Ripper (Hunter #1)(103)

There were five ayes and no nays. I was off the hook for the killing. It was quick and I probably should have been relieved.

My pardon was seemingly unimportant to the king. He had bigger fish to fry. “Excellent. Mr. Atwood, you are the oldest of your mother’s three children.”

“I am.”

“Do you remember a trip your mother took roughly two months after giving birth to Nathan?”

Jamie thought for a moment. He would have been five at the time. “We went to visit her cousin. My father was on an extended hunting trip and Mom packed us up and headed west to see…I think her name was Gina. We stayed for two months and then Dad showed up and we went home.”

I didn’t even know Mom had a cousin named Gina. Dad had never let us leave the state without him.

“What city did Gina live in?” The king seemed to be enjoying his stint as prosecuting attorney. Or was he defending me? I couldn’t tell.

“Las Vegas,” Jamie replied.

That seemed to mean something to a whole bunch of people in the crowd. There were gasps of surprise, and the woman I now knew was the queen had a sheen of unshed tears in her hazel eyes.

“And Kelsey was born eight months after you returned home.”

Jamie’s face fell as the implications hit him. “Are you trying to say my mother had an affair and Kelsey isn’t my father’s child?”

“There is no doubt on that count,” Daniel replied with a grin, as if he hadn’t knocked my entire childhood on its rear. “Your sister donated blood at a blood drive two months ago. I took the blood and had a DNA test done.”

I remembered that blood drive. It had been at Liv’s school and she’d been so insistent that I come. She’d promised me dinner if I went and helped out. At the time, I’d thought she wanted to spend time with me, but now I knew. She was under orders.

Daniel looked at me with a smile like what he was saying was a good thing. “Your father’s name was Lee Owens. He was Zack’s brother. Zack is your uncle.”

Zack smiled at me, but I still didn’t feel a thing. A numbness had settled over me. “This Owens guy was a lone wolf?”

“Yes,” Dan replied. He seemed a little surprised I wasn’t thrilled to discover some werewolf I’d never met had knocked up my mom. “I’m sorry to tell you he died about ten years ago.”

“Okay.” What did they want from me? I felt vulnerable standing there in that big, intimidating room with all these powerful people staring down at me. I didn’t even have a freaking pair of shoes on. They obviously wanted me to react in a certain way, but I couldn’t. I only wanted one thing. “Can I go home?”

The vampire sighed. Things obviously weren’t going according to plan. “Kelsey…”

The door in the back flew open.

“Kelsey!” Gray yelled, looking for me as he strode through into the room. His eyes widened as he took in the scene in front of him.

I didn’t hesitate. I left the king behind and ran, flinging myself into his arms. Big, muscled arms wrapped around me and I tried to sink into his warmth.

“I want to go home, Gray,” I said into his chest. There was nothing I wanted more.

“I’ll take you home.” He picked me up. For the first time all afternoon, I felt really safe. He glared at the assembly. “This woman belongs to me. You have no authority over her. Leave us alone.”

He turned and started out, but the door was quickly closed and three big dudes with large guns barred our way out.

“I can’t let you leave with her, Lieutenant,” Daniel said. “And you know it.”

Gray’s jaw firmed stubbornly as he turned to face the king. “You into kidnapping, Donovan? Are you going to keep her here against her will?”

Quinn walked up and stood beside the king. “She’ll stay here once she fully understands how important she is and what you’ve done to her.”

Gray carefully put me down, but his arms stayed around me. He held me possessively and stared at the faery. “I have done nothing but love her and get her to fall in love with me.”

Quinn frowned. “Did you? Tell me something, Kelsey. Did he tell you the truth about himself?”

“Yes, he did.” I didn’t get why everyone was so against me being with Gray. He’d been upfront and honest about his parentage and I’d accepted it. We were adults. It was our decision as far as I could see. “I know he’s half demon. I don’t see where it’s your business. It’s between me and Gray. Stay out of it.”

He shook his head. “I can’t do that because I don’t believe he’s told you the whole truth. Has he told you that he’s been feeding you fertility drugs?”

Gray gasped behind me. “That’s a lie.”

“It’s not a lie, Kelsey,” Daniel said with sympathy. “Dev caught it this afternoon. All he had to do was touch you to know someone had been playing with your fertility.”

“It was faint the night you came into the club, but it’s quite powerful today,” Quinn agreed.

My hands tightened around Gray’s arms. I wasn’t about to believe it. “I have that ring thing. I can’t get pregnant.”

Dev shook his head at my naiveté. “The drugs he has been using on you are far more powerful than anything a doctor can give you. That device is supposed to stop ovulation, but I promise you’re ovulating right now.” He turned his attention to Gray. “What did your father promise you if you produced a child with a Hunter? Was he willing to let you go in exchange for a powerful child?”