Page 14 of Ashes

“No. They’re holding.” Tanner turns around and looks from me to Nova. “But I’m not sure how long for.” He reaches into his pocket and takes out his cell. When he passes it to me, I hold it so Nova can see.

“Is that…?”

“News crews. In the woods. Filming. Trying to break through.” Tanner turns to the window again.

Nova’s face pales. She reaches for my hand and squeezes it tight.

Passing the phone back to Tanner, I turn on the TV above the fireplace. Every news channel shows the same thing; hordes of reporters lining the shield in the woods. As Tanner stands on the other side of Nova and takes her other hand, the footage changes to an aerial view of a line of black SUVs. Next, a chopper.

“A fucking chopper?” Tanner’s mouth drops open. He shakes his head. “Turn it off, Mack.”

I ignore him. Turning back to the desk, I pick up my cell and redial. It rings twice.

“Tom? Don’t hang up.”

There’s a long pause. “Sheriff, the last time we spoke—which was about ten minutes ago—you cursed at me and hung up.”

“I know. I know. But listen… please. I need you to listen.” This time, I’m begging. I’m not trying to sound important or experienced. I’m not using my ‘agent’ voice. I am quite literally begging him to listen to me.

Agent Tom Haze exhales loudly. “You have ten seconds.”

“Annalise McCourt.” I speak quickly. “I’m not asking to speak to her. I’m not asking you to put me through. But I knowyoucan talk to her if it’s an emergency. This is an emergency, Tom. If we play this wrong, it will have dire consequences.”

“Are you threatening me, Sheriff?”

“No. Of course, not. But there’s more at stake than you realize.” I pause and look at Nova. She’s watching me, still holding Tanner’s hand. “Speak to Annalise. Ask her if I can be trusted. If she says yes, call off the chopper and the SUVs, and come here yourself. Just you. We’ll talk. I’ll explain everything. I’ll explain why Nova isnota threat. She’ll tell you herself.”

Tom Haze doesn’t reply. The line goes dead.

7

LUTHER

“After he was born, Sam needed to stay in the hospital for a while. We kept him for three weeks.” Sarah bites her lower lip. “His father didn’t visit him once. He was just too heartbroken.” A note of pride laces her voice as she adds, “But I did. I stayed with him. Every day, every night. I took care of him.

“Finally, his father returned. But he could barely look at the baby. He went away again and, the next time he came, he asked how much he would have to pay me to be Sam’s nanny – to go home with them, live in his house, and take care of the baby.” Sarah reaches into her purse and takes out a stack of photographs. She pushes them over to me. Images of a baby boy, swaddled in a crib. Images of a younger Sarah holding the same baby, smiling as if she’s his mother.

“He agreed to match my salary from the hospital, so off we went.” She looks down at the photos and traces her finger over one of them. “For three years, we were happy. Me and Sam in our own little world.

“His father had a huge old house on the outskirts of Solleville. He gave us a wing all to ourselves. Just Sam and I.” She smiles. It’s a smile filled with sadness and nostalgia. Then her face drops. “As Sam got older, I found it harder to keep him away from his father. He wanted to know him. Wanted to be around him. But his father was still too broken. When he looked at Sam, he saw Elena.”

Sarah shuffles the pictures and shows me another. Sam as a toddler, standing between a couple in their fifties.

“Just after Sam’s third birthday, Elena’s parents found us. They told his father they wanted custody.” Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “I expected him to fight, but he didn’t even try. He agreed they should adopt Sam. He relinquished custody to them and told me to leave.”

I lace my fingers together. “If his grandparents adopted him, how did he end up with Nova’s parents?” I’m trying to figure out how a werewolf cub ended up being fostered in Ridgemore; the most anti-magick town in the state.

“On Sam’sfourthbirthday—”

Suddenly, the pieces drop. “Werewolves start to shift when they’re four years old,” I mutter, filling in the blank.

Sarah nods. “They thought they could handle it, but they couldn’t. They tried to return him to his father. But in the time Sam had been gone, his father had got caught up with the Human Extinction League. He’d come to believe that Elena died because she was weak. He loved her, buthatedher for leaving him, and that hatred spread toallhumans.”

“And hybrids,” I add. “Like his son.”

“Yes.” Sarah takes a long sip of coffee. “At the time, Supernatural Child Services were trying to forge links with the human foster system. They were running a program to place supers with humans. Nova’s parents had signed up.”

“And they got Sam…”