“Cut the pretense, Voldruk. It does not suit you at all,” Rowan said. “We are here to confront you, as I am sure you have already surmised.”
“Confront me about what?” Voldruk asked.
“Come now, Voldruk. Do you think we are that foolish and gullible? I just want to know why you did it!” Rowan demanded.
“I do not know to what you are referring,” Voldruk demurred.
“Well, I guess I will have to refresh your memory,” Rayn said, barely controlling his anger. Rayn held out the letter from Thorgar Telldoog and began reading it aloud.
Voldruk turned an ashen color and quickly began stammering. “I do not know what this is all about I do not know this man. What was his name?” he attempted to deny it.
“Please, Voldruk. You can try that on others, but do not insult our intelligence,” Rowan harshly said.
Voldruk stumbled back into a chair as he read the incriminating letter left by Thorgar.
“Why did you do it, Voldruk?” Rowan asked. “I thought we were friends, the best of friends. All the years our families spent together, how I persuaded you to return to Vesturon after your rogue issue, our females were so close, and our children. We looked at you as a part of our family. I would have given you anything. You only had to ask. Why, Voldruk?” The pain Rowan was feeling was evident in every one of his words.
Voldruk sat, with his head hanging down, and in a distant voice, he answered back, “Athyna. I did it for Athyna. I promised Martya on her deathbed that I would see Athyna cared for and that was the only thing I ever promised her. I could barely stand to be in the same room with that woman. Oh how I despised her. You brought me back from my rogue years, but those were the best years I ever spent. Athyna was the only thing I lived for here. I wanted her to mate with Rayn. I always thought they would make a great team, for they are both intelligent and honest to a fault. I promised my wife on her deathbed I would make sure Athyna would find a mate that would care for her, and I knew Rayn would always see to that. He always put everyone before himself.”
Voldruk paused briefly, then looked at Rayn and continued, “I tried to push the two of you together at every opportunity, but you always ignored her. I made her attend things she had no interest in, with hopes of her being noticed by you, to no avail.”
“Why me? Why not Therron or Rykerian?” Rayn asked curiously.
“Do you honestly need me to point that out to you?” Voldruk asked incredulously. “That is just another example of your selflessness. It is because you are the Firstborn. I wanted Athyna to assume the role of your mate. Is that so hard to understand?”
“Yes, it is,” Rayn replied angrily. “Athyna and I are like brother and sister, no more. A blind fool could see that. She has no more interest in me in any other way either. Did you ever stop to consider her feelings in this?”
When Voldruk shrugged, Rayn continued, “Heavens above, lives were lost because of your sick notions. Maddie barely made it out alive, and if you had your way, she would not be here today. What kind of monster are you?” Rayn demanded to know.
“Rayn, son, calm down,” Rowan said quietly. He turned to Voldruk and carried on, “You have gravely injured our family, Voldruk. I hope, only for Athyna’s sake, that she can forgive you. Had you not been so blinded by your quest for power, because that is what I believe it was, you would have seen that Athyna has only had eyes for Therron for as long as I can remember. She never would have consented to being Rayn’s mate, even if he would have begged her,” Rowan said sadly.
“The Guardians should be here shortly to escort to your confinement. You are being charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and treason. The penalties for this will be drastic, which I am sure you know. You may want to collect a few belongings before they arrive,” Rowan informed him.
Voldruk stood up. “You know, I only came back to Vesturon because of Athyna. It was not because of you or my mate. Lord knows I could barely tolerate her. It was all because of Athyna. Everything I have ever done has been for her. I would have happily stayed rogue on Earth if I had not worried about Athyna. I truly do love her you know.”
“Do not tell her about all of this then. It would sicken her to know that you actually killed innocents in her name,” Rayn hissed.
Voldruk swayed a bit, and then, he made his way to his desk, where he pulled open a drawer and reached inside.
“She will not learn of any of this from my lips. And you are both mistaken. I am not going anywhere with the Guardians. Please tell Athyna that I love her and that I am sorry for all the pain this will cause her. I hope you will see it in your heart to be kind to her. She had no part in this.”
