Heir of Ashes (The Roxanne Fosch Files #1)

Epilogue

Logan

From a distance, I watched Roxanne board the Hunters' private jet. Guilt, rage, and regret gnawed at me—not because we had been captured, but because of how things had unraveled. Outwardly, none of it showed.

The Council was supposed to have rescued us, not the damn Hunters. Being Archer's only heir and second in command should have spurred them into action like a hurricane on the Society. But no, Vincent had to handle it all by the book, like a damn Boy Scout. And I—I had practically shoved the pen into Roxanne’s hand and forced her signature on that contract.

I should have listened to Rafael and left her behind. I’d given in to her plea and brought her along, confident that those same people who hadn't come for Archer would come for us, for her. How stupid.

Then there was Alleena—Elizabeth, as she was calling herself—the clan’s vice-council. I had delivered Roxanne to her doorstep believing she’d keep Fosch’s daughter safe. Instead, her home was infested with the Society’s watchdogs. Not because they’d barged in, but because she had invited them.

She knew I'd go after Archer, and yet, she did nothing but schedule a meeting for three weeks later, as if Archer’s well-being wasn’t important to the clan. Maybe she’d hoped I’d get killed in the rescue attempt. Sooner or later, the clan would have gone after Archer … and come out as heroes for saving their leader. My death would have served the High Council's interests. Archer would have been forced to provide an heir of his own lineage or name someone else. Like Alleena. Not to mention her automatic ascent in the Council if Archer, tragically, was never found.

I should have known better, damn it!

My only satisfaction was knowing Alleena now had to answer to Archer. She was supposed to have determined how much of Fosch Roxanne had inherited, to protect her if she was more Dhiultadh than human. She had failed. Miserably.

All the experiments and lab work the Society had done … all those years of knowledge. Archer had tried to retrieve the results, but had been politely denied access to the “work and labor of government officials”. A quick glance at Archer's clenched fists and tight jaw told me how much trouble Alleena was in.

The jet began moving slowly, taxiing toward the runway.

“She can’t go with them,” I snapped, my frustration finally bubbling to the surface. “She needs guidance, not to be thrown in with those wannabes. They’ll exploit all her vulnerabilities—and she’s got plenty.”

“Vincent is a good kid,” Archer replied. “He will take good care of her.”

“Kid is the operative word here.”

“He was alpha among his peers. He’s Mackenzie’s second. He’s smart, strong, and capable. He’ll take care of her.”

“If he’s so capable, he should have responded to my summons. Instead, he brought his superiors and trapped the victim of this clusterfuck into a worse fate.”

“He was on his way when you started blowing the place apart,” Archer said mildly.

“Which I wouldn’t have done if he had deigned to answer my summons,” I retorted, not mentioning that it was Roxanne who blew up the building—not yet, anyway.

Archer shrugged and rubbed his still-raw wrist. “What is done is done. The Hunters will be good for her. If nothing else, they will give her purpose.”

“She needs more than that.”

“Indeed,” Archer agreed, giving me a sideways look. “Do you know how many times she came close to burning herself out? Ever heard of Jacob Black? Angelina Hawthorn’s scion? He’s a vampire mercenary from overseas.”

I frowned, trying to place the name. Archer didn’t wait for a reply. “She killed him in less than ten seconds. Psychically. She put everything she had into it, all her energy and fear combined.” He closed his palms together, then separated them, miming an explosion. “From what I understood from the silent footage, he tried to control her psychically, but it backfired. I’m not sure what exactly she did since it all happened within their minds, but it didn’t take long. I was shown similar occurrences in the hopes I could replicate or at least explain the process.” He frowned, the lines in his face deepening as if he had aged a few decades in the past weeks.

A memory flashed of Roxanne’s stricken face after she had done whatever she had to me on that desert road, leaving me so weak. I still wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but having Archer confirm she could manipulate brain synapses meant she had been playing with my mind. She hadn’t even known, if her horrified expression was anything to go by. I clenched my jaw. It was another reason she shouldn’t—couldn’t—go with the Hunters.

