Chapter Twenty One

Three days later…

"She's still not talking to you?"

"She is. But not in English. I never expected her to act so childish."

"Says the male who doesn't want any help tracking his son."

Mehrcy ignored Tohrment's remark and looked at Vishous. The male had been at the laptop going on seventy hours obsessed in hacking it. Butch was playing pool with Rhage while Lassiter was watching Oprah on the TV. Ehnvy and Qhuinn waited for their turn when Rhage's ball hit one of the wrong ones and knocked it into one of the tiny nets.

Getting back on the matter with Victoria, Mehrcy didn't know what to do. After the incident in the training room, she would leave the moment he entered the same room she was in. And if she couldn't and he spoke to her, she would glare at him and speak only in French. Then he would watch her make small talk in English with the others. And every time she glared at him, Mehrcy would see a sign of betrayal.

Those eyes. Those angry eyes. Mehrcy never intended to betray Victoria. Now she wouldn't give him the chance to apologize.

A beeping sound caught everyone's attention. Even Vishous who looked like he was about to blow up the laptop turned his attention to one of his computers. Tapping away on the keyboard, the screen brought up a map and a red dot moving away.

"Where is she going?"

Mehrcy eyed Vishous. Catching he confused look, Vishous explained. "I placed a tracker on her car."

It was past the afternoon that the sun would set in a few hours and the mansion had its shutters in place. The only way how to get out was to go through the front door and there were people starting to wake up. Someone would've spotted Victoria leaving and stopped her. Watching the little dot venture further away from the mansion caused suspicion.

For half an hour, everyone watched the dot go across Caldwell. Butch, Rhage, Ehnvy, Qhuinn and Lassiter joined in on the watch until the little dot finally stopped. They all tilted their heads in question as to where the dot had stopped. Vishous typed away to make sure the tracking was right and scratched his head.

"Why would she go there?" questioned Ehnvy.

"Considering we have nothing on her, I don't have the slightest clue," answered V.

"Should we send someone after her?" Tohr suggested.

Mehrcy focused on the location. It truly was a mystery as to why Victoria would go there. But considering the place where she was, something inside him told him not to intervene. He had been getting that feeling lately. Along with knowing when Victoria was lying, Mehrcy was starting to sense her emotions and understand her. Perhaps it was the light inside him. She did have Rihgor's darkness inside her so it made sense of Mehrcy's light felt it along with Victoria's feelings. But then again, it didn't sense her nine years ago.

Yet, he knew that this had to be personal since Victoria was at a place like that. So he thought better and gave his suggestion.

"I think we should wait for a while."

The others looked up at him. He gave a nod towards the computer. When the others looked back at the screen, they seemed to understand. Tohr left to go tell Wrath about the situation and to tell the king they would see what her next move would be. Until then, Mehrcy stayed by the computer and watched the red dot.

Victoria was at a cemetery.

It had taken Victoria a while before leaving the car. It took more just to get out of her bed and drive all the way down to the cemetery. The day hadn't passed her mind. In fact, it was all she could think about when she woke up. Majority of her wanted to stay under her covers and hide until the day had passed. But the tiny piece of her knew it wouldn't be right if she didn't come. So she risked it and left the mansion. She didn't bother checking to see if her car was bugged. She wasn't in the mood to check for childish things. Especially today.

Driving close to an hour, Victoria pulled up to the parking lot and sat in her car. Sitting in it for another ten minutes, she took a shaky breath and got out.

Closing the door behind her, she looked around. Her car was the only one in the parking lot. Brushing a strand of hair from her face, Victoria brought her arms around herself even though she wasn't cold. She felt extremely warm actually. But it would've been disrespectful if she showed up in jeans and a flashy top. Instead, she wore a black wool and cashmere coat and black pants with black Aquatalia booties she could run in. Under the coat was a black silk scoop neck tunic. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Victoria walked up to the vendor and paid for a bouquet of dark crimson roses. Gently wrapping the roses, the old man handed Victoria the bouquet and she left him the change. She then waked through the iron gate and down the pebbled path.

The only sound heard throughout the place was her feet crunching in the snow. For a while, Victoria walked down the path until she turned from it and passed a few headstones. Coming up to a headstone, she stopped. It rested under a tree complete covered in snow. The tree still had its leaves so the tree looked like it had a cloud resting on it. Some snow had fallen on the headstone where the name was covered up.

Victoria kicked the snow around before sitting on her knees. Placing the bouquet on her knees and reaching over to the headstone, she took her bare hand and wiped the snow from the name. She didn't stop until the last drop of snow no longer rested on one letter. Settling back on her knees, she gave the name a tired smile as if she were looking at the person herself.

"Hey, mom."

