On a normal day, Evan wouldn't have appreciated any jokes meant to lighten the mood of a tense situation, nor would he relish thinking she pitied him by asking if he was okay. So neutrality seemed like her best bet at getting him to open up.
That being the case, she asked the most obvious question she could think of, and it was something she honestly couldn't figure out. “So if you didn't break into the duplex and learn about Joslyn that way, how did you find out?”
Without a single trace of warmth in his eyes, Evan answered, “Because I know about the pack she belongs to, and a lot of others.”
Hearing this, Emily realized it was a good thing Caleb had adjourned to the surveillance room with Maddox, otherwise her brother wouldn't have opened up at all. The coldness in his blue eyes when he mentioned knowing about Joslyn's pack was extremely unsettling, making Emily hope he didn't believe she was biased because Joslyn was her best friend.
But if Evan believed she was too uninformed to have a legitimate opinion about lupines overall, maybe she could get him to educate her, which would hopefully reveal more about what he was doing.
“But how?” she started. “The Bastion told me how your father was really killed, but—”
“That's how,” Evan interrupted sternly.
Emily immediately grew quiet to let him continue, which he soon did. However, he strangely avoided going into detail over the particulars of what he'd witnessed concerning Cooper's death, and stated instead, “I had no idea what lupines were, and for a while, I thought I was just going crazy. I started seeing weird shit, like glowing eyes and fangs, and I was too afraid to even work.”
Thoughtfully, Emily inquired, “Is that when you disappeared?”
He nodded, adding obliquely, “And I eventually figured it out.”
It didn't take rocket science to know he wasn't saying everything, but Emily decided not to push just yet, asking instead, “What did you figure out?”
Evan shrugged confidently. “The exact thing this place proves, that there's a ton of shit in the world we're ignorant of. Not just lupines, but vampires and who the fuck knows what else. So I wasn't crazy, I was just seeing the truth, and that's when I started looking for the bastards who killed my father.”
Emily offered the most understanding nod she could manage. So that's why he's doing it. Now came the difficult part; getting him to talk about his methods.
Yet, as if she'd asked the question aloud, Evan explained, “At first, I was just spying on packs, sending people in to gather information by getting to know who I thought could be a lupine. That's how I learned about Joslyn's pack. Wanna know what I found out?”
Emily was almost afraid to say yes, but she needed to keep him talking. “What?”
“Their alpha, Brady Sandton, is running a ring of newborn wolf fights. In other words, they're kidnapping humans to turn into lupines against their will, and forcing them to fight to the death as wolves.”
“Oh my god,” she whispered, honestly horrified. Newborn wolf fights? That was exactly what Stephan said Cooper was betting on, and he'd described the practice as illegal. Additionally, Caleb's response to learning what Evan's father had done proved most lupines abhorred the practice.
But it was obvious that Evan's information was wrong—or perhaps outdated? Emily had never heard of Brady Sandton, and if he used to be the alpha, she just hoped that Cade's current leadership meant their former boss had been stopped.
But, oblivious to her more current knowledge, Evan nodded in response to her exclamation and stated sarcastically, “Yeah, they're such good people, right?”
He thinks they all do this to humans. Realizing her brother was definitely biased against lupines, she decided not to try explaining that Hunter's Moon deemed those wolf fights illegal, otherwise he'd just argue his points.
So she asked instead, “But who could you send in to spy on them and get that kind of information?”
“I had some volunteers,” he replied vaguely. “The hardest part was just figuring out the pack's habits, but it's a piece of cake when a lupine takes an interest in a human.”
“Takes an interest?”
He nodded. “You don't know about their bonding bullshit?”
Again, Emily played dumb by shaking her head no.
Evan scoffed. “Stupidest damned thing I've ever heard of. It's supposed to be some permanent connection, mates and all that. But it gets them to open up and admit the truth about what they are because they'll wanna turn the human to keep the relationship going.”
“Then you were instructing the spies to … date them?”
