“My father did. He left with the baby and returned without her.”
“Is he still alive?”
He shook his head, his eyes suddenly steely. “No.”
A shiver ran through me. Something told me it wasn’t humans who had killed him.
“What do you want with Scout?”
“The High Priestess wants her forgiveness and for her to join her court.”
“Court?”
He nodded. “She is important to us.”
“Must not be that important if you were going to kill her,” I tossed at him. He gave me a tight smile and nodded.
“Yes. We want to give apologies. It was not because she did not love her niece. She had to choose between her entire coven or one. She did what was best. She saved us.”
Silence fell over the room for a long moment while I took in his words. Did I dare trust him?
“What else can you tell me about her lineage?”
He blinked, and his brows furrowed.
“Was she born Scout? Does she have a last name?”
“Her name is Julieta.”
Julieta.
I slapped my thighs and stood up. I gave him an apologetic smile and shrugged. “Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t know where she’s at. I’ve been looking for her for a few months now. Everything so far has been dead leads. This one probably will be too.”
He stood too. “I will join you.”
“No!” I threw out a hand and then froze. It was then that it all hit me. I had researched Magdalena after we had returned from California. There was a reason she was called the High Priestess of Blood. She was fucking brutal. Live human sacrifices and horrible torture methods flashed through my brain. I could very well be giving Scout to these people just for them to perform something monstrous on her.
“How did you find me?” I asked, trying to stall to give myself time to think.
“The bird. It called for me.”
That’s why it never shuts the fuck up.
It felt like pieces to a large puzzle were all falling into place, but they were the random middle pieces. Nothing was clear yet, but there were clusters of answers to questions I had been asking myself for weeks.
Gianni.
I had found it odd for him to come to me, especially with a gift. I should have known it couldn’t be trusted.
“Does the High Priestess have powers beyond those of a normal Bloodborn?” I asked. He grinned.
“You can only imagine.”
“Does Scout?”
“That has yet to be seen.”
Ah, so that’s why they want her.They want to see if she’s got some magic that the High Priestess also has.
