Blood of the Wolf: The Crown (Mackenzie Grey Book 11), Karina Espinosa [top 10 ebook reader txt] 📗

I laughed it off. “I’m just not going to be here long. No point in going through all that trouble.”

She thought about it for a moment and decided I was right. She would have to request it from the kitchen, which was pretty far away. “Very well.” She nodded and sat back down.

As I looked at Helena, a thought crossed my mind. “Granny, I have a question.” I twisted in my seat to face her fully.

“Yes, hen?”

“You were married to King Hamish MacCoinnich, right?” I asked inquisitively.

Her face softened at the mention of her deceased mate. “Aye. He was yer grandda. Ye would have loved him. I’m sure he would have loved ye too, chickie. He was a natural born leader.”

I wasn’t too sure he would have been overly fond of me. I wasn’t your typical luna. But then again, Alexander loved me more than I could even describe. Maybe his father would have, too.

“Did he ever speak to you about his dealings?”

She furrowed her brows and thought for a moment. “Do ye mean did he ever consult with me about his duties?”

“Sorta. Did he ever talk to you about work stuff?”

She sighed and smiled. “That was during a time when things were different for lunas, chickie. I was only Queen by name; I had no real power. Hamish consulted mainly with his Council. He rarely ever spoke to me about work.” Some of the council members that I recently fired were probably on his council. Including Jacob. I definitely couldn’t ask them.

“Oh.” I nodded.

I tried not to let the disappointment show. I knew it was a long shot. I figured she wouldn’t know, but I’d hoped that by some miracle, maybe, just maybe, Hamish had something to do with what was going on now and Helena might have some insight. But of course, back then lunas weren’t trusted with any information.

It didn’t have to be Hamish, either. It could have been his father, or his father’s father and so on until King Conall, who made the original deal with Drusilla.

“Why do ye ask, chickie?” Helena brought me back to the present.

I smiled brightly. “Oh, it’s nothing.” I shrugged. “I just had some things I’d been wondering about that maybe you knew, but I guess not. You know, work related stuff.” I rolled my eyes as if it was too boring to go into detail.

“Ah.” She nodded in understanding. “I may nae be able to help ye, hen, but I might have something that will.”

Helena stood and left the living room, disappearing into her bedroom. A couple minutes passed before she returned with a few leather journals in hand. She sat beside me again with a smile.

“Here, chickie.” She handed the books to me. “Alexander has never seen them, but Hamish journaled most of his life. These are a few I typically carry with me, but the rest are in my cottage if you’d like to read them.”

I took the journals from her and opened the first one, shuffling through the pages as hope blossomed in my chest. “Granny, thank you so much!”

The first page I opened to was a journal entry from roughly fifty years ago. I skimmed through the passage to see it was about the war against the vampires.

“I hope this helps, chickie.” She patted my leg. “Whatever happened during his time as King, it’s most likely in those journals. Maybe even some information about King Dougal, his father.”

This was gold! I hit the jackpot with these journals. If Hamish knew anything, it would be documented within these pages.

“If ye need the others, I can give ye the key to my cottage,” she offered.

“Yes, please,” I accepted gratefully. “I’ll go through these first and if I need the others, I’ll let you know, Granny. Thank you so much!”

I hugged her with one arm and held the journals with the other. I wondered why she never showed them to Alexander. I mean, their relationship had always been strained, but I’d hoped it was getting better. I’d have to see how I could help.

I made it back to my chambers with the journals in hand and flung myself in bed, snuggling deep underneath the comforters and making myself comfortable as I propped up the pillows behind me. I opened the first journal and started to skim through the entries.

My granny was right. He journaled everything. Every mindless piece of information was in these journals. Everything from council meetings to conversations he had with the guards and even Granny were in there. It seemed like Hamish didn’t want to forget a thing.

It made me think about the journal tucked in the drawer in my nightstand that belonged to Adaline. Should I start to write things down as well?

The double doors to my chambers opened and Bash walked in, jerking to a stop once he saw me.

“You’re here,” he said, startled. “What are you doing here?” He closed the doors behind him.

“I just went to see Helena to poke around for some information on King Hamish, my grandfather. She gave me these journals that belonged to him.” I waved the books at him.

He nodded in understanding as he changed clothes.

“Did you and Alexander find anything in the library?” I asked as I continued to scan the journal.

“Not a single thing,” Bash called out. “Your family records are extremely detailed so I’m pretty sure we didn’t miss anything. Unless it was never recorded.”

I set the journal down on my lap and sighed. “It must be some deep, dark MacCoinnich secret that they don’t want anyone to know.”

“Or …” Bash said. “Angus could have been lying to us.”

I snorted. “Are the fae known to lie? You know they’re not.”

“But they can twist the truth. You don’t know what game he’s playing with you.” He walked out of the closet wearing more comfortable clothing.

I twisted my mouth to the side. “I don’t know, Bash. I don’t think he’s lying. I think someone bargained our lives in exchange for something pretty important. They