Colin gawks, and Gran laughs again. “Your mother worked here during the summers. In fact, this is where she met your father. He was in from the East Coast tracking a rare type of faerie.”

Colin’s face goes slack as Gran launches into the story of his parents meeting, and by the time he’s coaxed several more stories out of her, the rain has slowed down and something heavy has slipped from Colin’s shoulders. His face looks a little less pale, his shoulders a little looser. I wonder if it has anything to do with the three cups of tea Gran made him drink. Or maybe just talking about his parents helped.

We finish our lunch and say goodbye to Gran, who sends us off in a taxi with a half-dozen oatmeal butterscotch muffins.

Chapter 10: Colin

I’m so wrapped up in thinking about everything I’ve learned that I only realize we’re at Ravenfall when Max’s tail smacks me in the face on his way out of the taxi. He’d been curled up in my jacket, still lethargic. The driver makes a small noise of protest when Max exits, obviously not having realized the cat was there.

Anna peers in at me, looking concerned. I must be really gloomy if even she can tell something’s wrong, but I can’t shake myself out of it. For months my family and I jumped city to state to town, and now I finally know what we were running from. All this time my parents hid the truth from me, and not just them, but Liam too.

I never asked why he snuck out at night. Never asked why he came home with scabbed knuckles and bruised ribs. I thought he just needed some space, needed to blow off some steam. But now the strangeness of it all makes sense. The tufts of fur I found in the trunk of the car, the strange silver spots on his clothes that I dismissed as paint.

All this time he was out hunting.

I’m the only one who didn’t know, and it makes me feel stupid. I should have seen it. I should have been prepared. My parents should have taught me how to defend myself—not just with random boxing lessons from Liam, but with real knowledge of what we are—and now they’ll never teach me anything again.

And the worst part is, I still don’t even know why.

As my anger wells inside me, I hold my breath until my throat burns, then let it out in a rush and clamber out of the vehicle. My body feels tired and heavy, and I don’t move as the taxi pulls around the circular drive and heads toward town.

Then I see the car.