“Thanks,” Wes said to the Romanian, taking a sip. “You seem more mellow with everyone. How are things going with the girls running your empire?”
Vali gave a little huff and shrugged. “I’m not too sure. Lucy missed our scheduled catch-up, so I might need to check my emails. Actually, do you mind if I do that now while you get up to speed on what you missed?”
“Sure,” Wesley replied, passing his laptop over the table. It was what Vali had just said about Lucy that had me worried though. She hadn’t picked up when I’d called her from Ireland or any of the few times I’d tried since then. I’d assumed she was just worn thin with Vali’s business and hadn’t checked our line. It happened. I knew I hadn’t checked it for almost a month before calling it.
Her not being in touch with Vali was a bigger worry. Maybe I’d try her again later, before going to meet with Bridget. Hopefully she’d emailed him or something. Maybe Elena and Finn had taken her away for a vacation.
For now, I needed to focus on getting Wesley up to date with everything we now knew. Jonathan’s plans for a supernatural army, his revelations that we had two enemies to keep an eye on, and most importantly, the strange stuff he’d told me before Simon killed him.
Based on what little he’d said, I could only assume his saving me from Suzette’s house of horrors was no accident. He’d been actively seeking me out… because he knew my grandmother?
I wish I knew more.
Fuck that, I needed to know more.
21
VALI
I started up the encrypted sites that I used for all my business emails and admin while Kit began quietly filling Wesley in on what had being going on while he was missing. It couldn’t be easy for her, talking about Jonathan like this so soon after seeing him die, but she was doing so well.
I’d really worried about how she might have responded to everything I’d said after his death. God knew I wasn’t the most sensitive, new-age guy out there, but that just wasn’t what she’d needed. Not when so many lives were potentially on the line.
No, she’d needed that dose of tough love, and she was strong enough to take it.
Sighing to myself, I drummed my fingertips on the table while waiting for my server to connect. It was normal, though. I had it routed through so many different countries to hide the signal it was to be expected that it might take a while to boot up.
When it finally loaded on my screen, I was shocked by the first email sitting in my inbox.
It wasn’t from Lucy or my sister, as I’d expected it to be.
It was from the Director of Omega, Kit’s now deceased adoptive father.
What the shit...
I clenched my jaw tight to keep from drawing attention as I clicked into the unread email to see what it said. I was beyond stunned though. The time stamp on it suggested he’d sent it while on the phone to Kit, right before he was killed. Why would he have emailed me though?
He had my contact details, as many officials did, for when they needed to trade a favor with the darker side of the law. Most recently, we had been in contact to arrange Kit’s safe retrieval from the Onyx Auction where that disgusting pervert Mr. Gray had tried to purchase her.
Sucking in a deep breath, I angled the screen a little more away from the others and started to read.
Dragomir, I’ll make this quick as I don’t have a lot of time left. By the time you read this, I will already be dead... or wishing I was. I can only hope that the people who have infiltrated my compound are too stupid to keep me alive.
As one of my daughter’s bonded guardians, you have a sacred duty to protect her at all times, but you and I both know you are not a good man. You’ve done things in your short lifetime that I would never wish my girl exposed to, but I do believe you’ve done them for the greater good.
It’s because of this that I’m passing along this information to you. You’ll do what needs to be done and not let emotions or mercy cloud your judgement.
Bridget needs to die. None of this will end until she is finished.
There are only two ways a Ban Dia can be killed—at the hand of her dianoch or by the hand of a direct relation, daughter to mother or mother to daughter.
Kit will never kill Bridget, not unless she is faced with no other choices. I fear Bridget does not harbor the same sense of decency.
You must track down Victor and Lachlan. She burned her bridges with them a long time ago, and if you stand any chance of being rid of her, it will be because of them.
Good luck, and take care of my little girl.
I scanned the email several times, reading it carefully before closing the window down and scrubbing my hands over my face.
Holy shit.
What the hell was I supposed to do with this information? Obviously, it was important or why would he have spent his last precious moments emailing it to me instead of just... telling Kit? There was also a whole fuck load of subtext to those words that was making my stomach turn over like a cement mixer. Surely I couldn’t let Kit meet with Bridget un-armed after learning all of this?
I needed to speak with the guys.
Christ. It was pretty clear Jonathan wanted me to keep it quiet. From everyone or just Kit? It didn’t feel right keeping secrets from her. While I knew that was a pretty big statement from someone like me, someone with more blood on his hands than he could even remember, it was still true nonetheless.
Wesley had been spot on when he’d commented on me seeming more mellow. I had definitely changed, there was no question about that. But I think it was for the better.
Having this second chance with my brother and a first chance with love, it was making me see the world in a whole different light. It was making me actually want to be in this world, while six months ago I couldn’t have cared less.
Because of that, I knew I needed to do everything in my power to help Kit win this power struggle. Everything. Even if it meant suffering consequences for my actions later, it would be worth it to know she was safe.
And that was exactly the reason Jonathan had emailed me and no one else.
I’d make those hard choices without question. For her.
22
AUSTIN
Wes was officially all caught up on our new intel, and Princess was pacing the length of the veranda while stressing about Lucy not taking her calls. Vali hadn’t received any emails from her either, which seemed odd. He’d definitely gotten an email from someone because while he was reading it, he looked like he’d just swallowed a live canary.
“Who do you think that email was from?” I murmured to Tyson, who lay at my feet cleaning his paws with his huge tongue.
We couldn’t communicate as easily as Caleb and Sam, with actual words. For Tyson and myself it was more just a thoughts-and-feelings mesh; I just knew what his opinion on something was without needing the actual words. In this case, Tyson really didn’t give a shit who Vali’s email was from, but he was wondering if there might be a belly scratch in his future if he went out to see Christina.
“Dude, focus,” I growled at him, nudging his fat ass with my toe. “The scary scaly one is keeping secrets; doesn’t that annoy you?”
Tyson’s feelings on the matter were that both scaly ones were pretty damn scary, but he would totally take them on in a fight if he needed to. Optimistic bastard.
I sighed, chewing the edge of my thumbnail as I watched Christina pacing back and forth through the windows, holding her phone in her hand and every now and then pausing to hit redial. Ever since Vali had said she’d missed their catch-up, Princess had been convinced something was wrong. I couldn’t totally disagree, either.
We had more urgent matters to deal with, though. She’d agreed to only bring Caleb to meet with Bridget, and Wesley had managed to convince her it’d be safe for him to tag along in crow form. Lucky bastard; that power really was perfect for his voyeuristic ways.