“Whatever it took,” he returned coldly.
Who are you? Emily had never been very close to her brother, but he seemed more like a stranger now than ever before. He sounded so absolute, as if all lupines were evil beyond a doubt, and there was nothing he wouldn't have done to accomplish his goals.
Yet he let a sad sigh following his statement.
“What's wrong?”
Grumbling, Evan related, “It was just fucked up when they got suckered into the relationship.”
“You mean the spy?”
He nodded, momentarily growing silent—and even looked partly confused, as if unable to remember some event he wanted to tell her about.
But he soon turned his gaze back to her and changed the subject entirely.
Or tried to.
“Emily, who brought you here exactly? Was it—”
His question was interrupted by the door suddenly slamming open, causing Emily to jump. Looking up at the entrance behind her brother, she saw Caleb emerging from the hall, approaching the table with a fire raging in his glowing copper eyes the likes of which she'd never seen.
But before Emily could say a word, he reached down and grabbed Evan's collar, quickly lifting him up to slam into the nearest wall.
“I'm gonna rip your fucking throat out!”
Emily stood up just as Maddox and Stephan rushed inside, grabbing Caleb to pull him away from Evan before he could do any actual damage—and she knew the vampires were using a lot more strength than Caleb possessed.
But he didn't seem to care, struggling to get back to her brother and, if his glowing eyes and fangs were any indication, make good on his threat.
“Who the hell are you?” Evan demanded.
“Caleb, calm down!” Stephan remarked sternly.
“Fuck off, bloodsucker!”
Stephan rolled his eyes.
But they continued holding him back while Caleb demanded the name, “Fiona Elliot! Lie to me, asshole, tell me you don't fucking know her!”
Hearing Fiona's full name, Emily's eyes widened in recognition, her gaze quickly turning to Evan, who looked slightly confused. She could only hope the expression meant he had nothing to do with her. Yet concern was roiling in the pit of Emily's stomach, all because of the surname Elliot, and deep down, she knew Caleb was right to ask his question; had Fiona been a spy sent to get information on the Arkin City Pack?
Sadly, Evan's next statement proved those suspicions correct.
His confusion seemed to clear up as he remarked, “Oh yeah, I knew her. Not very well, but … wait, Caleb? As in Caleb Hodgins?”
With that question asked, Evan gave a look of enlightenment and added, “So you're the one she wouldn't betray.”
Caleb's reaction was immediate, his enraged bellow filling the room as his body tensed, shifting into a wolf. The change was so swift it caused Maddox and Stephan to lose their hold on him—and he quickly took advantage of his freedom, darting toward Evan much more swiftly than Emily thought he'd be capable of doing.
“Caleb, no!” she cried, instinctively throwing herself between him and Evan just as the wolf leaped into the air.
As a result, Emily was knocked over, landing with a hard thud and a large, angry wolf snarling above her. The sound of her glasses clattering against the floor mixed with her fearful cry of Caleb's name, and she squeezed her eyes shut as his fangs snapped toward her thro
at.
But even in the midst of her fright, she recalled his quick reflexes at Blue Moon, and how he'd removed her from Carter's reach before the drunken lupine could accidentally hurt her.
Would he be so quick to realize what was going on now?
That must've been the case because several seconds passed without pain, and Emily finally opened her eyes to see Caleb lifting his head back, his fierce expression having softened immensely.
With several loud whimpers, he backed away in obvious regret for his mistake, his ears flattening against his head.
And the sorrowful sound broke Emily's heart.
Caleb had blamed himself for Fiona's death for years, and he'd very likely do the same thing now for nearly attacking her. Yet she harbored under no misconceptions that he wanted to hurt her. His reaction to the discovery that Fiona had been spying wasn't at all unwarranted—and she was the one who'd jumped in the way.
But that was a matter to be dealt with later. At the moment, Evan was her primary concern, and as Stephan and Maddox squired him toward the corner and away from Caleb, he was insistently announcing his innocence while railing against lupines.
