Chapter 130
“I think I should go and meet my father.” Abby looked serious as Micah stopped what he was doing to give her his full attention.
He was in the strategy room in the pack house of the Silver Moon pack, discussing the sudden yet complete decline of the rogue activity all around the kingdom with Alpha Samuel and Dax this afternoon when Abby came seeking him.
Her gaze was clear with an unfaltering stance when she interrupted their meeting that the alpha didn’t hesitate to leave the two of them alone since the royal gamma had long made a wise escape just as Abby stepped into the strategy room.
Alpha James wasn’t included in this meeting, but Abby didn’t have time to dwell on insignificant things like that.
“But you are still investigating the strange deaths in this place,” Micah pointed out.
“Yeah, I’m. But it’s going nowhere, while we have a new lead in the form of his letter.”
“But he insisted for you to come alone, and if I’m correct, you need to leave shortly to make it in time.”
On the back of the note Ryan sent her, there was both where and when he wanted to meet her. And it just so happened to be today, but the place was quite far away.
It would take at least three hours by carriage and then one more hour of hiking because it was a fucking steep cliff in the middle of the mountains. His father actually wanted her to retrieve him from out of nowhere literally.
Abby couldn’t help but sigh and when Micah stood up to approach her, she met him halfway across the room, before they settled side by side on the small couch to the right of this long table. Then she
faced him.
“Yeah, I know. I want to take this chance and see if we can find anything about Calpin.” Abby was sure about one thing. “And I know you are planning to go there by yourself.”
Micah couldn’t deny her claims, because that was what he was thinking. So he admitted it to her as he drummed his fingers on his thigh. “Yeah, I want to capture him.”
Just like she said, Ryan could provide them with more details on Calpin or his whereabouts, so he didn’t want to miss this chance as well.
“But if you go there directly, he will just slip away.” Abby folded her arms across her chest. “If it is I who goes there instead, we might be able to catch him off guard and execute your plan flawlessly.”
“So you want to make them believe that you fell for their trap?” Micah could read between the lines. “But it will be risky, little one.”
“I can protect myself just fine,” Abby stated, as she tapped her finger on her elbow. She could control her fire a lot better now, but her father wasn’t aware of it. But then she wouldn’t underestimate his hatred toward her.
Micah reminded her the same, because he could still remember how Ryan talked about Abby when he misunderstood she somehow made the king angry by bumping into him when he told her to stay put in that horrible warehouse.
“He had no compassion for you, and might not hesitate to hurt you.” Micah also had this idea at first, but thought better of it later, because the advantage and disadvantage of using Abby as the bait weighed equally and he felt it was not worth it.
But with Abby volunteering to do this strongly, he could only mold his plans according to the changes again. “Are you sure you can take him on if he loses it?”
No matter what, he was her father and even though Micah was positive that he wouldn’t let him hurt her, the few times he miscalculated with Calpin and the rogues made him check in with her first. She might be feeling brave right now, but facing your abuser was no joke, when the person was someone who gave birth to you.
On the other hand, the girl felt a little sad that they had to discuss her father as if he was their enemy, but then it was Ryan who was doing this to himself in his vengeful blindness.
“If we don’t try to stop him today, he will try something else in the future.” And she didn’t want to be controlled by her fears anymore. Abby was determined to fight her trauma and facing her father seemed just the right start to it.
She thought long and hard all day after waking up today and decided she had to make big on the promises she made to herself. She vowed she would stand by his side no matter what, not to mention it was her problem to begin with. She explained the same to him.
“He would still come for life, even if you haven’t come into life, little one,” Micah stated, pointing out that he wanted them both dead.
“But Ryan is trying to get me for real, not just because Calpin instigated him to do so.”
“Okay, then we will do it my way.” Micah could only relent when it was clear that Abby had already decided.
Since it would be impossible for her to go there all by herself, which was also obvious to everyone given her weak composition, Abby took a carriage until the foot of the mountain.
“We should make it look foolproof,” Dax said, as he prepared the carriage for her.
A regular warrior sent her there, but stopped at the bottom itself, from where Abby had to climb the mountain alone.
It was already dark by the time she reached the cliff, but there was no sign of life around here except for the eerie cricket sounds that echoed throughout the valley below here.
Wind breezed past harsh enough to knock the waist length plants around her sideways, but apart from that Abby didn’t find it hard to wait for her father who took his sweet time to appear an entire hour later she reached the meeting point.
“You look… just fine, father,” Abby pointed out the obvious as she jumped to her feet from the small boulder she perched on to rest her aching feet. Climbing cliffs is no joke. NôvelDrama.Org holds © this.
She was not surprised to not find a single scratch on him though, since it had been long clear that it was just a sham. Her father just played a victim card to trick his naive daughter.
“You could have at least acted your part,” Abby said, shaking her head when her father didn’t even fake limp as he strode toward her until he was just a few feet from her.
Apart from the offensive smell that was distinct to rogues, Abby couldn’t find any difference from the last time she saw him either. “You look too put together even for a rogue, let alone the victim of the rogue’s abuse.”
But then what did she expect? That they were all really wrong and Ryan genuinely contacted her for help?
He didn’t even see her as his daughter, so even if he wrote to someone in such conditions, he would have thought of Hanna, not her.
Ryan could see how Abby’s eyes turned colder and colder with each word that left her lips, but he still remained silent as if he had all the time in this world.
If Abby had any doubts that his wounds were internal, she could strike it off now, because her father didn’t seem desperate to be rescued at all.
“So why did you lure me here?” Abby asked directly when the man just kept staring at her.
“I want you to come with me.” After what felt like an eternity, Ryan finally opened his mouth, but it only made his younger daughter laugh out loud.
“After what you have pulled, you think I’ll follow you?” Abby shook her head. He really thought she would always stay naive and timid. “You work for Calpin, right?”
The man didn’t find it odd that the girl could smell his bullshit either. It was plain as day why he wrote that letter to her. So he just admitted. “Yes.”
“Why did you agree to scheme against me, father?” Abby questioned, as if she couldn’t comprehend his actions suddenly even though she knew a very long answer. A ten year long suffering, it was verbatim to her now.
But when her father didn’t answer her immediately, Abby continued her monologue. “You want the person who killed your mate to suffer the same fate. Isn’t that the reason?”
“Shut up! Don’t you dare go there!!!” Ryan was trembling just at the mention of her. It was a can of worms he never let anyone open all these years. It was a nasty gash across his heart, no powerful healing ability could make it go away.
“But you never came out of it!!!” Abby wasn’t shouting, but the authority that rolled off her tongue was enough to make her voice echo in his ears.
“I don’t want you to talk about it!” Ryan roared, as if he was about to attack her.
“I’m well aware your anger is certifiable,” Abby started slowly, as if she couldn’t see the way her father was on the verge of losing it. “But you are directing it at the wrong person.”
“What??!!”
“Yes, I am responsible for my mother's death, but only partially,” Abby took her stand.
“Stop spouting nonsense!”
“It is the truth, father. I had to tell you because now you are helping her real murderer.” Abby was calm enough that Ryan stopped breathing for a second. “Yes, it was Calpin who killed her.”
“What?” The man looked confused.