56. Chapter Fifty-Six - Leigh
Chiara Dunn’s research is the answer to ending this war.
We need to move quickly now that the sun has almost set.
I reach to grab Wilder’s arm and tell him this, but he has turned away from me.
Before I can blink, he’s marching to Bennett, who is cowering, cornered by Brigid in the back of the bedroom, his wide eyes darting to the door.
Wilder clamps a hand on the back of Bennett’s neck like he’s subduing a puppy, and I gape at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Bennett has something he wants to tell you,” Wilder growls.
I shake my head.
I need to act while Alden is still napping.
“Can it wait?”
“I’m Stellan’s source,” Bennett bursts out.
I blink once, then twice, my thoughts scrambling.
Not Bennett, not again.
He had already proven he wasn’t the person I thought he was when he sided with Eos in October to get me an audience with the Magician.
Then, he lied about Corvina, and now, he admits to being Stellan’s fucking source.
If this is a dream, somebody better fucking pinch me because I don’t know how Bennett and I will get past this.
We barely managed to do so before.
“Explain. Now.”
“Corvina and I aren’t dating. We work together,” Bennett begins.
His gaze flicks to Wilder, who frowns.
His disappointment in Bennett mirrors mine.
“Shortly after you rejected my proposal, she and I started talking.” He pauses, swallowing hard.
“We bonded over the sting of rejection from you and your brother. But later I discovered she sought my friendship because of Stellan.”
I freeze, and each of my muscles tenses like a snake.
“Corvina introduced me to Stellan,” Bennett continues in a rush.
“They work in the same field, and she started feeding him pieces of information her editors passed on that were deemed too salacious for print. But they needed someone to corroborate their stories about the Council—someone whose word could not be doubted, so Corvina came to me. She told me working with Stellan would be worth my while. I swear, Leigh, I never intended to hurt you.”
“But?” I prompt through gritted teeth.
“I’ve tried to talk to you about this before, but you never listen to me.” Bennett’s voice is so dense with emotion that chills brush over my skin.
He tried to tell me?
“When the guilt of helping Stellan became too much, I wanted to confess everything to you. The night of the blackout, I was ready to tell you the truth, but you were too focused on your problems to hear me out.”
He inhales a deep breath, trying to compose himself.
“I’ve been having nightmares about what would happen if you were deposed, and it terrified me. I wanted to come clean, to tell you what I’d done, but you never gave me a chance. When you asked me to spy on Janus, I agreed because I knew there was no getting through to you otherwise. It was a way for me to watch you without raising suspicion. It eased my guilt about lying to you.”
My hands ball into fists.
He told me he wanted to talk at the Council meeting before the blackout.
Did he intend to come clean about Stellan then, only to be scared back into submission by Corvina’s text?
I should have pushed him to talk to me.
Instead, I’d been consumed by that text from Corvina.
I let it bother me more than it should.
Still, I was right to suspect foul play.
Corvina pushed him to become Stellan’s source.
But I pushed him into hiding it from me.
If I had listened, maybe we could have avoided this mess.
“What did Stellan promise you?” Something he says sparks an idea.
He’s been having nightmares about me.
Could those nightmares end with me getting my brains scrambled by a leucotome?
I shudder, remembering the dream I’d fallen into last week.
I thought it was Janus’s, but what if it was Bennett’s?
That would explain why I had trouble entering it again; I’d been focusing my efforts on the wrong person.
Anguish swirls in his ocean eyes.
“He told me he’d reveal the truth about how my parents died.”
“I’m confused. You know ho?—”
“Stellan told me it wasn’t an accident. They were murdered,” Bennett admits, tears rolling down his cheeks.
He removes his glasses to wipe his eyes with his sleeve.
My anger dissipates like steam.
The anniversary of Bennett’s parents’ death just passed, and from all the years I’ve known him and his grandparents, I know the pain of losing them was still raw for the entire family.
The news of their passing had been in all the papers; Coral and Duke Grey died in a boating accident on rough seas.
I can’t help but wonder if Stellan is taking advantage of Bennett’s vulnerability, but at the same time, everything Stellan has written so far has been true.
Why would this be any different?
“What has Stellan told you?”
“Nothing yet. That’s why I wanted to accompany you to Aurora. I’ve given him everything he’s asked for, but he hasn’t returned the favor.”
I nod.
It makes perfect sense why Bennett agreed to Janus’s request for him to travel with me.
I bet he would have volunteered if Janus hadn’t asked.
But he isn’t here to act on behalf of the Council.
He is here to get the answers Stellan owes him.
It’s why he was so angry about missing the meeting at Furies.
Bennett likely had plans to ambush Stellan there.
But now, Stellan is with the wolves, and Bennett may have sold his soul for a second time with nothing to show for it.
I want to shake him, scream at him, throw him out for this betrayal.
It hurts to know he’d stab me like this again.
But as I look at him in his tear-filled eyes, I see Ravi hurting over his sister.
I see myself withholding information from Wilder because sharing would be a burden.
Bennett is not my enemy.
He is a man in pain.
This wouldn’t have happened had I paid attention to that earlier and listened to him, rather than used him for my own schemes.
“I need answers, Leigh. They were the people I loved most in the world. They didn’t drown in that accident; they were Sea Witches , and I need to know the truth. I am not sorry that I made a deal with Stellan, but I am sorry you got caught in the crossfires,” Bennett says.
“Do you think you could ever forgive me?”
More tears stream down Bennett’s cheeks, and though he lied to me, manipulated the situation with Stellan, and threw my brother under the bus, I still understand why he did it.
