Chapter 28
Hugo
The four of us walked inside, and I stopped dead when I got a look at the nymph woman on the other side of the table.
She was… tiny. Like super tiny—thin, lithe, and even though she was sitting, I knew she was incredibly short. The photo Basil had shown me hadn’t done her small size or beauty justice.
She was beautiful in a sort of ethereal way. She looked mystical and like she would maybe sprout wings at any moment… or perhaps turn into a tree or some kind of plant that lived in the water.
That was obviously her nymph magic making me think that.
Because she was definitely a nymph.
Obviously, Basil had said she came from a nymph family, but I could actually tell what she was without anyone pointing it out.
It was crazy how easily I identified her based on my senses… and not just my sight and smell, but also my sense of her magic.
I was definitely getting better at this.
Her white-blonde hair and bright green eyes only added to her fairy-like appearance, and I couldn’t help but feel like she wasn’t a threat at all.
Which was incredibly naive. She was a threat. She’d been working against us this entire time. Her family had been trying to kill me.
Hell, her family was the reason I was now a vampire—even though that had been a blessing in disguise, all things considered.
After everyone took their seats—Hiro standing by the door with the three of us sitting across the table from the woman—Basil made introductions, and before he could ask her a single question, she asked, “You’re really Hugo Rochfort?”
“I am… how do you know me? We’ve never met.” I was even more sure of that now that we were in person.
“No, we haven’t. But the last time I spoke to my cousin, Phia, she said she was going to see you. Next thing I know, she turns up dead. So what happened? Did you kill her?”
I jerked back in response, shocked and horrified that she’d think that. “Wh-what? Of course not! I’ve never hurt anyone, let alone someone I considered a friend.”
She stared at me for a long moment, her intense gaze making me want to wiggle in my seat. Finally, she said, “I believe you.”
“Okay. Good.” I had no idea what to say.
“What happened, then? Were you there when she died?”
I looked down at that table, and Zay placed his hand on the back of my neck, offering the comfort and strength I needed to tell this story once again.
By the time I was done telling her how Phia died, the woman had her eyes closed, and I saw a tear streak down her cheek. She wiped it away angrily, and I noticed her hands were cuffed together with what appeared to be magical handcuffs.
I did my best not to stare at them, and even though she was maybe a bad guy, I was glad that everyone in the room gave her a moment to process the death of her cousin—or at least the manner in which she’d been killed.
After a long time, she sniffled a little, wiped her face, and said, “I want a deal. If you can guarantee my protection, that you’ll help me change my name and move far away where my clan leader can’t get to me, I’ll tell you everything.”
Basil said, “Easy. Done. We can keep you safe from Theroli Egawa.”
“I need it in writing. Signed and legally binding.”
Basil sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Fine. Give us a few minutes. Come on.” He waved us out of the room, told us to stay in the hall, and marched off, looking pissed.
It only took him fifteen minutes to return with a big stack of papers—it must’ve been nice being an Ellwood and having all those connections to get things done quickly—and when he walked into the room, he waved us back in.
We all took our seats across from Anithea, and Basil slid the stack of papers over to her.
She took what felt like a million years but was probably only a few minutes to look everything over before she signed in at least five places. She passed the stack back to Basil, who signed the papers himself, then set them aside.
Anithea said, “Alright. I’m ready. Ask your questions.”
Basil didn’t hesitate to jump in. He started by asking basic questions about her clan and everyone in it.
It was all interesting, but didn’t really seem relevant to me.
But what the hell did I know? I was absolutely not an interrogator.
I was just grateful that Zay’s uncle hadn’t asked us to leave yet.
I was pretty sure Zay was thinking the same thing because both of us remained quiet during this, not bringing attention to the fact that we were still in the room.
“Alright. Tell us everything about this plot against Hugo.”
“It wasn’t really Hugo Theroli wanted.”
“Then who was it? Zaos?”
She shook her head. “Not… exactly. Let me… let me tell you why so you understand better.”
Basil waved her on.
She took a deep breath, nodded, and began her story. “After the Berserker War, my clan, like many others, was relocated.”
My eyebrows rose, surprised she was starting so long ago, like way before Zay and I were born—close to five decades ago, for crying out loud.
She continued, “Our original home had been destroyed during the war, so the leaders that be gave us new land—a beautiful lake surrounded by forest. Unfortunately, the forests outside of our small land were sold off. This was maybe fifteen years after we’d moved there…
give or take a few. Whoever bought the forest cut it down and built a bunch of large buildings on it.
Our beautiful land was surrounded by cement and the ashes of our trees. It was horrible. Disgusting.
“Eventually, all their filth started coming onto our lands and into our lake. Theroli took his concerns to the new government, and they did nothing. No one was willing to help us, even after we’d begged over and over again.”
My eyebrows rose again because I’d always heard great things about our government helping people, especially when it came to finding appropriate homes. Was all that stuff that I learned in school bull shit? Did our government really ignore people in need like that?
The thought made my belly sour, and I decided to ask Sebastian about it. He’d tell me the truth.
Anithea kept going with her story. “Our lake and forest were polluted and unsafe for our young, so we had to move. Again. We’ve had to move from place to place until we were finally forced to seek out cheaper living in the city.
We’ve been down on our luck and have been living in Clairiston City.
