"Yes."
"Where did it go?" Gabriella asked.
"I have no idea," I said truthfully.
The Head of Hospitaller, who had so far been silent, spoke. "Can you describe the exact details of the casing? What it looked like when you woke up? What was around it? Where it was? Anything you can remember, no matter how small or inconsequential it may seem."
I'd already said everything I was willing to, but I repeated myself. "It was in the back of my parents' truck in front of our house. The door was open. The case had been shattered, crystal pieces lying everywhere." I didn't tell them about the blood, because I couldn't have lost that much blood and survived. And my current wounds would not account for the amount of bloodshed I saw. Though they would find out if they had a team there. I thought for a moment and decided on the partial truth. "There was also blood everywhere. My blood. My parents' blood. Probably some blood from the soldiers my parents killed before dying. It was dark, so it was hard to tell."
Ragathon scoffed. "It's not that hard to see blood. Even in the dark."
"With all due respect," Jax said. "Scarlett is color blind. For her it would be hard to tell. She can't see any colors at all."
Ragathon ignored him and turned to the Chancellor. "With all due respect, Chancellor," though with the way his voice sneered, I did not hear any respect, "this does not add up. There's no way anyone could have penetrated the… box. Nor could the Nephilim have returned. I do not think the girl is telling the full truth."
Up until that point I'd been mostly numb. I'd wanted to find out what happened to my parents, and I'd hoped that answering all their questions would accomplish that. It was becoming clear that was not the case, and I'd had enough. Rage built in me, boiling up from the new holes in my heart. Before anyone could ask me another inane question, I spoke, my voice strong, firm, commanding. "I am not a 'girl', Ragathon, I am a woman with full agency and legal rights, and I do not appreciate being spoken to, or about, in this condescending manner."
I made eye contact with each of the council members. "As for the rest of you, I'm done answering your questions. I've told you everything I know. This morning, I thought I had a normal life and normal parents and then all hell broke loose. My parents are dead. I am standing here covered in their blood." At that I thought I saw the Chancellor flinch.
"I've been attacked, injured, beaten, and I've lost everything that mattered. I'm hungry and tired. I need a shower and time to mourn my parents and figure out what I'm going to do next. I don't owe you anything. I don't know any of you and you don't know me. Whatever arrangement you had with my parents died with them. So unless you are taking me prisoner," the Chancellor raised his eyebrows at that and I fired back, "and let me warn you if that's the case, I will be seeking legal action against you, this school and U.F.I. for condoning the capture and imprisonment of an innocent," I stared him down, then continued, "then I insist on being taken somewhere where I can shower, eat, sleep and grieve. Alone."
I could feel Jax stiffen next to me. A stunned silence filled the room and I waited, sensing that my life hung in the balance in that moment.
Then the Chancellor chuckled and tugged at his beard. "The girl…excuse me, the young woman is right. We've been treating our guest badly. We have enough information to start an investigation into this matter."
Ragathon interrupted. "But I have more questions—"
The Chancellor held up his staff. "We are done!" He looked at the other Head, a challenge in his eyes, but Ragathon backed down. "Jax, please show Miss Night to a room and make sure she has all she needs to be comfortable."
His eyes fell on me again, a knowing look in them. "Miss Night, please accept my condolences on the death of your parents. Whatever we can do to help bring their killers to justice, we will do."
I didn't exhale until we left the Council Room. My body went limp, and I felt light headed and drained.
Jax turned to me. "I've never seen anyone talk to them like that and live to tell the tale." He had a look of wonder in his eyes, but also fear. Of me? Of them? I didn't know and honestly didn't care much in that moment.
But I did have one question that nagged me. "That man. The middle one, the Chancellor. Who is he?" I knew he was the Chancellor, but something about him tugged at my mind. The way he looked at me. The way he laughed when I stood up to him.
Jax's face was a study in neutrality. "He's your grandfather."
Chapter 8
Breaking Grief
"My grandfather? But… he's dead. He died before I was born." I had no grandparents left. My dad's parents died a few years apart when I was a child, though I never got to meet them because they lived overseas. My mom's mother died when she was a teenager, and her father… he died while she was pregnant with me.
"When your parents went into hiding, they cut off most of their ties with the Orders. That included your grandfather."
Jax led me back up the stairs we'd come down and through the halls of the castle as we talked. "Have I ever met him?" I asked.
He shook his head, running a hand through his dark hair. "No, your parents went into hiding before you were born."
While Mom was pregnant with me. All she had left was her father, and she cut off their relationship to protect this weapon.