This was information Luis hadn’t uncovered yet. I wanted to hear everything he knew, so I nodded for him to go on.
“The grandmother was a half-breed. The bloodline is there, but her father was born with human genes and her mother was fully human. That means the Edemas line is diluted.”
“I’m gonna stop you there,” I said. “If the bloodline is so diluted, why is Maddy such a?threat to you?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, goddammit. It’s the reason she can’t be allowed to survive. If she were to mate with a shifter, there is a chance the dormant beast inside her will react to her mate. It will awaken the latent genes. She could become a shifter.”
I’d assumed as much, but still didn’t think it was reason enough to kill an innocent person. The legends about the cruelty of Edemas probably had some truth to them, but that didn’t mean every single descendant was some psychotic monster that had to be wiped out.
Javi jabbed a finger toward me. “We can’t allow her to become a wolf. She needs to be destroyed. If there was even a one-percent chance she could go on to have a child that was an alpha, then the werewolves could return. You can’t let that happen…unless you want to risk the lives of your entire clan.”
Rage swept across my body. I took two heavy steps toward Javi. “Is that a threat?”
“No. You’re confused. That’s not what I mean. I’m not the threat, that woman is. If the Hollander bloodline was to be restrengthened and the werewolves come back, she’ll be the main reason we are destroyed and subjugated. It will be a bloodbath.”
My mind went to Maddy. Nothing about her seemed like the type of person who would go mad with power. She was kind and gentle. Everything Javi believed was urban legend, paranoia, and bullshit. “Listen, I know exactly what Maddy is capable of. She’s none of the things you’re talking about. The blood is so diluted, even you’re sitting here talking about ‘maybe’ and ‘possibly.’ You have no idea what you’re talking about. You even said her father was a half-breed and her mother was a human. What could you possibly fear from someone like that?”
Veins stood out on Javi’s neck and he slammed his palms into his thighs in frustration. “She’s not what you think she is. Blood doesn’t lie. You’re blind.”
“Blind or not, Maddy is mine. Tell your puppet masters they need to stop pulling your strings. If this royal family or whatever keeps going after her, they’ll be in for a fight they’ll regret.”
Javi’s eyes widened in surprise and he took a step back. Apparently, he hadn’t thought we’d know about the people commanding him. He’d thought it was a secret only he knew. He yanked his car door open. “Fine. Have it your way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Nico.”
He sped away, not sparing me another look. I watched him go, my mind processing the information. I didn’t need any more proof for who and what Maddy was. But I couldn’t help but wonder if Javi’s story was true. Had it really been centuries since any of Edemas’s descendants could shift? It seemed crazy that none of them had mated with a full shifter. Shifters made up a full third of the earth’s population. The odds that it had never happened over the course of three centuries seemed outlandish.
I nodded to myself. Javi was full of shit. Maddy wasn’t dangerous, and I’d prove it. I pulled out my cell and called Luis.
“I’m here. Are you good? We just watched Javi drive away like a bat out of hell.”
“I’m fine. He’s still on his bullshit. Listen, we need to dig into Maddy’s paternal family history. We need to figure out everything we can about David and his ancestors. Every resource we have, spare no expense. Buy what you need, bribe people if you need access to records, whatever it takes.”
There was a slight pause before Luis responded. “Are we okay here?”
“Yes. I need to prove that Javi is full of crap. Get to work on it, and let me know if you find anything or need help.”
“On it, brother.”
By the time I got down the street to where the guys had been holed up watching the meet-up, Luis had already gone off to start his research. Felipe got out of Sebastian’s car and got into mine.
Sebastian leaned out his window. “What did that jackass have to say?”
I shook my head. “Not much other than he thought Maddy was some kind of monster that needed to be put down. He was talking about her like she was a rabid dog.”
Sebastian lip curled in disgust. “What a dick.”
“Yeah,” Felipe muttered. “Before all this, I had a pretty good idea he was a piece of shit. This situation with Maddy has removed all doubt.”
“Speaking of,” I said. “I want to get back home to her. Let’s go.”
We walked in the house, and the first thing we noticed was the cackling laughter coming from the living room. Felipe glanced at me and gave me a questioning frown.
“I told you!” Gabriel shouted, still laughing, “It’s one of the best comedies of the nineties, I told you.”
Felipe and I walked down the hallway and found Maddy on the love seat, her face red with laughter. Gabriel sat on the couch opposite her, seeming to revel in her enjoyment. On the TV was some kind of slapstick comedy with some guys who used to be on
Saturday Night Live back twenty-five years ago.
“Having fun?” I asked.
Gabe and Maddy both turned to see us and burst out laughing again, Maddy covering her face. I couldn’t help but smile back. She was beautiful when she laughed. My heart skipped a beat. There wasn’t a cruel or malicious bone in her body. Regardless of what blood ran in her veins, this was not someone who would end the world.
“Well, if it’s that funny, can we join you?” I said.
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