19. Centuries of Secrets
Centuries of Secrets
Tara
My sneakers squelched over each step on the porch. Behind me, I was aware of Isaac’s every movement. The way his gait changed as he nursed the wounds on his side. Every subtle line of discomfort on his face.
He’s bleeding because of me.
Despite everything else, that thought kept circling back to the forefront.
I wanted to be terrified of Issac. I wanted to be angry with him.
Instead, I was oddly calm.
I didn’t know what was going on between us, or what Isaac wanted from me, if anything.
But he was bleeding because of me—because he threw himself between me and the men Jay—Jacques—sent after me.
Jay is his family.
Jay never spoke about his family. I only knew that his parents were dead, and he had no one else. No brothers or sisters. Certainly not cousins.
If Jay and Isaac were blood, it didn’t mean anything to Jay.
Light spilled out over the porch just as my foot hit the landing. A shadow filled the doorway, his features dark and unrecognizable but for his glowing golden eyes.
I shrank back, bumping into Isaac and nearly sending us both down the stairs.
A gentle arm caught me, righting me on my feet. Isaac stepped between me and the man in the doorway, murmuring reassurance.
The shadow shifted, a deep voice rumbling words I didn’t hear. A woman’s voice answered, and suddenly I was whisked inside.
“Eli, get some towels!” This time the eyes staring up at me were a dark shade of blue, framed by tanned and freckled skin.
I blinked at the skinny woman holding both my wrists, helpless as she led me further into the house.
“It’s really not funny,” she chuckled softly, “but it’s kind of funny.”
There were exactly zero things to laugh at right now. “What’s funny?”
“You look exactly like I did when I walked through that door. Seems like half-drowning is the standard initiation into the Barbeaux family.”
“I didn’t drown.”
She pulled out a bar stool for me and I realized we were standing in a totally normal, modern-looking kitchen. I was expecting something darker—a musty, old cabin with no air conditioning.
The decor had Isaac written all over it.
“Sit down. We’ll get you cleaned up.” Her gaze flicked to Isaac, flashing with an unreadable emotion, and she muttered, “Both of you.”
There was a flurry of movement as towels were handed off. Isaac disappeared down a long hallway, reappearing moments later with fresh clothes. There was dried blood on his neck. I decided not to point it out.
I hadn’t spoken to him since we got in the truck. I didn’t know what to say now.
“You want to tell me what the hell happened?” The man from the doorway stood on the other side of the island, arms crossed. Seeing him in the light, I did a double take.
He was broader, his jaw thicker, but otherwise, the man was a mirror image of Isaac. The eyes were wrong—hazel where Isaac’s were green—but if I saw them in the dark, I might not be able to tell who was who.
“Jacques sent two after her,” Isaac hissed. “Probably the same two he sent after Cady.”
“I’m Cady, by the way.” The woman with the towels gave a friendly wave. “Jacques tried to drown me too.”
Isaac’s twin snarled. Cady reached across the island and gave him a pat like he was a misbehaved dog. “Don’t scare her away. I can tell by the look on her face that Isaac has done enough scaring for one lifetime.”
“I wasn’t trying to scare her,” Isaac muttered. “I was trying to save her.”
The twin swirled his finger in the air. “Backtrack for me. What happened to the other two? If we need to move bodies, we better get gone before Saul has another hissy fit and—"
The front door swung open, thumping against the wall. Another man stepped in from the night, dark hair mussed, beard hanging over his collarbones. His eyes were blue, so pale they were almost silver.
And he looked very unhappy.
“There’s two?” The newcomer glared in my direction. “I leave for five goddamn minutes and now there’s another woman in here?”
“Saul, this is Tara. I told you about her.”
Isaac moved to stand between me and his other brother.
“Saul Barbeaux, what is the matter with you? Watch your tone.” Cady stepped in front of me too. Her arms were crossed, curly ponytail bouncing with her movement.
He looked taken aback, attention snapping to the twin with a confused expression. “Eli?”
The twin—Eli—put his hands up. “Don’t look at me!”
“You brought her here,” Saul accused.
“Doesn’t mean I can control her. She does crazy shit, and I try to keep her alive. That’s how it works.”
“She’s bossy.”
Eli’s grin spread wide. “You have no idea.”
I cleared my throat, drawing on courage I didn’t know I had to ask, “Will someone tell me what’s going on?”
“You didn’t tell her either?” Saul gave Isaac a flat look, muttering, “Do I have to do everything around here?”
“I know Isaac is a…werewolf.” I choked on the last word.
“We’re all werewolves,” Saul said like he was telling me the weather.
“I’m not!” Cady raised her hand.
“We’re all werewolves, and then there’s Cady.”
