“I’ll be graduating out of my apprenticeship soon. This offer won’t last forever,” he warned him.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He had to draw the line somewhere. Melcori would make him live up to his contract, but Xavier wouldn’t let them jerk him around forever.
Jared continued as if interpreting Xavier’s scowl. “For now, it’s enough to protect the Green Man. I need him to make the new Grove so the gems in the old Grove can be retrievable. I need that money.”
“What for?” Rumors claimed the Chimera was rolling in funds.
“I’m buying up shares of Father’s company. I won’t let him get away with what he did to us. He needs to pay. What better way to destroy him than to take away everything he’s proud of?”
“What about Alice? If you ruin him, what will happen to her?” He had a bad feeling when Jared didn’t mention their sister in his previous story.
Jared stood and walked to the window. “You don’t know?”
“I told you I haven’t had any contact with the family since they dropped me off with Melcori, and I tried to avoid mention of them in the news.”
“I learned after I escaped that the people who captured me also took Alice. She didn’t survive the experiments. Father blames me for that, too. He isn’t big on taking responsibility for his actions. Out of the three of us. Our parents no longer have any children.”
“Do you think they’ll have more?” Wizards lived a long time. Nothing was stopping them from trying again.
“Mother divorced Father last year. Did she contact you?”
“No.”
“Yeah, she didn’t contact me either. She would’ve accepted Alice no matter what she had turned into. She loved her the most. That Father was indifferent over Alice’s death was the final straw. At least that’s what I heard secondhand.”
“You don’t hold her responsible for disowning you, too?” For Xavier, they were equally responsible for his abandonment.
“No. Mother was always the obedient wife. I think rebellion was trained out of her at birth. I’m more shocked she asked for a divorce.”
“Huh.” Xavier bit his thumbnail as he considered all his options. “Rance is safe for now. He’ll help with the new Grove. He doesn’t want his mother to be homeless, but I won’t move against the Moon Pack if he decides not to help.”
“Is it because of your mate?”
Xavier froze. “You stay away from my mate.” For the first time, Xavier wished he had an inner animal to threaten his brother with. His Blood Magic was more healing and protective than battle-worthy, and he didn’t want to go to jail for stabbing his brother, no matter how much he deserved it.
“You don’t trust me?” Jared pouted.
“No.” He didn’t back down. Jared might be his flesh and blood, but so were his parents, and that didn’t stop them from being utter shits. “I don’t know you anymore. It’s been almost fifteen years since we last spoke. Although I’d like to say you’d never betray me…”
“Fair enough.“ Jared retook his seat. “What do you suggest? Your Master won’t be thrilled about your lack of action, and he owes me quite a bit of money.”
“If you aren’t demanding the gems right now, he won’t bring it up. Did you tell him you were my brother?”
“No. I barely brought you up at all. He only offered you up after I threatened to take the castle.”
Xavier rolled his eyes. “He’s an idiot.”
“I thought he was supposed to be a brilliant blood mage,” Jared mocked.
“Oh, he is. That doesn’t mean he can’t also be an idiot. Addiction plays no favorites. The bright and the dumb can all fall under her sway. I’ll talk to Rance again and check his timeline. I don’t want to return him to the dryads only for them to kill him. We need a short enough space between the old Grove sparking and preparing the new one that there isn’t time for an assassination attempt.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Do what?”
“Try to kill him. I thought dryads were happy, frolicky nature spirits.”