If you know anything about my people, you know that city living is really bad for nymphs and can do bad things to us mentally.
My entire clan has been suffering for a long time. ”
I wanted to ask why they didn’t seek out help again. Surely there were people willing to help. Hell, if they’d asked Zay’s grandparents, I knew they would’ve jumped in right away. I understood that no one helped them initially, but they’d clearly not been asking the right people.
Right?
I grimaced at myself because I knew it wasn’t as easy as all that. Sometimes the systems in place didn’t work for everyone… if there were even systems in place to begin with.
“Theroli started looking for help in… um, darker places, I guess you could say. He came across an old friend—Bokkai.”
I tensed at that name. I knew it. It was the real name of the man who’d tried to kill me months ago. My old boss, Bart.
Anithea nodded at me. “Yes, I believe you knew him as Bart?”
I nodded.
She continued, “So anyway, Theroli and Bokkai started talking a lot, spending a ton of time together, and even though none of us knew it at the time, they started making all these plans. Bokkai got it into Theroli’s head that Ailin Ellwood contributed to our plight and that we needed to get him back.
Theroli wouldn’t listen to any of us. We tried reasoning with him, but he seemed to believe Bokkai over everyone else.
It was almost as if the old kitsune had placed him under a spell.
Hell, he probably had. Not that any of us could sense any magic on him.
“Anyway, after Bokkai’s death, it seemed to solidify this whole get-back-at-the-Ellwoods…
thing. Theroli decided to take matters into his own hands, or rather, our clan’s hands.
He came up with a plan to install some of our members in the Ellwood coven itself, use their influence and money to set our clan up in a good, permanent home, and then take the Ellwoods down from the inside. ” She paused for a long moment.
“All of this simply because some kitsune said it was my dad’s fault?” Basil asked, sounding suspicious.
In my head, Zay said, “Bart was a really old kitsune, so he could’ve done something to this Theroli guy, and because there isn’t a ton known about everything kitsune, especially the old ones, can do… well, it’s possible a spell he cast on the nymph could’ve remained even after he died.”
“So none of this is his fault?”
Zay tilted his head back and forth, giving a slight shrug. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Even if he’s under a spell, he’s old and strong enough to… fight against it.”
“So… what? He decided he wants to attack the Ellwoods?”
“Likely so, yes.”
Anithea sighed, looking sad, exhausted, and a tiny bit scared.
“I told you. Nymphs living in the city makes us a little… nutso. It wasn’t difficult to convince the rest of the clan that the Ellwoods were to blame for everything bad that’d happened to our family.
Honestly, aren’t people always looking for someone else to blame?
Isn’t it easier to blame others than to take responsibility yourself?
Not that my clan did anything wrong at all.
Well, not before we ended up entangled in this… whole thing.”
Basil nodded. “Right. Okay. So what exactly was this plan? How were you trying to take us down?”
She glanced at me for a brief moment, then stared straight ahead at the wall across from her.
She seemed very upset, but she kept on going with her story anyway.
“Phia was chosen to try to marry into the family, but after she met the Ellwoods, especially Kian, she realized they—you—were all… good, and she didn’t want to do it anymore.
She begged Theroli to let her leave Kian, but he wouldn’t let her… he hit her… beat her… a lot.”
I watched a tear roll down her cheek.
“And… well, she stuck to the plan for a while after that, but she felt so guilty. She truly cared for Kian and liked his family, so she told Theroli that she was leaving, not only Kian, but the clan as well. He told her she couldn’t, and she said it was her decision and she wasn’t going to help him with his asinine plan anymore.
She said she was going to come clean and then leave the city.
“That was the last time I saw her. Obviously… obviously Theroli had her killed rather than let her give up his secrets.” Another tear ran down her cheek, and she wiped it away without seeming to notice her own movements. She was kind of in her own head, it seemed.
After a moment, Basil said, “What happened after Phia left? After she died?”
She regarded him for a moment. “I didn’t want to believe he’d really have her killed… but my sister, she… she heard him do it. She heard him call someone and order Phia’s death, and I didn’t believe her. And now she’s dead too. My sister… Theroli has truly lost his mind.”
She shook her head and wiped away more tears. “I was with my sister, and while I didn’t really believe that Theroli would do such a thing, I didn’t stop her from calling Phia to warn her. The way Phia believed her right away made me think… well, I stopped trusting Theroli after that.
“Anyway, Phia decided to go to Hugo instead of straight to Kian. She thought the assassin would be set up near Kian’s house or work.
She thought she was outsmarting them, but…
well, you know what happened. I… I knew it too.
I just… I wanted to confirm it with… you.
” She looked at me, and I gave her a nod of acknowledgment.
Everyone was quiet for a long time, just processing all of that information. It was… a lot.
Finally, Basil asked, “Was Phia the only one sent to infiltrate us? It sounded like there was more to this plan of Theroli’s.”
Anithea flinched, then cringed. “No… she was just the first. Theroli had a… backup plan, I guess you can call it.”
“Who else? Who else is a part of this?” When she didn’t answer right away, Basil slammed his fist down on the table, making everyone jump. “Who the fuck else, Anithea?”
She glanced at Zaos, and I tensed up because I knew… I just knew exactly what name she was going to say.
“You know her as Beatrix Grail. Her real name is Beatrix Egawa.”