“I wasn’t going to tell you like this,” Isaac spoke up, face straining with a silent plea.
“Were you planning to tell me at all?”
His guilty expression said it all. “No one knows. No one has ever known.”
“Do you want some dry clothes or an explanation first?” Cady chimed in, her voice gentler than before.
I forced myself to look at Isaac, to hold back my reaction when I noticed the blood on his skin. “Tell me why I’m here.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing the crowded kitchen and asking, “Can we step outside for a minute?”
The anger I wanted to feel came bubbling up. Everything that came out of his mouth over the past month was a lie.
So, I drew on my anger and threw it at him. “I don’t want to be alone with you.”
Regret crystallized like ice in my middle the moment the words left my lips. Isaac’s entire body shuddered, his breath hitching.
“I understand.” He turned to Cady, refusing to meet my eyes as he rasped, “Can you help her?”
Then the front door opened and closed. Isaac disappeared into the evening. I felt the loss immediately, a gust of cold air stealing in and giving me shivers.
“That wasn’t very nice,” Saul said, leaving the kitchen to plop himself down on a leather couch.
I twisted, trying to keep him in view.
“Isaac lied to me.”
“Everyone’s a liar.”
Cady tapped Eli on the shoulder and whisper-shouted, “Why is he here?”
“I need more buckshot,” Saul answered for him.
“It’s in the garage,” Eli said.
Saul didn’t move. Eli sighed. “I’ll get it. I was going to check on Isaac anyhow.”
“I’m going to see if I can find you something dry to wear,” Cady told me, stepping around the couch and tapping Saul on the shoulder as she passed. “You Barbeauxs can make a woman feel as welcome as a skunk at a lawn party, you know that?”
Then Saul and I were alone.
The quiet was painful. His gaze settled on me, heavy and unblinking.
“So you’re Jacques’s girl.”
“Was. Briefly.”
“And you have no idea what’s going on?” There was an accusation in there somewhere. I could hear it.
“None. I didn’t know he was—you were—" My mouth felt dry. “I haven’t said anything to anyone.” Who would I tell?
“Good.” Saul stood, pacing toward me.
I forced myself to freeze, keeping my eyes on him as he circled me. At the last minute he turned, coming around the island and putting it between us.
I let out a shaky breath.
“You want to know what’s going on?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Then you’re going to tell me everything you know about Jacques. Where is he? How many others are with him?”
My eyes traveled to the door. My regret deepened. I mentally begged Isaac to come back. To act as a buffer between me and his brother.
There was something different about Saul. The air around him charged. The kitchen seemed too small for him.
“He goes by Jay now. Jay Baron. I met him in Victoria. That’s where he lives.”
Saul passed me a piece of paper. “Write the address down.”
While I wrote, he asked, “What about the mutts with him?”
“Mutts?”
“The other werewolves. Did you know the two you saw today?”
I searched my memory, trying to recall the faces of Jay’s employees. I did my best to avoid them. They always stared too openly, standing silently in the shadows of the garage.
I couldn’t say what I didn’t like about them. At the time, I thought it was because Jay was doing something illegal. They were his accomplices. Criminals.
Maybe they were something much worse.
“I didn’t know them. Not the two from today. But there were others. I don’t know if they—"
“How many?” Saul interrupted, his agitation increasing by the second.
“Maybe a dozen?”
He cursed.
“Here’s what you need to know: Jacques believes in the old ways. Our blood is stronger. Better than the mutts like the two who came after you. He thinks that means they owe us something. That we should control them.”
He ran a rough hand over his face, fingers tangling in his beard. He tugged it once, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly.
“He’s wrong. There’s nothing we can do for them. There’s nothing they can do for us. We’re not like wolves. We’re not natural. You get too many of us in one place—it only ends one way.”
“So, how did they become werewolves? How did you become one?”
“You don’t become one. We were born this way. All of us. A curse passed from father to son.”
“Why are you stronger?”
“Because we’re the first.” The words sounded like a death sentence. “The Barbeaux line is where it all started.”
Quieter, he said, “And if my cousin gets his way, the Barbeaux line will be where it all ends.”
My head was swimming. I couldn’t decide which question was most important. “What does this have to do with me?”
“I don’t know what my cousin wants with you.”
“What about Isaac?”
Saul studied me for a beat too long. “Isaac gave up everything he wanted to protect our family secret.”
I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “What did he want?”
“A better life than this.”
“Clean clothes!” Cady announced, returning with a bundle. “I’m built more like a sapling than a woman, so I didn’t have too many options. These should fit you well enough until Isaac can get you new things.”
“Thank you, but—” I turned back around. Saul was gone.
Isaac gave up everything he wanted.
Except me.