I’ve been on my quest for the truth.
“How did you know about Fynn?” I ask.
Bennett wrings his hands.
“I didn’t. Fynn confessed to Corvina.”
I gasp from the sudden, jarring clarity.
It all makes sense now.
Fynn must have deeply loved her to entrust her with such a dangerous secret.
Could that be why he broke things off so suddenly and rushed into a marriage with Gianna?
Was he trying to escape the truth and bury it under the pretense of a new beginning?
I shift toward Bennett, leaving Wilder gaping at my side.
He tenses as if he will pull me back but remains still as I wrap my arms around Bennett.
He stiffens at first, then crumbles.
I let him cry on my shoulder, his tears soaking through my shirt as I hold back my own.
I’ve been on my quest for the truth, and though his methods, once again, were deplorable, I can still emphasize his need for answers.
“I forgive you,” I whisper, and Bennett cries harder.
I clutch him tighter as my heart cracks.
He’s been carrying this pain for so many years.
“The truth about my brother is out there, and so are Zeus, Alden, and their army. There’s no time to waste on being angry.”
Bennett sniffles as he pulls away from me, and though the sting of his betrayal still lingers, I have also done terrible things searching for the truth, like agreeing to get Harborym daemon venom, which was used to poison Janus.
“I doubt the others on the Council will be as forgiving as you,” Bennett says.
“Probably not,” I reply honestly.
He winces.
“But we’ll deal with that later. Right now, our focus needs to be on the wolves. They have Stellan and my grandmother.”
“You said you have a plan,” Brigid chimes in.
I nod.
“I do. Alden has a mate who is now a vampire against her will. He blames Vyvyan for the presence of vampires in Lua. If he believes his mate is gone for good, he will continue to aid his brother and his invasion to get revenge by killing Vyvyan and any other vampire he deems responsible.”
Brigid sucks her teeth.
“You lost me. Isn’t she gone for good if she’s a vampire?”
I sigh, then turn to Wilder, who looks at me as if he were miles away rather than by my side.
He crosses his arms, no longer reaching for me, but his love for me lingers in his guarded expression.
What I say next may send him over the edge, but I am tired of lying.
I don’t want to be as lost and lonely as Bennett.
“Your mom requested the Council’s help to fund her research. She’s been working on a cure for vampirism. Last week, Janus gave the go-ahead, and we gifted Chiara the necessary funds. I plan to infiltrate Alden’s dream, convince him there’s a way to save his mate and that his brother is to blame for her current condition, and then promise him the cure.”
Brigid stares at me, wide-eyed, while Wilder blinks.
I fidget under his scrutiny, my skin prickling with heat.
He glares at me.
I inhale a shaky breath, hardly able to stand it.
I want to beg for forgiveness at his feet, but that isn’t me.
He knows me better than anyone and knows I have issues, yet he fell in love with me regardless.
He pinches the bridge of his nose, asking, “Isn’t it a gamble to promise Alden a cure that is still in development?”
I lift my chin, fighting my smile because he isn’t running from the room, cursing my name.
“Have you ever known your mom to fail at anything?”
Wilder’s jaw works, but he doesn’t refute me.
My grin broadens.
“What about your grandmother and Stellan?” Brigid asks, gathering her long, dark hair into a thick braid.
“I’m hoping Alden will return my grandmother as part of our deal.”
Brigid laughs.
My resolve hardens, and so does my fist, a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by the female Blade, who smirks.
“That doesn’t assure her safety if he says no,” Brigid says.
“Well, it’s not as if we can storm their camp and get her back. We don’t even know where they’re keeping her,” I counter.
“I can pinpoint their location,” Bennett offers quietly.
“How?” I ask.
“Scrying.”
I gape at him.
Sea Witches can use water to receive information or messages, and some can even use it as a form of divination to locate lost things.
It’s not a skill every Sea Witch possesses.
“You can do that?” I ask.
“Yes.” The word is a declaration, a promise.
“It’s a risk,” Wilder adds as he paces in short spans.
I watch him as he continues to war with himself before he says, “I think we should do it. Let’s find the camp. If negotiations go to shit, at least your grandmother will have a fighting chance at survival.”
I say nothing.
I am determined to get my grandmother back, but I am unsure if I want to trust Bennett to help me with something so personal so soon.
Wilder gapes at me when I don’t immediately answer, and he sighs, grabbing my wrist.
“Can I talk to you?” he asks.
I swallow as he leans in close to whisper, “What he did is fucked up in a million different ways but, Leigh, you’ve given him your forgiveness. Now, can you lend him your trust?”
My gaze meets his.
Wilder’s lips press together, but he isn’t tapping his foot or forcing my hand.
He is letting it be my decision, even though he wants to work with Bennett.
If, after everything, Wilder is willing to trust Bennett, then maybe I can get past the icebergs of hurt bobbing within me and work with him too.
I’ll deal with the consequences when Corona’s fate isn’t hanging in the balance.
“What materials do you need?” I ask Bennett.
Bennett rattles off the list of the needed materials, and Brigid takes notes on her phone.
I grab Wilder’s hand.
There’s so much I want to say.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur.
Wilder’s gaze lifts heavenward as if he can’t believe I am apologizing.
He deserves more, and I silently vow to do better, to be better, for him and us.
I love him and must tell him before we run out of time.
But before I can, Gianna enters, followed by several others.
“What did I miss?” Gi asks.
Wilder peers down at me, a tight smile on his face, and I squeeze his hand.