“Corrine Laroche.” I squeezed his hands. “She wasn’t killed by a Searcher ambush.”
My father stiffened, but I hurried on. “The Searchers were coming to fight with her. She was leading a revolt against the Keepers.”
Meeting his gaze, I expected to find disbelief, but it wasn’t there.
“But the plot was uncovered and they killed her and all the other Banes who’d sided with her,” I said. “And when the Searchers arrived, the Keepers were waiting for them.”
My father pulled his hands from mine as his fists clenched. “You were only one. Just an infant when that happened.”
“I know,” I said. “It happened on Ren’s and my first birthday.”
“I always thought…” He paused, a growl rumbling in his chest. “That something wasn’t right. When the Keepers summoned us to fight, we went after the Searchers-tore into them at the Bane compound, chased them all the way to Boulder. But there weren’t any bodies.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Banes,” he said. “The Keepers called us to battle because the Banes had been ambushed by Searchers. But when we reached their compound, no Bane wolves were there, injured or dead. There were no casualties. The Searchers are hard fighters; they leave wounded and dead in their wake.”
“But wraiths don’t,” I whispered.
His eyes met mine, glinting like steel. He nodded. “The Searchers told you this?”
Though his own memories were offering bits of truth, I could still hear his reluctance to trust his longtime enemies.
“The Searchers filled in some blanks,” I said. “But I read about Corrine’s death and the trap.”
“Where?” he asked, startled.
“In Bosque Mar’s library,” I replied with a shiver. “At Rowan Estate. There was an account in the Haldis Annals.”
“Corrine was a good wolf,” he said quietly. “She didn’t deserve the life handed to her.”
“I know,” I said.
“I suppose it’s a blessing in disguise that her boy never knew.”
My breath caught at his mention of Ren. “He knows now.”
“You know where he is?” My father’s eyes went wide. “The Keepers told us he’d run off. Couldn’t take the shame of losing his pack. Like Logan.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “I know where Logan is too.”
One of his eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“They’re both with the Searchers,” I said. “Ren because Adne wanted to save him… and I did too.”
“Who’s Adne?”
“Monroe’s-one of the Searchers-daughter. And she’s…” I realized just how much I’d learned and how little my father still knew. “She’s Ren’s sister.”
He gave me a long look, finally sighing. “Corrine and the Searcher Monroe?”
“You don’t sound surprised,” I said.
“You said before that Shay had a human mother,” he said. “So it follows that pairings between humans and our kind would have happened too.” Drawing a slow, deep breath, he said, “And no one takes the kind of risk Corrine did without something enormous at stake. Something like love.”
I blinked away the new tears that gathered in my eyes. “I know.”
The smile he gave me was kind. “You love that boy… the Scion?”
I nodded, drawing my knees up to my chest.
He watched me, frowning slightly. “But you also came back for Ren?”
My cheeks burned, as suddenly I was a daughter caught in an awkward conversation with her father. “It’s complicated.”
“I suppose it is.” He laughed. “And I understand now why Renier is nothing like his father.”
“His father… his real father…” I had to clear my throat to finish. “Was a good man. A warrior like us.”
“It’s good to know Corrine found at least a bit of happiness in her life,” he said quietly. “Even if only briefly.”
“I guess,” I said, thinking about the cost for Corrine, Monroe, Ren, and Adne. Adne was an orphan now, but she’d saved her brother. Did that balance things out? I didn’t know.
“Love,” my father said softly. “Real love, even in moments, is worth more than any of us can say.”
I stared at him, the clear gaze in his eyes forcing truth into mine.
“Who are you and what have you done with my father?” I cracked a smile.
He chuckled. “There are times for war-many times. But sometimes it’s necessary to risk speaking the truth of our own vulnerabilities.”
Watching him, my chest pinched with sadness. “Did you… did you love Mom?”
“Yes.” His smile faded. “Even more after you and Ansel were born.”
I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t stop my next question. “But you seemed so different?”
“We were very different,” he said. “But we were both always trying to be the alphas we thought we had to be. To protect the pack. To keep you and your brother safe.”
My nails dug into my hands. She’d been trying to protect me and my rebellion had killed her.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“No,” he said, tucking my hair behind my ear. “She never blamed you for any of this.”
I nodded, wishing his words would take away the guilt that twisted like a knife in my gut.
“And your mother had a wild side,” he said. “No one could out-hunt her. When we were free in the forest, running together-those were our happiest times.”
I smiled at him, remembering the boundless joy of hunting with Shay. “I’m glad.”
“These Searchers.” He stood up, rounding the foot of the bed to stand near the window. “Do you think there’s any chance they could win?”
“Logan thinks so,” I said. “That’s why he’s giving them information.”
My father glanced at me. “He’s turned on his father?”
“I don’t think he’d put it that way,” I said, smiling grimly. “I think he’s just trying to keep his own hide intact.”
“That sounds about right.”
“Shay has a weapon,” I said. “Or most of it. The Elemental Cross.”
“A cross is a weapon?”
“It’s two swords,” I said. “Once he has them both, he can defeat the Keepers. He’ll be able to kill wraiths.”
“Nothing can kill wraiths.” He spoke the words to the swirling snow outside rather than to me.
“The Scion can.”
“How will they attack?”
I cringed, wondering if I should say anything more. What if my father was still hoping he could regain his status among the Keepers?
His fingers were twitching. Knowledge and hope bubbled up inside me. He didn’t want anything to do with the Keepers. My father was a warrior. He wanted to fight.
“I don’t know how the attack will happen.” That much was true. We’d been focused on retrieving the pieces of the cross. Who knew what the future held after that? “But we’ll need an army to back up Shay.”
My father turned to face me, tilting his head thoughtfully. “An army?”
I nodded.
“The Searchers aren’t enough?”
“No,” I said. “They’ll fight to the end, but they need help. That’s where we come in.”
“We?”
“Guardians.”
He laughed. “You expect to lead a wolf army against the Keepers?”
“It’s happened before,” I said. “It’s part of our history. The Harrowing was a Guardian revolt.”
“More secrets in the library?”
“Yes,” I said. “But I can only lead my pack… and there are only seven of us. Hardly an army.”
He’d gone very still.
“I’m a young alpha,” I said slowly. “We need a veteran. A leader who the other wolves will follow.”
“Calla-” There was a warning note in his voice, edged with pain.
“You’re still the Nightshade alpha.”
His shoulders were tight with fury. “I’ve been stripped of that role.”
“No one can take your pack from you,” I said, rolling onto my knees. “Are the Nightshades happy that the Keepers are calling Emile their alpha?”
He grimaced.
“I didn’t think so,” I said. “You can lead them. You have to lead them.”