The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 62 - Thin Ice

"I understand that you all have questions," Jace said. I heard him because I was right next to him, but I suspected the rancour drowned it out for most people. "I'll try to explain now, but first you need to be quiet."

But the noise continued because no one had heard him, and it took a few minutes of him and Jaden trying to get everyone calm before the volume came down to an acceptable level.

And he did try to explain, but I had to admit it sounded an unlikely story. He had spent weeks coming to terms with Aria being alive, while they'd had five minutes. It didn't help that we had to leave out a lot of the details — the sensitive information that would help us catch the arsonist.

Aria was visibly bored. She didn't try to move away from Jace, but she was fidgeting and scowling to herself. It didn't seem to bother her that everyone was staring. She had Alpha blood running through her veins and all the confidence that came with it.

It took half an hour to deflect the dozens of questions, and after that came a stream of people wanting to meet her and welcome her home. She behaved herself and said hi to each and every one of them, but she went from fidgeting subtly to shuffling around, dancing from foot to foot and generally looking like she had ants in her pants.

"I can take her home," I suggested to Jace. "Give her a break from all this."

"You don't mind?" he asked me.

I shrugged at him. I did mind. I wanted to stay and see the party through until the end, and the pack would expect it of me, but Aria came first.

"I'll take her," Kallie offered. She had been hovering near us ever since the announcement. "I was thinking about heading home anyway. I'm exhausted."

I blinked at her, even though deep down I wasn't surprised. She had only recently started working again, and a party was bound to be overwhelming.

"Thank you," I said. "That's very kind."

I couldn't help noticing that she was holding a glass of sparkling water rather than champagne, and I couldn't smell even a drop of alcohol on her breath. At home, Kallie often had a bottle of wine open, so it was ... surprising. I thought about Lizzie, and the reason why she wasn't drinking, and I couldn't help wondering if Kallie wasn't telling us something. I knew she had slept with my brother on at least one occasion.

She took Aria's hand and led her away. Before she was even out of sight, a middle-aged woman pushed her way through the crowd to reach us. Her cheeks were streaked with tears.

"My mate left for work one evening and never came home," she said in a broken voice. "And I accepted that. I accepted that he had died trying to rescue a little girl. But now you're telling me she was never in danger?"

Jace shook his head. "She was trapped in the fire. She would have died if someone hadn't pulled her out of the window."

"So if they had all just evacuated, then ... what? Everyone would have been fine. I don't know how to cope with that," she told us.

I didn't really know who she was, but she was so very upset that it didn't matter to me. I put an arm around her and took one of her hands, squeezing it tightly. Her entire body was wracked by a sob.

"Rufus wasn't just trying to save Aria — he was trying to save my mother too," Jace told her softly. "He did his duty, and he paid the ultimate price. As did you. I'm very sorry. I should have thought to discuss this with you privately before announcing it to everyone."

She acknowledged that with a distracted nod. One hand came up to wipe the tears away.

"Can I ask you something?" Jace said. "You said he left in the evening? Not in the middle of the night?"