Chapter 193

Zane POV

Sarah and I explained to Chloe that we wanted a little alone time with Grace, and she took it well, saying she wanted to work on her carving in the playroom. We didn’t want to invade Grace’s bedroom with what might become a bad memory, so we ended up in Sarah’s study with the curtains drawn over the French doors, all sitting on the sofa with Grace between us.

“Your father and I just want to talk to you about things,” Sarah began. “You’re not in trouble, and we’re not mad or hurt or anything. Is this OK?”

Grace nodded while looking at her hands. I put my hand on her shoulder, and she leaned against me slightly. Sarah smiled at me encouragingly.

“You’ve been happy here, I think,” Sarah said. “I believe you like living here with your father and me and Chloe?”

“Very much.”

“That’s so good. That makes us so happy.”

“Happier than I have ever been,” I added.

“We want you to enjoy your life, to look forward to waking up in the morning and going to school, playing with your sister, having your voice lessons, and all of that. You understand us?”

Another nod.

“So, if there’s something that’s not making you happy, we want to know about it, if you feel you can tell us. That way, we can fix it so everyone’s happier.”

“She doesn’t like me.”

Sarah and I looked at each other, and I knew we were both working on staying relaxed.

“Who doesn’t like you?” Sarah asked.

“Aunt Ella.”

“I see. Well, that’s very sad. That makes me sad to think she doesn’t like you because I love you more so much.”

“Yes,” I said. “We both love you very much.”

Grace sniffled, and as one Sarah and I embraced her.

“I don’t want you to be sad,” she said so quietly it was hard even for me to hear.

“Well, if you help us to protect you and keep you safe, we won’t be sad, but we only want for you—”

“I was supposed to die.”

I met Sarah’s eyes, and only her hard-won serenity kept me from shouting. “Ella told you that you were supposed to die?”

“No.”

Sarah and I waited. I’d rather have stabbed myself in the eye, but we waited.

“She was on the phone.”

“She was talking to someone on the phone?” Sarah asked.

“Yes. She was laughing and talking about how I was a brat and that I—I was supposed to die when Mommy died, but I was a brat and I lived, and she would kill me then, but it would look bad, and then she said thank the—the goddess Chloe had been taken because I was all alone and she couldn’t imagine dealing with two of us.”

Sarah and I continued to hold her while I took several deep, slow breaths.

“Grace, honey, look at me,” I said.

She looked up, and I wiped away her tears.

“Sarah and I will never, ever leave you alone with Aunt Ella again, not ever. I promise.”

Her eyes widened, spilling more tears, and then she threw herself further into my arms and held on as tightly as she could. I felt her muscles trembling with the strain.

“Your father is right. We will never leave you alone with her again, ever.”

Grace nodded, and with the way of pups, she cried a bit more and then fell asleep in my arms. Sarah offered to take her, but I shook my head and held on.

I had known. That’s what I kept thinking. I had known Ella was jealous of Olivia. Why had I been so blind to the idea that she would transfer that jealousy to her daughters.

Sarah kept her hand on Grace’s head, met my eyes, and then shook her head, her own tears spilling out.

“You couldn’t have known,” she whispered. “Ella is so lovely, so blessed in her life, soaring around the world, her face in every magazine. Her status and success are ridiculous. The idea that she would attack a child, it’s almost inconceivable.”

“I didn’t protect her.”

“Not even you can see everything threat.”

I frowned, thinking it over. “Could Ella be a part of the rest? The shooting, the rogue, the fire, all of that?”

“She’s been in Paris with about a million witnesses. Besides—” Sarah broke off and shook her head.

“Besides what? I think I’m ready for whatever you have to say.”

“Ella wants you; she wants her sister’s life. Olivia talks about it in her journals, her suspicions about Ella’s envy for what she has. Ella doesn’t want to destroy you or hurt the pack. She wants to mate you and co-lead the pack.

“If the attacks were just about me, I could see Ella’s being behind it. But the fire? The conspiracy theories? Why would Ella want people to speculate that I’m some alpha in disguise?”

She was right, but I still grit my teeth. “I’ll never trust her again. Never again.”

Sarah half-smiled before smothering it.

“What?” I asked.

She closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m just so relieved. I’ve never liked her, never trusted her myself, even when I was just her maid.”

“That’s still suspicious, you ending up her maid. There are so many coincidences that the idea none of them was arranged, nothing was planned by someone else out there is preposterous.”

“I would give my teeth to talk to Kim, even just for a few minutes.” Sarah frowned. “Or the rogue, or Scott’s mother, Amanda.”

I stifled a jolt of surprise. “Scott told you his mother’s name?”

“No, I read about in those journals. Is it important?”

“Everything is important because we don’t know what’s important.”

“Well said.”

We sat there for a while, both of us letting the adrenaline run out of our blood while Grace slept warm and limp against me.

“Melissa told me about meeting you during her moon greeting ritual.”

“Did she?”

“Yes. She seemed to think you have some hopes regarding us.”

“I do.” It was a relief to tell her so. “I love you.”

She shrugged. “I love you too, but it’s not going to change anything. I still can’t mate with you, or you’ll be challenged over and over until you’re killed. And then the girls will be taken, I’ll probably be locked up or killed or given over as some sort of trophy to whoever kills you.”

“I’d love to tell you I have a plan.”

“I’d love to tell you that I have a plan, but neither of us does. There is no plan, there is only these truths between us.” She smiled sadly, and another tear or two spilled out.