Page 28 of Cruel Revenge (Jacky Leon #12)

CHAPTER TWENTY

W ith the ferocity of my earlier words, I did eat, with my mother and two brothers watching me. None of them said anything as I inhaled the food to regain my energy. Once I was done, I looked at them, my spectators, and sighed.

“So… how are Heath and Hasan going to get the votes to let Zuri come through the Tribunal to us?”

“Heath secured Corissa’s vote. Hasan is making sure the witches understand what will happen if they don’t agree to it,” Subira answered. “He can be very persuasive, your father.”

“So, he’s threatening them,” I said, nodding.

“He’s threatening the very Tribunal,” Subira clarified. “They should wrap up quickly enough.”

“And you two heard everything I told Subira?” I looked at my brothers, both of them nodding. Niko suddenly came closer and sat down across from me at the table.

“This has to be said. We’re rooting for Carey.

She’s the best kid. We believe she’ll Change.

Her father is a werewolf, her brother survived the Change, and her living brother was born a werewolf.

She’s got a great chance. We really believe she’ll make it, and I want you to hold that with you.

Okay? We want you to know that, and you need to hold it with you. ”

“Thank you,” I whispered, the reality of the situation unavoidable. “But that doesn’t change the reality that we don’t know if she’s dead or alive.”

“You have to remain positive,” Davor said gently. “You can’t let the negative thoughts overpower the positive ones. She’ll have survived, and we’re going to find her.”

I let their hope sink into me. Niko and Davor had lived so long, had probably seen many Change, even if they weren’t of the family.

They had certainly known Liza, the one member of the family who had lived between their early days and mine.

If they believed Carey could survive and go through the Change and become a werecat, I could let their hope light up my dark night.

It was something to look forward to when I was done killing every witch who even looked at my Carey the wrong way.

Ten minutes of cleaning up by my brothers passed as my mother hovered all too close, staying near me but not sitting down. More than once, she touched my back, and it settled me, calming nerves that repeatedly got worked up every time I tried to think about what had happened and what was to come.

“Peace,” she whispered. “For right now, you need some peace.”

My mind told me others had entered my territory before Davor’s phone vibrated.

“Heath and Hasan are back,” I said as Davor checked his phone.

“Yeah, that was the text,” he confirmed, shoving his phone away. “They’re going to come this way once Heath tells his pack what to do.”

“Zuri just entered,” I continued, feeling my eldest sister step into Heath’s office.

“Good,” Subira purred.

I finally focused on who was at the pack house. Dirk was over there with Landon. Ranger, Roselyn, Piper, and Carlos were milling about outside. The movement seemed casual. I knew it was anything but. Shamus was in some room of the packhouse, but I didn’t know which one.

I tried to avoid thoughts of Shamus, finding the last werewolf, Teagan, also inside the packhouse.

He was a little further away from the main rooms. I couldn’t find Olivia, but that was her witch nature.

Witches only showed up through territory magic when they used a spell. They were perfectly human otherwise.

I curled a fist, reminding myself that Olivia wasn’t the threat. She didn’t know where we were going, only that I was taking all of them for the evening. I was certain she had already been questioned.

“What are you thinking about?” Subira asked.

“Olivia,” I said, unable to stop a growl.

“She’s protected by me and has had nothing to do with what happened. She helped me save your life once again. Calm yourself.”

I released the fist, my nails now claws. Niko looked wide-eyed at them, then me. I pulled back on my feelings harder, making them natural nails.

“Shhhh… that’s for only the family to worry about,” Subira said, and Niko nodded, his lips pursed together.

I felt Heath, Hasan, and Zuri heading toward us, toward my home. Just behind them, Landon and Dirk were following. There was silence until the door opened.

“Jacky!” Hasan and Zuri said at once.

Zuri was rushing for me first.

“Oh, good. I was told about your injuries and was so worried you would still be unconscious or worse when I got here,” she said, throwing her arms around me. “I’m so happy to see you moving around.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, holding her back, accepting the deep and loving hug my oldest sister offered me. I was the one who broke the hug, though, letting it last until it felt unbearable, which was only a few seconds. “We have things to do.”

