Unfortunately, I got more than I bargained for. The day after I told Luis to move in for his recon, he called me. I was sitting at the kitchen table, finishing dinner with Kenneth and Maddy, when the call came in.
“This is Nico.”
“Bro, are you alone?” It was Luis, and he sounded like he was out of breath.
“Hang on, let me get somewhere.” I covered the speaker and looked across the table. “I’ll be right back.”
“Is everything okay?” Maddy asked.
“Yeah, all good.”
I went to the back porch and closed the door behind me. “Luis? I’m here.”
“Nico, you and Maddy have to get out of the cabin. As soon as possible.”
“What did you find?” Dread seeped into my bones. Dread and fear.
“I got into the cemetery without anyone noticing me. I snuck behind one of the tombs and a few of the guys guarding it had grouped up on the other side. They were on a phone call. I heard him, bro. It was Kenneth. He was telling them they needed to come for Maddy. He said her blood was viable now. It’s Kenneth! He’s fucked us. He’s the mole, dude. Get the fuck out now.”
Breath hissed in and out of my nose, and I gripped phone hard enough to make the glass and plastic creak. My rage was almost too much to hold in. I turned and looked back over my shoulder through the window. Maddy and Kenneth were talking. Maddy was laughing. Kenneth was also laughing, but I caught him sending a nervous glance up to the window. Our eyes met through the glass and the smile on his face slipped away. That fucking motherfucker.
“I’m on it,” I said to Luis. “I’ll call you when we’re safely out.”
I shoved the phone back into my pocket and slammed the door open as I stepped back inside. “Maddy, grab your stuff. We’re leaving.”
She jumped, startled by the anger in my voice. “What’s going on?”
“Just got off the phone with Luis. We’re making our move. Gotta hit the road. Come on.” It was easier than trying to explain in front of Kenneth. I’d break the news to her once we were driving away from this place.
Kenneth held his hands up and gave me a brittle smile. “Hey, now. I think it might be safer to wait until morning, right? Go in fully rested?”
I glared at him. I didn’t say a word, but the look in my eyes broadcasted everything that needed to be said. Kenneth swallowed hard and clamped his lips together. Maddy glanced back and forth between the two of us. Her brow furrowed, and I could see horror dawning on her face. She was starting to put it together.
I pointed at the bedroom. “Maddy, grab your stuff. Come on.”
Before she could even make a move for the bedroom, Kenneth jumped out of his chair and backed up against the front door. He pulled a gun from inside his jacket and aimed it at us. “You can’t go,” he said. The barrel of the gun wobbled in the air as he pointed it.
Maddy let out a sigh that was closer to a sob. “Kenneth? You?”
“Hush, Maddy, just hush. Okay? I can’t let you go. Not until the royals get here.”
“Why?” Maddy cried out. The word was both a question and an accusation.
He winced like he was in pain and grunted in anger. “You don’t know what it was like. I was the older brother, but I was always second in my father’s eyes. I was the offspring of some drunken fuck-fest. Something to be ashamed of. David was the golden boy. I was less than a half-breed in my father’s eyes. Neither of us could shift, but at least he knew David was a full-blooded shifter. That was all that mattered to him—a secret thatI was never privy to. Even all those years ago, my father couldn’t be bothered to give the poor bastard son all the information.
“I’ve been searching for the vault for my entire life. All I want is to open it and take a drop of that blood. Then I can finally be what I was always supposed to be.” Anger laced every word as his voice rose in volume. The gun weaved dangerously in the air as he lost himself in a fury that had been building up inside him over the last few decades.
Maddy took a step toward him, heedless of the weapon. “Did you get David killed?” Her lip curled in disgust as she asked the question.
“That’s not the point?—”
“The hell it’s not!” Maddy shouted. “Did you get him killed?”
Kenneth sucked on his teeth for a moment, then gave a humorless chuckle. “I hated my brother. It’s true. I loved your mother, Maddy. I loved her from the moment David introduced us. I loved her in a way a man shouldn’t love his brother’s fiancée. I didn’t call the royals. I can swear that to you. They found him on their own. I took the chance to save your mother. I got her out, and I made sure I got her baby to a safe place.”
My disgust with the man grew with each passing second. I couldn’t help but think that there might have been a moment all those years ago that he could have helped Maddy’s father get away. He said he didn’t call the royals, but did hetrulydo everything he could to save his brother? I had a sneaking suspicion that he hadn’t.
“If you loved her and wanted her baby safe, why are you betraying me now?” Maddy asked, tears streaming down her face.