Before Rowan or Rayn realized what was happening, Voldruk gave a command to his Annihilator and vaporized before their eyes.
Rowan dropped to his knees, stunned, while Rayn stood watching, his mouth agape.
Minutes later, after Rayn reached out to the other brothers telepathically, they all arrived at the Monteveldo residence. Rayn had helped Rowan to a chair and had gotten him a glass of water. He explained to the brothers what had transpired, while Rowan remained visibly shaken.
Therron was the first to say, “How will we tell Athyna? She will be destroyed by this.”
Rayn suggested, “We need to get Mother and Sharra here to assist. Given that you are the closest to her, you should probably be here as well.”
“I guess you are right. Does anyone know where she is?” Therron wanted to know.
“No, and we sent the servants away. We thought to spare Voldruk any humiliation, but I am glad we did. At least they were spared his suicide. The servants will not be back until later this evening.”
Therron firmly said, “Then I will just wait here for her. I will send for Mother and Sharra, and they can wait with me.
Moments later, Annalise, Sharra, and Maddie arrived. Annalise quickly went to Rowan and held him in her arms. She knew how close the two men were and knew Voldruk’s death was rocking Rowan’s world. “Come, my dear. I want to take you home. I will let Therron and Sharra wait to comfort Athyna.”
After they left, Maddie and Rayn also left. Rayn was not nearly as upset as his father, and he explained this to Maddie. His anger at Voldruk for having a hand in Maddie’s abduction drove Rayn to the point of absolute fury that right now, he did not feel remotely sorry for what had happened.
“Rayn, eventually, you will lose this anger, and then you will feel remorse. I just don’t want you to feel any responsibility for this. Voldruk chose this path for himself. The other thing is your father will need you now. Rowan’s close friend committed atrocities to his family and then he witnessed his suicide. That is too much for any man to bear,” Maddie concluded.
“You are right, Maddie. Father does need me now.”
When they were back at the palace, Rayn said, “I will go to be with him. Would you like to come with me?”
“No. I think it would be better if he grieved in private with only you there. I am here if you need me though,” she told him as she leaned in to embrace him. They stood together for a brief time and then Rayn left to join his father.
Athyna had been very upset with her father for his attitude toward Rayn throughout the trial. They had exchanged heated words, which then escalated into a full blown argument. She accused Voldruk of being obstinate and hard headed, and she told him his attitude was bordering on insolence.
Voldruk had exploded then and told her she was an ignorant fool. That did not suit well at all with Athyna. For all her faults, ignorance was not one of them. They hadn’t spoken since then, and she had just about enough. She was going to confront him and tell him that if he couldn’t bring himself to apologize to Rayn and the rest of the Yarristers, she would have no choice but to move away from this house. She was humiliated beyond belief that he had acted in such a cruel and heartless manner.
She burst through the doors only to come to a halt by the presence of Therron and Sharra. The manner in which she entered the house startled the Yarristers, and all three of them just looked at each other open mouthed.
“What is going on?” Athyna asked. Then she realized how rude that must sound, so she continued by saying, “Forgive me. That was very rude of me. I was a bit taken aback when I saw you here. I wasn’t expecting visitors.”
Before she could utter another word, Therron cut her off by saying, “Athyna, we have come to tell you something.” He approached her and took her hands in his.
The look in his eyes must have given him away because Athyna immediately said, “What is it? What has happened?”
“Please, come in and sit,” he said. Athyna allowed him to lead her to a sitting room where Sharra joined them, who looked on with sadness.
“I do not want to sit. Tell me what’s happening here, Therron!” she pleaded, her voice laced with concern.
“Athyna, it is your father. He has…” Therron’s voice trailed off. For all of his bravery, he found he did not have the heart to tell her. She looked at him wide eyed, and he glanced at his sister, imploring her with his eyes to tell Athyna.
“Athyna, my friend, your father is no longer with us,” Sharra informed her gently.
“What do you mean? Where is he?” she wanted to know.
“He has died,” Sharra told her.
Athyna eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. “No, he cannot be gone. I just...I did not...” She couldn’t go on.
Therron put his arms around her and held her while she silently sobbed. He looked at Sharra, and all she could do was shake her head.