Since Victoria hadn't moved in a long time, once the sun went down, some of the Brother along with Mehrcy appeared at the cemetery. Parking the Escalade next to Victoria's Spyder, she had to be around since her car was covered in snow. Before they came, Vishous had printed out a map of the cemetery. The place was huge and would've taken them half the night searching the grounds when a Vishous had looked up any sights with the last name of Bishop.

Turned out there was only one name.

As they walked down the path, Mehrcy felt his stomach twist. It had been hard for Vishous to find the name since he had to dig deep in the archives. It seemed whatever information about the person had been scrubbed to the point where Vishous managed to find reports that had been written by hand and entered into the system nearly a decade ago. Mehrcy didn't see the hiding as a coincidence. He had a feeling it was the same thing that made it difficult to find anything on Victoria.

The group walked for a while when Vishous followed the map off the path. The feeling was becoming unbearable. Trying to ignore it, Mehrcy decided to look up. It was still snowing that it looked as if the dark clouds were crying. As Mehrcy brought his head down to look straight, he saw a tree with leaves holding a huge mass of snow. And as he looked further down, he saw a dark figure under it. He wasn't he only one to stop. The others stopped in their tracks when they saw the figure.

Something inside him ached in pain.

Mehrcy wasn't aware of his actions but he pushed past the Brothers and almost ran up to Victoria. For some reason she had fallen asleep and was curled up on her side next to the headstone. Covered in snow, her wet cheeks and fresh tears were the only things remaining unfrozen. Looking above her, Mehrcy saw the roses. With a hint of black, the dark crimson roses struck a deep cord in Mehrcy. He then looked at the name the roses were placed next to.

Evelyn Bishop. Beloved mother.

He had seen his share of those roses. Dark crimson roses were like a double blade. One might give to the one they love but the other was a harsher truth. Placed on the grave of a loved one was only meant for a time of sadness and mourning.

This had to be the reason why it was so hard getting the last name Bishop. It was Victoria's mother.

Kneeling beside her, Mehrcy gently picked her up. Still deep in sleep, Victoria reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck. Snuggling against his chest, she sighed and slept. Mehrcy wiped some snow off her body and made sure he had a tight hold so he wouldn't drop her. Surging to his feet and turning around, he saw the Brothers in front of him, looking at the headstone.

"I think you just got your password," he whispered to V.

The male barely nodded.

With Victoria in his arm, he walked past the group and back to the Escalade. As he walked, a presence rolled off of Victoria. Mehrcy had a good guess what it was that was reaching out to him. He could feel the sadness in its touch. And just like that, Mehrcy was back in the bayou. And sitting on a log staring down at the water was the black wolf.

"So now you know," it said.

"Know what?"

The wolf turned its head. Mehrcy saw the sadness he felt and realized it was coming from the wolf. There was sadness and pain in those black eyes. He even saw the signs of one who mourns for a lost one in the wolf's eyes. Mehrcy now understood why Victoria sounded so insulted when darkness couldn't feel. He was looking at the one that lived inside her and saw the emotions were real. Even when the wolf spoke he could hear the hurt in its voice.

"You now know one of Victoria's secrets." The wolf turned its head and went back to staring into the water. "The Bishop women never had a happy life. Living a life on lies and false hope, they suffered like no other. But Victoria suffered the most. She experienced what a child should never experience."

"What would that be?"

"It's not my place to say. Even though I helped commit the act, it is Victoria's story to tell. I can't break her trust. I'm the only one she has left."

The wolf's words startled Mehrcy. Now he felt like a true fool in his believes towards darkness. He didn't know if this was like for Ahnger but he could hear the truth in the darkness's words. It cared deeply for Victoria when he thought of it as nothing but madness. Everything he believed no longer existed.

"Why do you care for her so much?" he asked. He had to at least know why.

The wolf shook its head and made a tiring sound. "I'm old, Mehrcy, son of Lhight. I, too, have my secrets only Victoria knows and no one else. I will not show myself to you expect for this. We both are tired of the Scribe Virgin's game. I stopped playing years ago and found someone who wouldn't play as well. Don't break Victoria's heart. It's fragile as it is and it seems she still holds a shred of trust towards you. Get your answers from her for this will be the first and last time we speak."

Closing his eyes and reopening them, Mehrcy was back in the real world standing in front of the Escalade with Victoria in his arms. Looking down at her, he saw a tear sliding down her cheek. Bringing his hand up, he wiped away the tear. As he did, his mind went through the wolf's words.

Mehrcy had always known Victoria hid things. The sharp, aggressive, silver-tonged woman who saved and challenged him was a powerful shield to hide the broken person she really was. Broken and afraid to let anyone come too close, Victoria used her deceit so well to the point where she no longer worried about lowering her guard. Now Mehrcy understood why even though he didn't know the whole story.

And he would find out. He would find out what hurt Victoria so much that she would fall asleep crying in the snowy night. And he would no longer ignore what he felt towards the woman. Mehrcy would help Victoria through anything if it meant she would be happy at last. And perhaps with him.