ChapterEight
Jase
“Wow. The view is stunning here,” Bree says as we settle onto the comfy couches in the sunroom. She’s not mistaken. The large windows offer a front-row seat to the magnificent landscape outside. The house sits on an elevated site, overlooking a large lake, surrounded by dense forest on all sides and mountains in the background. A light coating of snow covers the ground, glistening off the branches of trees, while a glimpse of winter sunshine highlights the dappled surface of the lake. There are several lakes in northern Cali, but I’d bet my life this is Tahoe. It’s the most popular lake in Cali, and though I can’t see any houses in the vicinity, I wonder how private it is.
“Are we safe here?” I ask, pulling Ash down onto my lap when she comes bounding into the room with a fierce look on her face.
“Completely,” Vincent replies. “This is one of our safe houses. It’s on private grounds spanning ten acres in a secluded part of Tahoe. It’s bordered by tall walls around the perimeter, solid iron gates, and a high-level security system with cameras all over the exterior of the property.”
“There’s a secure panic room and a helipad,” Victor adds, entering the room alongside Ares.
I glare at the prick. I’m livid he has been watching Ash and me in my room. Enough that I’d fucking kill the jerk if he wasn’t a Luminary and we didn’t need him to defeat Carter and save the world from his brand of cruel insanity. Chad is going to bust a nut when he discovers Ares was spying on them and using their private moments to get his rocks off. I’m not going to think about how similar their voyeuristic tendencies are or the fact they may be more alike than they realize. It’s not cool to breach our privacy like that. I don’t care how hypocritical that may sound. It’s the fucking truth.
Just as I was starting to find some common ground with the jerk, he has to go and remind me why I don’t like him.
There will be fun times ahead. Not.
“You are safe here. No one knows this place exists, and no one followed us.” Victor reaches into the back pocket of his pants, removing an envelope. He hands it to Ares. “This is the keys, alarm code, and coordinates to here, along with the pilot’s contact details should you need to fly in.” He looks around the room. “If you need someplace safe to escape to, at any time, this place is yours.”
Ares nods as he pockets the envelope before moving over to sit beside his mom. He knows not to attempt to come close to Ash or me.
“Tell us why we are here.” Bree crosses her legs at the ankles. “It’s about time we got some answers.”
“After Victor rescued me and he told me about the ambush, I asked him to set this meeting up.” Hera turns to her son. “I should’ve been honest with you from the start, but I thought I was doing the right thing hiding who you were and keeping you sheltered from the truth. I never wanted you involved in this world.” Her eyes well up. “I wanted to keep you safe. You and Lilianna, and I failed to do both.”
“Tell me now,” Ares says through gritted teeth. “And don’t hold anything back, Ma. That time has passed. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”
Hera clasps her hands in her lap, dragging her lower lip between her teeth. Ash repositions herself across my lap, and I circle my arms around her waist, urging her head down to my chest. I’m glad she’s letting me comfort her. That she hasn’t completely written me off. I run my hand up and down her arm as Hera begins explaining.
“I met Clinton, your father, when I was nineteen, and it was love at first sight. I had never known anyone like him. He had this magnetism that oozed from his pores, and it sucked me right in. He was so confident for twenty-one, and I was in awe of him. He treated me like a queen.” She averts her eyes, looking absently out the window, and I’m guessing she is lost in her memories. “He was everything I had never dared to dream of, and I couldn’t believe he was mine.”
“He felt the same way about you too, Daphne. I watched it happen firsthand,” Victor says. “I never saw a man fall in love so quickly and so deeply. You were his whole world.”
“As he was mine.” Hera glances at Ares, tentatively cupping his cheek. “You look so much like him. If I didn’t have you, I’m not sure I would have survived his loss. Every day when I saw your handsome little face, I thanked God for giving you to me. For leaving this little piece of my Clint with me. You brought me so much joy, Ares, at a time when joy was hard won.”
“Is Lilianna Clint’s daughter?” Ashley asks.
Hera shakes her head. “No.”
“Lilianna is nine years younger than me,” Ares supplies.
“Her father was a man I met in Italy during the time we briefly lived there,” Hera explains. “His name was, coincidentally, Liam Haynes. I had randomly chosen that surname for our new identities, and then I met a man with the same name. I thought it might have been a sign.” She smiles and pauses momentarily. “Liam was a tourist from England passing through the village we were living in. I hadn’t been with any man since Clint, and I met him when I was vulnerable and lonely and desperate to not feel so alone. It was a short-lived affair, and I didn’t even realize I was pregnant when he left. We didn’t exchange details. We both knew what it was. After I had Lili, I thought of finding him. I knew I could ask Victor and he’d locate him for me, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t drag him into this world. We were running for our lives, and it seemed selfish to bring someone else into it.”
“My mom said Clint was murdered by a religious group, and you disappeared after. She said The Luminaries searched for you but concluded you were dead when they couldn’t find any trace of you.” Ash places her palm on my chest as she speaks. Warmth from her hand seeps underneath my sweater into my skin, and I tighten my arm around her.
“I have Victor to thank for that.” Hera smiles at the man. “He protected us when I had no one else and nowhere to turn.”
“Who were you to Clinton?” I ask him. I’m sure my father would know, as it was his generation, even if he didn’t serve on the Board of Luminaries the same time as Ares’s father. Rhett said Clinton gained control when he was young. I know James Manford did too, and I wonder if they sat on the board at the same time.
“Clint was my best friend. We grew up together,” Victor explains. “My family is masters, as you know, and there is a long tradition linking the Foxes with the Salingers. Our fathers were best friends and their fathers before them.”
The Foxes are at the top of the masters’ chain within the Salinger Luminary. That is something I do know, but I wasn’t aware of the strong personal connection between the two families. I probably should have paid more attention in my Luminary History classes at HQ.
Victor fixes Ares with a solemn look. “I made your father a promise on his wedding day and again when you were born. I vowed that should anything happen to him I would look after his family.” He leans forward, knotting his hands on his knees. “I keep my promises, and I have done my best to safeguard your family and hide your existence from the board.”
“You were responsible for wiping their backgrounds,” Bree says. “That’s why I couldn’t find anything going back more than two and a half years when I ran a search.”
Victor nods. “I had to create records when Hera met Doug. I knew there was a slim possibility someone might do a background search.”
