by Flynn Eire
“Okay, new plan,” Claudius declared as he waved someone over. “We have someone who can tell if people are lying. That is more than sufficient for this.”
“Start with that next time,” I grumbled, hating how everyone went to the nuclear option always. “Seriously, not cool. It’s like naked on the first day of school not cool. I should unzip your fly and let you walk around like that.”
“Funny, but stop talking and drink this,” Gaius murmured, taking the container from me and replacing it with a ginger ale. “Sam’s coming to check on you. You seriously are probably dehydrated and—”
“I can keep talking,” I interjected, knowing where he was going. “I want to move on, Gaius. I can’t do that until the right people know and this is done. Lie me on a cot with a cold towel if Sam says so, but I have to do this already and start to move on.”
“Fair enough,” he sighed.
Sam gave me the once-over, wincing at whatever he found, and the next thing I knew he was hooking me up to an IV. “You have a fever, you twit. We don’t really get them, but you’re so fucking dehydrated and stressed out your body is flipping out. Try telling people when you’re puking and—”
I pointed to Gaius. “Hey, he was right there. A real adult knew.”
“Okay, then spank him later.”
I felt my cheeks heat at the interesting sounding idea. Except Sam thought it meant I was getting worse and told someone to get me sports drinks too.
In other words, there was about nothing left to embarrass myself over.
Once I was a bit more hydrated before I withered in front of their eyes, Claudius started with the official stuff. I told him what I had everyone before, answering questions only a few people were allowed to ask as I went.
“Why did you never think Alexander was at fault in any of this?” Claudius asked, and I winced.
“I don’t think he’s faultless. I think just about everyone involved had a hand in allowing this to happen. He should have checked why they needed more boots on the ground if the attacks were over. They let Tadzio land at the camp. We had one of our own there. As the warrior there, or another sent with us, should have checked out the situation. None of it would have been allowed then.”
“We tried, but we were told our interference wasn’t needed, as they were asking for transfers to help, not have another camp take over,” Alexander defended. “And I had the word of a council member they would oversee it all. I would have liked to do just that, but if I did for every mission that was dangerous, that would be all we do.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed after a moment. “I’m not putting the blame on you, not at all, but I just think there are several people who aren’t blameless, either. Hell, I’m chapped with Rune that we didn’t know the number here changes. Like really? No one ever told us that?”
“That procedure has been changed,” Helios assured me.
“That’s all I ask, for people to realize what went wrong and do better.” Then I looked at Claudius. “To answer your question in the way you meant it, I never thought it was Alexander’s evil plan because I’d heard enough from Mike about how big of a dick his father was that it was him. Plus, none of that shit affects Alexander. He wouldn’t come up with some master plan to ever let people die for some revenge thing.
“And the moment Garrow came for Mike and the council guards who took him basically told us to sit and spin, it was fairly obvious there was a pretty big conspiracy going on. And not from here. Dimitri would have torn through the whole camp and council if he knew we were in danger. It was why I didn’t want to take the ride to the coven. I wanted to say ‘fine, we’ll walk’ and make some calls on the way.
“Ellison heard some things and took it out of context because he was chapped Nate got pulled from the detail because Matteo got involved and Tadzio didn’t care about him enough to do the same. Perception is reality, and there was a lot of perceptions and not many answers. It’s easy to put the puzzle together in several different ways when that’s true.”
“And we should just have to listen to how you—a loose cannon who accidentally kills his own kind and is useless to protect the coven—puts things together?” Garrow demanded, getting a shit look from Claudius he ignored to make his point.
“You’re right, let’s ask your son who’s AWOL instead,” I drawled, feeling the tension in the room. “Well, isn’t he? You went and pulled him from an assignment. Do you have the authority to do that when our orders were to report to the coven leader? I mean, did you go through this camp to get the orders changed, which was who we were still technically with because the East Canada camp lied and never transferred us.”