“We do,” Zuri agreed.

“Jacky told me everything that happened, but she’s going to retell the story here. There’s one thing I asked her to keep to herself to tell everyone once we had everyone. There’s only one more person we need. Davor, call Kushim. However you can set it up.”

“Kushim?” Davor frowned.

“What does my husband have to do with any of this?” Zuri demanded.

“We’ll find out when Jacky tells us,” Subira said softly.

I lowered my head, knowing everyone was staring at me now.

Heath had yet to say anything to me at all.

He didn’t approach me. He stood across the room, and when the other werewolves entered, they said nothing as they flanked him.

I peeked a look to see that Landon seemed to be bristling.

Dirk was confused, looking between his mate and the rest of the room.

There was a tension that I couldn’t identify. I looked at Hasan, who must have noticed what I did because his gold eyes narrowed on the werewolves.

“Davor! Is there any news on that little sister-in-law of mine?” Kushim asked immediately. “Or the children?”

“You’re on speaker phone with everyone, love,” Zuri said, smiling at Davor’s phone.

“I’m up,” I said, glad that Kushim cared that much not only about me, but the kids who were now missing. My daughter, Shamus’s son, and Teagan’s boys. Kushim was a dad himself with Zuri.

“No updates on the children yet,” Subira said, sighing. “We’re about to listen to what happened from Jacky and… your name was brought up.”

“The witch who led the attack, Davor and I have seen him before… He said your name. He had messages he wanted me to pass along if I survived. You were one of those…” I explained.

“Tell us everything,” Heath said, his words devoid of anything telling.

I couldn’t smell how he felt. I could smell Landon, though.

He was angry, he was heartbroken… he was afraid.

I could only imagine Heath was feeling the same things.

“I really want to know why Teagan told me Carey’s blood was in your mouth. ”

Everyone was in my line of sight, and I saw the wave of reactions, even though my eyes were focused on Heath’s.

Zuri’s expression turned horrified. Hasan cursed. Subira closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Davor and Niko gave each other uncomfortable looks. Dirk’s mouth dropped open. Landon’s lip turned up in a snarl.

But nothing was so terrifying as Heath’s storming blue eyes turning ice blue in a blink, his cool stare on me.

“She was dying,” I whispered. “She threw herself out of a moving SUV that was taking a turn too fast. I had to move her… and she was dying.”

“So you made the call?” Heath asked, his brow furrowing.

One thing I didn’t tell Subira, one thing I kept for this moment.

Only for Heath, so he could smell my honesty, the truth of it.

“She told me to… after she told me she c-c-couldn’t feel… anything,” I explained, my voice breaking, cracking as I tried to relive the moment one more time for him. “She was… she was trying to survive, and I knew help wasn’t coming in time. She did so well to escape. I couldn’t… say no…”

Heath stepped forward to the other end of the dining room table.

“What were her exact words?” he demanded.

“Bite me,” I answered, the words quiet, but explosive in the emotional current of the room.

“If any child knows what they are asking for when they say that it’s your daughter, Heath,” Subira said evenly, looking at the man I loved. While Subira kept her tone even, that didn’t change the fact that it was a plea for him to be sane.

Heath’s breathing grew harder as he closed his eyes and put his hands on the table, leaning down, his hair falling over his face just enough to block me from seeing his expression.

Landon grabbed his shoulder, not pulling him away or anything, just squeezing.

Heath’s breathing slowed again. He lifted his head and opened his eyes, looking directly at me once again.

“Tell the rest of the story, then, and whatever these messages are.”

I nodded and launched into the tale. The first clues of something being wrong, the violence, the chase, and how I found Carey. What happened from the bite to losing her once more.

“He had three messages and one thing that I should note… his voice sounded… strange.” I swallowed.

“There was a second voice, in a way. Feminine, I think, like overlayed or underneath his. I hadn’t heard it the first time Davor and I encountered him in the house. Niko, I don’t remember you seeing him?”

Niko shook his head.

“He sounded normal then,” Davor agreed.