“Look who I found,” he said, before pulling out a chair for her.
She set her tray down. My eyes widened as I took in the dismal selection. There were only like … five things on her plate, and one was granola.
“Where’s the rest of your food?” I asked.
She shrugged as she sat. “I don’t eat much for breakfast.”
I’m sorry, what? Who was this crazy lady? Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, closely followed by lunch and dinner and three or four snacks in between.
Tyson’s dimples appeared as he smiled. “Are you sure they’re sisters?”
I ignored him. “Where’s Jake?” I asked Maximus.
I was a little worried about him. He was taking the fey death very personally. I didn’t want him going off half-cocked trying to find the killer.
“He’s over at the council table,” Maximus said. “Trying to get some more information out of them.”
That reminded me. “We need to have a chat with a troll today too.”
Mischa’s green eyes widened as she glanced around the room. My words seemed to have reminded her of Stratford’s various inhabitants. Many of whom did not appear even close to human. Because they weren’t. Today was her first full day in the community. It must have been a little overwhelming.
I closed my eyes then as a sweep of power washed over me. My father had arrived and he wasn’t alone. Rumbles were trying to burst from my chest, but I forced myself to stay calm. After a few rounds of counting to ten I could even open my eyes and pretend the new arrivals weren’t there. From the corner of my vision I was locked in on everything that was happening. I wrinkled my nose when Lienda took the seat next to Mischa, laying her delicate fingers onto my sister’s shoulder. Jonathon took the chair beside her. They were both nursing coffee, but I’m guessing they would’ve had breakfast hours ago.
Lienda swept her gaze around the table. “I’m very happy to see you all eating together,” she said. “I appreciate you helping Mischa adjust to her new life.” Not that I was looking at her, but it was hard not to notice that the woman had really weird eyes, like they couldn’t make up their mind. One minute they looked blue, the next green.
Her long blond hair was stylishly cut, in layers with a sweeping side fringe. She looked young, early twenties, but we all did until we reached at least a hundred years of age, and then we looked about thirty in human years. It was a slow aging process. I wanted to stare at Lienda, examine every tiny detail of the mother I’d never known. I forced myself to stare at my hands instead.
No one at the table said anything. The Compasses were not giving her particularly friendly glances.
“I know this is difficult, Jessa.” Jonathon’s voice was even, but there was something under the calm tone. I scented the air. It was very subtle; he was nervous. “But you need to hear the entire story before you judge either of our actions. Lienda and I made the decision together, there were no other options.”
So he had lied to me in the hall. He had known.
It hurt deep in my chest when he admitted he was part of this entire scheme to keep me in the dark about my family. When I was a little girl, I asked him all the time why Mom had left us, but he’d never say anything. It was from others in the community that I’d heard the multitude of rumors of why Lienda abandoned us. I figured Jonathon was too heartbroken to speak of it. They were a true-mated pair and losing Lienda would have felt like losing his heart and soul. I’d never understood how she could leave her mate, hence my immense hatred for her. Jonathon had been a dark man for my younger years, but over time he seemed to heal a little, until finally I had a father again. But for a long time I was alone, except for the Compasses. The way they rallied around me, keeping my spirits high, nurturing my wounded soul – not to mention their stupid shenanigans – gave me countless opportunities to laugh my ass off. For all of that they had my eternal gratitude.
Jonathon’s voice was low as he continued. “This is not the place for this discussion though.”
There was definitely no hiding anything in this hall. We were under more scrutiny right now than the human president at election time. Yeah, we didn’t vote, but we watched television.
Lienda leaned forward. “Let’s take a walk through the forest.”
I tilted my head to the side, still not meeting anyone’s eyes. “I’m not quite finished with breakfast.”
I heard a few cleared throats. Tyson was actually squirming as he tried to contain his laughter.
Jonathon was either hiding a grin or fighting the urge to throw me across his knee and smack me, but since I wasn’t a kid anymore he was going to struggle with that. “I’m sure you’ve had enough, Jessa.”
What was he talking about? Okay, yes there were three empty plates, numerous scattered tubs, three mugs, two glasses, and two dessert bowls stacked in front of me. But … breakfast was important.
With a sigh I stood, slamming back my chair with my calves. It screeched across the floor, drawing even more attention in our direction. “Let’s get this over with, then we can all resume our normal viewing stations.” Something told me I was kidding myself. These interruptions were permanent and my life would be forever changed.
We walked in silence, just the four of us. I’d made the boys stay so they could finish their food. Braxton had shot me hooded eyes; he wasn’t happy. Oh well, he’d give me grief when I got back but that was okay, I knew how to handle him. Despite the fact the quads were my pack, I knew Dad wanted to do this with just the four of us. His wide grin when I stopped the Compasses was a bit of a giveaway there.