Chapter Four

My lair had gathered around our small ceremony hall and people bowed their heads as I walked through the crowd, carrying Megan to the stone slab. I didn’t want anyone else touching her. She had been my responsibility, practically my wife, the woman I loved and lost.

My family stood to one side with my friends and Megan’s family stood on the other side at the head of the slab. Kurt’s eyes held contempt for me but Mary had been graceful even in her sorrow. I didn’t mind Kurt blaming me, I blamed me.

I laid Megan down gently on the stone slab and wiped a stray hair from her face. She looked peaceful, almost serene if you looked at her from the left, her skin untouched by the violence that had ultimately claimed her.

“Dragonkin of the Grey lair, tonight we gather together to bid farewell to Megan Greer,” Elder Michael began.

“I call upon Sire Ryder to join the deceased and leave his parting gift to follow her into the afterlife,” Elder Victor said.

“I hand you this knife, made of dragon stone, to make a cut on your body and let your blood as a Sire protect the departed soul from your lair,” Elder Cliff said.

He handed me the knife and I blinked the tears away. I made a cut on the palm of my hand and let the drops fall onto Megan’s forehead. I pressed my thumb into the blood and trailed it down to the middle of her eyes.

“Megan Greer, I hereby grant you the protective powers of my blood to serve you in the afterlife as the Drakaina of the Grey lair, to fulfill your journey in peace and love, until we’re reunited.”

“We now pray for the blessings of our gods to grant passage to their child seeking refuge from the darkness. May they watch over us from above and guide us on our journey on Earth, let us find inner peace and remember the love that she shared with us and spread forth only goodness,” Elder Michael said.

There was a mandatory ten minutes of silence as everyone stood with their heads bowed. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling now. Abeloth separated from me and he bowed his head down close to Megan as a tear dropped on her cheek.

“It’s time Abeloth,” I said as he stepped back and breathed a breath of fire on the logs around her.

We stood in front of the slab and watched her burn, the fire licked at her hair and I stepped forward as the flames leapt around her body. Abeloth and I had been thinking the exact same thing but I knew that this wasn’t something you just accused someone of.

“We’re very sorry for the loss of your Drakaina,” Elder Cliff said as they stood in front of me.

“Thank you,” I said as Abeloth glanced at me.

“You’re not going to tell them?” he asked me.

“Not yet,” I said.

I listened to people’s condolences for another hour before the crowd started to thin. Lucas and Rylee were talking to Mary and Kurt, away from everyone else and I was biding my time. I could be very patient when I needed to be.

“Emily’s making coffee for everyone,” Lucas said as I stepped into the living room.

I had said my goodbyes to the lair members and had stood hugging Linda for what seemed like forever as she cried. She and Megan had been close and there was nothing I could say to make her feel better about any of it.

“I’ve had enough of all this bullshit Sire Lucas,” Kurt said.

“If I were you Kurt, I’d think long and hard about your next words,” I said.

“We’re all hurting, we loved Megan too Kurt,” Lucas said.

“He didn’t!” Kurt yelled.

My hand closed around his throat and I had him up against the wall next to the fireplace before anyone could even react. I realized then that I hated him, hated him with everything in me. My face were inches away from his as I slammed his head against the wall.

“Ryder!” Lucas said sternly as he gripped my arm.

“What do you want Kurt?” I asked him.

“Retribution for the death of my daughter,” he said.

“In the form of what?” Lucas asked him.

“Money,” he said and I started to laugh.

“Of course you want money,” I spat out.

“Her death was hardly Ryder’s fault,” Lucas said with disgust.

“You saw what she looked like! Someone hurt her and if it wasn’t him then it was because of him! I’ve heard the stories, he spent two weeks at some beach probably whoring around with anything that wears a dress!”

“Fuck you Kurt!” I said angrily. “You have no idea who I am and you had no idea who Megan was either!”

“Both of you calm down now!” Lucas looked at both of us, his eyes holding a silent warning.

