Chapter 63

Ethan frowned. his face held a similar expression that I think mirrored my own confusion. “Why would witches interact with Grace?” He asked but there was something off in his question that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but it made me a hesitant to listen to anything else he had to say.

“I was hoping you would tell me,” Rhys prodded.

“I don’t understand.”

“I want to know if you know of any witches, or anything about witches interacting with Grace.”

“No.” Ethan answered, but there was a little bit of panic in his voice that he was trying to hide. “No. The Blood Moon pack kept business very close to them. They really didn’t reach out to other packs. I mean, even you the Alpha King didn’t know that they were Lycans. I had to fight tooth and nail to get every piece of information I could.”

“And that information was always about Grace?” Rhys tried.

“Usually.” Ethan was looking everywhere but at us. In fact, he was staring straight ahead at the leg of my chair, almost like he was lost in his memories. “I mean, I took any information I could get. So, sometimes it was pack related. Sometimes, it was Grace specific, but my informant could never get too close. They would never let him or anyone else to my knowledge get anywhere near Grace.”

“Why?” Rhys inquired; his voice held just enough curiosity to keep the tone light.

“Well, I assume it was because they didn’t want people asking questions about Grace. Kinsley was considered the legitimate heir, and Grace was Grace. As a child she was kind and gentle, and people generally liked her even though they rarely saw her. She was always helping with chores or just hidden away from sight. Kinsely was a lowkey monster from the beginning. She was demanding and entitled, especially as she got older it became more noticeable, so the only real option was to make Grace unavailable, logically speaking.”

“But your informant didn’t tell you that,” Rhys stated. “You came up with your own conclusions on that?”

“Yes. My confidant was a teacher at the school, and he never saw Grace attend, but Kinsley did. And Kinsley often bragged that she was smarter than her sister. That her sister couldn’t even talk anymore, she was ‘that stupid’, let alone read or write. A lot of my information came from Kinsley herself whether the confidant heard her say it, or it was a rumor she started. She was the only reason any information about Grace ever got out.”

He knew I couldn’t read or write? He knew I didn’t speak? He hadn’t seemed surprised when I talked to him in the office last week... Had he? Was I overthinking this or was this not adding up? He knew more about me than I knew about myself, and I hated it. He knew so much about me, but I couldn’t even formulate a single memory with him... I had no recollection of anybody else growing up with me. It made me uncomfortable, and I had to fight the urge to bolt.

“And who was this informant?” Rhys pressed.

“His name was Bryan Reed.” Ethan answered easily.

“And where is he now? Has he been in contact since Grace left Blood Moon?”

“As I told you before,” Ethan answered sharply, “He was executed shortly after the Luna died.”

Bryan Reed... I knew that name, didn’t I? I had heard some of the gossip about him when I was younger. His name was taboo now in the pack, wasn’t it? He had been a young man, who all the girls had fawned over till his execution. I had rarely ever seen the man though... I had always been locked away if there were visitors or sent somewhere in the opposite direction. If it was the same man, anyway.

“Why would he have told you about me?” I asked, my voice was meek, but it was still my voice.

Ethan’s eyes flickered up to mine, and it was like I was looking at my father again, but with less hostility.

“He was a friend of the man who sort of raised me.” Ethan answered, his gaze unwavering.

I nodded, but I felt nauseous. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, but this conversation wasn’t sitting well with me.

“Okay,” Rhys said, standing up, and putting his hand out again for me to take. “I think we’re done now. Thank you for your time.”

I could feel the emotions rolling off of Rhys as we exited the cell and headed back to the house. I couldn’t quite place exactly what he was feeling, but it all felt conflicting and frustrating. I wished I could read him the same way he could read me, but I couldn’t, and his face and body language were just as unreadable.

“A penny for your thoughts?” I asked after a while when I couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“I just- I don’t trust him.” Rhys answered after a long moment.

“I can’t say I do either,” I confessed before asking. “But why don’t you?”

“Partial truths do not equate to the whole truth, and his stories are too accurate at times for me to believe he knows as a little and as much as he says he does.” Rhys answered after carefully choosing his words.

I nodded, that made total sense to me. I had felt that my supposed brother knew far too much about me and yet very little about anything important. It didn’t quite add up, but I also knew that I had been skeptical from the beginning and thought I might be too hard on him. Just because my memory of my life was weird didn’t mean other people had the same problem.

“That makes sense,” I said after a moment. “But why are you so tense about it?”

“I’m not tense,” Rhys answered, but they were reflex words, rushed out and not thought about at all.

“Do not lie to me, Alpha King Rhys,” I stopped in my tracks, forcing him to stop in his, and look at me, surprised by my boldness. In truth, I was surprised to. “I may not be literate, but I am not dumb. Are you keeping something from me?”