Chapter 126-2
Claim
Saul had been ordered to keep all communications on paper and locked away as he worked on the cure. It was certainly not his favorite moment, but I was glad that he did. The last thing I wanted was for Claudine to realize that Kiana’s blood was part of the cure.
As if she could read my thoughts, Claudine’s eyes landed on Kiana. “Hello, my dear. I hear you’ve had a nasty few days. You should know that I never wanted this for you.”
Shit. If Claudine knew about Kiana, then there was still a mole in London’s pack. He stiffened as
well.
“Wanted what?” Kiana asked softly.
“Why, the life you had, of course. Your traitorous mother. Your murderous father. Oh, how I
searched for you. My little Andrea. Imagine my surprise at finding you mated to Troy. You landed
on your feet, didn’t you? Why don’t you and I schedule a lunch sometime. I’ll fill in the holes of your
memory.” Then, as if that was the funniest thing she ever heard, she threw back her head and
cackled.
Kiana didn’t even flinch. “You were the reason that they ran,” she said mildly. “What were you trying
to do to me, Claudine?”
“I have to admit, you were quite the little creature. Part wolf, part witch, and part null. Nulls were
their own species at one time.”
My eyes widened, and she noticed. “Oh, you didn’t know that. I’m not surprised. Witches do an
excellent job of erasing certain parts of their history. During the ancient world, nulls were a
species. Of course I believe they were called blood suckers then. They defended the wolves
against the witches until they were wiped out by magic users. Then, rather miraculously, a single
null user appeared in a witch line. Not every generation or even every other generation had one. It
was rather sporadic and kept quiet because everyone wanted to study them. There are some very
interesting theories about what a null can do.”
The way she looked at Kiana was worse than the way that Morven looked at her. There was a
naked need, but it wasn’t sexual with Claudine. It was more intense.
“Blood sucker? As in vampire?”
Claudine waved her hand. “Some variation of it. It no doubt spurned the myth of vampires. When the null gene regenerated the need for blood did not, unless you really are keeping secrets. Did your father kill to feed you, my dear?”
“Fuck you,” Kiana hissed.
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Chapter 126-2
Claim
Claudine didn’t even look offended. “You were so special, my dear. You are so special. So I ran a
few…experiments on you. They didn’t hurt you. You laughed right through them. Such a sweet
magical sound. Katherine and Dane didn’t need to run. You were safer with me.”
“You’re lying,” my mate murmured. “You scared me. I told my father that you scared me…he said he
would protect me.”
Claudine’s whole face darkened. “Idiot wolf. I took him in when no one else did. Do you think
anyone wanted that p***y of a witch in our midst? But he loved her, and I let her stay. When I wanted you, what did he do? He took you and ran. I lost everything because of you. I lost my mate. I stood there and watched for hours as he bled out, drip by drip, all because he wouldn’t lead me to
you. I sent my own child to find you, and he never returned.”
No wonder Claudine was insane. She killed her mate. Just like Ragor did.
“What?” Kiana demanded. “He was just a child!”
“He was powerful and protective of you. All I had to do was send him out to find you, and he’d lead my wolves right to you. Instead, he fucking disappeared.”
Finn.
He would be old enough to remember, but when I looked over him, he looked just as dazed and
confused.
“I searched for years, and then Morven just fucking waltzed up to me one day and promised to give you over if I’d help him take OakFur. Fucking alpha was an idiot anyway, and I wanted someone that I could control, but he betrayed me. I would have killed him years ago, but I realized what he was doing. I’ve watched his every step, learned from his mistakes. There is no one and
nothing that can stop me now.”
“Stop you from what?” I demanded. “What the hell is worth all of this?”
Claudine cackled. “She’s your mate, and you don’t even know! I do love that. Whoever has the Tern
ary takes the mountain. Enjoy her while you can, Troy. She’ll be mine again soon enough!”
Ternary.
An element of three.
Null. Witch. Wolf.
Kiana sighed. “Well, fuck. I kind of liked her, too.”
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