Chapter 66

Zara

My phone rang late in the evening. I was surprised to see Elliot’s number on the screen. I answered it, trying not to get my hopes up that the unscheduled call might mean he’d found something.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hi, Zara. Is this a good time to talk?” Elliot asked.

“I’m not busy at the moment, so sure,” I said.

“Great,” Elliot said. “So, I looked into that missing person’s report. I called in a few favors and I found the name and phone number of the person who filed the report. According to the files, someone named Tabitha Lucas reported a missing infant, named Zara Lucas.”

“Could I have the phone number?” I asked, hand tightening around my phone.

Who was this Tabitha? Did she know my mother? They had the same last name, so they must be related. Was Tabitha my aunt, my grandmother, or a cousin?

“Of course. Do you have a pen and paper nearby?” Elliot asked.

I scrambled through my desk until I found something. “Yeah,” I said.

Elliot read off the number. I copied it down and read it back to be absolutely certain I had it right.

“I don’t know who this person is or what their relationship, if any, to your mother is,” Elliot said. “But it’s a solid lead. I’ll keep looking for your mother, of course. I just wanted you to have that.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I really appreciate this.”

“I hope you find something,” Elliot said. “I really do.”

I thanked him again and hung up. Then I stared at the little slip of paper with a name and a number that might well hold the answers I’d been looking for all my life.

So why wasn’t I dialing the number? How could I hesitate?

Well, for one thing this Tabitha had been looking for a baby. Maybe after all these years she’d given up, and my call would open up old wounds. Or maybe my mother had good reason to hide me. Maybe Tabitha was dangerous. I had no way to know.

No, there was exactly one way to know. And that was to dial the number.

I didn’t want to be alone when I called. If she didn’t even want to talk to me, I didn’t want to be sitting alone in my room, swallowing down the pain of yet another rejection.

So I took a deep breath, and stepped outside into the hall, and went to Keiran’s door. Lucian would advise me to wait, at least until morning. He would want to send someone to investigate Tabitha Lucas first. He would be smart and practical. I didn’t want smart. I just wanted support. So I knocked on Kieran’s door.

“Zara?” Kieran leaned out the door, wrapped in his fluffy robe. “Is something wrong?”

“No, not exactly,” I said. “Elliot called. He got the name and number of the person who filed a missing persons report for me when I was a baby.”

Kieran blinked, and then reached out a hand to draw me inside. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Do you want to call this person?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes. I have to. I have to know. But…” I hesitated, and then plowed ahead. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“Oh.” Kieran squeezed me close. “I get it. This is huge. Do you want me to keep holding you?”

“Yes,” I whispered. Then. “I’m sorry. You were getting ready to sleep.”

“We’ve interrupted your sleep often enough, and you always help,” Kieran said. “I can hold you while you make the scariest phone call of your life.”

“Thanks,” I said. I looked down at my phone, and the now wrinkled slip of paper. All the answers I had never had, in the palm of my hand. If I could just bring myself to dial.

“You’ve got this,” Kieran whispered. “You’re the strongest she-wolf I’ve ever met.”

I thought he was exaggerating a bit, but I appreciated the encouragement. He was right. I was strong. I could do this.

I dialed the number before I could talk myself out of it, and waited as the phone rang once, twice, three times. Then there was a click, and a voice.

“Hello?” A woman’s voice echoed across the line.

“Hello,” I said, “Is this Tabitha Lucas?”

“May I ask who’s calling?” the woman asked.

“I’m, well, my name is Zara Sawyer. But the name on my birth certificate was Zara Lucas. I think you’re looking for me. Or you were, when I was a baby,” I said, all in a rush.

There was silence on the line for a long moment.

Then the woman hissed, “If this is some kind of prank, I will bury you, whoever you are.”

“No, no it’s not a prank! I’m Zara. My mother, her name was Danielle Lucas. She left me with my father, Arthur Sawyer. That… that’s all I know. I hired a private detective, and he found the missing persons report you filed. If you’re Tabitha, I mean.”

“I am,” Tabitha replied. There was a beat of silence. “You know, I actually believe you. Who’s this detective?”

“Elliot Harris,” I answered.

“Hm. Hold on one moment,” Tabitha said. “Do not hang up.”

The line went silent. I waited, leaning into Kieran’s warmth for courage.

“Your private investigator seems to be legitimate,” Tabitha’s voice announced after a short time. “All right, let’s say you are who you say you are. Why are you calling?”

“I… I just want to know…” I took a deep breath. “What happened to my mother? Where is she? Is she even alive? Why did she leave me?”

“Zara, this conversation shouldn’t happen over the phone,” Tabitha said. “We should meet. Tell me, are you still with your father?”

“No, he’s dead,” I answered. “But I’m still with, um, family.”

“Hm. Your family… do they have a particular attachment to the moon?” Tabitha asked.

She was asking if my family were werewolves. She knew? Was it safe to confirm her guess?

“Yes,” I answered, deciding to take the risk.

Kieran lifted an eyebrow at me. I shrugged. Yes, it was dangerous to admit that I was a werewolf, that I lived among them. But I needed answers, and this woman had them.

“All right, that’s… that explains some things, on my end,” Tabitha said. “We definitely need to meet. Is it safe for you to leave? No, it might not be. I’ll come to you. You said your name is Sawyer, now?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Is that a married name, or your father’s?” Tabitha asked.

“My father’s, I’m not married,” I answered.

“Okay,” Tabitha said. “In that case, I’ll see you in two days.”

“You… know where I am?” I asked.

“I know how to find you,” Tabitha said.

“Can’t you tell me anything?” I asked.

“There’s so much to tell,” Tabitha said. “I don’t know where to start. Ask me a question, one question, and I’ll answer that.”

“Is my mother alive?” I asked. That was the thing I most desperately needed to know.

“Oh, I wish you’d asked something else,” Tabitha said. “It feels wrong to tell you over the phone.”

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” I guessed.

“I’m sorry, Zara, but yes. She’s gone. And, for a very long time, I thought you were dead, too.”

“But you looked for me. You put out that missing person’s report and everything,” I protested.

“I thought you were dead, but I hoped you weren’t. So I filed the report, and I grieved.” Tabitha sighed. “I am so, so glad to hear your voice, Zara. I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am. I have so much to tell you. Just wait where you are, I will come to you, and I will tell you everything. I promise.”

“Okay,” I whispered, as the call ended.

I stared down at the phone.

“Do you think she’ll really come?” I asked.

Kieran squeezed me tight again. “She sounded excited,” he said. “I’m pretty sure she’ll try.” He paused. “I’d tell the guards to let her pass, but I have no idea what she looks like or what car she’ll be driving, or anything.”

“Should I call her back? Make better arrangements to meet somewhere neutral?” I asked.

“Nah. She seemed pretty confident. Let’s see if she’s as good as she thinks she is. Besides, she has a phone, right? She can call you back if she needs directions or an escort.”

I nodded, thanked him for the moral support, and went back to bed. It was going to be a long two days.