Sensing my anger, Javi gave me my space. Raindrops splattered on us as we watched the black limo drive up. I squared my shoulders and opened the door before the driver could do it for us. Javi slammed it shut, and I scooted to the far side, as far from him as I could get. Ignoring his imploring looks, I rolled down the window for one final glance back.
Rain blurred my vision as we pulled away from the cemetery. I wrapped my arms around myself and shrank into the seat. The finality of that moment struck me hard.
Papi is dead. Papi is a liar.
Anger flared back to life, a torrent of rage clashing with grief. So badly I wanted to pretend the vision I’d seen wasn’t real. Go back to believing everything was normal. Being orphaned, I could handle. People lost loved ones every day. But this.
My thoughts raced as we made our way back to the house. I refused to look at my cousin and I was thankful for his silence.
When we arrived at the vineyard, I still wasn’t ready to face the others. I held my breath as we passed through the black gates. Rain glistened off the sign, making the letters shine.
La Vina Rosa Oscura. The Black Rose Vineyard. A name my father and mother chose long before I was born. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a secret meaning to it, I’d never questioned before. A shudder ran down my spine. What other things did they hide from me? Who were these people that I called parents?
A GRIMM, Javi called me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what it meant. Manny’s monstrous face flashed in my mind. How many other creatures like him were out there? Hiding right in the open? I dismissed my troubling thoughts, knowing full well that once I accepted this new truth, I’d never be the same again.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
“Rose?” My cousin’s voice made me jump.
I blinked at him. He stood outside with the car door open for me.
“Are you… getting out?” His eyes searched mine.
Schooling my features, I nodded and followed him. We walked past the marble fountain and I paused, a sinking feeling growing inside me. My eyes swept the light brown stucco, high arched windows, and dark tiled roof of my house. All so familiar, but something felt different.
Could I still call it home? I didn’t know how I was supposed to carry on, but I would. There was no way in hell I’d let myself fall to pieces. Especially not in front of my cousin.
His gaze softened on me, making me bristle. I didn’t want his sympathy. I’d never needed anything from anybody, and I wasn't going to start now.
“Uh… wait.” He paused at the steps.
I turned to look at him.
He sighed. “Don’t mention any of this to anyone just yet… I got to talk to my dad.”
My eyebrow arched. “Oh, I wasn’t planning to bring this up again. Not ever.”
“You can’t just ignore it, Rose… Don’t you want justice for your father?”
“Justice? My father died of a heart attack… Why would I need justice?”
Javi stared at me. Something clicked in my mind. The rambling words of Manny replayed and the slip from my cousin.
Papa said he was killed by a shifter. A shifter.
Cold dread washed over me. No.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stand. Dizziness struck me, and I took a seat on the steps to steady myself. The wetness from the cold stone seeped into my dress and made me shiver, but I didn’t move.
Javier sat beside me, his worried eyes roaming over me.
“I thought it was a heart attack. The doctor said…”
“The GRIMMs made it look like a heart attack. To keep people from knowing what really happened.”
“It was him, wasn’t it? Manny. He… killed Papi.”
My cousin stilled. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure he’s our guy.”
I whipped toward him. “And you let him get away!”
I clenched my fists by my side, fighting the urge to strike my cousin.
His eyes widened at my outburst. “I didn’t do it on purpose. That’s why I have to talk to my dad. We’ll send a team out and capture him. I won’t let him get away with this, Rose. I promise.”
I stood up, shrugging out of his grasp. “This is your fault. If you had just done your job in the first place there wouldn’t be monsters out running loose!”
In the back of my mind, I knew my accusation was bullshit. Javi hadn’t even been in Sonoma when Papi died, but I needed to vent my rage, and he was the unlucky target. Losing a father to a heart attack was one thing, but murder? Murder by werewolf—that was another thing.
Hot, angry tears welled in my eyes and my throat burned. Feeling embarrassed after my outburst, I averted my gaze.
Javi broke the silence first. “I don’t know who patrols this area, but believe me, they are in massive trouble. This should never have happened. I… I’m so sorry.”
I didn’t look at him. What good did apologizing do? There was nothing we could do to change the past.
“Are you going to be okay? I have to go report this.”
“Report what?” Tío Javier interrupted.
Javi stiffened. I turned to face my uncle. How long had he been standing there watching us? His dark gaze swept over us, his face the usual stony mask I was used to.
“The shifter. At the cemetery.”
“Where is it now? Did you take it in?”
My eyebrows shot up at their casual exchange. Clearly this was just another day on the ‘job’ for them. Did my little cousins take part too?
Javi flinched. “I… got a few shots in, but he healed himself. Way too quickly for a shifter.”
“Where. Is. It?” My tío’s voice sounded more like a
