Ripper(119)

“Chris Hancock, he’s the leader of the panthers and holds the shapeshifter seat,” Daniel said as he moved down the line. “Esme Reynolds represents the witches, and Sir Ronald James speaks for human interests.”

“Good evening,” the older Brit said with a nod of his head.

“Now,” the king began, “Will Jamie Atwood please stand?”

Jamie complied, standing readily, his green eyes confused and wary. “I want to know what’s going on, Your Highness. If my sister killed a wolf, then she was defending herself.”

Daniel nodded. He turned back to the Council. “I move to declare the killing of Darren Castle to be righteous. Ms. Atwood was defending herself. All in favor?”

There were five ayes and no nays. I was off the hook for the killing. It was quick and I probably should have been relieved.

My pardon was seemingly unimportant to the king. He had bigger fish to fry. “Excellent. Mr. Atwood, you are the oldest of your mother’s three children.”

“I am.”

“Do you remember a trip your mother took roughly two months after giving birth to Nathan?”

Jamie thought for a moment. He would have been five at the time. “We went to visit her cousin. My father was on an extended hunting trip and Mom packed us up and headed west to see…I think her name was Gina. We stayed for two months and then Dad showed up and we went home.”

I didn’t even know Mom had a cousin named Gina. Dad had never let us leave the state without him.

“What city did Gina live in?” The king seemed to be enjoying his stint as prosecuting attorney. Or was he defending me? I couldn’t tell.

“Las Vegas,” Jamie replied.

That seemed to mean something to a whole bunch of people in the crowd. There were gasps of surprise, and the woman I now knew was the queen had a sheen of unshed tears in her hazel eyes.

“And Kelsey was born eight months after you returned home.”

Jamie’s face fell as the implications hit him. “Are you trying to say my mother had an affair and Kelsey isn’t my father’s child?”

“There is no doubt on that count,” Daniel replied with a grin, as if he hadn’t knocked my entire childhood on its rear. “Your sister donated blood at a blood drive two months ago. I took the blood and had a DNA test done.”

I remembered that blood drive. It had been at Liv’s school and she’d been so insistent that I come. She’d promised me dinner if I went and helped out. At the time, I’d thought she wanted to spend time with me, but now I knew. She was under orders.

Daniel looked at me with a smile like what he was saying was a good thing. “Your father’s name was Lee Owens. He was Zack’s brother. Zack is your uncle.”

Zack smiled at me, but I still didn’t feel a thing. A numbness had settled over me. “This Owens guy was a lone wolf?”

“Yes,” Dan replied. He seemed a little surprised I wasn’t thrilled to discover some werewolf I’d never met had knocked up my mom. “I’m sorry to tell you he died about ten years ago.”

“Okay.” What did they want from me? I felt vulnerable standing there in that big, intimidating room with all these powerful people staring down at me. I didn’t even have a freaking pair of shoes on. They obviously wanted me to react in a certain way, but I couldn’t. I only wanted one thing. “Can I go home?”

The vampire sighed. Things obviously weren’t going according to plan. “Kelsey…”

The door in the back flew open.

“Kelsey!” Gray yelled, looking for me as he strode through into the room. His eyes widened as he took in the scene in front of him.

I didn’t hesitate. I left the king behind and ran, flinging myself into his arms. Big, muscled arms wrapped around me and I tried to sink into his warmth.

“I want to go home, Gray,” I said into his chest. There was nothing I wanted more.

“I’ll take you home.” He picked me up. For the first time all afternoon, I felt really safe. He glared at the assembly. “This woman belongs to me. You have no authority over her. Leave us alone.”

He turned and started out, but the door was quickly closed and three big dudes with large guns barred our way out.

“I can’t let you leave with her, Lieutenant,” Daniel said. “And you know it.”

Gray’s jaw firmed stubbornly as he turned to face the king. “You into kidnapping, Donovan? Are you going to keep her here against her will?”

Quinn walked up and stood beside the king. “She’ll stay here once she fully understands how important she is and what you’ve done to her.”