“They are leaderless and live in fear.” Ahm nodded. “But they could have found a better way. They could have gone to Maverick, or Zeus, or even told me about the vicious hounds. But they tried to handle it on their own and made matters worse.”
Sterling crossed his legs, feeling the tears gather in his eyes as he stared at the young boy. He looked so peaceful lying there. He couldn’t imagine being handed over to such hateful beings by his own parents.
What was this young man going to think when he woke up? Sterling wasn’t sure “I’m sorry” was going to cut it. This guy’s parents were supposed to protect him from the monsters, not hand him over to them. Sterling hadn’t known his father. The man died when he was two years old. But he was pretty sure his dad would have fought tooth and nail to keep him safe.
“Why am I being brought in here?” Iam asked as he shrugged Eagle’s arm off of him. Eagle didn’t look too happy, but released the man and took a stance by the door. Didn’t the guy know elves could pop in and out of places?
“Because we want an explanation,” Riley growled as he pointed toward the bed. “Why in the hell would you people hand over a child to those monsters?”
Sterling’s thoughts exactly.
Iam sputtered for a moment as if offended by the question, and then he sighed and his shoulders slumped. In that moment, he looked twenty years older. The lines around his face deepened, and Sterling noticed dark circles under the man’s eyes that he had never noticed before. “I tried to stop them.”
“Not hard enough,” Sterling growled.
“I am just one man,” Iam argued. “I can’t rein in an entire village. I told them not to make a deal with those hounds. I argued that they couldn’t be trusted. The tribe threatened to disown me if I didn’t comply.”
“So you just kowtowed to them?” Riley asked in disgust. “You just let them hand over your children?”
Iam shook his head. “No. The healer took most of the children and went into hiding. But some refused to leave their parents. I tried to reason with the young ones, but they wouldn’t listen. They insisted that their families would never allow any harm to come to them.”
“Why didn’t we know children were missing?” Max asked from the corner of the room where he had been standing quietly.
“I let it slip to Ahm that the healer was missing. I caused trouble with Ahm so he would interfere. They were feeble attempts for help so my tribe wouldn’t know I was actually seeking assistance.”
“What was the deal they made?” Riley asked.
“The deal was if the hounds stopped the vampires from attacking us, then we would provide them with one fey a month for their personal use. I don’t think the people in the village realized the trickery. I saw it for what it was. They weren’t going to stop the vampire attacks. Even the words ‘personal use’ should have been enough for them to fight the hounds, but they cowered in front of those vile creatures and agreed.”
“Why children?” Ahm asked.
This time Iam’s face clouded with anger. His dark-blue eyes turned into two pits of fire. “That was something that happened behind my back. As soon as I realized what was happening, I had the healer smuggle them out. The elven excuse was that the young ones were easy prey. They didn’t fight and…” Iam turned away, but not before Sterling saw the tears in the man’s eyes.
He wanted to go out there and pound the snot out of each and every person in the village. Sterling had never hated anyone in his life. But at that moment, he hated every damn person in the village who had given their child away to those things.
“What should we do to them?” Ahm asked.
Iam turned around, shock written all over his face. “Why are you asking me?”
“Because I think you would make a good leader,” Riley replied. “You just need to learn how to rule your tribe.”
Iam backed away, shaking his head. “I can’t lead them. They don’t even listen to me.”
“Then I will teach you how to make them not only listen, but obey your every command,” Ahm said adamantly. “Now, tell me which adults gave their children away.”
“There have only been two sacrifices involving the young ones, and Terrik is the second.” Iam pointed over toward the bed. “I can show you which adults are guilty.”
“And you will make an example out of them,” Ahm replied heatedly.
Ahm turned toward Riley, and something passed between the two that Sterling couldn’t decipher. But both men’s jaws tightened, and their lips turned down as if they were contemplating something really bad. Sterling didn’t like it, but he was finding that he didn’t like several things that had happened tonight.