Page 52 of Cruel Revenge (Jacky Leon #12)

“Yes, they stand out, don’t they?” Hasan sighed, sitting on a different couch.

“They always have. They’re very old. Not mine specifically.

As you know, there’s another werecat who has had this color.

The original. Subira’s father in every way, and the werecat who ripped me from my human life to make me his warrior.

And tried to claim I was his son.” Hasan looked at his hands.

“Subira told me the memory you saw. The devastation he was capable of and what he did to us.”

“Oh… we don’t need to talk?—”

“Tashmi has seen it from my perspective,” he continued.

My heart sank. My stomach churned.

“She saw him, in all his cruel power. Subira thankfully contained the memory of the aftermath of what happened and you did not have to see too much of it. Years of magic and protecting her secrets made her capable of it. But when I was Tashmi’s prisoner, the twins were still in Subira, and I did not have much experience protecting my mind.

During that entire pregnancy, I would have nightmares, scared for your mother.

Terrified. It was what made me vulnerable to Tashmi initially.

I wandered off, trying to regain my composure before the twins were born.

She didn’t like my energy, Subira. She agreed.

Tashmi saw my nightmares in their entire truth, reliving that moment over and over.

Always the same. So, she knew I had gotten my eyes from an even more powerful monster, and I hated him.

Under her control, she demanded that I explain many things to her. She knows too much, thanks to that.”

“But you killed her, and so it was all okay.” I understood that.

“Yes… until we learned of her being a ghost.” Hasan laughed darkly. “Talk about the past coming back to haunt me.”

“Hasan… what did she do to you? Because you’ve never been scared in your life, but now… you seem terrified, and that’s not to insult you, but…”

“Jacky, you can put that together all on your own,” Hasan answered, not looking at me. A sick smell came from him, something painful and festering and wrong. “Just as Subira has been forced to rely on her own assumptions for thousands of years.”

My fury spiked. My blood boiled under my skin. My nostrils flared. My chest rumbled, and my claws pricked my own thighs.

“Do not fight a battle I won thousands of years ago,” he growled. “Do you understand me? I am not yours to avenge. This is a new battle.”

“What does she know?” I demanded, not releasing my anger yet.

“Nothing I told her is worth anything. It’s personal for Subira and me but not dangerous. Thank the gods for that. She couldn’t even begin to break the great magics your mother is capable of.”

“Like?” I knew my parents had secrets, deep ones. Ones that no one dared think of, much less ask about.

“Ah, she knows of our origins, the moon cursed. She knows about Subira and me. She never met Subira, but she was mighty jealous to learn I was already ‘in service’ to another woman of power.” Hasan rolled his eyes with a disgusted look.

“Now calm down. I need to get us back to the topic of our eyes… I talked to Subira about them after we spoke in Houston.”

I took several deep breaths. I calmed down. I couldn’t deal with Tashmi right then, anyway. There was no reason to be angry with only Hasan here. It could make him think I was angry with him.

“Subira reminded me that things come in threes. It’s a powerful number.

Sayings like third time's the charm and similar all come from the fact that three is powerful. It's when our minds begin to recognize something important. A pattern. It’s in everything and humans naturally lean to the number three. There had been a great monster and his son, sharing the same eyes. Only two… Then you woke up from the Change with those werecat eyes…”

“I’m the third,” I accepted. “In a row. Him, you, me. A direct line, a pattern. Even though these things aren't inherited, which I guess would make it all the more special that it’s happened… It was totally random each time and yet…”

"And yet, it's happened."

I didn’t like it. Didn’t like it at all.

“So, even if it wasn’t magic all these years, if enough people believe it’s important, it will become important.” Hasan lifted his hands. “People get angry with me for hating magic, but wouldn’t you if it kept trying to ruin your life?”

“No, I understand now,” I said, frustrated with him. “And there’s no avoiding it, huh? If other people believe it, then we just need to deal with it.”

“Correct. Tashmi clearly does… Witches don’t call things cursed unless they believe they are. Don’t be upset, but Subira also believes it. She doesn’t believe it’s negative, though.”

“I don’t like that. I love her, but I don’t like that. I’d prefer if she didn’t make life complicated for us.”

“No. I don’t either, but who am I to argue with her?

She’s my mate. I trust her, whether I like things or not.

I’ve lost those battles too much to keep fighting them at this point.

” Hasan gave me a tired smile. “She wouldn’t explain what she believes more than that, though.

I think she’s worried about giving it too much power or…

perhaps removing the power of her belief if she speaks it.

Because then we’ll run from what it is.”

“Uh, yeah!” I said, full of attitude, like I was turning into a frustrated teenager in front of him. He chuckled at me.

“I would run with you,” he promised. “But sadly, we don’t know what we’re running from right now, and we have other witches who we can actually deal with.”

I sighed, leaning back, not sure where to go from here. He got up and poured a couple of drinks from a small bar and handed me one. It was stronger than I was used to alcohol being as a werecat but still delicious. When he sat back down, I decided to speak.

“Did she tell you about my memories?” I asked softly. “What she had seen in my head?”

“No. Vague mentions but nothing to reveal your secrets. She would never.”

I did. I told him all of them. The first time I felt the Change halted in me, having seen Fenris do the same. Fighting the wolf in Germany and the heartbreak of it. I told him about my human parents.

The glass in his hand shattered.

“You can’t kill them,” I said softly, sipping mine as he cleaned up the mess.

“Why not?” he snarled.

“Because I’m asking you not to.”

It was enough. He settled, getting a new drink, downed it in one go, then went for another.

“It’s not Subira’s drink, but it’s punched up for me by her,” he explained. “I’m only allowed a bottle at a time. She’ll understand why this one is emptied faster than normal.”

“That’s nice. I knew something was stronger,” I said, sipping it as he finished his third, then finally sipped on the fourth. “Where’s Carey?”

“On the beach,” he answered. “Walking around, probably taking in the sights.”

“That’s nice,” I said, smiling. “Do you want to help me train her for the day? You trained me well enough. That’s what Heath said, anyway.”

He chuckled, and I knew we were on the same memory lane. There had been wonderful moments in the early days. It hadn’t always been bad or complicated.

“I would be honored.”

We got up together, finishing off the drinks, and went to find her. She was staring at the ocean when I called out.

She spun around in the ocean breeze and smiled.

“This place is beautiful, Mom,” she said as we got close. “Thank you for letting me come…um… Hasan?”

“Hasan or Grandfather… or Grandpa. I'd take Papa. Anything you'd like. The choice is yours.” Hasan was smiling as Carey flushed.

“Grandpa,” she tried softly, then grinned, game for the change in her life. “I’ve never had grandparents.”

“Now you have two, as well as three aunts, and four uncles,” he reminded her. “Now, what has Jacky taught you so far?”

“We’ve been practicing with the Change and play wrestling, letting her get used to the form and her strength in it,” I answered.

“Perfect. You two can try to play wrestle me down.”

“That’s it?” Carey asked, tilting her head to the side.

“You’re a baby again. We’re going to keep it fun for now,” he said, patting her head. Then daringly messed up her perfectly straight hair, making her gasp indignantly. He laughed as she looked at me.

I grinned. I knew Hasan could be playful. He just wasn’t very often with adult children who stepped on his toes. Carey had no idea what she was in for with this new grandfather she’d been given.

“Change and make him pay for it,” I said, pulling off my jacket. “We can strip over there in the tree line.”

She ran for the privacy of the trees, and I followed.

We spent the day chasing Hasan up and down the private beach, jumping in and out of the waves together. It was beautiful watching my daughter get her legs underneath her.