“If you want retribution I suggest you go through the proper channels,” I said and turned to leave the living room. “Get out of my house.”

“The man’s hurting Ryder,” Lucas said to me almost half an hour later where I stood in front of my bedroom window.

“He’s using this as a golden parachute,” I said.

“We’ll sort it out, if it’s money he wants we’ll pay him,” he said.

“He won’t get one dime from me,” I said and turned around.

“It hurts, I know, but now’s not the time to lash out,” he said.

“What if the letter wasn’t meant for me?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What if it wasn’t my debt that took her life, but Kurt’s?”

“Anything’s possible,” Lucas said.

“I’ll prove it,” I said to him.

“Be careful who you voice this to,” he said.

“I’m not an idiot Dad, but she was taken, beaten and Typhon only knows what else was done to her. She was alone and scared and that knowledge just about kills me because not for one second did I think to look for her,” I said as emotion took over.

“We’ll find whoever did this,” Lucas said as he wrapped his arms around me.

“No, I’ll find whoever did this and then I’ll kill him,” I said.

“Don’t go off on the deep end Ry,” he said as he looked sadly at me.

I stood in front of those windows until the sun rose and Link placed a cup of coffee on the table behind me. We hadn’t spoken much but I knew that he was hurting and angry too. He’d back me on this, he’d hold the reins so I could find whoever was responsible.

“Link …”

“I know Ryder, you need to find who did this to her,” he said.

“I will find him or them, whoever it is,” I said.

“I know.”

“I was so stupid …”

“You couldn’t have known,” he said.

“I should have Link. Things were perfect between us. Thinking back now, she had no reason to just leave me,” I said.

“Everything’s always clearer in retrospect,” he said.

“It’s killing me to think she might’ve waited for me to come save her, to find her,” I said.

“So find the motherfucker who took her,” he said with conviction.

“Ryder?” The knock sounded on my door.

“Come in Emily,” I said.

“Be careful cousin. The journey ahead will give you something you’re not seeking,” she said.

“Meaning what exactly?”

“I’m not sure,” she said.

“I wasn’t planning a trip,” I said to her.

“You’ll be leaving soon enough,” she said.

“We all loved Megan, I can’t even imagine what you’re going through now. Go do what you have to do, we’ve got your back,” Link said.

“Thank you for being here, for being my family,” I said.

I knew how to plan an assignment, what to do and what not to do. So I kept my mouth shut and took care of the most urgent lair business while mentally preparing myself for what I had to do. Only Link and Emily knew of my imminent departure and I wanted to keep it that way.

“Just check in please, I don’t want to get another phone call from you in the middle of the night telling me you’ve been abducted and tortured,” Link said and I smiled.

“Abeloth is under strict orders to separate and get me out of any situation that could get us killed,” I said.

“Good, I’m not dealing with Lucas on my own again,” Link said.

I didn’t even want to deal with Lucas on a good day so I couldn’t blame Link for not wanting to either. Lucas could be a maniac, his temper was legendary and I was well aware of that fact, having pissed him off enough times.

A week later I packed a duffel bag, grabbed some cash, two sets of false identities, my real passport and took a shower. I slept for four hours and woke up at one am. I already knew that he was home alone, his wife and daughter had gone to visit their family, but he had opted to stay behind.

I kept to the speed limit as I drove to Aurora and parked a block away from his house. The streets were quiet and empty, the darkness giving me enough cover as I walked to his house. I hadn’t exactly told Lucas that I’d be leaving this soon but one thing was for certain, I’d find the truth.

‘The journey ahead will give you something you’re not seeking.’ Those had been Emily’s words to me, a warning perhaps, maybe a hint at a truth that I didn’t want to know. I didn’t care about getting hurt, I couldn’t possibly hurt any more than I already did.

“Time to get some answers,” I said.

“Can you do this halfling?” Abeloth asked me.

“No regrets today Abeloth. We need answers, I don’t care what I have to do to him to get them,” I said.

“Even if you have to kill him?”