by Petra Landon
“They’ll get us the information eventually but it will take time” Raoul continued. “One thing’s for sure, Matilda Redmayne is not there anymore. And the locals don’t seem inclined to talk about the American wife who abandoned their chieftain.”
There was a small silence broken only when Jason sighed heavily.
“I’ll tell Sienna.”
Poor Sienna, Tasia hoped that this didn’t upset her too much. It was terrible to come to terms with your father’s death while dealing with the whispers of your mother’s involvement in it for most of your childhood only to realize that the truth might just be even more horrific than the worst whispers about it. Sienna seemed to be handling it well enough but the strain on her seemed more pronounced after the kidnapping attempt by Bianchi and his vampires.
“Any luck with getting the locket off Sienna?” Duncan inquired. As long as the locket hung around her neck, Sienna would be hunted by Bianchi. Other powerful Chosen would not be far behind once they discovered the significance of the locket either.
“Not yet. Have you informed Faoladh about the locket?” Jason asked the Alpha, his voice very even.
Raoul studied him for a moment. He’d contemplated doing exactly that when Faoladh had called to give him an update on what his team had discovered in India but something had held him back.
“No” he answered briskly. “I consider this a wizard matter, especially since it involves Sienna so personally. You should inform the First Wizard. I’ll leave it up to her to decide what she wants to do with the information.”
“I see” Jason’s face reflected his obvious astonishment. This was a powerful piece of information and he’d rather thought that the Shifters would negotiate heavily for it.
“That is, if you’re sure the First Wizard is the right person to be entrusted with this information” Raoul communicated bluntly. At the back of his mind was the thought that Sienna was Lady Bethesda’s daughter and that the First Wizard had been Lady Bethesda’s strongest opponent and the target of most of her ire.
“Yes” Jason said promptly and with utter confidence. “The First Wizard will never allow any harm to come to Sienna.”
Raoul held his tongue. He hoped that Jason was right, for Sienna’s sake. In either case, his job was done. Now it was up to LaRue.
“I’ll make sure to let the First Wizard know that it was you and your people who got us this piece of information” Jason emphasized.
The Alpha gave a short nod in acknowledgement. He’d decided to give the Guardian some leeway. Duncan’s words about trusting Jason on this matter had made an impact on him.
“I’m flying out in the morning to meet with the First Wizard and update her. I hope to be back before nightfall. Sienna …” Jason paused. The original plan had been for Sienna to fly back to San Diego with him. But Chicago had put paid to that.
“Sienna will be taken care of, LaRue” the Alpha assured him.
“Thank you.”
“If that’s it, I think we’re done here.”
“I hope the accommodations are to your satisfaction, Jason?” Tasia heard Duncan inquire as Jason walked to the door.
“Yes, thank you, Duncan.”
The wizard was almost to the door when something seemed to strike him. He turned back suddenly to face the Alpha again. “I’m also meeting my source in San Diego. I hope to have something on Azevedo for you, Merceau.”
Raoul sensed the witchling’s anxiety rise abruptly at Jason’s words. As Jason exited the room, his eyes flashed to her to note the sudden pallor of her face. For a moment, she sat frozen in her seat, her face curiously blank. Eventually, she seemed to observe Raoul’s gold-eyed regard of her. She shot up from her seat, turning away hurriedly as if to hide the expression on her face from the rest of the room. Hawk had converged on Duncan to have a few words. Neither of the two Shifters had noticed her strange reaction. Raoul watched with narrowed eyes as she made her way to the door. He could sense a cauldron of powerful emotions in her – fear, anxiety, desperation and possibly something else. This strange way he seemed attuned to her senses was beginning to mystify him. And even concern him a little, if he was truthful. He pondered the puzzle abstractly while his brain catalogued all the little pieces of information he had been given. She was almost to the door when it suddenly hit him. For a moment, the truth blindsided him. With it came a sudden surge of the old rage.
