“I thought as much.” I smiled at her, and for once, it didn’t feel like I was wearing a pleasant mask to be more diplomatic. “And thank you.”
“For what?” she asked like she wasn’t the most incredible person I’d ever met.
“For everything.”
I meant that with every fiber of my being.
Between our security untying the assassin and taking him to a healer, then rounding up our little brother, it took longer than I would have liked to get everything settled. Thankfully, Cherry was whisked away before that point, and I hoped she’d get all the rest she deserved.
As we drove Jackson to a safe location, Chris let out a truly heavy sigh. He looked so exhausted, so raw, that it was almost startling.
“You all right?” I asked.
“No, Paul, I’m not,” he snapped, but there was no heat to his words, none of that bite I was so used to.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about—” He let out a frustrated sound. “What’s to talk about? Our brother and father were violently murdered by someone with no psychic signature—whatever the hell that means—and someone else, or maybe the same person, is trying to kill our little brother with a whole bunch of assassins. When you look at this logically,I’mthe most likely suspect.”
Oh.
I could see why that would bother him.
“Why do you think you’re the most likely suspect?” I asked cautiously. I wasn’t used to hearing Chris sound so hurt, so vulnerable. Hell, it sounded like he was on the verge of tears. I knewwhy,especially after what Cherry had told him, but I figured if he was verbalizing it, there might be other things he wanted to say.
After all, I couldn’t remember when I last saw Chris shed a tear. Maybe when our mother died? Luther had been the one to help all of us through that, our father had been far too much of a wreck. But nowLutherwas the one who was gone…
“Because I’m the one who stands to gain the most! Think about it, the alpha and the alpha-heir were killed, and I’m most likely to inherit the role now. We have no real political rivals and have gotten along with the other three major families on the East Coast, so it’s not like another alpha did it to absorb us.”
I opened my mouth to object, but he kept on going. “And you remember that meeting I told you about?”
I nodded.
“It was a presentation—with evidence, charts, and all sorts of things I thought weresoimportant—to convince Father that I should be his heir because Luther wasn’t truly dedicated to the cause.”
Fuck.
I didn’t answer immediately, but only because my soul and mind were violently hurtling in opposite directions. “Why did you think Luther wasn’t dedicated to the cause?”
“I… Fuck. Jealousy, probably.”
Perhaps my exposure to a psychic had imbued me with some of her ability, or maybe I knew my taciturn brother better than most. “Chris,” I said cautiously.
“We shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. It’s not like it matters. Luther died fighting to save our father and was ripped to pieces for it.”
I blanched, my mind flashing back to that arm. Part of me tried to reason it could be someone else’s, but no, my brother was massive. Few would have such long limbs, and even covered in viscera, his scent had been there. “He did.”
Chris fell silent, and I was beyond grateful that Jackson had decided to nope out of reality by putting on his noise-canceling headphones and listening to some art podcast or another.
“We’ll figure this out, Chris,” I said finally, shoving my conflicting feelings aside. I’d unravel and examine them later. “First things first, we hide Jackson and keep him safe. Next, we figure out who’s hiring these assassins before anyone else decides to hunt the rest of us down.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It’s not, but we’ll figure it out anyway.”
“I hope you’re right.”
So did I. But I had a feeling we had a real ace in the pocket with Cherry, who suddenly seemed to be very dedicated to helping us. Surely with someone who had such powers, the truth would be revealed.