Omens (The Dark in You #6) - Suzanne Wright Page 0,46

to keep a secret for your child’s sake, you would, wouldn’t you?”

Harper nodded. “I would.”

Hell, she was keeping secrets to protect Asher. Keenan was one of the very few people who knew of those secrets.

“But that doesn’t erase the issue—we can’t offer you protection unless we’re fully aware of the situation,” added Harper.

Thea leaned forward slightly. “Will you promise me that, no matter what I tell you, you won’t take Lane from me?”

Knox twisted his mouth. “I can promise you that, yes … providing he isn’t in any danger from you.”

“He’s not.”

“Then tell us your story. Or leave—one or the other.”

Thea shifted in her seat and squared her shoulders. “Lane has a rare and substantial gift. One that Gavril wants to exploit. He called for a meeting with me and Lee-Roy after we first separated. Gavril convinced him that it would be a good idea to ‘rent’ Lane to demons who’ll pay enough money to utilize his gift in some way; he promised to give us a percentage of whatever money Lane earned.”

Keenan exchanged a look with Levi, who was lounging on the sofa, looking deceptively relaxed. It wasn’t uncommon for Primes to rent out their demons, but that only happened with adults, and those adults had to consent to such a thing.

“I went ballistic,” Thea continued. “I made it abundantly clear that I would never allow anyone to use my son. Jesus, he’s four.” She raked a hand through her hair.

“What happened next?” prodded Harper.

“I stormed out of the meeting. Lee-Roy turned up at my home that night. He tried to convince me to change my mind. We had a huge row. I reminded him that it was his job to protect our son, not to allow someone to exploit him. He marched out, furious that I wouldn’t ‘see reason.’”

Well then, wasn’t he a miserable piece of shit.

“Gavril called me the next morning,” Thea went on. “He asked how Lane was doing; said it must be so hard for me to be a single parent; said he could see how stressed I was, and that maybe I’d find it easier if Lane went to live with Lee-Roy. It was a threat, plain and simple—if I didn’t come around to his way of thinking, he’d take Lane from me.”

Thea looked at Keenan. “That was when I first tried contacting you. I knew that, because of your past and how protective you are of children, you’d see a boy when you looked at Lane, not a thing to be used. I knew you wouldn’t ignore that he needed help. But you wouldn’t return my calls.”

“I won’t be made to feel guilty for that,” Keenan told her. “You could have explained to Knox why you wanted to speak with me; you could have at least mentioned that you wanted help for your son. You didn’t.”

“Because I didn’t feel I could trust anyone but you with the information. Now I have no choice but to take a chance.”

“What happened next?” asked Harper.

Thea turned back to the Primes. “Lee-Roy came to me the night he was killed. He said that I was right; that he was a bastard for even thinking of trying to profit from our son’s gift. Said he intended to tell Gavril that he’d have to wait until Lane was eighteen. I was so relieved.

“He called Gavril and invited him to my house. Gavril fumed at Lee-Roy for ‘switching sides’ and threatened to take Lane from us if we didn’t cooperate. I don’t know which of them attacked first, but the living room turned into a battleground. Lee-Roy screamed at me to get out of there.

“I teleported upstairs, grabbed my getaway bag, headed to Lane’s room, and then teleported us both as far away from the house as I could—which, sad to say, wasn’t much further than a few blocks. My teleportation gift isn’t very strong, and it weakens me fast. I stole a car and drove us out of the neighborhood before Gavril could send his goons after us. We’ve been dodging them ever since, but I don’t know how much longer we can manage it.”

Unless she left the country, Gavril would probably find her soon enough. She could use glamor to disguise her appearance, but it was a lot harder to disguise a person’s scent. That meant hellhounds would have a good chance of tracking her.

“He’s telling people I killed Lee-Roy so that no one will harbor me, and so that he has an excuse to kill me …