Ripper (Hunter #1)(109)

“I think he’s probably safe. He brought me liquor after all.” I showed her my pilfered rum.

The queen held up her own bottle and I noted it was a damn good tequila. “He’s not the only one.” She walked into the room and affectionately ruffled her son’s hair. “Go to bed, little ruffian. You might have gotten suspended, but Papa found you a tutor. He’ll be here at 7:30 in the morning.”

Lee sighed. I got the feeling he was used to being outmaneuvered by his mom. He stood up and walked to her. He threw his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. “Night, Mama. I love you.” He turned back to me. “Bye, Kelsey. I hope the alpha doesn’t kill you.”

The queen watched her son walk out of the room. “Trent, why don’t you follow my baby boy and make sure he doesn’t stop anywhere along the way?”

Trent eyed me like I would murder someone the minute he turned his back.

The queen arched a regal eyebrow and Trent sighed and walked out the door. She turned back and took a look at the bottle in my hand. She shook her head. “No, that won’t do. Let’s drink this.”

The Queen of all Vampire sat down across from me and pulled the cork on the bottle of imported tequila. She didn’t wait for me to tell her I didn’t have any glasses much less an actual kitchen in my crappy cell. She took an extremely long swig from the bottle and passed it to me. She didn’t look very queen-like in jeans and sneakers and a black sweater. It was similar to mine, and I figured out where I’d gotten the clothing from. She filled it out better than I did. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

I took the bottle and matched her. “You’re not what I expected.”

“I rarely am,” the queen replied. “Let’s talk, you and I. First off, I am so sorry my husbands are dipshits.”

“I’m sorry, too,” I replied, unwillingly liking the woman.

“Sometimes I think they make each other worse,” she mused. “They have a mutual admiration society for each other’s Machiavellian plots. They enjoy intrigue far too much. You should have been told what you are right off the bat. If I’d been doing it, I would have invited you to dinner, explained what you are, and offered you the training to control it.”

“That probably would have worked better,” I allowed. “If the dinner was really good, that is.”

She smiled. “Oh, it would have been good. I know the way to a wolf’s heart.”

“I’m not a wolf.” The denial was automatic. Even as I said the words, I knew I was lying to some extent.

She took another swig. “Not fully, but I think you’ll find you fit in well with wolf society, probably much more so than you ever could with humans. If you give it a chance, you might be able to find a home here.”

“I don’t need a home.” I felt surly. A couple of hours before I’d been moving into my new home, the one the man I loved had bought for me. Now I had a f*cking cell.

“Spoken like a true loner,” the queen said. “Your father would have said the same thing.”

“Don’t call him that,” I shot back. I was starting to get emotional again. Twitchy. It was the only way to describe it. I couldn’t help but think about the dreams I’d had since childhood. They’d been just that—dreams. I’d had no loving father. Apparently he’d been here, busy taking care of the queen. “He was some promiscuous * who knocked up my mom and went on his merry way. There are probably ten more like me out there.”

The queen’s hazel eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’ll ignore that because I know what it feels like to be where you are, but understand your father would have loved you. He would have done anything for you had he known you existed. If Lee Owens had lived and discovered who you were, he would have come for you and nothing would have stopped him.”

I wanted to believe it. I wanted to believe someone wanted me. “How did he die?”

The queen sighed and it seemed the memory hurt her on a fundamental level, but she talked about it anyway. “It was right before Daniel took over. We were betrayed by a demon. He gave up our location to the head of the Council. Zack managed to get Daniel out of there, but Dev, Lee, and I were left behind. The vampires knew Lee would never allow them to take us, so they filled him so full of silver he couldn’t move. He fought so hard. I begged him to take vampire blood and save himself. I begged him to run, but he wouldn’t. He said he couldn’t. Are you going to use this fight with Castle to kill yourself?”

Sneaky queen. I was still thinking about the man who fathered me as I answered the question. “No. But if it happens, it happens. I won’t take back the accusation, Your Highness. I’m right and he’s wrong. If I die because of it, then I do.”

The queen sat up and leaned forward, tears shining in her beautiful eyes. “He would be proud of you. I really hope you don’t die, Kelsey Owens. I would really like for you to get to know my son.”

The door opened again and I was glad to see Marcus walk in. The talk with the queen made me anxious. It ran across my nerves, bringing up all sorts of feelings. I’d managed to shut out so much of what I was feeling, but she and that boy were bringing it all up again.

I wouldn’t have a son because Gray was gone, my mind raced. I didn’t have a family anymore because they’d all lied to me, including my mother. Jamie hadn’t lied, but I didn’t feel like being fair at that moment. I didn’t have friends because who would want to be friendly with some freak. I didn’t fit anywhere. I wasn’t a wolf and I wasn’t human.