Reaching Answers (Artemis University #8) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,49
at him with our disgust. “I’m fine, thank you.” He cleared his throat again and pulled out a book from his coat. He put it on the table and slid it over to me. “I am of the firm belief that mental illness runs in Mason’s family and the ramblings in there are of a madman.”
I caught the journal, understanding it was Mason’s grandfather’s journal Mason had learned so much from. I tapped my fingers on it. “Your proof?”
“Mostly that there is no proof that anything he writes in there is accurate.” He held up his hand to hold off my rebuttal. “Yes, the potion you were drugged with was real. It almost killed you. I talked with both Edelman and Salzman, and we think that is probably what happened to the fairy written about in that journal. From the writings, the deceased Mr. Rodriguez states the fairy was of no mentionable birth.
“However, she was powerful and hundreds of years old and that was what he thought caught his heart and bear. It’s a lot of insanity wrapped around snippets of truth. I showed Edelman what I found and he agrees that Mr. Rodriguez killed the fairy and lost his mind from there. There is no proof he had any children with anyone other than his mate. And only one. Before that all happened.”
“Did he lose his mate?” Iolas asked.
“Yes, from the records I found, she died giving birth to Mason’s father.”
“If they were fated mates or even just their bears bonded, that would explain a bear losing his mind if she died,” Iolas told me.
“Yes, but the family possibly has mental issues in their bloodline as Mason is proof of,” Collins added. “I checked the names in the book of the supposed children and there is no record. He doesn’t list the names of who he sold them to, but he writes enough that there were glaring hints and… None of them had random, unexplained adoptions or sudden mates.
“I poured over family trees and matings, and there simply is not a single shred of evidence to any of it. If I found one among the dozens he claims, I would have continued and kept going but… He was unhinged. There is truly nothing there. Edelman agrees.” He pulled out a USB drive from his coat and slid it over as well. “That is all of my research, even scanned documents from archives.”
“Which makes you very nervous to give her,” Iolas muttered. “Why?”
“You aren’t supposed to have access to them or copy them,” I answered, raising an eyebrow when Collins winced. “Why?”
“I owe you for what I did. I did not think you were as injured and traumatized as you were. It was selfish and—I am a rat bastard. I have never said otherwise. But even I have lines, Ms. Vale, and practically emotionally raping a student is well over them. I hope once you look this over, you see I am willing to make amends.”
“Because he needs your help,” Neldor surmised.
“Wait, let’s finish this first,” I muttered. “How did you get access to this stuff if you can’t normally?”
Collins sighed. “I can. I’m a dean at Artemis. I have access to a lot because of that and for research. Copying and giving any of it to you with how many councils are gunning for you is what makes me so nervous. There are several family trees of elite vampires on that drive. If my council finds out I gave copies of them to you… Artemis will have one less dean.”
I bobbed my head and then sighed. “You are a rat bastard, Collins, but you’ve kept your word with me. I’ll keep mine with you. And yes, this goes a long way to clearing the debt you have with me. You knew White could have done more and better for me, that you weren’t my only option that night. You’re a sneaky man and took advantage of the situation.
“I can’t even fault you that. What was so egregious to me was I tried to get you to drink from my wrist and you demanded my neck. That is your crime with me. It was obvious I couldn’t handle that and you pushed me, knowing my friends were in danger and I would do it to protect them.
He let out a long sigh. “I’m not sure I had enough depth of thought that night after you agreed to let me drink from you.”