Anchor of Secrets by Tessa Hale

49

My stomach roiledas Maryanne moved down the aisle. Everyone stared at her with blatant curiosity. Everyone except my guys, who glared at her with blatant hatred.

She painted on a look of grief, and I had to give it to her; it was damn believable. Maryanne came to a stop next to Patrick, her hands clasped in front of her.

“You are the mother?” the second man asked.

Studying him more carefully, he had the size that meant he had to be a dragon or a wolf. As I looked more carefully, something told me wolf. He had an earthiness to him that I’d felt around Colt and Darius.

Maryanne bowed her head. “I am.”

The third woman narrowed her eyes on Maryanne but didn’t speak.

It was the vampire, Raphaël, that did. “Do you wish for your daughter to live among us?”

Maryanne dipped her head further. “I do not. I mean no disrespect, but her father did not wish for her to live in this world if she did not manifest. I must honor his wishes after he has gone.”

The crowd murmured amongst themselves.

My fingernails dug into my palm, hard enough to draw blood. The last thing Maryanne cared about was my father’s wishes.

Delphine leaned back against the bench. “Yet your daughter is mated to them.” She gestured toward us. “To remove her from her mates would be akin to a soul death.”

Pain lanced my chest. It was then that I knew she was right. If I was ripped away from the five guys surrounding me, I wouldn’t survive.

Maryanne’s teeth gnashed together. “But she would be alive.”

Delphine shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“I know what’s best for my daughter,” Maryanne snapped.

Delphine’s green eyes went flinty, and Patrick squeezed Maryanne’s shoulder, hard.

He cleared his throat. “The girl’s mother is simply worried for her daughter.”

I loved that, to him, we didn’t even warrant the use of our names.

Patrick went on. “We understand that concern because we feel the same for our young.”

Declan made a strangled sound at that.

Patrick’s gaze jerked to him and burned with derision, but by the time he turned back around, his face was a calm mask. “We must respect the mother’s wishes.”

“This is true,” Raphaël agreed. “Family above all else.”

“I am just worried for my daughter,” Maryanne simpered. “I miss her. I want her back with me.”

I couldn’t take it. I lurched to my feet. “She’s lying!”

The Assembly members turned to stare at me.

“We will not tolerate your disrespect,” the vampire snarled.

“Isn’t lying to you a greater disrespect than speaking out of turn?” I demanded.

“I would never lie to The Assembly,” Maryanne snapped.

I didn’t bother looking at her. I kept my eyes on The Assembly. “She has never loved me. Never cared about me. She has beaten and abused me. Her only joy in life has been at my agony.”

“I would never!” Maryanne shrieked.

“What proof do you have of this?” Marjorie asked, her voice hard.

I stepped forward, the guys at my back. My heart hammered against my ribs, knowing what I had to do. I first peeled off my sweater, handing it to Dash. His eyes were pained, but he gave me a small, encouraging nod.

I stayed facing my guys, getting strength from all the ways they loved me. Then I lifted up my long-sleeved T-shirt to expose my back.

There was a gasp and several murmurs.

“S-she’s lying,” Maryanne stuttered. “She was burned in an accident when she was sixteen.”

“My so-called mother burned me with boiling water and a pan when I was sixteen. Because she was out of her mind high and looking for my anchor mark. Determined to burn the Devil out of me.”

“Liar!” Maryanne shrieked. She lunged, but Trace shot forward, shoving her hard. Maryanne stumbled back into Patrick.

Trace bared his teeth at Patrick. “Keep your insane pet in check.”

Patrick glared at him but did keep hold of Maryanne, who was still screaming about me lying.

“Silence!” Delphine yelled, and Maryanne had no choice but to obey. “Come forward, child.”

I swallowed hard but walked toward the stage. I climbed one step and then another.

Delphine’s eyes were kind. “Turn around.” I did so. “I have a special gift. I can see the cause of any scar.”

Maryanne’s face went deathly pale.

Delphine’s hand hovered just shy of my burns as she began to chant in that same language that Dash used. Suddenly, she went silent. “You may turn around,” she said quietly.

As I did so, my eyes collided with hers.

“I’m so sorry, my child. For what you have endured.” Delphine’s gaze lifted to the crowd. “She speaks the truth. We will not let her be returned to her abuser.”

Maryanne screamed, but two guards appeared and hauled her back toward the parking lot.

Patrick’s jaw ticked. “This doesn’t change our original issue. She cannot ground them.”

“We’ll find a way,” Colt growled at him.

Patrick scoffed. “Wishful thinking.”

“Come to me,” a feminine voice crooned. It was so beautiful it almost hurt to hear it.

It was the third woman. The one who hadn’t spoken once during the gathering. The one with the amber eyes. Her face was full of deep lines, and her thick, white hair was pulled back into a braid.

“Saoirse,” the wolf shifter rebuked.

The woman just cast him a quelling look, and he snapped his mouth closed.

She beckoned me toward her, and it was as if my limbs were under her control. I moved down the table until I was standing in front of her.

“Give me your hand,” Saoirse said.

I extended it toward her.

She paused before she took it. “This is going to hurt. But it’s the only way.”

Then her hands closed around mine.

Hot, burning pain swept through me, and I cried out. The guys shouted from behind me, but then I was released, and relief descended.

Declan caught me around the waist. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Saoirse’s mouth curved. “Sometimes, pain is worth it.” Her gaze settled on me. “There is magic in her.”