“You nervous?” I asked her.
Very slowly she shrugged. “For some reason, no. I’d been nervous all week, but now I just feel like...like it’s going to be over.”
“That’s probably a good sign.”
“My intuition isn’t the best,” she confessed. “What’s your gut telling you?”
“That we’ll be okay.”
“You telling the truth or just telling me what I want to hear?”
“These are good people, Melanie. They’re not going to execute us,” I assured her. Deep down, I knew this had to be true, but there was still the lingering doubt inside of me that needed to hear this assurance just as much as Melanie.
“I hope you’re right,” Melanie said quietly, and then trailed her fingertips along the seams of my bed comforter. Something other than the trial seemed to be on her mind. Her shoulders slumped and she exhaled. “How do you live with the knowing?” she asked, looking more sincere than I had ever seen her look. “You knew about werewolves for a year and never told anyone. How were you able to do that?”
“Because I knew everyone would think I was crazy. They did such a great job at covering everything up, who would believe me?”
“You ever find out who did all the cover ups?”
I shrugged. “That feels so much bigger than me, I’m not sure where I’d even begin to find out that info. I’m not sure I want to, to be honest.”
“You think it’s the same people who cover up UFO crashes?”
I cocked an eyebrow. “You believe in UFOs?”
“They’re a lot more believable than werewolves, don’t you think?”
I chuckled. “You have a point there.” It felt good to laugh after the hellish night of tossing and turning in bed, and moods that swung back and forth between sad and nervous.
“I don’t know how I’m going to be able to live with this secret,” she admitted.
“You’ll manage. There’s no other choice, really.”
“It has me thinking about what else is out there. I never would have thought people could turn into monsters every month... with that being possible, anything feels like it, you know? What if vampires exist?”
I felt a cold sweat come over me. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
Melanie sat Indian style on the bed, stole one of my throw pillows, and snuggled up to it. “I’m almost going to miss this place,” she said.
“You’re joking, right?” I asked, scoffing.
“I’m dead serious.”
“Even with Travis here?”
“It was nice having people around. If it isn’t obvious by now, I’m not very good at this whole single and alone phase. I like lying in bed and being able to hear people talking downstairs. It’s comforting.”
“Well, you know, I live by myself, too. If you’re ever having a rough night, you could always swing by and we could pretend we’re fifteen again and slumber it up.”
Her gaze lifted and met mine, and this joyous smile took over her face. She was almost beaming. “You mean it?” she asked, and I could hear her voice struggling not to sound excited. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Yeah. You and Biggie can sleep at the end of my bed together,” I joked.
Melanie rolled her eyes and said, “Funny.”
There was another knock at the door, and this time it was Brinly. I hadn’t seen her since the incident involving Paul, and I had felt too awkward about the whole situation to really seek her out and apologize for the scene that was caused.
If Brinly was still upset about it, I couldn’t tell. She looked all business, standing there in a pink polo shirt and black skinny jeans. Even her braids were all pulled back into one low ponytail.
“Ready?” she asked.
I cringed. Her voice lacked the sweetness or the spunk that I was used to and had shifted into sounding positively dreary and monotonous. That wasn’t a good sign.
Melanie and I crawled out of bed and headed out the door where Brinly waited. I was hardly dressed for a big trial, with my blue jeans and white band tee shirt. I barely had anything classy at my apartment, let alone had packed it.
Once we got into the hallway, Brinly whispered to me, “I spoke to Papa this morning and put in a good word for you.”
“Thank you.”
“I think you’ll be okay. I think you’ll get out of here in one piece.”
“That’s a relief,” I said and tucked my hair behind my ear. The way Brinly spoke was so quiet and direct, I knew she was still in a terrible mood after her fight with Paul.
As soon as we got to the top of the stairs, I could see the entrance hall of the mansion down below, and how its appearance had radically shifted. The large throne-like chair where I had first met Aga had now returned, planted dead center in the room like it was a stage, and he was seated comfortably in his best attire.
Paul was standing beside him with his hands clasped together behind his back, and I saw Corbin, Kat, Travis, Lincoln, and a couple other people I had never seen before, all standing around like a growing crowd.
Melanie went down the stairs, and just as I was about to join her, I felt Brinly’s hand wrap around my arm and stop me. I turned around to face her.
“Cora, do me a favor,” she said, her voice dropping low. “If you’re let go... leave and don’t ever look back.”
The grim warning caught me by surprise. Why was she saying this now of all times?
“This place is toxic, along with all of the people in it. If you stay, you’ll be swallowed whole by it.” She glanced passed me and toward her grandfather and all the people who had come to watch. “You’re a nice girl, get out while you still can.”
She literally spun my body back around and nudged for me to walk down the steps. But I was reeling. How could you wait till the last second to say something like this to me? Was it because she knew I had no time to argue?
I took a deep breath and continued down the stairs, although much less confident than I had been just a few seconds before. Suddenly, my heart was pounding like a drum and any optimism I had for my future had been sucked out of me like a vacuum. Christ, I was scared, and I didn’t know if it was due to Brinly’s warning or if I had just been scared all along and had done so well pretending I wasn’t that I had myself convinced.
