Jackson’s eyes widened.
Riah cocked his head to the side. “How was the Lou Carcolh, by the way?”
Jackson gasped and gripped his right arm. “Was that you?”
Riah chuckled. “Oh no, that was entirely your ancestor, but I found it rather entertaining.”
Jackson’s face fell. He turned to his right to Bettina and then pointed his thumb at Riah.
She shook her head. “What the hell kind of Middle Earth bullshit is this?”
“My arm was paralyzed from that thing.”
“Well you weren’t supposed to touch it.”
Lily slammed her hand over Easton’s mouth.
“Weren’t supposed to touch – who the buggery bollocks is this wanker?” Jackson’s voice rose.
Royce threw his hand up. “Don’t make this weird, but can you say that again?”
Henley smacked him in the back of the head.
There was a loud crunch behind me. When I glanced back I found Tegan and Bentley sprawled in their chairs, lounged back and eating chips.
Tegan chewed, swallowed, then licked her lips and pointed her next chip at Riah. “Okay, pretty sure I’ve got most of this but I’d love a few clarifications—”
“What about the rest of us, T?” Cooper arched one eyebrow.
Tegan shrugged.
“This some espionage bullshit, that’s what I smell,” Savannah grumbled. “And I don’t like it. Who’s the spy, Riah?”
His gold gaze met mine across the table over the entire Coven and the few extras. I sighed. They weren’t going to ease up until they got the truth. I understood Riah’s hesitation to reveal it all, this was a long game he’d been playing for centuries…giving it up now before the war even started felt counter intuitive. But he hadn’t planned on me being his soulmate. No one had. That changed things.
And they weren’t going to let us be together until he proved he could be trusted.
I could not fault them for that.
I sighed. “Tell them, Riah. Tell them everything. Tell them about your mom, about Thorne and Sage, and Malachi. Just tell them. I know there was a specific plan in place, but this is where we are now. You’re my soulmate and this is my Coven. I need you to trust each other.”
He nodded, took a deep breath…then told them everything. They listened in riveted silence as he bared the truth. Jaws dropped. Eyes widened. There were even a few gasps. But they listened as he put all the details and secrets out on the table.
When he finished the room fell into tense silence.
Then I remembered The World Card had a very special gift…lie detector. Jackson could tell if someone was lying or not, at least by their knowledge. “Ask Jackson.”
Jackson turned to Tennessee and shrugged. “He’s telling the truth, at least as far as he knows it.”
“My job was to protect Saraphina at all costs.”
Tennessee narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “But she was cursed. Where were you then?”
“I was there,” Riah growled. “Not interfering but keeping her safe.”
Cooper frowned, mirroring Tennessee’s pose. “Until when? I never saw you.”
“I did,” Tennessee whispered.
Everyone gasped.
Riah sighed. “You were too young to realize what you were seeing, but after those first few times I made sure to hide when you were around.”
Tegan raised her chip in the air. “I never saw you, or felt you.”
Riah grinned. “Which is probably why Thorne instructed me to return to Seelie the day you arrived.”
Tegan cackled. “I’m flattered.”
“Tegan,” Emersyn hissed.
Tegan shrugged. “I am.”
He was there? When? Where? How could I have not known? I looked up him and shook my head. “You said that before that you were there the whole time. Were you really? I never saw you…or felt your presence.”
“I was there you just never saw me,” he said softly.
“How is that possible?” I asked in a rush. All those years I was alone, with only a single friend here and there.
He stared at me for a long moment and then walked toward me. This time, no one stopped him and he wasn’t even looking at them. He rounded the corner of the table, then took a single step and his silver magic wrapped around him. It faded a step later — I gasped.
It was Ray.
In my peripheral vision I saw everyone else jump back but my eyes were locked on him. On Ray. The teenaged tribe boy who I’d befriended because he’d reminded me of Tennessee. He’d been my first friend that wasn’t a relative.
Ray paused in front of Tennessee and nodded his head toward him. They had the same hair and skin color. “I chose this identity because I knew it would remind you of him, your friend,” Ray said in that voice I hadn’t heard in centuries.
Ray took two more steps forward and that silver magic wrapped around him. I bit my lip, waiting for Riah to come back – then gasped again. It wasn’t Riah. It was now Victoria.
“What?” My jaw dropped. “H-how?”
Victoria kept walking without missing a beat. She wore that same modest gray dress with the poofy skirt thing. “I knew you missed your mother, so I tried to emulate as best I could.”
Tears stung the backs of my eyes and burned up my throat. She always gave me bedding, blankets, and food. She would come and sit with me for hours just talking. “She was YOU?”
Victoria nodded. But then she took a few more steps and that magic flashed again.
I held my breath.
And then young, five-year-old Jonathan appeared and the sound that came out of me was not human.
I slammed my hand over my mouth and shook my head. “No. Not Jonathan too? Don’t play with my heart. That’s not funny—”
“I have never. I would never,” Riah said in suddenly teenaged Jonathan’s voice. He was only a few feet away now. “I learned from my mistakes and started our new friendship from the youngest age possible…”
I cried and it was an ugly sound. I knew everyone was watching us but I just did not care.
He changed mid-step into old man Jonathan and gave me that wrinkly old smile I’d missed so much. “I wanted us to have the most time as one person.”
I shook my head and tears spilled onto my hands.
He stopped in front of me as old Jonathan. And then I saw it, the parts of him shining through. The sparkle in his eyes. The curve of his smirk. The soft cadence of his speech. And then his silver magic flashed and he was Riah again. The real Riah.
He held his hand up in front of him, holding a yellow rose. “I was there. Always.”
A wild, ugly sob ripped up my throat and I threw myself into him. I buried my face in his chest and sobbed. His thick arms wrapped around me tight, holding me flush to his body. I slid my arms up his back then gripped his shoulders —
“Wait, what are you doing up?” I gasped. “You need to heal!”
Riah pulled his shirt down to show his bare, non-injured shoulder. “I am healed, see?”
I reached up and traced my fingers over the healthy skin. “How…”
“I heal quicker than most. It’s…part of my gifts.”
Cooper cleared his throat. “Um…not to interrupt, forgive me a moment, but I need to clarify…so let me get this straight…you’re telling us that you, your brother, Thorne and Sage are on our side?”