Chapter 18 - Rick #2
When he eased the door nearly closed, he left it open exactly two fingers’ width, the measure that had proven perfect for catching the note of a nightmare if one began and for letting in enough hallway light to keep monsters at bay.
Back in the office, the bottle glowered. He ignored it. He didn’t want it now. Whiskey dulled the edge of rage, but it blurred clarity, too, and clarity was what he needed most.
He was still standing there when the knock came. Three hard raps, nothing timid.
Rick strode down the stairs and opened the door to find Dane, broad as a wall and unbothered by the lateness of the hour. Nicolas came close behind, lean and sharp-eyed, with Felix himself bringing up the rear. The alpha’s presence was like cold steel.
Rick stepped back without a word and let them in, walking upstairs to his office, trusting that they would follow.
He wanted to be close to his daughter.
Dane shut the door, and Nicolas dropped into a chair without waiting to be offered one. Felix leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. Their silence filled the room heavier than smoke.
Rick braced. “Say it.”
“You were an idiot,” Nicolas said flatly.
Rick’s jaw flexed.
“You were,” Dane agreed, though his tone was less cutting, “You had her standing right in front of you, telling you she’d never betray you, and you chose to believe paper instead of her eyes.”
Rick turned to Felix. “So you were eavesdropping, then?”
Felix shrugged, unapologetic. “I was only two doors down. It was hard not to. The only reason I didn’t get involved was because I didn’t want you making any more stupid mistakes in your anger.”
Rick wanted to argue. He wanted to tell them about the letter, about the way her handwriting curved around his name, about the admission she had trusted another with words that could burn his plans to ash. But the words jammed in his throat.
“She was writing to her friend,” Nicolas said, leaning back, “Katie. The one she’s mentioned since she got here. That’s not the same as selling you out.”
Rick turned sharply. “How do you know?”
“Because I listened,” Nicolas said, “You don’t pay attention to the small talk, Reinhardt, but I do.
She’s always talking about her to Daisy and the others.
That place was a hellhole for her growing up, and from the sounds of things, Katie was the only good thing she had.
She trusted her friend. That’s not the same as espionage. ”
“Letters can be intercepted,” Rick snapped, “used.”
“Yes,” Felix said, voice flat as hammered steel, “and if they were, then your anger should have been for the hands that stole them. Not for her.”
The words hit harder than a blow.
Rick turned away, pacing to the window. The town spread out beyond the walls of his manor, down the hill, lights smeared across the black like spilled jewels.
“I couldn’t risk it,” he muttered, “not with Eva.”
“You weren’t risking Eva,” Dane said quietly, “you were risking yourself. You were afraid of being fooled again.”
Rick’s hand curled into a fist against the glass. Dane wasn’t wrong. He hated that he wasn’t wrong.
“Do you believe her?” Nicolas asked, “Right now. If she stood in front of you again, would you believe her?”
Rick closed his eyes. He saw Rosalia’s face as she pleaded with him, the tremor in her voice, the way she hadn’t flinched even when his anger had burned hot enough to sear. She had stood there and told him she would never hurt him. And he had refused to listen.
He drew a long, shuddering breath. “I don’t know.”
“Find out,” Felix said, voice cutting the room to silence. “Don’t assume. Don’t condemn her on your guesswork. Go and get the truth from her.”
Rick turned to face them. “And if the truth is worse than I fear?”
“Then deal with it,” Felix said, “but deal with it head-on. Not like a coward hiding behind old scars.”
Rick stiffened, and he turned back to the window. “I couldn’t if I wanted to,” he said, his voice full of bitterness, “she went back to her father.”
The spike in tension was palpable.
“Rick, she could be in danger,” Felix said. “You need to go get her.”
“She made her choice,” Rick said, the words catching in his chest. “I always gave her a choice.”
His wolf howled within him.
The room went quiet again. Nicolas tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. Dane shifted his weight, restless. Felix remained still as stone, eyes never leaving Rick’s face.
Rick was just beginning to question his judgment, just beginning to admit that maybe, just maybe, he had been wrong, when Dane’s phone rang.
The sharp trill shattered the silence. Dane yanked it from his pocket, answered with a curt “What?”
Rick watched the change in his face. Alertness sharpened into something darker. His eyes met Rick’s, grim.
“They’ve moved,” Dane said.
Rick’s stomach dropped. “Who?”
“The Black Claws. And the Green Mountain Pack. Scouts say they’ve crossed the border. Heavily armed. They’re coming straight for us.”
Felix’s arms uncrossed. His voice was low, dangerous. “How many?”
Dane listened a beat more, then swore under his breath. “Too many.”
Nicolas was already on his feet, expression sharpened to a blade, “So this is what all the noise was about. They’ve been planning this.”
Rick’s heart thundered. Rosalia. His wolf surged, furious. If the Black Claws and Green Mountain had invaded, then she would have been caught in the center of it.
Felix looked at him, no softness in his gaze, “You wanted clarity, Reinhardt? Here it is. They’ve declared war.”
Rick’s fists clenched at his sides. He thought of Eva asleep in her bed, of Rosalia’s empty room, of the way he had let his pride drive her from him.
There was no more time for whiskey. No more time for doubt.
He turned toward the door, voice harsh with command, “We move. Now.” His wolf agreed, but beneath the snarl, there was something else. The sharp, desperate knowledge that Rosalia was not at his side, safe under his protection.