“Wait” he called out, his voice almost vibrating with an undertone of fury. “We need to talk, witchling.”
Tasia turned around slowly to face him with trepidation. He stood at his favorite spot by the mantel, his face tight with blanked fury. Tasia had assumed that the shock of Jason’s parting words had numbed her. Boy, was she mistaken! The sight of the tall figure almost vibrating with silent rage started a wild pounding in her heart. For a moment, Jason’s words and what it hinted at about the Alpha’s intentions regarding her father were forgotten as something more elemental took over. Tasia fought the wild urge to flee; run from this room and disappear, away from the Shifters, their Pack, their Lair and their Alpha.
Alerted by the underlying fury in Raoul’s voice, Duncan paused his conversation with Hawk to send the Alpha a searching glance. What he saw must have concerned him for he turned to observe Tasia hesitate by the door. Her hesitation, infinitesimal though it was, seemed to enrage the Alpha even more. His body went rigid with anger, his arms flexing into fists by his side. Even Hawk seemed to realize that something was amiss. He glanced at his Alpha before turning his attention to Tasia who was making her way reluctantly back to her seat.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” Tasia inquired stoically.
Raoul took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself. She’s not like the other one, he reminded himself. Duncan had been right about that. His rational mind agreed with Duncan on this but his beast did not. Female wizards of great magic with the power to hold sway over him reminded his beast of a different time. Another time that had brought both his beast and himself to the brink. The beast, by its very nature, was not as rational as his human counterpart.
“It’s time I reminded you of the night that Anderson held you in the Registry.” His voice came out evenly with no hint of fury although his face still reflected suppressed anger.
Tasia’s face reflected her astonishment at his statement. It was clear that this was not what she’d been expecting him to say.
“Anderson gave the Shifter mercenaries a list of female wizards in this city to get blood samples from.”
“Yes, I know” she looked puzzled by his statement.
“That does not concern you?” the gold eyes glittered fiercely, looking directly into eyes that reflected her confusion.
“No” she shook her head. “Should it?” there was doubt sprinkled in with the puzzlement and confusion now.
“You’re aware that a blood sample provides access to DNA?”
“Yes.” The thought that the Guardian had been attempting to identify a wizard by her DNA had crossed Tasia’s mind briefly. Since her father had assured her that her very existence was a secret, she’d had no trouble shoving the matter to the back of her mind. There was no DNA to compare hers with, so Tasia could rest easy. Anderson, she had almost convinced herself, had probably been looking for someone else. And the Alpha would soon help her to confirm that.
“Are you also aware that DNA can tie you to your parentage?” he inquired softly.
DNA… parentage.
Whaat …? Oh … my … God!
Tasia stared at him for a long moment, puzzlement slowly giving way to sudden comprehension as the full import of his assertion hit her. Blood rushed to her head abruptly as everything went dark. Tasia shot up from her chair in sudden alarm, petrified by shock and fear. Hawk made an inarticulate sound as she crumpled suddenly, swaying in place for a split second before starting to topple over. Both Raoul and Hawk reached for her, leaping over furniture to get to her in time. For once in his life, Duncan, caught complete
ly by surprise at the turn of events, stood rooted to his spot. The Alpha made it to her first by dint of having been closer to Tasia. He made a grab for her as she crumpled, catching her just as Hawk made it there. For a moment, silence reigned in the room, more incongruous after the mad activity just seconds before. Raoul stared down at the unconscious girl in consternation, his fury dimmed by her reaction. Her shock seemed to suggest that she’d failed to grasp the potential implications of Anderson’s little plan. That her prevarication had been a lie due to misunderstanding rather than one of omission helped mollify him a little.
Held flush against the Alpha with his arm around her holding her up, Tasia came to slowly. Disoriented, she struggled instinctively against the tight band that seemed to hold her in place.
“Tas” Hawk called out in a low voice, his voice a mix of concern and confusion.
“Ha … Hawk” she breathed softly in response, ceasing her struggles at the sound of his voice.
