Nineteen
We took a black sedan to the Werewolf Center. It was hard to believe that it hadn’t been that long ago that I’d been there for The Choosing Ceremony. This was where my mother had been killed. This was where my sister had been taken. My sister, who I had found out had secrets with vampires.
Maybe it wasn’t what I was thinking. Nina had always been…friendly. She never cared about if her partners werewolves, vampires, or human. I think she had this idea in her head that if she could make herself available to everyone, everyone would want her.
But especially after Desmond disappeared, it worked in reverse. A lot of the werewolves wouldn’t go near her in case Desmond came back. The vampires had been much the same. At least, that was what I thought. Except Alyssa Myers thought differently.
She was convinced that Nina had been visiting Calix’s compound. Why?
“Are you okay?” I jumped at the sound of Desmond’s voice. He was sitting right next to me, wearing a suit that had been perfectly tailored for him. I’d always known he was handsome. Something about being immortal tended to make them extremely good looking.
“Sorry,” I fiddled anxiously with the clutch that had my cell phone and wallet inside. I also put a little bit of makeup in just in case. “I’m a little nervous.”
Desmond smiled. “You’ll do fine, Iris. Everyone knows what happened to your family. People will understand if you aren’t completely yourself.”
I grimaced. “That’s the thing, though. People are going to hate me, Desmond. Even if you think that you can trust me…they’re never going to. I’m still the traitor’s daughter to everyone. It’s one of the reasons why I hated going to that stupid Choosing Ceremony. Because I knew there was no way an alpha was going to pick someone like me. Nina was delusional enough she thought she had a chance…and manipulative.”
Desmond chuckled. “One thing I will say for your sister, she always went after exactly why she wanted. That was why she was the perfect person to help me when I started trying to find out what was happening with those disappearances.”
I stared at him. “Disappearances?”
Desmond looked as if it had only dawned on him then what he had said. “I…I forgot.”
“Forgot about disappearances?”
He furrowed his brows together. “My memories been spotty at best since I came back. I knew Nina and I had been pretending for some reason to be a couple. We needed the excuse to go to the other secret cities. You know how hard they are to get into unless it is for diplomatic reasons. Even for a vacation, you have to apply ages beforehand.”
I made a face. “You do?”
“Yes. You didn’t know that?”
“I…. kind of. But um, you can get day passes, can’t you? For like vacations?” I found myself thinking of that day in Hada my mom had taken me there. I’d eaten fairy food and I’d walked around but I didn’t remember it being a hassle getting there…which if there was any city that should have been difficult, it would have been theirs.
“No. But in order for Nina to go through The Choosing Ceremony, she had to meet all of the other immortals that were in power. It’s part of the process. That’s one of the easier ways to travel.”
“Oh…” I shifted uncomfortably.
The car had arrived at The Werewolf Center. There were people walking through the front door, everyone dressed to the nines.
“What’s got you worried?” he leaned closer to me. I could feel the heat of his breath on my bare shoulders. It made my heart start to pound against my chest.
“I…I think I remembered something too. I don’t know if it’s good or if it’s bad.”
“Tell me.” He wasn’t asking. He was ordering. This was Desmond. The alpha that my family had sworn fealty to for protection in Moon City. The alpha that was supposed to be my mate…if you believed the gods.
I didn’t think I could refuse him. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to find out what would happen if I did. But I also trusted him. He wouldn’t hurt me. Desmond had always taken care of his people. That included me and my family.
“Iris, I promise you, I won’t let you get hurt. Whatever it is that you have to say…you can be honest with me.”
I took a breath. “There are two things I should probably tell you then. I don’t think you are going to like either of them.”
He laughed a little. It was the kind of laugh that vibrated through his chest. “Go ahead. I’m an Alpha. I’m used to dealing with bad news.”
“Alright…um…. when I went to the salon today at Calix’s place, one of the hairdressers said she remembered my sister coming and going from there.”
Desmond raised an eyebrow. “Nina’s been going to Calix’s place?”
I nodded. “I don’t think she’s been doing anything with him. But I don’t know who else she could have been seeing…”
I didn’t want to think about it being Calix. Because if it was, that would mean there was something else the vampire I’d had a crush on had been lying to me about. I didn’t want to think about that. Especially when we had talked of a future together….and after everything that had happened with my mom…
Desmond furrowed his brows together. “What was the other thing?”
“I had a memory of a trip I took with my mom when I was little. It was a day trip to Hada.”
Desmond looked confused. “One of the fey cities?”
I nodded. “She…she had me eat fey food when I was there.”
Desmond paled. “That’s not good. That’s not good at all.”
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