Page 77 of Old Secrets

I eyed the statues, which contained the souls of Richard’s parents. “If you lie about any of those souls, you’ll find out I’m more than happy to become a goddess of retribution. We clear?”

Both statues nodded.

“Good.”

TWENTY

The witch often saw things I wished she wouldn’t.

To my parents’ disgust, every marked soul passed the dog-lions’ tests, of which there were three as far as I could tell. I supposed Chinese lore had their fair share of guardian spirits, because once the group stopped throwing themselves on the ground at my parents’ feet, they made gestures and similar bows to the statues, although they were more restrained in their motions. Still respectful but lacking in the fanaticism I identified as us being what they believed in.

I wondered how long their secret religion had survived and how it had come to me being the primary driving force of their beliefs.

Rather than educate them on my mortality and lose our fighting chance of eradicating Greenwich, I kept my mouth shut. I claimed Rosalie as my translator, wondering how I’d deal with the Chinese government about the woman and her role in so much death and tragedy.

Of the lot of them, she had emerged scarred and damaged but not broken.

I feared death would be a mercy for most of them, who only had their religion and their leadership to cling to.

Life beyond Greenwich would be hard for them—and I would allow it to be hard, although I balked at the idea of being responsible for someone else’s suffering.

But Rosalie? I could see her being useful.

Like me, she loved children, and I suspected the marks on her soul weren’t her true willingness to kill but rather the stain of those deaths and her grief for her involvement. Later, I would ask Mellisa what she thought.

The witch often saw things I wished she wouldn’t.

As staying in the airport would draw suspicion, we left, making use of the supplies provided to set up a camp a few miles away in the direction of the mountains, safe from prying eyes. Judging from their practiced motions, I suspected the group was required to sleep outside a lot.

Few of the tents were new, and the largest of them was given to me for my use. The second best went to my parents. The Chinese Inquisition came prepared, although upon learning our unexpected allies intended to camp, they only brought two of the RVs along.

The one was a mobile medical facility, and the Chinese had an earth witch capable of creating a road to where we needed to go. We’d still camp, but we’d be able to take the parade of vehicles deep into the mountains, far deeper than most could go in during the monsoon season.

Shortly after nightfall, the rain and wind started in earnest, but our guides had done us justice. The tent held, repelled the water, and kept the wind away. Rather than howl, it keened through the foothills leading towards the deepest reaches of the Himalayans.

“Well, this is cozy,” Jake murmured, and he stretched out on top of the stacked sleeping mats. I’d given up protesting excess; one mat would have been fine, but they insisted on three each so we might be as comfortable as possible. “The instant we’re home, I’m going to a camping store and spending a ridiculous amount of money on camping gear. Then I’m kidnapping you, and we’re going camping.”

“It’s not kidnapping if I’m willing, Jake.”

In the dim glow of the tent’s little LED light, I spotted his pout. “Come on, Karma. Let me kidnap you just once.”

“Do you want me to struggle, fake some screaming, and clap my hands to my cheeks like some distressed damsel?”

“That would be nice.”

One day, I might understand how Jake ticked, although I suspected it was something relating to his submissive nature making him want to play out such a thing rather than actually indulge in a true kidnapping. “Okay. I’ll struggle, fake some screaming, and pretend like I absolutely don’t want to be kidnapped and taken to the woods to be devoured by a wolf.”

“I think two weeks will do. We might feel almost normal again after two weeks, right?”

Would we ever feel normal again? “Jake, there’s nothing normal about this. And let’s face it, there’s nothing normal about us. That’s all right. My parents have the cursed souls of a pair of bastards playing as guardian statues right now, and they’re using them to make sure Greenwich falls. That alone bars us from being able to pretend like we’re normal.”

“Do you think your parents are going to let those souls go?”

“Not for a long damned while, I suspect. Not after seeing their reactions to what happened to that submissive forced to be an Alpha.”

“If they can help Richard, Desmond is going to end up adopting them.”

I laughed at the idea of Charles Desmond adopting my parents. “If he thinks he can conquer that mountain, more power to him. If he tries to adopt my parents, he’s going to end up adopting however many are left of our family at the same time. I’m on to how he operates, and I haven’t even met him in person yet.”