“Then you should understand.” I flicked on my blinker to change lanes behind the white rental car. “You know what Drew did to Justus. What he manipulated Justus intodoing.”
“Yes.” She exhaled heavily with the admission. “And sometimes I regret settingquitesuch an intrepid example for the younger generation of tabbies. Though I fully admit that’s not a statement I ever anticipatedsaying.”
“I think you did a great job.” Up ahead, Justus’s right blinker came on, fifty feet ahead of the taco place he was obviously leading metoward.
“Thanks. Full disclosure, though—you know I’m still trying to find you and bring youhome.”
“Understood. That’s your job. I committed a crime.” Or two. “But while you’re unleashing your deductive reasoning, analyzing everything I’ve said, could youpleasetell me who’s on thetribunal?”
“Yes. Bert Di Carlo, Ed Taylor, and PaulBlackwell.”
“Shit,” I breathed as Justus pulled into the drive-thru lane and motioned for me to park. And for once, Faythe made no objection to my language. Which only underlined how tired she must have been. “Obviously, Di Carlo is with us.” He’d been one of the South-Central’s strongest allies since long before I joined the Pride. “And Blackwell is staunchly anti-stray. So Ed Taylor’s the swing vote?” I guessed as I pulled into an empty space at the back of the lot, where people were less likely to notice an abandoned vehicle. In case it took Jared longer than we expected to find hiscar.
“There isn’t a swing vote. Taylor’s been very clear with Marc that he’s planning to vote to convict.” Which meant that my Alphas had already known what Justus had overheard fromVic.
“But he hasn’t even heard the evidenceyet!”
“There is no evidence. There’s only Justus’s testimony, and everyone’s already heard what he did and why.” Faythe’s chair creaked again, then I heard footsteps as she began pacing across her office floor. “Taylor insists he has sympathy for the position that Justus was in, but that we have to establish a hard no-tolerance policy on murders—including unauthorized executions. Especially where they could expose us to the public. Especially in the free zone. Especially if we’re truly considering officially acknowledging the Mississippi Valley Pride. Because the new Pride would be expected to follow our laws to a T.” Faythe stopped pacing, and the silence over the line was eerie. “It’s kind of a brilliant position to take, politically speaking. He’s indicating that he might support the acceptance of the new Pride, which keeps him in good graces with those of us supporting Titus. But at the same time, he’s making it clear that he won’t just let strays ‘run amok.’ Which keeps the old guard, like Blackwell and Mitchell,happy.”
“But screws Justus overcompletely.”
“While potentially helping his brother out,” Faytheconceded.
“Then I have to convince him to change his vote.” I shrugged at myself in the rearview mirror. “No big deal.” As if I call Alphas out of the blue and ask them for favors every day. “Okay, thanks, Faythe. I gottago.”
“Wait!” The sound of her footsteps on hardwood told me she was pacing again, and the familiar echo made me surprisinglyhomesick.
“What?”
“I just…” She took a deep breath, then started over. “I know you have to do this. I understand that much. But when it’s over—when you’ve done whatever you can for Justus—please come back home. Even if you two don’t get the happy ending you’re hoping for.Especiallyif you don’t get that. I love you, and I can’t stand the thought of you out there all alone, dealing with heartbreak, or loss, or even just a broken-down car or a dead cell phone. So when you’re done, if we haven’t found you yet…please comehome.”
I wanted to be able to tell her I would. To promise her that I would be okay. But no matter how young she considered me to be, I was old enough to understand that life doesn’t come with promises. Sometimes things gowrong.
Sometimes home isn’t where you always thought it wouldbe.
So, I settled for, “I’ll try. And I promise that Iwillcall you again. That’s the best I can do rightnow.”
Faythe sniffled into my ear, and tears blurred the world around me. “Little Greg and the baby are my life. You know that. Butyoumade me a mother, Kaci. You chose me over my mom, when you lost yours, even though I had no experience. Even though I was only a decade older than you. You and I got thrown into the deep end of this thing together, sink or swim, and we made it. I will always be here for you. No matter what happens. Please tell me you understandthat.”
“I do,” I said, and she sniffled again. “But I have to go now. I loveyou.”
“Love you too,Kitten.”
I hung up the phone. Then I wiped tears from my eyes as Justus pulled into the parking spot next tomine.
I stuck Jared’s keys between his sun visor and the roof, then locked his car on my way out ofit.
“What’s wrong?” Justus asked as I slid into the front passenger’s seat of therental.
“Nothing. I just…” I took the fast food bag he held out and set it in my lap. “I just spoke to Faythe, and it got a littleemotional.”
“She tried to convince you to comehome?”
“Of course. But she wasn’t unreasonable about it.” Evidently her definition of “adult” was closer to mine than to thecouncil’s.
“What’d shesay?”
“She told me who’s on thetribunal.”
