House of Ravens (21 page)

I nod. “I’ll take care of it.”

We stand there, looking at each other for a
moment and the air settles back down.

“
There’s so much we need to
talk about,” Henry says. “So many things I need to explain. So many
things I want you to tell me about.”

I nod. “It’s a good thing we have time.” I
smile, and it’s actually genuine. “Get yourself cleaned up. Say
hello to Rath. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

I see admiration in his eyes when he nods in
agreement. A proud little smile curls on his lips as he watches me
walk to the door. And I’m still in awe, that when I walk out this
door, that I could just walk back in, and Henry will still be
there.

THE HOUSE MEMBERS BOMBARD ME with questions.
They want answers, just like I do. But I don’t have them yet, and I
can’t decide how much they all should know, anyway.

So we wait.

Not long, but an anxious, unsure two hours
pass by, Rath gone with my father. I’m trying not to get jealous,
but it’s a little hard when I only got twenty minutes or so. But
down in the ballroom, we all just kind of wait around to see what’s
going to happen.

“
You okay?” Ian asks as he
rubs a hand over my back.

I shrug, staring into the distance emptily,
waiting.

To pass the time, I showered, rinsing all of
Henry’s blood down the drain. I dressed in black slacks and a thin
blue button up shirt. I need to look the position of a leader right
now, even if my status is a little unsure at the moment.

Finally, I hear a door close and a few
moments later, Rath walks around the corner. I meet his eyes
anxiously and he joins at my side.

“
Your father is getting
dressed,” he says. “He will be out in a moment.”

I swallow, nodding.

The House gathers, twenty people behind me,
including Elle. Ian stands to my one side, Rath to the other. The
rest of my family surrounding me.

A minute later, the sound of a door opening
echoes throughout the House. Shoes click over the wooden floor,
growing closer and closer.

My heart leaps into my throat.

I am as nervous for this as I was for King
Cyrus’ arrival.

Henry rounds the corner, and I’m both
stunned and not surprised one bit.

Just two hours ago, my father’s hair was
long, his beard wild. Henry is now trimmed, clean cut. His hair is
cut even, combed away from his face. His jaw is hugged by a neatly
trimmed, short beard.

He wears a black suit, accompanied by a
black shirt and tie.

His eyes are severe and serious, his lips in
a thin line.

He looks every bit the part of a Royal.

Every bit a Conrath.

“
I don’t know that I need
an introduction,” he says, looking around at everyone. It’s hard to
place his accent. Slightly British, a touch of Boston, something a
little unidentifiable, some quite American. “But in case you were
wondering, I am Alivia’s father, Henry Conrath.”

The ballroom has fallen completely silent
and everyone tightens just a bit, leaning forward to catch his
every word.

“
I know you all thought I
was dead, and that was exactly the intention I executed,” he
continues. “I have my reasons, and one of those being that I have
been fighting in this war, something I could do much more
effectively if everyone involved truly believed me gone for
good.”

He takes two steps forward, folding his
hands in front of him, and I realize then just how similar his and
Rath’s mannerisms are. “But before I go into all of that, we need
to get a few things laid out.” His burning eyes meet every one of
the House members, staring at them in a way that makes me think he
can see straight into their souls.

“
I may have built this
House back in 1799, but when I willed it on to Alivia, I meant it,”
he doesn’t look at me when he says this, but continues to scan the
crowd. “This House is hers. I mean that physically and in
leadership. I have seen the way she treats you, the way she leads,
and I would not dare try to replace her.”

Ian slips his hand into mine, giving a
reassuring squeeze. A hand is placed on my shoulder from behind,
reaffirming that they do indeed have my back.

“
Nor would I want to,”
Henry continues. “Along with my name goes the reputation of House
abandonment, and I won’t deny the title. I had my reasons for
leaving the monarchy system, and I do not intend to amend
that.”

But now, when my heart is racing and I’m so
terrified of what Henry is saying, that he will leave and abandon
me because of my tie to the House, his eyes meet mine. I cannot
mask my emotions.

“
My daughter is here,
though,” he says, his voice lower. “And I will not leave her again.
If she will have me, as an unincorporated individual, I ask her to
let me stay in her presence.”

The tears spring into my eyes immediately as
I rush forward, wrapping my arms around my father, squeezing hard.
“Of course. I need you here.”

He holds me, squeezing back, lifetimes of
emotions pouring from this severe man. There are a million unspoken
words flowing between us. But none of them require any sound. Only
two racing hearts, beating as one.

Someone starts clapping, and soon it’s
nearly the entire room applauding our reunion. I laugh into Henry’s
shoulder and am surprised when a small chuckle rumbles in his own
chest.

We release one another, and now, I choose to
stand at my father’s side.