“You are a fucking genius,” Ellison chuckled, shaking his head. “I never once thought about it.”
I shrugged. “I did when I thought about him getting out and not sending help, throwing us to the zakasacs and letting so many die for Daddy’s approval or whatever bullshit. He’s been AWOL for over a year and a half. What’s the punishment for that? He got the papers to be a warrior as we did; even if I think they were crap, they’re legal. So what’s the punishment for that?” I smirked at Mike. “At least we knew we were pawns. Still on Daddy’s side?”
He shot his father a look, and dissention among the ranks was enough to make whatever bullshit they were going to say fall apart. And from the look on my parents’ faces, that was the one backing whatever they were going to try to do. Assholes. They really were just burnt out hippie dippies that were useless.
I got a break and got to find out the plan with my parents. My mother went first and started off with a bang.
“I don’t know which of that was lies, as I wasn’t there, but he has a history of bucking authority. He got in trouble in school many times. He’s always been a problem and—”
I burst out laughing and got to my feet. “Okay, so, Mom—the mom who sent me a letter disowning me, as someone informed her of my war crimes, without even asking me about what happened—so seriously, I use that term loosely. So, Mom , what did I get in trouble at school for ? Don’t skip that part.”
“Answer the question,” Claudius agreed after a moment.
She waved it off. “Who can remember such details?”
The Wyrok who could detect lies snorted. “She’s lying, and if you can’t remember, then how is it such a problem that you felt it so important and relevant to this inquiry?” He glanced at Claudius. “Seriously, if this is their way to debunk his starting testimony and whatever comes next, I’m going to be flagging you a lot.”
Claudius’s lips twitched, but only some of us could see it as he turned to look at me. “What did you get in trouble for, Falcon?”
“Smelling like pot ,” I drawled. “The pot they smoked in the house all the damn time. Our whole house reeked of it. I was amazed the human police weren’t there always. I got in trouble for smoking pot because I smelled like it. I made them give me drug tests, and I didn’t have any. Teachers started believing me at least. But yeah, that’s what I got in trouble for. Or a few times I got caught sleeping at school because they had parties and I had finals.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” my mother argued, waving her hand dismissively, and it made me see something. I used that moment her hand was lined up in my direction and called to the metal in her ring.
“Nice upgrade, Mom,” I purred, studying the ring now in my hand. “Funny thing I’ve learned about our gifts. They come early from traumas. My gift wouldn’t have flared up when someone died in front of me. It had to already be emerging, right? I wonder why that was? Crappy childhood? Useless parents?” I met her angered gaze with my own. “Where did you get the ring?
“They thought I was dead. Survivor benefits warriors’ families get? You come testify, and you get to keep the money? What, did you get Ellison’s too as he’s an orphan? It wouldn’t be the first con you pulled. So the ring is mine, right?”
Unfortunately, I’d been right. That was exactly the deal my parents
had made. That was the cost of selling out their son instead of getting fucking jobs like normal people. It made me want to choke her with her fancy necklace and my dad with his tie. Assholes. Helios got them to confess it all under his influence.
Sam unhooked me from the IV once I’d gone through a few bags, and it was time to fuel up anyways. My gaze landed on our opposition, and something wasn’t settling well with me.
“I don’t get this,” I mumbled as we took a break for lunch. “What was the plan? The deal was everyone was going to be under his gift. So how was this going to work? I mean in a way to have a favorable outcome to them?”
“You need to tell him so he can let them go,” Zibon told Gaius and then gave me a worried look.
“You don’t need to ask him. You tell me,” I growled, pissed he would keep something from me and talk to Gaius like he was my dad.
“He came to tell you, and you were vomiting so hard and for so long I smelled drops of blood in it,” Gaius defended. “I asked him to hold off.” I gave a slow nod and forgave him. That was valid. “We caught two snipers just outside the camp that were sighting the new dorm you and Ellison would walk out of.”
