Chapter 20

20

SKYE

T ate was sitting cross-legged on my bed when I came back into my room. Nikolai had escorted me back, and I had taken him up on his offer to eat breakfast in my room before he started questioning Elias.

I was hoping there would be less blood involved in that meeting.

Tate slid off the bed as I closed the door, her hazel eyes wide. “Are you okay?”

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” I joked weakly, heading into the closet. I stripped out of my clothes, leaving them in the middle of the floor. I grabbed a new pair of jeans and a shirt before coming out of the closet, phone in hand. I only had a couple minutes before Remy’s one hour time allowance was up.

“How are you?” I inquired softly, watching as she moved to the sitting area in front of the crackling fireplace. It hadn’t stopped since Lulu had turned it on or whatever the day before.

She pulled her knees up to her chest. “Not great,” she admitted, turning her sad eyes to me. She brushed away tears. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

I sat across from her, not sure if I should hug her or leave her alone. Her body language was clearly stating ‘do not touch.’

“I’m so sorry,” I told her quietly. “Luke was a great man. I’m really sorry that I didn’t get to know him more.”

She swiped another tear from under her eye. “He saved my life. I thought adults and parents were evil until he came along. He taught me to be strong and stand up for myself.”

“He loved you so much,” I told her, reaching out and grabbing her hand in mine. I squeezed it twice.

A garbled chuckle bubbled out of her. “Oh, God, you should have seen his face the night I told him I was with Dante and Ryder. He just gave me this... weird look and started laughing. He told me that if I was happy, he was happy. And he would break their legs if I was ever not happy.”

I slid across the cushion separating us and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as her laughter turned into soft sobs.

She wiped a hand down her face after several minutes. “God, I’m so sick of crying.”

“Crying isn’t bad,” I said softly. “You’re crying because you loved him. Crying means he meant something to you, and that’s not a bad thing.”

“Yeah, well, right now I want to focus on getting home,” she replied evenly, blinking away the last of her tears.

Tate blew out a long breath as she refocused her energy. “Dante said there’s a storm? We can’t go home yet?”

I shook my head. “Not until the end of the week.”

She swallowed audibly and nodded. “Okay. Tell me everything.”

I launched into what I knew about the Summit and the explosion. Food arrived around the time I explained to her who Nikolai was. By the time we polished off all the food, Tate looked as stunned as I felt.

“So, you’re like an actual princess,” she said slowly.

I rolled my eyes. “No, I’m not.”

She waved a wild hand around the room. “Skye, we’re practically in a castle right now.”

“It’s a house,” I argued.

A very big house , my mind chided.

“And magic?” Tate got off the couch and started pacing. “Magic is a real thing?”

“Apparently.”

“This is all just... wow.” She ran a hand through her hair. “This is all crazy. You know that, right? Like it’s all some weird ass dream.”

“Feels like it,” I mumbled in agreement.

“So... what happens now?” Tate sank back onto the couch, her sudden rush of energy depleted.

“Nikolai is supposed to come by and get me. We’re going to talk to Elias today.”

“Fucking asshole,” she seethed. “I can’t believe he was in on this.”

“You never got any weird vibes from him?” I asked hesitantly. “You’ve known him longer.”

“I first met Elias when I was a kid, right after Dad saved me. He came up to our pack to talk to me about my parents and see if I knew anything else about the people my parents knew.” Her lips thinned. “People who sold their daughters to the highest bidder.”

“Your parents weren’t the only ones?” That was surprising.

She shook her head grimly. “No. Apparently you would be surprised at the amount of people who see little girls as a payday. Or want to unload unwanted boys onto desperately barren couples.”

“Elias knew about this?”

“Yeah. He said he was trying to help stop them, but now I have to wonder if that’s the truth.” Her gaze hardened. “He knows who took Maren, doesn’t he?”

“Maybe,” I replied. “I plan on asking him today.”

“Want company?” she offered, a cold glint in her eye.

I shrugged. “You’re welcome to come, but it’s also kind of up to Nikolai.”

“Ah, the mysterious bio-dad.”

“Yeah. Him.”

“When is he supposed to come get you?”

I glanced at my phone for the time. “I have about twenty minutes.”

Tate got up with a sigh. “Good. I can take a shower then.” She glanced down. “Any chance I could borrow some clothes?”

I waved a hand at the closet. “Help yourself.”

She disappeared inside with a low whistle. “Damn, girl.” She came out with a pile of clothes and gave me a look. “You may not want to own that princess title, but that closet begs to differ.”

My phone rang, saving me from having to argue with her. I glanced down and winced.

Remy.

I was a minute later than the hour he had given me.

“Tell Remy I said hi,” she called out as she headed into the bathroom and closed the door.

Sighing, I answered the video call, already mentally preparing for him to be rightfully annoyed.

“One hour, babe,” he ground out, eyes flashing. “I said to call me in one hour.”

“It’s only been a minute!” I protested weakly.

“Do you know how many what-if scenarios you can conjure up in sixty seconds?” His brows rose dramatically. “Twenty-three.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, hating that I made him worry. I could only imagine how powerless he felt being so far away. Hell, I felt it, too. I hated that he was dealing with Norwood and everything in Blackwater without me.

He sighed deeply. “You’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” I promised, meaning it this time. “I was talking to Tate. She seems... okay.”

He seemed slightly more relaxed by that. “Good.” He paused. “You scared the shit out of me earlier. What was that about?”

I sank deeper into the couch. “It was what you said. Well, what my mom said. It literally made me sick.”

A pained look flashed across his face. “Baby.”

“I went to see Linden.”

Shock morphed his features before fury took over. “You did what ?”

