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“Is everything okay?”

There was a lot of noise in the background, music, talking, and laughing. He was at a bar or a party. “Is there a reason you’re calling?”

He chuckled. “Straight to the point then…definitely my kid.”

I didn’t reply, just waited for him to tell me what he wanted.

“Okay, I won’t hold you up. The reason I’m calling is we’re having a kind of gathering at the colony today, and I thought it might be a good way to introduce you to everyone, to your family.”

I had a family, and I wasn’t looking to extend it further, but I did want to know more about myself, about what happened in the forest last night. I’d transformed, I’d felt…different. Ronan hadn’t mentioned it, so I had to assume I’d returned to normal when he found me. But I’d definitely transformed, and I needed to know what I was capable of.

Now wasn’t the time, though. I had other things to deal with. I opened my mouth to turn him down when I felt it, a pull, an extremely strong one, my magic flaring inside me, telling me to say yes.

Fuck.

Was my father somehow involved with my task? How?

“Rose? You still there?”

“Ah…yeah. I’m here. Sure, okay. I’ll come, but I’ll be bringing someone with me. A friend.”

“Of course. The more the merrier.”

He gave me a time and where to meet him and hung up.

Ronan had made it impossible for me to tell him about this, but I wasn’t an idiot. If this had something to do with my task, there was no way I was going alone. I scrolled through my contacts and hit Relic’s number.

He answered on the second ring. “What’s up, Roe?”

“I need your help.”

“Does your mate know you’re calling me?”

“No, and he can’t know, not yet.”

Silence.

“I wouldn’t ask if there was any other way. I need your help, Relic.”

There was another beat of silence. “When and where?”

I released a relieved breath. I’d deal with Ronan later.

CHAPTER 36

Rose

The Roxburgh State Forest was incredibly vast, beyond anything I’d imagined.

“Watch your step,” Relic said beside me.

“Have you been through the entire forest?”

“Most of it. Though, we try to avoid the fae territories, since they’re just beyond the border, and we have no fucking desire to get in between them and the vamps.”

The vampires and fae had been warring for centuries. Everyone else tried to stay out of it.

“What about the bat colony? Have you been there?” I asked him.