“Haven’t we already done the sniper sent by a council member shtick?” I grumbled, a massive headache forming as what he said sank in. I went to lower my head to the table, my vision fuzzy, but I was pulled out of my chair and picked up.
“Enough. You’ve had enough, Falcon,” Ellison mumbled as he carried me to the door. “Enough, okay? They don’t matter. We’re two orphans, right? We’ve been saying that for so long. Brothers with no mothers. That’s the deal.”
“Is it? Is it anymore?” I asked, leaning my head against his shoulder and letting myself be toted around, not caring how it looked.
“Yeah, little bro,” he whispered, kissing my hair. “I’m sorry I took so much out on you. I’m a dick, but I’m your brother, and I would have jumped in front of an angry Alexander for you too. I always will.”
“Good, I don’t have to give up on you then,” I chuckled.
“No, you don’t, but I’m the man that carries you off,” Gaius growled, and I yelped as I was pulled from Ellison’s arms. “Thanks, Ellison, and I agree with you, but he’s mine to take care of.”
“Then do a better job of it,” Ellison bitched, giving me a nod before heading back to the cafeteria.
“I asked for more sports drinks, ginger ale, and some easy stuff for your stomach to be sent to my room, and I will baby you all you want,” he assured me.
Worked for me. I couldn’t take anymore. I was breaking, and I felt it.
7
When we arrived at his room, he easily opened the door while still toting me and set me on the bed. He took a deep breath and knelt before me, reaching into his pocket for something.
“Don’t propose yet,” I blurted, my eyes feeling as if they might pop out. “I know I said I wasn’t mad about what you told my parents, and I’m not, especially because I’m sure I’m in love with you and being mated to you, being yours and you being mine sounds amazing. But not today. I can’t take it today.”
“I know,” he cut in when I took a breath to say more. He finished pulling out what was in his pocket, and I realized it was a brownie. “I know your parents were total potheads and jerks because of it, but I’m seriously worried about you, Falcon. If you just have a piece, it will chill you out, help with the nausea, and—”
I snagged it from his hand and quickly unwrapped it, knowing all the side effects and yes, wanting them. My parents took things too far, but that didn’t mean I thought all pot was bad or wouldn’t ever have any.
Fuck, it might be the only way I stopped puking all the time.
I moaned at the taste, as the brownie was high quality, bakery made-type moist and nummy. I wrapped it back up and kissed Gaius after I swallowed my bite. “Thank you. Sorry I jumped the gun, but you knelt and went for something in your pocket and after—yeah, I went there.”
“You weren’t all that far off,” he admitted, searching my eyes. “Do you really love me?”
“Yeah, I do,” I giggled, the brownie hitting me fast. “Oh, this is fun. Can we make out like this after I eat? My stomach and everything is so empty it hurts.”
“I know, Godiva,” he murmured, moving to give me a soft kiss. “I love you too, Falcon. I look at you, and all I see is my future, my happiness. I might ask you soon because I want every day forever with you. I think a long engagement like London and Drake have sounds perfect after all the horrors we’ve been through.”
“Yeah, I like how humans do that.” I felt my cheeks flame hot as I basically just accepted his not really but total proposal. “But I’m not getting pregnant all the time just because you’re the head of some powerful bloodline and clan. I don’t care your position, I’m not popping out babies for you.”
A loud laugh from the hallway made me jump, and Gaius rolled his eyes as he pushed to his feet. He opened the door to reveal Basilia laughing so hard it looked like she might knock the cart over; it was shaking from the force she was shaking with. Her eyes danced with mirth as she met my gaze.
“A long time ago when the remainder of his family pressured him to continue the eldest brother’s bloodline so it would never be lost if he should die, and they constantly hounded him to find a suitable match for such reasons, I agreed to be his surrogate. I will never mate a male, as I am a lover of females, but I have always wanted to be an aunt, and my family is dead.”
I thought back to who Basilia had been hanging out with, smiling. “Glad Mina decided to stay after what happened with Zibon and her shit family.”