Finally, she lifted her eyes to Therron and asked him what had happened. They had decided that she needed to know the whole truth, as difficult as it would be for her to hear. Athyna was much too wise to accept any kind of glib explanation, and if she were to find out the truth elsewhere, she would never forgive them.
Therron said to his sister, “I think Athyna and I need some time together so that I can explain things to her. I will bring her home with me later.”
Sharra nodded and said, “If you need anything, please reach out to me.”
When Therron and Athyna were alone, he told her everything that they had discovered from the very beginning, concluding with his suicide. Athyna was numb with shock. She knew there had been something different about her father lately, but she never imagined he would stoop to those levels. What saddened and disgusted her the most was that lives, precious lives, were lost.
“I don’t think I can ever forgive him, Therron. There is no excuse for his behavior. To say he did it for me is ludicrous. He did it for himself, for the power. Thank the Deity my mother never saw this side of him. It would surely have killed her,” she said with repugnance. “Oh, my goodness! To think he nearly killed Rayn’s female, and then sat at Rayn’s trial! My word! What kind of sick male could do that? To your family no less? Our fathers were so close, and our mothers were best friends. Oh, if he were still here, I think I would have killed him myself,” she added.
Therron let her vent all of her anger before saying, “Are you going to be all right, Athyna? I know you are hurt and angry right now, but...”
“Therron, you have no idea!” she vehemently said.
“Eventually, it will pass. Then, what will you do?” he inquired.
“What do you mean?” she asked him in confusion.
“Will you be okay? I guess what I am asking is did your father leave his affairs in order? Will you be taken care of?”
“I do not know. I never thought of asking him about that type of thing,” she replied. “We never discussed it.”
Therron stood up and took Athyna’s hand in his, helping her to her feet. “Come with me,” he said as he led her to the kitchen. Once there, he poured her a glass of water. “I think we need to check on all of that, but I feel fairly confident that Voldruk left everything in order for you. He was a meticulous man when it came to details, so I do not think you have anything to worry about in that regard. One other thing, we are not going to make the details of this known. It is unnecessary now.”
“Thank you, Therron,” she said softly. “I do not know what I would have done if you had not been here. Thank you,” she said with sincerity as she latched onto his hands.
Therron looked at her, and for no apparent reason, he started seeing her in a different light. He had never noticed Athyna before. He had always looked at her as a friend, but when he looked at her now, he saw her beauty shining through. He scolded himself, as this was not the time to be thinking these thoughts. He pushed them to the back of him mind and said, “My family wants you to come and stay with us for a time. Will you do that?”
“Oh, I do not truly think that is necessary.”
He wouldn’t let her finish. “Please, Athyna, if you say, ‘no,’ my mother will hound me for the rest of my life, curse me, and do all sorts of horrific tortuous things to me.”
She let a giggle escape through her lips and said, “I cannot picture Annalise doing any of those things, but if you think I can save you from all of that, then how can I refuse?”
“Perhaps you should go and pack a few things, and we can be on our way,” he suggested.
Athyna had stayed with the Yarristers for several weeks when she decided it was time to return home. A week after Voldruk’s suicide, she found a letter from him confessing everything to her. He apologized profusely for his actions, but she still could not forgive him for all the heartache he had caused. As suspected, Voldruk had all of his affairs in order, so Athyna would be well cared for financially.
Therron quietly exhaled when he heard the news. He had become increasingly interested in her during the time she spent with his family. She was a loving female with a kind heart. He didn’t want her to have worries of any kind.
Athyna had grown close with Maddie as well. The three young females were often in each other’s company, with Sharra continuing to plan the unification ceremony and subsequent reception for Rayn and Maddie. Maddie was becoming overwhelmed with all of her ideas, and Athyna had become a good buffer for Maddie. Sharra and Athyna both noticed Maddie’s agitation and frustration, and they began to wonder about it. They originally surmised it was a case of the jitters, but Maddie refused their questions and was becoming impossibly uncooperative with Sharra. Finally, Sharra threw her arms in the air and stormed out one afternoon. Maddie went to her quarters and sulked.