I stride into my uncle’s office. The sight that greets me isn’t far from what I expected. Aunt Ava sits rigidly in her chair, her foot tapping an angry staccato against the polished hardwood floor. Uncle Leo, in contrast, appears outwardly calm, his expression inscrutable as he waits for me to take a seat and explain the situation.
Steeling myself, I sink into the chair opposite Uncle Leo, acutely aware of Ava’s seething presence beside me. The tension in the room is palpable. I can see this talk going very horribly, but hopefully, with my life and Amelia’s safety on the line, it won’t.
“Why the hell did you bring that animal into my home?” Ava snarls, her voice dripping with venom. The word ‘animal’ sends a sharp pang through my chest, my jaw clenching with the effort to bite back a heated retort.
“Because you need to protect her,” I reply evenly, rubbing my temple in a futile attempt to stave off the headache I can feel building behind my eyes. We’ve barely begun, and already Ava looks ready to tear me apart.
“What?” she screeches, her eyes flashing with disbelief and rage.
“Lord Easterlin knows,” I say grimly, the words heavy on my tongue.
“Knows what?” Ava demands, her voice rising to a shrill pitch.
“About Amelia’s gifts,” I clarify.
“How?” This time, it’s Uncle Leo who speaks, his tone filled with confusion.
I take a deep breath and launch into an explanation of the earlier events, my stomach twisting with each word. As I talk, I can see the gravity of the situation sinking in, their expressions morphing from disbelief to grim understanding.
“That is not good,” Uncle Leo murmurs, his brow furrowed in thought.
“I know,” I agree, leaning forward in my seat. “That’s why I need Aunt Ava to watch over Amelia for the next few hours while I figure out a way to protect her from him.”
“I’m not watching that animal,” Ava spits, her lip curling in disgust. Once again, the insult toward Amelia sends a bolt of anger through me, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.
“Would you rather see me die, then?” I ask coldly, lifting a dark brow in challenge.
“Of course not,” she replies, her voice softening slightly, but the underlying hostility remains.
“Then you are watching her while I handle business during the day and figure out how to make him believe what he saw was fake,” I state firmly, leaving no room for argument.
“How sure are you that he would even use her to revive your brother?” Ava questions, her tone skeptical. This is our best guess about what Lord Easterlin will do with Amelia’s gifts.
“I think the fact that his daughter screwed up, costing him his chance at having more power, is enough reason to believe he would do anything to get rid of me,” I counter, my voice hard with conviction.
“That’s true,” Uncle Leo concedes, his expression troubled. “And we couldn’t find James’ remains after the war.”
“Yes, we couldn’t,” I agree, my mind racing with the implications. “And for all we know, he might have kept them hidden all this time, waiting for the day I won’t honor my word.”
“But you aren’t refusing to marry Ember. She messed up,” Ava argues, her brow furrowed in confusion. “It shouldn’t make him want to revive that tyrant.”
“I wish Lord Easterlin viewed it that way,” I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face. “He might not have said it, but he believes his daughter hasn’t done anything wrong by hurting Amelia, as she’s an enemy to our kind. The only reason he offered to capture her for me was to save his court. Nothing more.”
“In a way, he’s right,” Ava says slowly, her words like a knife twisting in my gut. “You shouldn’t have Ember running for her life because she hurt Amelia. She is the daughter of your father’s murderer.”
I feel something snap inside me, my temper flaring white-hot. “She disobeyed my orders and almost cost me my best chance at avenging my father’s death, and you think she shouldn’t be running for her life right now?” I seethe, my voice shaking with barely contained fury.
The memory of finding Amelia broken and bleeding, her body ravaged by Ember’s cruelty, flashes through my mind. Even without the other factors, I would still demand Ember’s head for hurting Amelia the way she did.
“That’s true,” Ava concedes, but her next words send a fresh wave of outrage crashing over me. “But I believe a death sentence isn’t necessary.”
“What?” I explode, staring at her in utter disbelief.
“Yes, maybe a little punishment, but not death,” she continues, oblivious to the rage boiling beneath my skin.
“Not death?” I repeat incredulously, my voice rising with each word. “I know you hate Amelia, but I never expected you to say what you just did.”
“Why?” Ava asks, her expression genuinely puzzled.
“Because she hurt her!” I roar, slamming my fist down on the arm of the chair, the wood creaking in protest.
“And so did I,” Ava points out, unfazed by my outburst. “I don’t even understand why you care so much. It’s not like you’re real mates or something.”
The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, the truth ripped from some deep, hidden place inside me. “And what if we are?”
“What?” Uncle Leo and Ava exclaim in unison, their eyes wide with shock.
I push back from my chair and rise to my feet, my body thrumming with a strange mixture of anger, fear, and something else I can’t quite name. All I know is that I need to get out of this room, away from their judging eyes and probing questions.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Uncle Leo demands, jolting out of his seat to block my path to the door.
“To tell Amelia she’ll be spending the day here,” I reply tersely, reaching for the handle.
“You’re not leaving this room until you explain the rubbish you just spurted out of your mouth,” he insists, slamming the door shut with lycan speed.
“There is nothing to explain,” I grit out, meeting his gaze head-on.
“You really think so?” he challenges, lifting a skeptical brow.
“Yes, there isn’t,” I maintain, my voice steady despite the turmoil raging inside me. “As you said, I spurted rubbish.”
I brush past him, wrenching the door open and striding out into the hallway. As it closes behind me, I feel my shoulders slump, the weight of everything crashing down on me all at once. It’s ironic, really. Eric would be thrilled by my inadvertent confession, but Uncle Leo looked as if I’d driven a stake through his heart.
Sighing heavily, I run a hand through my hair, trying to gather my scattered thoughts. As much as I’d like to unravel the tangled knot of emotions inside me to understand why those words slipped out so easily, I know there are more pressing matters at hand.
Squaring my shoulders, I make my way to the living room, determined to focus on the task of keeping Amelia safe. Everything else will have to wait.