worse. I still have a couple friends on the inside who think I'm just having a crisis. You wouldn't believe the new orders they're getting, Isla... I can't— Even when I was in the trusted circle, the things I saw couldn't prepare me for the what they're talking about now. They're telling everyone that the enemy is winning and it's time for final measures."
"What kind of measures?"
"I don't know," he whines again. "But I get the feeling they're not going to continue living in the shadows much longer. They'redesperate, and desperate men are capable of terrible things, Isla. Unspeakable things."
Those words are the closest he can come to admitting his wrongdoings, to apologizing for what he's done. I wish it were enough.
