Page 55 of Old Secrets

Weapon codes and technology, like the source of the Greenwich kidnapping, could end everything as we knew it and launch the world into a state of war. If the Murphys had been able to provide proof of wrongdoing, then I would remain silent.

The deaths would bother me, but the blood of innocents would remain off my hands, and I could live with that.

To make myself feel a little better about the situation, I focused on what was important. One pebble could bring an entire mountain down, and I nodded my satisfaction over having gotten a lead. “Anything else?”

“We got confirmation that the rogue Fenerec and witches outside of the Inquisition are not involved—or they weren’t before the Murphys were killed.”

“The Inquisition hasn’t been infiltrated?”

“While there are some rogue Fenerec and witches who have snuck in, they’re doing good work and haven’t gone against the Inquisition. We have names, and they’ll be quietly apprehended, talked to, and sanctioned if they start talking. Greenwich hasn’t made it into the Inquisition because they only use Normals as far as we can tell. Witches can tell if someone is a witch or a Normal, so it’s easy to keep Normals out. The FBI has been infiltrated, though, and the Murphys were quite helpful in revealing who our traitors are. We know who betrayed you and Jake.” Amelia checked her watch. “I suspect they had a tragic accident roughly an hour ago.”

I winced. “So much for due process.”

“It was better this way. Your parents would have hunted them and killed them in a far more brutal fashion. It was too risky to do a live capture. A single mistake would have tipped off the American Greenwich branch. The Inquisition took out all of the identified operatives within a twenty-minute window using a variety of methods, all of which are quick and painless. Their fate would have been far, far worse.”

I could understand the route of mercy, although I questioned what proof they had. “How did they confirm the wrongdoing?”

“Your parents were able to conjure sand versions of the killers. We did not show them who had done the killings. They replicated the murder scenes in sand. And your father brought in colored sands to make it as lifelike as possible. He recreated the scenes, and Inquisition operatives were able to match the killers with the FBI infiltrators. Your father then worked some magic, which tired him significantly but confirmed their guilt.”

“What magic?”

Amelia winced, and she glanced at Bryce, who answered, “To a wolf spirit’s eyes, the spirits of the guilty will glow a blood red. The aura appears to witches as well. He linked the spirits of the killers from the past to the present, and he then permitted us to seek out justice however we sought fit. In China and Japan, witches have similar magic but not to quite the scale your parents do. There was no doubt of guilt when they were killed. We asked for justice, and we received it. The American law enforcement agencies and governments should be clean of Greenwich operatives. A few in China fell, but not many. The Chinese handled that. There were none in Japan they could find. Japan didn’t have many photos to work with, however.”

“In fifteen hours?” I blurted, stunned at the idea that so many organizations could clean house in such a short period of time.

Amelia and Bryce exchanged looks, and Bryce shrugged.

Amelia regarded me with a solemn expression and said, “The black market helped, and the Inquisition had plenty of operatives eager and ready to shed blood. It was quite simple to motivate them. All we had to do was tell them these people helped to kill infants shortly after birth. And that is the truth.”

“How many?”

Sighing, Amelia sat at the table and leaned back in the chair, angling her head until she stared at the ceiling. “In total, fifty-six had infiltrated the FBI, there were ten police officers in three states, and two government officials. There were also some military agents who dealt with things like weapon codes. We’re not cleared to say how many, but they are all confirmed to be dead. The government officials were fairly low ranked, and their official cause of death was from a crash involving a drunk driver. The driver was not drunk but rather a Fenerec with an interest in moving to Europe. He volunteered to handle the matter, and those officials were well known to go places together without an escort. The Fenerec suffered from moderate to severe injuries but will officially be pronounced dead. In reality, once he has recovered, he will go to Europe for a few decades.”

“Nobody else was injured?”

“Nobody else was injured. There were no innocent bystanders injured in any of the hits. There was one damaged car, but the Inquisition will take care of replacing it,” she assured me.

“But in fifteen hours?”

“I’ll answer this one,” Bryce said, and he joined Amelia at the table. “It didn’t take long once we had confirmation. A lot of the people on the lists were already under watch for suspicious behavior. The Americans just didn’t realize they were part of the Greenwich operations. The military traitors were the truly dangerous ones, as they had access to weapon codes. While Greenwich is still a threat, especially after infiltrating the United States that far, your parents have relaxed since the assassinations. The direct threats to you have been addressed. There are surely more Greenwich members in the United States, but your parents view them as trash ready to be taken out. Their souls are marked and will remain marked until the day they die. Any Inquisition member will be able to see the truth of their crimes in their aura, and they will be dealt with.”

“Lesson learned: my parents are absolutely terrifying when angry.”

“Now that they know you are alive, they have the will to do what is needed. They want a future with you in it, no matter what the cost is to them.” Amelia lowered her head, muttered some curses, and met my gaze. “The pictures you secured played a huge part of this, by the way. Where did you get them?”

“From an Inquisition enforcer,” I admitted. “Richard Murphy’s father-in-law.”

Bryce’s eyes widened. “That explains a lot. Your parents found those pictures to be rich with energy. Desmond has a reputation of being a relentless hunter, especially when he feels there was a wrong done. He must have been championing for you since the London shooting to have that much pictorial evidence. He likes the underdog—and to him, you would have been the ultimate underdog. Then to add in your struggles with your mate?”

Jake growled.

“Down, Jake,” I ordered, and knowing it irritated him, I snapped my fingers and pointed at the floor.

To my amusement, he came and sat at my feet and leaned against my leg. “Sorry.”

“He just told the truth. We did struggle. Greenwich is part of the reason we struggled. And the rest of the reason we struggled is very sorry and will do their best to be better parents. You don’t have to be sorry for getting growly. Frankly, it’s been a while since you’ve been growly, so you should do that a little more, but not to the nice Alpha who is trying to brief us on what happened while we were napping.” I reached down and ruffled his hair. “Better?”

“I could use some more sleep,” he confessed.