Raoul thrust her abruptly into the arms of a surprised Hawk to walk away, back to his old position by the mantel. Duncan’s gaze followed his protégé, his eyes troubled as he watched Raoul.
Hawk helped seat Tasia back in her chair while her eyes fluttered to him in confusion.
“Hawk” she murmured. “What happened?”
“You tell me! You passed out, Tas. Gave me a scare” his voice, pitched low for her ears, was naked in its concern.
“Passed out” she exclaimed in confusion. “But I’ve never fainted in my life.”
“Perhaps you’ve never experienced a shock like this before” the Alpha’s voice cut through the private conversation between the two of them.
Tasia glanced from Hawk’s distressed face to the Alpha’s implacable one.
Shock!
“DNA and parentage” Raoul reminded her, his voice calm.
Tasia’s face blanched as their previous conversation came roaring back to her.
“God” she breathed, holding her head in her hands, her attitude one of utter despair.
“A little too late to invoke him, isn’t it?” pointed out the relentlessly calm voice.
“What is it?” Hawk glanced from the Alpha’s stony face to Tasia’s dejected one.
“You want to tell him, witchling?”
“My father was a Guardian” Tasia muttered without looking up.
Duncan gave a soft gasp in sudden comprehension. So, it was her Anderson had been searching for here in San Francisco, after all.
Hawk, though clearly taken aback by her confession, still looked puzzled. “So …?”
“So Anderson has access to his DNA” Raoul said simply.
“DNA! You mean … Tasia is the wizard Anderson was hunting here” Hawk said slowly, finally understanding.
“It also means that sooner or later, he will be on to her if he isn’t already” Raoul pointed out.
“I didn’t know” Tasia shook her head vehemently. “How could anyone be looking for me? No one is even supposed to know I exist – my birth was kept a secret. My father was categorically clear about that.”
“Yeah” Raoul remarked sarcastically. “And was he clear that an ex-comrade might one day go on a rampage in a quest to find his former best friend’s powerful Magick daughter?”
Everyone in the room seemed to freeze.
“Best friend” Tasia repeated, the tremble in her voice very revealing.
“Ted Anderson was Gabriel Azevedo’s best friend before he walked away from the GCW.”
“Azevedo” Duncan exclaimed softly under his breath while Hawk inquired incredulously of Tasia. “Gabriel Azevedo was your father?”
“Yes” she confirmed softly, meeting his eyes full on.
“The same Guardian who denounced the GCW to join the leeches” Hawk, gobsmacked by the revelation, insisted on making sure that he had the right wizard.
This time Tasia ignored him, drawn by the glittery gold eyes of her inquisitor who stood legs akimbo and body braced in an attitude of aggressive anger.
“When were you planning to tell me this?” the Alpha inquired softly, the voice silky and yet uncompromising in its demand.
Tasia’s heart sank. They were back to their old roles – he, accusing and suspicious, and she, always on the defensive to try and prove her trustworthiness in his eyes. Their trip to Chicago had changed her perception of him. She’d caught glimpses of the inner man and had been pleased at achieving a better understanding of the man behind the ruthless Shifter Alpha. Had she allowed that to lull her into a false sense of complacency, she wondered in despair. Or had she merely fooled herself into believing that the equation between them had subtly changed for the better - in a bid to calm her own doubts and insecurities at accepting the new bargain he had offered her. Now that the moment of reckoning was at hand, it seemed like nothing had changed between them at the fundamental level. Tasia stiffened her spine. At an unconscious level, she had always expected him to revert to his old self with her. But this time, she wouldn’t stay silent in the face of his accusations. She was determined to defend herself. He had told her that this second bargain between them was one of equals. She would stand up for herself this time.
“I couldn’t tell you about this” she cried out in defense, standing up to face him.
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t? Let’s not confuse ability with willingness - two entirely different things as far as I’m concerned” the voice was biting and cold, no trace of the man she remembered from the trip to Chicago.
