of my mind, and I wasn’t sure where it would take me. Something I’d learned during my long career as a slayer was that I couldn’t second guess myself. I had to make my choices based on the information available and trust that I’d made the best choice I could have.
Even if it all went to shit in the end.
That’s all any of us can do, and regret is absolutely useless.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t sorry for how some of the choices I’d made had impacted other people. I never wanted to hurt anyone who didn’t have it coming, but I couldn’t say I’d choose differently. There was a reason I’d made those choices to begin with. To look at it any other way would drive me insane with what-ifs and regret.
Who did that regret serve? No one. Least of all me.
Emily put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay.”
“I will make it okay. Somehow.”
Suddenly, something that Gabe said sparked in my mind. He’d said that the Order of Leocadia had members everywhere. I just had to wonder if maybe Defective Shithead belonged to the order.
Otherwise, how would she know what the pinky ring meant?
She could’ve taken Vlad into custody based on the fact the ring had still been on a human bone, but that wasn’t the detail she’d honed in on. She’d said it matched a missing persons’ case.
Marc and I had checked the police databases for any hint of our guy, and there’d been none.
So, where had her information come from if not from the Order?
Another piece of the puzzle down.
“I’m sorry, Emily. I need to go. You’ve got Mina until we get this all figured out?” I reached down and scratched the poodle behind her ears and she put her face in my hand. She seemed to be telling me that Emily was right, it was all going to be okay.
Or maybe that she trusted me to make it okay?
“Such a good girl for Miss Emily.”
Mina perked her ears and then lifted her chin as if to say, “But of course.”
If a dog could epitomize those Grey Poupon commercials from the 80s, it would be Mina Wellington.
I stopped by Arthur Bryant’s to get some burnt ends and fries, and thankfully, they had good ranch dressing and gave me a hefty portion. I needed to feed my brain. I knew I was risking it, but I was starving. There was a good chance anything they could put in my food, my system could metabolize.
My phone buzzed and it was Ryder.
Ryder: Mom. What. The. Fuck.
Me: Which fucked up thing are you referring to?
I stuffed a few fries in my mouth after drowning them in ranch. By all that was holy, you could just put a nipple on that bottle and I’d nurse like a baby.
Ryder: Dad. You’re just letting him go?
Ryder: What happened to the plan?
Me: That’s a long story. I’ll explain when I get home.
Ryder: Would that explanation work for me?
God, I was proud of her. She wasn’t afraid to call people on their shit.
Me: Absolutely not. But we’ve got a situation.
Ryder: There’s always a situation.
Ryder: What’s going on?
Me: Slayer shit. But they’ve taken Vlad?
Ryder: Who took Vlad? I’ll kill them with my bare hands.
Me: Remember, don’t text things like that. You want plausible deniability.
Ryder: Sorry, not sorry.
Ryder: I’m coming.
Me: No. I need you to stay home. It’s too dangerous.
Ryder: I saw the murders on the news. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.
Me: Fine, but make it 45. Drive safe.
I was torn between wanting Ryder close by so I could watch over her, and putting as much distance between her and this mess as possible.
Marc was going to be pissed, but this was the young woman she’d raised. We’d taught her to fight for what she believed in, to stand up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves, and to have the six of the people she loved. This was her, being who we’d raised her to be.
I realized we couldn’t teach her to be one thing, and then be upset when she followed through. Standing up and doing the right thing even when it was hard, meant doing it even when it was hard on us as her parents.
Because if not her, then who?
It was easy, and definitely my first instinct, to keep her as far away from danger as possible. But we couldn’t expect other people to stand up and do the work we were capable of doing.
It was also the forefront of