Snakes In The Grass

Chapter 22

I was exhausted from all the catching up, but a good exhausted. I was happy to listen to Lissa explain everything that had been planned for her wedding, already begging me to be in the wedding. I said yes, but I wasn't going to take the role of maid of honour from Mia. She had already put in time and work, and I wasn't going to step into it when she earned it.

Christian was quiet when I showed up at the house, no doubt already knowing that we were back, but he just looked at us. He didn't say anything for the first little bit, and the first acknowledgment of us being there was when Briar walked towards him, smacking her hands against his knee to gain his attention. He picked her up and cuddled her, a sad look in his eyes.

"Christian?" I asked, "You okay?"

He swallowed and shook his head slowly. "I mourned you guys, I mourned my niece. It's just hard to wrap my head around," he said quietly, resting his cheek on the top of Briar's head.

"I know," I sympathized, "It's hard for all of us to comprehend."

Christian nodded and went back to paying attention to Briar. It seemed it was easier for him to ignore everything else. A part of me ached to tell Christina the truth, to tell him that his parents were alive, but I had promised them I wouldn't tell anyone that they were alive. And that included him.

After seeing Lissa and Christian I went off to meet Mia. Dimitri had mentioned he wanted to speak to Abe and Janine about a few things so I told him I'd meet them for dinner. It was the first moment that I had been alone in a while. Dimitri insisted on bringing Briar with him, and I was all too happy to let him. It would be good for Janine and Abe to have time with their granddaughter.

But now I lingered in the back of the café in Court, hoping to out of the way of curious eyes. I sipped my coffee as I read the magazine on my phone, looking up when the chair across from me scraped.

"Um. Hi?" I said.

"Hello," Tasha said, "You look well."

"Thanks?" I questioned, my brows knitted together, "Do you need something?"

Tasha cleared her throat and nodded, licking her lips before she spoke. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

I snorted a laugh and set my phone on the table, crossing my arms. "For what?"

"Well, for helping them, for one. But when I thought you all were dead, it did something to me. I spent so much time trying to fight for someone's attention that didn't want me. And I said some nasty things to him before you left. I guess I just wanted to say that, the whole thing opened my eyes to my own problems."

I nodded and took another sip of my coffee. I wasn't sure why she was telling me all of this, but it seemed like she was having a hard time keeping herself composed long enough to get it all out.

"After talking to Dimitri the other night, I'm going to go speak to Guardian Croft," she finished.

"You are?" I asked, a tone of shock clear in my voice.

Tasha nodded slowly. "Yes. And there is a very good chance that I'll be dead soon," she said quietly.

"What do you mean? They aren't going to charge you with treason."

"Because the people that I gave that information to will find a way to kill me," she explained "I thought what they had over me was bad enough to try and hide it. But it's not worth it anymore. Not when I've lost people I love over it."

"You mean your brother?" I asked quietly.

Tasha sniffed and nodded. "Yeah. I got him mixed up in this too and their dead too."