Tasia contemplated him uncertainly for a moment. The gold eyes were unforgiving and unyielding.
“You know why I couldn’t tell you this” she insisted passionately. “No one’s even supposed to know that he had a daughter. That was how this was supposed to play out. That was the only way to completely protect me. How could I tell you?”
“You could’ve chosen to trust me” Raoul’s voice was very even.
“This has nothing to do with trust.”
“This has everything to do with trust” he reiterated.
Tasia shook her head. “How can you say that? I’ve told you things about me that no one else in the world knows; secrets so dangerous that they were meant to be taken to the grave.”
“Yes, you have, but just enough to save your own skin. You needed what I could provide and you made sure to tell me just enough to guarantee it. Nothing more and nothing less” he pronounced relentlessly, a thread of bitterness in his voice.
But Tasia didn’t give him any quarter this time. His words invoked a strong sense of injustice that only served to rile her up. She’d taken risks for the Pack that she would never have contemplated otherwise – for him, at his request and to meet her obligations as part of the deal they’d made. She was truly and sincerely grateful for the protection he had offered her. But for him to impugn her motives was unforgiveable, especially now, after the trip to Chicago. And this was the man she’d characterized to Sienna as fair!
“Should you be the guy throwing out aspersions on trust, Alpha?” she inquired angrily, her sense of outrage making her bolder. “It is you who has never trusted me. I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me. I’ve taken risks at your command to prove myself to you and the Pack. And yet, you have never accepted me. Why am I so untrustworthy in your eyes? Is it because you simply don’t like me or is it because I’m a wizard?”
A pregnant silence descended on the room as the last of her words died out.
“Tas” Hawk protested softly; warning, concern and protest all rolled into that one word.
“Come, Hawk” Duncan called out abruptly, striding towards the exit. “This is not your concern.”
Hawk hesitated, his eyes troubled as it switched between a Tasia fired up by passion and the Alpha, coldly controlled even as a frenzied fire raged underneath that façade of composure. This was not going to end well, he knew. The coming conflagration, unless moderated, had the potential to cause immense damage. Not just to the friend he felt protective about and concerned for but
also to the Shifter he respected and looked up to.
“Hawk” Duncan warned, an unmistakable note of command in his voice. This time, it was the Were-Alpha who commanded his Shifter, not just Duncan giving Hawk a suggestion. Hawk cast a last glance full of concern at Tasia before walking reluctantly to the door that Duncan held open for him.
“This needs to be sorted out between them” Duncan stated firmly once the door to the Pack Room had closed behind him. “Neither I nor you can help with this.”
“Alph …” Hawk stopped. Will eat her up alive to chew her out without a second thought, he completed silently. A concern he didn’t consider appropriate to say with potentially every Shifter present in the Lair listening in.
“There has been enough water under that bridge” Duncan responded cryptically. If Raoul still judged Tasia by the wizard from his past, then there was nothing to be done. But Duncan was rather sure that the Alpha had crossed that bridge. “If you want her to have any kind of a future here” he gestured at his surroundings to indicate their Lair. “Then they have to come to an understanding. If I attempt to interfere now, it will only shove the problem into the future. Unless they resolve it, there’s no future for her here.”
“She cannot …” survive without the Pack, Hawk screamed silently.
“I know that. So does she. And, so does he” Duncan pointed behind the door.
Hawk nodded mutely although his eyes looked haunted by the dire possibilities he seemed to imagine. Duncan took pity on the young Shifter.
“We both know why she gets under his skin” he said softly into Hawk’s ear. “But until he can look past that, there’s nothing anyone can do.”
“He’ll listen to you” Hawk said softly, the hint of a plea in his voice.
“Not this time” Duncan was firm. “Any advice will only prove counterproductive.”
Oblivious to the muted conversation outside, the two protagonists inside the room contemplated each other. Tasia met the gold eyes that glittered with scarcely concealed fury even as the man before her projected an image of calm collectedness.
