“If I couldn’t have her, no one was going to. I’d done everything for her—everything! And what did she do? She rejected me. So I took everything she had. At least, I thought Idid.” He stepped closer. “But Rawlins took you in, and I had to wait years until he died and then enticed you here.”
I needed to know where they were so I could pay my respects.
“Where are they?”
He placed a finger on his lips. “Someplace with a yellow door.” He grinned. “That’s the only clue I’m giving you.”
Oh, shoot, the photo. And that house we visited. They’d been there all those years and I didn’t know, and I assumed Rawlins didn’t either.
“I knew who you were because I was at Peregrine's house with Rawlins just after you were born, and I heard, wellwedid, things we weren’t supposed to.” He tapped his nose. “All the juicy things about hunters and rings.”
He kicked the dirt. “But Rawlins told his little sister, and she and that man took you in. You were supposed to wither and die. Shame.” That man was seething at me for existing, for not dying a miserable death.
None of this was really a shock, but hearing it said out loud, and not just by anyone but the perpetrator, was chilling. He took a step closer, speaking lower with each word. He was trying to unnerve me more than I already was. And the worst part was that it was working.
His voice was different. Usually when he spoke, his tone was measured, except for our last confrontation in class. Now it was full of venom, but there was a shrill quality to it, and he sounded more like a man who was about to crack.
I took a step back.
“I thought you’d want answers.” He smirked, knowing I was uneasy or just plain terrified.
“I have all the answers I need.” That wasn’t a lie. My friends and I had figured out most of what happened. And now that I knew where my parents were, I was done. But the last confirmation I needed was from Coach.
I eyed her very expensive watch. “Nice watch, Coach. Must have cost you six months’ salary.”
She didn’t have the professor’s control, and she spat out that she was entitled to nice things.
“At Mika’s expense.”
Her mouth gaped, and she half hid behind the professor and raged at him. “I told you he was snooping, and you said it wasn’t a problem.”
“And spoiler alert. I overheard you.”
“You little punk. I was nice to you because you were skilled at archery. But after each practice, I showered the latent scent off me.”
“Not latent now. Not human either but a big fucking wolf shifter who enjoys hunting and eating squirrels.”
She squeaked and looked at the professor, but he ignored her.
“Did you threaten to expose his dirty secret if he didn't get rid of Mika for you?”
“Forget her, she’s irrelevant.”
Coach pawed at his shoulder, blubbering that he promised he’d get rid of their little problem. Fuck, that was me she was talking about and possibly my friends.
“So you were planning on, what? Killing me and then running away together and living off the money she stole from this project?” I jabbed my fingers at the unfinished sports center.
“Nope, just me.” He shook Coach off him as she wailed that he’d double-crossed her.
“You’re such a fool.” The professor had never looked more manic as he sneered at me. “I sacrificed everything, including my one true love. Do you think I have any regrets? I don’t, and if the entire shifter world knew what I did, do you know whose side they’d be on? Mine. Not the human scum you called Dad.” He shrugged. “Do you think the council will even care? I doubt it.”
I was pretty sure he’d slid from maybe rational into a pit of insanity. The way Phelan described the council, they were sticklers for rules.
“And I’m going to make you suffer the way I did. So when I hear your bones crack the way I heard your father’s, and I hear your screams, just like hers, it’ll be like watching Charlie’s life drain from her all over again.”
A growl built in my chest. My wolf had had enough. Like me, he was listening and waiting. But now, he was done. He’d told me why we had to come, and he was intending to see it through.
Blood debt.