“You see, Emily! He doesn't give a damn what happened, he just wants to kill!”
Planting her hands against the floor, Emily sat up with a glower in Evan's direction, ready to yell that he didn't know how wrong he was. But she was momentarily distracted when something moved against her fingertips.
Turning her head, she saw Caleb pushing her glasses to her hand with his nose, and as soon as she took them, he shamefully ducked away.
Her heart twisted in her chest knowing he was trying his best to make up for what he'd just done, and she'd tell him she didn't blame him as soon as she could. But for now, she put her glasses on and made her way to her feet, returning her attention to Evan as he added, “But I never touched Fiona, I wasn't even there! She went to see someone else when she learned the truth, and I can prove it. The day Fiona was killed, I was in Chattanooga with work. I remember because I got a call about it.”
Killed? I thought Fiona committed suicide. Emily stared at her brother in confusion, and still in canine form, Caleb froze and did the same, obviously wanting to demand information.
So Emily asked his questions for him. “Wait, she was killed?”
In response, Evan remained stubbornly silent, perhaps realizing he'd said too much—and she couldn't take it anymore.
“For fuck's sake, Evan! Who killed Fiona? Give up the stubborn shit and just tell us so we can stop more people from dying! Was it Carson?”
“Carson?”
“Yeah, your friend, Carson Elliot. Was he related to Fiona? Or maybe Sam Gibbons was the one who killed her.”
Emily would never forget the names of the guys who'd harassed her about modeling in the nude. She had no idea if there was any connection between one, or both, but the fact that Carson shared a surname with Fiona was too strange to be a coincidence.
After several moments of silence from Evan, he finally admitted, “Fiona was his cousin, and yeah, he got her into spying on the Arkin City Pack.”
“Did he kill her to keep her silent? Or did Sam do it?” Emily insisted.
“Why the fuck should I tell you anything?” Evan snapped, adding in reference to Caleb, “You're obviously not paying much attention to what that shithead just tried to do, or what they did to my father!”
“Your father was a lupine, Evan!” Emily returned angrily. “He was turned before you met him, and Caleb had nothing to do with his death! Joslyn had nothing to do with it! But you're blaming all of them anyway, and you're doing it without knowing the facts!”
Evan grew extremely silent, glaring at her as if she'd just blasphemed worse than anyone in history, and the anger in his eyes built until he finally yelled, “My father was not a lupine, and even if he was, they killed him! So I was giving as good as he'd gotten!”
Caleb had returned to normal and redressed himself by that point, walking over to stand a few feet away from Emily—and they all shared a confused look. If Evan had witnessed his father's death, he would've surely noticed Cooper turning into a wolf to run away from Travis, wouldn't he?
So why was he claiming his dad wasn't a lupine now?
“Evan, what did you see that night?” Emily asked curiously.
“Does it matter? The only reason you came out here is because you wanna help them out!”
“I came because of you! You're in prison, and I'm worried!”
“Bullshit! You just wanna impress him, don't you? Whoring yourself out now just like you did in Arizona!”
Emily flinched as if he'd actually struck her. But she had no chance to respond before Caleb stepped in her way to glare her brother down, issuing a growl in a clear threat.
She thought he might hit Evan, or at least start yelling. Even Maddox and Stephan looked wary letting him get so close.
Yet his growling soon stopped, though Caleb's voice was guttural when he remarked pointedly, “You said you knew Brady Sandton was involved with newborn wolf fights. So guess what? Your father was, too, and he was confronted about it because that shit doesn't fly with us, just like murder doesn't fly, and your search for revenge has cost innocent lives, including human lives.”
“Fuck you, freak! You don't know what I went through—”
Caleb's fist suddenly connected with Evan's chin in a quick hit meant to silence him, and it did the job. As Evan reeled from it, Caleb continued angrily, “It's got nothing to do with knowing what you went through, and everything to do with me not giving a fuck! Just like you don't give a fuck about what I went through, or what Fiona's family went through! Instead, all you wanna do is yell about how wrong I am for trying to attack you, but that's exactly what you did to us, to her. Your guys killed her without caring that she meant something to me just like your father meant something to you!”
