Free Vendetta (Legend of the Ir'Indicti #4) by Connie Suttle

deposited by unceasing waves afterward. Ashe squinted across the gulf waters, which seemed to stretch endlessly toward the east. He felt no different from a pile of seaweed at the moment; it held no control over the sea which birthed it.
    "Ashe, I don't think there's anything in that envelope other than a summons for your father," Adele sighed.
    "Yeah. I get that idea, too. What about Nathan? Will they call him back?"
    "I haven't heard anything, and Lavonna has never said if Nathan was an Enforcer like your father."
    "I just assumed that they were the same, somehow. I don't know why I thought that," Ashe shrugged and started walking again.
    "We'll just have to learn how to do without your father," Adele brushed a tear away. Ashe hugged her closer and they walked in silence for a while.
    * * *
    "Do you want someone to be here?" Sharon O'Neill had come to check on Ashe and Adele. Jonas was at home, entertaining the shapeshifter candidate for the Principal's position. Marcus and Denise were hosting the female werewolf and her husband; Lavonna had her hands full with the single male werewolf. Until Nathan rose for the evening, anyway.
    "We have to deal with this, Sharon. But I appreciate the thought," Adele sat at the kitchen island with a box of tissues at her elbow.
    "If we didn't have to entertain the candidates for Principal tonight," Sharon grumbled. "What will we do without Aedan? We've always leaned on him. We depend on him and Nathan to keep us safe while we sleep."
    "I don't know," Adele sniffled. "Nathan can't do it by himself. He and Aedan were stretched to the limit as it is."
    "I always thought they'd replace Old Harold. That never happened," Sharon agreed. "Surely there's someone somewhere who can come. The Council agreed to help support these communities. As I see it, they haven't done a lot lately. At least not for this one."
    Ashe sat and listened while his mother talked to Sharon. He'd looked forward to Saturday—had planned to relax and study a little. Now it was turning into something he couldn't identify, forcing his world to twist itself into a shape he no longer recognized. How could the Council take his father away? It made no sense at all. He sat gloomily at the kitchen island, sipping ice water and watching the clock. It was midafternoon and his father wouldn't rise for another six hours. "Mom, I'm going out to the deck," he said and walked toward the back of the house.
    * * *
    Ashe was preoccupied, dusting sand off his athletic shoes when a voice spoke right beside him, causing him to jump. He hadn't heard anyone approach and this man—tall, brown-haired and hazel-eyed, sat in a deck chair beside him. "They can't offer you immortality, you know," the man said while Ashe stared into his eyes.
    "Who—who are you?" Ashe didn't know whether to be frightened and stay or be frightened and mist away.
    "Who I am isn't important and generally I don't interfere with anything. Not long ago, however, I was informed that the giving of some information might not be interference. What you do with that information is up to you. The vampires can't offer something you have already. Remember that."
    "Are you my grandfather?" Ashe worried that this was the person who'd sent the email message.
    "No. I'm not your grandfather." The man smiled, making his eyes crinkle around the corners. It was a genuine smile, Ashe decided. "But I will say this—if William Winkler saw me, he would certainly recognize me. I must go." The man patted Ashe's shoulder and disappeared.
    "What the—dang," Ashe breathed. Whipping out his cell, he hit Winkler's number.
    "Ashe?" Winkler answered right away.
    "Mr. Winkler, there was a man here just now. Just appeared from nowhere. He was tall and had brown hair. Sort of greenish-gold eyes. Said you'd recognize him if you saw him, but he wouldn't tell me his name."
    Winkler cursed. "Ashe, what did he say to you?" Winkler demanded.
    "He said that the vampires couldn't offer what I already had," Ashe