“
As to the matter of this
war,” he begins again when everyone settles down. “I do not know
who is in charge of it. I have visited the other Houses in America
under guise and none of them have suffered attacks, so it appears
that this is personal to my family, in addition to being a civil
war. And their numbers are impressive. I’ve taken out well over one
hundred of them. I’ve found cells within a two hundred mile radius
around Silent Bend. I’ll share everything I know with the right
individuals, but as you already know, be alert.”

There’s finality to Henry’s statement,
telling us he’s done with his address. After a few awkward moments,
the House members disburse, most of them heading to the dining room
for lunch.

Rath stands just removed, looking unsure of
what to do with himself.

So I usher Ian forward, turning to my
father.

“
Henry, I want to introduce
you to someone, though I’ve heard you’ve met before,” I say,
flashing Ian a smile as he walks to my side and slides his hand
into mine.

Ian extends his other hand, shaking Henry’s.
“Yes,” Henry says. “You were a lot younger then, a
lot…angrier.”

Ian chuckles, looking somewhat
uncomfortable. “That sounds about right. I’m working on that.”

“
So, uh,” Henry says,
something steeling in his gaze as it drops to my left hand. “I see
Alivia has a ring on her finger. That’s new.”

Oh, the awkwardness I never anticipated
having.

But am eternally grateful that I do.

“
I figured if we ever found
you I’d ask for permission then,” Ian says. And he actually sounds
sheepish. It’s adorable. “So, um-”

“
Save your breath, son,”
Henry says, tapping him on the shoulder. “Can’t give my permission
to someone I hardly know to marry my only daughter.”

I’m floored. My jaw actually drops.

Henry winks at me, and then walks in the
direction of the dining room.

“
Did…” Ian stutters,
looking between Henry’s retreating form and me. “Did that really
just happen?”

“
I think my father just
told you no,” I say, my mouth still hanging open. I look back to
Rath, who walks up to my side. He nods his head.

“
He told you no,” Rath
confirms. “But don’t worry. Just prove to him that you’re never,
ever going to hurt or abandon his daughter, and you might earn it
in the next…century or so.”

“
Rath!” I cry out in shock
and disbelief.

A hint of a smile cracks on
his lips, literally the first I’ve
ever
seen there.

“
Did you just make a joke?”
Ian asks in shock. “I think—I think Rath just made a
joke.”

He instantly regains his composure and
shakes his head. “Of course not,” he says. “I’ve always been clear
about my feelings regarding the relationship between the two of
you.”

“
Yeah, but, Rath,” I say,
my voice coming out like a teenager who’s been told she can’t date
the captain of the football team. “Things have changed so much. You
can’t-”

“
Your father is different,”
he cuts me off, clearly not wishing to continue the previous
conversation. “In the past five minutes, I’ve seen him smile more,
seem more light-hearted than I have in years of knowing him. You
two together, it’s good for him.”

Rath walks away to join Henry in the dining
room.

I shake my head. “The secrets this family
holds,” I breathe, thinking again of the picture I saw of Rath down
in the lab.

Ian shakes his head, blinking several times
quick in disbelief. “Well, this day has certainly taken multiple
changes for the strange.”

THERE’S A MEETING IN THE evening. Henry
briefs Anna and Ian, our two heads of war and security. Tactics and
talk of civil war, something Anna is so familiar with. We plan and
talk and speculate.

And as night falls, almost every single
member of the House is sent out to hunt. To track down the
Bitten—and kill them. Only a small crew of Rath, Trinity, me, and
Henry are left at the House to defend it if need be.

But there are things Henry and I need to
discuss. So, just the two of us, we turn the key in the floor of
the ballroom and descend into the lab. Once inside, we close up the
door again.

“
So, I know of the
passageway in my bedroom, the well behind the painting in the hall,
the armory hidden in my bedroom,” I say as Henry turns to his lab.
“How many other secrets does the Estate hold?”

“
Enough to survive,” Henry
says, looking over his shoulder at me with a coy smile.

“
Henry Conrath, master of
secrets,” I say with my own, shaking my head as I walk to his
side.

He gives a short little chuckle, heading to
the refrigerator and pulling a small container out. He pulls on a
set of gloves and takes a small, glass slide from the box. He moves
to a microscope and sets the slide underneath it. Looking through
the eyepieces, he studies them for a moment.

“
Take a look at this,” he
says, waving me over and stepping aside.

I look down through the eyepieces. I’m not
sure what I’m looking at, some sort of cells, obviously. But they
almost look crystallized, even though they seem to be moving
around. They’re very much alive.

“
I took those cell samples
from myself about a year and a half ago,” Henry says as I continue
to study them. “Generally, when separated from the body, cells
should die within hours.”

“
But these are still very
much alive,” I say as I look over at him, my brows
furrowed.

Henry nods and walks over to the fridge,
waving me to follow him. He goes to the one with the animal blood
and all the GENESIS vials. “The reason those cells are still alive,
and the reason I was able to fake my death, is this,” he says.

And everything starts clicking into place
immediately.

I’ve seen someone escape death before. Seen
them recover from a stake to the heart. Seen someone truly
immortal.