“I needed answers, and he was the only person who might have known what happened back then,” I replied evenly. I stood by my decision.

“Your uncle is a fucking lunatic,” he snapped. “I don’t want you anywhere near him.”

I blinked slowly. “I get that you may not want me near him, but have we hit the point of our relationship where you’re ordering me what I can and can’t do?”

His eyes closed briefly. When they opened, he seemed slightly calmer. “Skye, I’m not trying to tell you what to do. But I can’t be there to protect you right now.”

Eyes narrowed, I held up the back of my hand to the screen, my bruised knuckles on display. “Actually? It was Linden who needed the protection.”

“You hit him?”

“Multiple times,” I confirmed, dropping my hand. “But to be fair, Nikolai had already worked him over before I got there.”

“Jesus Christ,” he swore, leaning back. “Why?”

“He said it was because he held Linden accountable for what happened in Long Mesa,” I answered.

“He knows?”

“Not everything. Dimitri has kept quiet about the details. He said it was my story to tell, or not. But Nikolai pieced together enough to know Linden was a shit Alpha.”

“That’s the fucking truth,” he growled, dark eyes flashing. “I wouldn’t mind a few minutes alone with him.”

I nibbled on my lower lip thoughtfully. “I don’t know that Nikolai is going to leave anything left for you.”

Remy watched me, quiet and patient as I organized my thoughts.

I sighed quietly. “It was Allan who broke their bond. Preston’s dad. I don’t know the details, but if mom said the bond was broken for her... Linden mentioned that at one point Allan thought he might have been my father.”

“Shit.” He grimaced as he shook his head. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“When we were at the Summit, Preston mentioned something about how his dad had more control in the pack than we knew. The night he took me outside the club? He was going off about Linden needing to be put in check or something.”

“Okay. We have some people we trust near Long Mesa. They’ve been watching for movement, mostly to see if anyone from Norwood has come in, but I’ll see what we can dig up on Allan.”

“I hate him,” I hissed, rubbing my temples. “I hate their whole freaking family. At least Dane is dead. One less Loomis in the world.”

“Preston’s dead, too,” he told me quietly.

My eyes snapped to his. “What?”

He nodded slowly. “I found him after the explosion. He was pinned by a piece of rebar, in bad shape.”

“And you left him?”

“And I killed him.” He said it so simply, so easily that I froze.

Remy licked his lips. “I don’t regret it, Skye. If Linden dies, I won’t regret that either. Not after what they did to you, to your mom...”

I sniffed, pushing back the tidal wave of emotion that seemed to constantly threaten to crest. “Do you think we’ll ever just have, like, a normal day?” I met his gaze. “No psychopaths or kidnappers or people dying?”

“Skye.” The soft tone of his voice nearly broke me.

“I’m so tired of all of this, Remy,” I whispered, rubbing my temple. “I just want to spend a day without being worried the world is going to fucking implode around us. One day where we’re just normal people.”

He smiled. “I know, babe. I’m tired, too. I promise it will all be over, and we’ll have that normal. Or whatever normal is for us because I have a feeling life with you, Skye Markham, will be anything except normal.”

I choked on a laugh. “So, you’re saying I’m weird?”

“Definitely the weirdest girl I’ve ever met,” he confirmed with a grin.

I shook off the blanket of sadness that wrapped itself around my shoulders. “Any word on your dad?”

His smile melted as fast as snow in New Mexico. “Nothing new.”

“Dammit,” I muttered as I heard the shower turn off. I glanced at the clock and realized I only had a few minutes before Nikolai would be coming to get me.

“What’s up?” Remy asked, noticing my attention drifting.

“Nikolai will be here soon. We’re going to talk to Elias. Maybe get some answers.”

“Okay. Call me later. Actually, call Katy or Larkin. They miss you, and they’re driving me crazy.” He rolled his eyes with a warm laugh.

“I will,” I said softly, loving the sound of his laugh and the way it brightened the spark in his chocolate gaze. “I’ll talk to you guys soon, okay?”

“Yeah. I love you.”

“Love you,” I said, hanging up as the bathroom door opened and Tate emerged.

She rubbed her damp hair with a towel as she walked over to the window and pulled the curtains open. “Holy shit. Did you look at this?”

I got up and crossed the room, joining her at the window. My jaw dropped at the sight before me.

Snow blanketed everything, still falling in thick flakes, but it was the town sprawled beneath us that caught my breath. Seeing it in the daylight was breathtaking.

I never grew up believing in Santa Claus, but I imagined this was what the village the elves lived in had looked like. It was all twinkling lights, gently sloped roofs, and people bustling around.

“Are we in the North Pole?” Tate whispered, pressing her nose against the cool glass as she hopped on my train of thought.

“Maybe?” I had no idea, but this wasn’t anything like I expected.

I turned as someone knocked on the door.

“It’s open,” I called.

Dimitri stuck his head in. “You ready to go?” His gaze landed on Tate and widened. “Hey. You’re up.”

“Yeah,” she replied, looking at him. She squinted at him. “Thanks, you know, for knocking me unconscious and kidnapping me.”

He puffed out his cheeks in thought. “I feel like you’re not entirely sincere.”

“I’m not,” she deadpanned flatly. “Do it again and I’ll rip your balls off to hang on my Christmas tree.”

“The alternative was leaving you behind and possibly being taken by Norwood. I made a choice. Deal with it.”

“Tate wants to come with us,” I told him.

“Tate wasn’t invited,” he told me with a tight smile. “It’s a family thing.”

I grabbed her hand. “And Tate is my family.”

Dimitri paused for a minute, watching us before he sighed in defeat. “Fine. Whatever. But we’re leaving now.”

I squeezed Tate’s hand. “Okay. Let’s go.”