“Does she know I want her?” she blurted, her eyes wide.
“I have no idea,” I admitted, shrugging. “Would it be so bad?”
“She has no experience in any way with anyone, as her horrid parents basically locked her up like the princess waiting for the prince to mate and elevate the family, save them or whatever. I don’t think she knows what she wants, reeling from it all and processing what’s happened to her.”
“Just be her friend, Basilia,” I offered after a moment of thought. “That’s how Gaius won me over more than his good looks or anything else. Feeling alone with a big burden is one of the most painful things any person can go through, scared it will eat them. He wouldn’t let me push him away, and he wouldn’t let it eat me. That was how I knew he was real.
“Besides, you’re gorgeous, so if Mina has any inclination to women, she’ll be all about you. I mean, I’m super gay, and even I’m curious if your boobies are as supple as they look. Like soft and squishy—” I burst out into peels of giggles. “‘You will be my squishy, and I will call you squishy.’” I blinked at her. “I totally lost what we were talking about. Blame the brownie.”
“We were discussing my intentions towards Mina,” she reminded me as she wheeled in the cart. “I believe I have done as you said, be her friend, but I do not understand some of the things she does or how to read the signs. She has refused my offer to run my household after my mansions are built. It is a good position and would keep her safe. Why would she refuse?”
“Because you’d be her boss,” I answered, noting the way they both frowned then, seeing it confused Gaius as well. “She can’t be your equal if you’re her boss. Forget that you’re Wyrok or anything else. You’d be in charge of her. I’d never be okay with that with Gaius. I couldn’t be his subordinate and share his bed.”
I knew I was sort of rephrasing it over and over again, but they seemed unable to get the concept until that last one.
“So I can take hope from her actions?” she checked, smiling at the idea. “Yes, I would not like to work for her, either, as that would make things tricky at times, but who cares if you work for your friends? There have been many times I’ve worked for Gaius or him assist me.”
I opened my mouth and closed it again, shaking my head. “I’ve done the same for Ellison, but I don’t know if I could take a paycheck from him. That
would complicate our friendship, but I might if I didn’t have options or laid out ground rules, so I guess I would say the takeaway is you matter to her, and she doesn’t want to risk ruining that.”
“Offer her the same role at my mansions and to help the security I’ll be hiring. A manager and overall contact person would be good for us to have.”
“And keep her close to me, as we are great friends. Yes, good,” she agreed, looking a bit relieved.
She left, and Gaius proceeded to feed me just about everything on the entire cart… Including more of the brownie. I wasn’t sure why that was until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Right, something must have indicated to him that pot would make me sleepy. Awesome.
Double awesome was I didn’t dream. Nothing. Peaceful darkness and rest.
“No, he’s not going to testify today,” Gaius hissed quietly, waking me. I rubbed my eyes and saw him blocking the door. “Claudius, I’m sorry, but they can fucking wait. He crashed after we left and had lunch here. He’s been asleep that whole time.”
“Shit, that was like eighteen hours ago,” he worried with a heavy sigh. “Okay, yeah, fine. We’ll question Mike and put the final nail in Garrow’s coffin so he doesn’t have to endure any more shit on that front. We do need him to answer some follow up questions only he can, one of which is the stability of his friend’s gift. He killed a council guard, Gaius. I’m not sure Seneca’s word that the gift is volatile for years, decades even, is enough.”
“It’s volatile,” I said, pushing myself to sit up with a groan. “Why am I sore? Was I lifting weights in my sleep?”
“No, you’re probably so dehydrated and need fuel you’re in pain. Probably blood too,” Gaius muttered as he stepped back and pushed open the door so I could see Claudius.
He didn’t say anything, waiting for me from the look on his gaze. “Does everyone have to hear my answer if I tell you the truth on Ellison?”
Claudius scrubbed his hand over his hair and sighed again. “This is a shit answer, but it depends on what you tell me.”