Melanie and I had arrived at the foot of Aga’s throne. He nodded once to the two of us, and we immediately knelt down onto our knees like he was an actual king. I had never felt so small in my life, kneeling there on the floor, staring up at Aga who literally sat on a pedestal. I felt so insignificant.
Lincoln, Kat and Travis stood behind us while Corbin remained by Paul’s side.
“For all of our sakes, I want to do this as quickly as possible,” Aga announced.
Why did the swiftness of his announcement terrify me?
Paul stood beside Aga and I could see him staring at me with bloodshot eyes and a wicked grin. I could tell he was enjoying seeing Melanie and I at such a disadvantage. The sickest part was that I knew what verdict he was hoping for, and that he was growing anxious waiting for the words to come pouring out of Aga’s mouth.
“This isn’t the most pleasant of situations,” Aga continued. “And I promise you there is no part of me that gets joy from having to make this decision.”
Brinly walked passed me and joined Aga on the opposite side of his throne from where Paul stood. She was the only thing that pulled Paul’s eyes off of me for more than five seconds. Brinly never returned the glance, and the cold shoulder she gave him was so harsh, I was getting freezer burn. It was abundantly clear they were still on bad terms. If I didn’t know them, I would assume they were mortal enemies instead of lovers.
“I have consulted with everyone here, took in their observations of your behavior—both the good and the bad—as well as using my own judgment, and know that I took no statement from my people lightly. It is my duty as head of this family to ensure we are all kept out of harm’s way. You understand
this, yes?”
Melanie and I nodded.
“You also understand that I agonized over this decision, and that your fate is not something I am dismissive about. We may be virtual strangers, but every life matters.”
We nodded again.
“I’ll be honest with the two of you in saying that I have heard many back and forth statements from those living under this roof. Many found you pleasant and unproblematic, while others have expressed worry over what your presence here means for us.” He took a deep breath, went quiet for a moment, and said, “Ignoring the opinions of everyone in the room for a moment, I’d like to ask each of you one question. If I were to release you, how can you ensure that you keep your experience here under wraps? How will I know that what you tell me here isn’t all an empty promise, and that by this time next week, we won’t all be in jeopardy because I let you go?”
I glanced to Melanie just as she glanced at me, and her eyes were weary, so I took this as a cue to answer first. “I’ve known the truth about werewolves for nearly a year now, and I’ve never told a soul,” I said. “I have no reason to. I literally have nothing to gain, but everything to lose.” I swallowed deeply, and my throat felt so closed off it was hard to get any spit down. “When I came here, it wasn’t to cause problems. My goal was to stop any kind of danger from coming through your doors. I was trying to protect someone you all consider family.”
It was awful, having to be this honest and open about my feelings with an audience, especially when one of them was standing to my right, peering down at me with his soft blue eyes, well aware he was the one I referred to, even though he had just torn my heart out the night before.
“While I did come here for just one person, I ended up liking a lot of you,” I admitted and saw Brinly’s face warm up at my words. “Your granddaughter has treated me with nothing but respect and kindness. I was an outsider who was bringing unneeded drama into your home, but she welcomed me with open arms. She treated me in a way that not even some of my closest friends do. I may not be best friends with everyone here, but Brinly is my friend, and if I left here and did anything that could put her life in danger... well, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Even if my personal relationships or morals weren’t what they are, I would keep quiet because it’s the least I can do for your granddaughter. I owe her.”
I could see the rigid, serious look on Aga’s face begin to diminish, and I caught his eye blinking toward Brinly. She was refraining from forming a smile, but Aga wasn’t fooled. He saw how flattered she was, and when he turned his gaze back to me, a whole new expression took over. It was one of belief. He believed what I said.
“And what do you have to say for yourself?” Aga asked. He was talking to Melanie this time.
My heart sunk. What was she going to say? She didn’t exactly have a way with words, and lord knows with the drama that happened with Travis, they had every reason to think she had an ax to grind. I was praying Aga knew nothing of their romantic trials and tribulations and realized she wasn’t a threat.
Melanie looked at all the people standing around us, and I could almost hear the gears turning in her head as she fumbled for a proper response.
“Well...” she began and cleared her throat three times in a row. “Your secret is safe with me because... I don’t want to tell anyone,” she said, and it was the most honest I had heard her sound all morning, and considering our earlier talk that was pretty impressive. “I have nothing to return to. I live alone with no husband, no roommate, not even a dog. Being here was the first real glimpse I got of being a part of a family. Maybe I don’t have any strong relationships here like Cora does, but... being here was the first time I felt kind of safe. I’d like to think one day I could come back and... you’d let me. I can’t do that if something happens to you all.”
As relieved as I was to hear her speak so honestly, I felt a gnawing sensation in my chest at her motives. She was so alone and starving for affection, that even with Travis treating her like dirt, she didn’t want to leave. I felt sad and regretful, and found myself wishing I had known about this much sooner. God, why couldn’t she have opened up to me when we were kids? Maybe we would have had a chance to be actual friends instead of whatever we were at this moment.
