“Oh…I see,” Vasile said thoughtfully. “He did ask a lot of questions about the vampires in my coven after he read the books on your desk.”
“That follows. From what I know, his master never educated Lucius on what it meant to be a vampire,” Brady murmured. Then, unable to hold it back, he yawned, the lack of sleep finally catching up with him. “Oh…so sorry…”
Chuckling, Vasile said, “You, my friend, need some rest and, if I’m not mistaken, so does your mate. He confessed to me this morning he’d had a restless night.” Then Vasile leaned down and whispered, “He missed you so much, he wanted to pop back to the cottage and pick up your pillow.”
“My pillow?”
Nodding, Vasile grinned. “It has your scent.”
Brady blushed, his mind consumed with images of the night he and Lucius spent together.
“Oh…it’s like that,” Vasile said, laughing at Brady’s red cheeks. “Well come along…time to collect your mate.” Opening the door to David’s office, he stood aside, letting Brady enter first.
~/~/~/~/~
Thankful for the nearly deserted highway, Reeve sped up, thinking about his mate and what to tell him about the circumstances of his father’s death. Many scenarios flashed through his mind, each no better than the one before. In the end,he concluded truth was the only viable option and could only hope his mate wouldn’t want to seek revenge against Smokey.
How Kahn reacted would depend on the relationship he had with his father. The initial impression Reeve got from him was one of no lost love between them, but that could change when faced with the reality of his death. And that was the unknown factor driving Reeve nuts.
“Did my mate ever love his father?” Reeve asked out loud, his voice filling the silence in the SUV and comforting him. Talking to himself had become a habit in his childhood since there was no one else around to talk to.At least not until my angel found me and rescued me from the nightmare of my life.But before that day had arrived, it was those conversations that helped him survive his youth—and the cruelty his father enjoyed inflicting on him. Even when his father was no longer in his life, Reeve continued the practice, finding it a useful tool for sorting out problems facing him.
“Kahn must have loved him.
“You didn’t love yours.
“But his father wasn’t like my father.
“Maybe he was, but used words instead of fists.” Reeve thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement with himself. Words could even be worse than fists since they lived on in the mind long after bruises had healed. He should know; it had taken him years to finally rid himself of the pain that spewed out of his father’s mouth at him. Continuing, Reeve asked himself, “What kind of father was Josiah?
“His daughters appear to have loved him.
“But that doesn’t mean Josiah treated Kahn the same way he treated his daughters.”
Reeve acknowledged that was true, especially since Kahn was the eldest son. He had seen it all too often…fuck seeing it…I lived it!Unfortunately, his investigation of Josiah centered only on the acts Jackson accused him of, so Reeve knew little of what the man was like before he gave the order to kill the Fox River Pack. Without firm answers, his mind only produced more questions, but before he could ask them, his phone rang. Glancing at it, he quickly accepted the call from Heath.
“What’s up? Is my mate okay?”
“I don’t know…he hasn’t left his room,” Heath replied. “Are you sure I shouldn’t go up and check on him?”
Glancing at an upcoming road sign, Reeve said, “No…that’s all right. I’m about ten minutes out. Did you get hold of Eddie?”
“Yeah, the freezer’s locked and he has guys guarding it. What are you gonna do with the body? Does the Council want it?”
Sighing, Reeve said, “Thankfully, no. They didn’t see any reason they needed it to close out the complaint, so they left it for me to dispose of.”
“Are you planning to turn the remains over to his wife?”
“Fucked if I know,” muttered Reeve. “It’s one of the things I can look forward to discussing with her and Kahn tomorrow.”
“Are you gonna tell Kahn he’s your mate?”
“Honestly, I don’t know…I guess it’ll depend on him and whether he blames me for letting his father get killed.”
“Why should he? You didn’t have anything to do with his death.”
“Other than not finding him first, no,” Reeve replied. “But he might think I’m simply splitting hairs if I point that out. All he knew was that his father was going to be arrested…”
“And when convicted, Josiah would be sentenced to death for his crimes. His death saved his family from the pain of going through a nasty trial,” Heath pointed out.