“Can you do what she did to Jacob Black?”

“It’s incredibly rare for one of us to develop this ability, but it’s possible. Still, it requires years and practice to gain enough control of the right hemisphere of the brain to be psychic enough to kill someone. Most of us never master it. My brother was exceptionally skilled in that area, and I suppose Alleena overlooked that trait in his daughter too.” His jaw clenched, then unclenched with a conscious effort. “Can I do it? If I don’t mind killing myself in the process, maybe. I’ve never tried it, for obvious reasons. What it took her? Raw, undisciplined power. That’s what she has.”

“That’s not normal for a human hybrid?”

“No. I’ve never seen it. But then again, no one ever lets a scion reach that age without rigorous discipline—similar to yours, though perhaps a bit less intense. But Fosch wasn’t a pure blood either, and his mother was an earth witch. Roxanne seemed to have inherited some of that magic, and Alleena missed that too.”

“So, you’re sending her with them in hopes she … what?”

“Learns to control her abilities, if not master them. She has potential, a lot of it—and it’s in desperate need of discipline. After an event like that with Jacob Black and a few others, she should have burned herself out. But she has a strong survival instinct. I can see my brother in her.” He paused thoughtfully before adding, “She wouldn’t have survived the Scientists otherwise. The fact she’s proven she can and will do whatever it takes to stay alive, shows how much she needs discipline, and soon. The Hunters—Vincent—will be good for her.”

I grunted noncommittally. Aside from a strong survival instinct, I thought she was stronger than Archer realized—than she herself knew. I had a feeling Archer would come to regret letting Vincent take her. Good or not, he was still a kid. I consoled myself with the fact that Doug would be there too, and I could keep tabs on her progress through him. “What about Mr. Drammen? What will happen now?”

“It will take some time for him to gather himself and return.”

“How long?”

He shrugged. “Let’s be cautious and expect him back in a few months.”

“What about Zantry and Arianna?” I asked in a low voice, knowing the subject wasn’t one to be taken lightly.

Archer made a dismissive motion with his hand. “Still nothing. It’s been twenty-six years, Logan. Do you think they’re coming back?”

“Shouldn’t someone tell Roxanne? Drammen will come back for her. She needs to be prepared.”

“Vincent will handle that,” Archer said with infuriating certainty. I clenched my teeth to keep from snarling at him, but he noticed anyway.

He eyed me curiously. “You got to know her.”

“As much as she allowed me.” Archer studied me with his glittering black eyes. “Do you think Drammen wanted her just to provoke a reaction from the Council?” Even as I asked, I doubted it.

“Possibly. She’s young, shunned by her own people. And even though she’s a half-breed, she’s also a Rejected. She’s physically and spiritually capable, yet ignorant of her own potential. I can see why he went after her.”

“Then why did you let those jokers hook her into their circus?” I couldn’t help but press the point.

“Because she needs to learn. The Hunters will give her a perspective of the world she’s never seen before. She will learn, and Vincent will be there to guide her.”

“But the clan?”

“Won’t accept her so easily.”

I snapped my mouth shut. He was right, and continuing to argue would only make me look like a child who couldn’t accept the facts. “And when Mr. Drammen comes for her? Or someone just as vicious? You know the Sidhe will be curious now that they’ve seen her. They’ll pursue.”

He was silent as he watched Rafael approach in the rental Vincent provided for us. “She will be prepared. She’ll fight if necessary. She’ll evade and lie. Whatever the situation demands.”

“And if she’s not ready? What if they come sooner rather than later?” I insisted, frustrated with his casual dismissal. I had promised her freedom and anonymity.

Archer turned to watch the jet disappear into the evening horizon. “If that happens, I will be there. And I suspect you will be too.”

***

THE END