Aga looked the two of us over repeatedly, and I could practically hear the gears turning in his head. I don’t think he was blown away by our speeches, but I could tell he believed we were coming from an honest place. And I think deep down, he knew the two of us were about as threatening as dried up cacti.
He and Brinly were doing a lot of back and forth glances without a word like they were communicating telepathically. I just wanted him to get his decision out before I lost my mind.
“All right, here’s the deal...” he said as he inhaled deeply. It was the least formal I had heard Aga sound since, well, ever. “I’m going to let you two go,” he suddenly said. It was so casual, the way he announced it. There was no elaborate speech, no warning, no build up, no dread in his voice. He sounded like someone’s boss letting their employee know their shift was over.
He was going to let us go. Just like that.
I heard Melanie blow out a gust of air she had been holding in and then laugh quite loudly.
I wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet. “Are you serious?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m serious,” he replied.
Now it was my turn to laugh. I didn’t even know why I was doing it. It was a blend of joy and relief that balled into one giant laughing fit. Suddenly, I felt Melanie grab me and pull me into a hug, and the two of us held each other for a few seconds while knelt on the floor, smiling and excitedly giggling like two kids on their way to Disney World.
We were alive and we were going free.
The two of us rose to our feet, and when I was standing up straight, I noticed Max very openly staring at me. He looked relieved to know I was getting out of here in one piece, but also a little melancholy. Deep down, I knew he still cared for me, and me leaving had to be hitting him all at once.
“This is bullshit!” I heard a voice scream at the top of their lungs.
It was like a record scratched in that room, because all chatter silenced and we looked toward the voice. No surprise, it was Paul. He was red faced and charging up toward Aga, looking ready for a fight.
“Have you lost your mind, Aga?! What the fuck are you thinking?”
Aga left his seat and very calmly said, “Please lower your voice and settle down. If you want to talk about my decision, you can wait for me in my office.”
“No, we’re gonna talk about this right here,” Paul snapped. His face was mere inches away from Aga’s, and he looked so unhinged, I thought for sure Paul was going to ball up his fist and hit him. “You don’t know these girls. You don’t know anything about them.”
“But I know my granddaughter and I trust her instincts. My decision is final, Paul, and you’d best not to second guess me.”
“This is not what we talked about.”
I was perplexed by that statement, and the feeling must have been mutual with Brinly, who eagerly pulled Aga to the side and said, “What you talked about? Papa, what is he talking about?”
“It’s nothing,” Aga assured her, maintaining his calm demeanor. “Paul and I aren’t seeing eye to eye is all. We’ll talk about this later, all right, sweetheart?”
“Talk about what exactly? What is going on?”
“There’s no reason to be so hush-hush about this,” Paul said to Aga, stepping toward him and Brinly aggressively. “We came to an agreement about what we were going to do with them and now you’re backing out because Brinly’s instincts about people are suddenly relevant? What kind of bullshit backing is that for our future? I knew you had gotten weak in your older years, but I had no idea you were completely senile.”
Aga raised a finger at Paul’s face, looking like he was ready to hit him, but then returned to his senses, took a breath and said, “We will talk about this later,
” once more, but with far more dark authority than he had before.
Melanie looked at me nervously and asked, “What’s happening right now?”
“I have no idea,” I answered her, but my voice was drowned out by the noise of Paul yelling at Aga. It didn’t surprise me that this verdict infuriated Paul, but it did surprise me that he was openly questioning Aga’s authority and in such a problematic way. Paul was literally and figuratively spitting in Aga’s face.
Melanie whispered to me, “What’s going to—”
Suddenly, I heard a loud pop noise, like the backfiring of a car, and instantly my ears began to ring. I had never had my hearing ripped right out of my ears so viciously and so quickly as it did in that moment. I instinctively closed my eyes and pressed my hands to both sides of my head to drown out the ringing sound, but I was unable to stop the noise, because something much, much louder had taken over. It was the sound of Brinly screaming.
I dropped my hands from my ears and opened my eyes, and I couldn’t believe what was in front of me: Aga, slumped to the side of his chair, eyes wide open, mouth dripping blood. He had been shot and he wasn’t moving.
He was dead. Oh, my God, he was dead.
Shot.
And Paul had the gun.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Brinly threw herself at Aga, holding onto his bloodied, bullet-pierced body as she screamed bloody murder. There was absolutely no sign of life in him as she pulled him out of the chair, rested him on the floor and attempted to resuscitate him. His eyes were still open, frozen in a faraway stare, yet Brinly continued trying to bring him back from death.
There was no point. He was gone.
It had all happened so fast that the rest of us were too paralyzed to do anything. I didn’t even recall when or how Max was suddenly standing beside me.
Paul yanked a sobbing Brinly right off the ground and pulled her into his chest, quickly placing the tip of the pistol to her temple. My heart jumped into my throat, certain he was seconds away from doing to her what he had done to Aga.
But he loved her, I tried to remind myself. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.
Lunar City (Lunar Rampage Series Book 2) Page 31