Each word was pointed, guttural, and after a deep breath, he added more calmly, “So tell me why I shouldn't advise Hunter's Moon to demand The Bastion hand your sorry ass over so we can tear you apart, huh?”
Evan glared, but there was a spark of doubt in his gaze when he called Caleb's bluff. “They wouldn't do that!”
Still standing next to him, Stephan pointed out, “Actually, they would. You and your associates have killed enough wolves and allies alike that The Bastion won't be able to offer much protection unless you give them a reason, like naming off your friends and helping us find them.”
The vampire's comment had Evan glancing back and forth between them, and the way his expression had taken on a hint of fear was so out of character.
Emily could almost feel sorry for her brother, and when he glanced at her, showing such desperation, she knew that despite all he'd done, she simply couldn't turn a cold shoulder. He'd made mistakes, and he'd have to pay for them. But she wasn't his judge or jury, and she wouldn't stoop to his level.
“Evan, I know they're your friends, but you have to tell us who was working with you so this can all be fixed,” she urged, on the verge of tears. “Please? I don't want you getting in more trouble than you're already in. If you don't do it for me, do it for mom! You know she'd want you to.”
In a surprising moment, Evan turned his gaze down in sorrow, maybe even shame, as if she'd actually managed to get through to him. But Emily didn't push him further, remaining silent to see if he'd agree—and finally, he made an offer.
“Okay, I'll do it … if you make me a promise.”
Emily hesitated, unsure what he might demand. But if it got him to tell The Bastion everything, wouldn't it be worth it?
So she asked softly, “What's that, Evan?”
More seriously than she'd ever heard him speak, he stated, “Get the hell away from that pack, Emily. Move back home, and don't let any of them sucker you into their bullshit.”
“Evan … ,” Emily trailed, knowing in her heart of hearts that was a promise she couldn't make, and not simply because Joslyn was her best friend, or
she was developing feelings for Caleb. “Living in Arkin City is about a lot more than my friendships. I have an actual career there, and I'm building the life I want.”
“It's not worth it,” he insisted. “They'll ruin that life. So promise me you'll get away from them.”
Emily found herself shaking her head before he could even finish his request.
“I can't,” she reiterated.
It wasn't easy holding Evan's gaze after her denial. His blue eyes had grown colder than she'd ever seen them, and his next statement didn't make the situation any easier to handle.
“If you can't promise to get away from them, knowing what they'd do to me, then I'm not telling anyone jack shit. So watch your back, Emily, because there are more of us still out there, and they will find you.”
Chapter 26
“That's enough,” Stephan responded sternly to Evan's threat, pulling the bound human away from the wall to lead him back to the facility's holding cells.
After the door shut, Maddox sighed, remarking, “For as badly as that went, at least we now know for certain he wasn't working alone, and we'll investigate the two men you mentioned, Miss Sterling. So could you tell me a little more about them?”
Emily nodded, wasting no time qualifying everything she knew about Carson Elliot and Sam Gibbons. But her gaze was downcast the entire while, and Caleb could barely pay attention to the conversation.
Everything he'd just learned about Fiona was turning his world inside out, to say nothing of his anger over Evan's insinuation that his friends would cause trouble for Emily later.
Topping it off was his immense remorse for his mistake. I almost bit Emily's throat out.
A shiver of horror rushed through him at the mere idea.
Thankfully, Maddox seemed to realize they needed a few minutes alone because, once Emily finished with her descriptions, her heels began clicking across the floor on the way to the door where she mentioned, “I'll let you know when Stephan returns, and we'll talk more then.”
With that said, she exited, and as soon as they were alone, Caleb couldn't stop himself from turning to Emily to issue a profound apology.
Hunter's Moon Page 21