by Nancy Gideon
Her hand stilled. “I’m sorry. I had to.”
“Because I talked to Jamie? My own brother? Because I took ten seconds away from trying to kill him to ask him to stop, to think, to come home? If you’d just asked me, I would have told you. Why didn’t you ask me? Because you thought I’d lie to you?”
“Colin, I had to be careful. There’s so much to protect. So much in the balance. I had to think of our family first.”
“And I’m not your family? You didn’t think to protect me?”
Agitated, devastated, he tried to catch a calming breath. And couldn’t.
“Colin?”
His head dropped back, his eyes rolled up, and his body began to seize.
“Cale! Call the doctor!”
As Cale shouted down the hall for help, Mia Guedry came racing toward him.
“Is it Colin? Is he all right?”
Cale caught her by the shoulders, fighting to hold her back, to keep her out of the room. That’s when the neckline of her sweater pulled off her shoulder, exposing the truth. Cale stared at her as if he’d been stabbed in the heart.
“You . . . and Colin?”
They had no time get into it as a gurney shoved between them followed by Susanna LaRoche. They heard her voice, brisk and urgent. “He’s in full arrest. Move!”
Colin was raced past them. When Mia made a move to follow, Cale shoved her back into Rico. “Keep her away!”
She struggled against Rico’s grip but couldn’t break free, screaming like a mad woman, “No! Colin! No!
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Brother. Can you hear me?”
The familiar voice sparked a fire deep inside Colin, kindling a big enough blaze to raise him up like a phoenix from his drug-induced lethargy.
“Jamie?” he whispered. Sure enough, his renegade brother James sat at his bedside. Or was he hallucinating?
Strong fingers closed over his. “Right here. I wish I’d gotten here sooner, but my resources aren’t what they used to be. You called. I came.”
“How’d you get in here?”
“Waited until they went to dinner at the hotel and bribed an orderly.”
That was Jamie. Always resourceful.
Of all his brothers, he and James had struck the closest chord as far as having tough, practical plans for their clan. Both were realists, capable of divorcing emotion from purpose. They’d had conversations late into the night over bourbon and ideologies. Often disagreeing dispassionately as they dissected the trajectory of their people and plotted, along with Wesley, behind the back of their ailing father on how to rebuild a stronger, better beast. Colin had at one time hoped that James would be the one to lead their family onto a path of strength and prosperity. But something had gone wrong, something wrong inside James Terriot, some twist of personality that changed great ideas into dark, greedy endeavors. And there, they’d parted ways. Cale had risen as his people’s champion and James plummeted, a dark angel in disgrace. But in Colin’s eyes, he was still his brother. And loyalty trumped disillusionment. To a point.
“Good to see you, Jamie,” he whispered, voice raw and dry. “Wish the circumstances were different.”
“Me, too. We don’t have much time. I could only afford a few minutes of privacy. I’d hoped we could finally work together, but Cale destroyed all hope of that through his weakness and lack of character.”
Colin wanted to debate that point, but all he could think of was Cale betraying his queen, and his objections lay silent.
“You need to recognize your enemy, Col. It’s closer than you think.” He turned Colin’s hand and placed two small, pointed objects in his palm. His diamonds! “Rueben Guedry is out to kill us all. He’s plotting with the North to wipe us off the map. And he’s using his next of kin to do it. His father’s brother’s child. An aggressive, dangerous, amoral creature who’ll do anything for power, put in place by a ruthless leader under the direction of Casper Lee.”
“Who?” he growled, needing to know even if he lacked the strength to rise against that knowledge.
“You know who. Someone close to you, close enough to know all your secrets, all your plans. Close enough to kill you and move on to an easier target.”
“What target?”
“Frederick.”
Colin struggled to put the pieces together but his mind, sluggish with drugs and pain, couldn’t make the edges fit together. His heart pounded, recognizing the truth before his thoughts could come to terms with it.
“No.”
“You know it’s the truth, Col. I’m sorry. She’s just a tool in Rueben’s hands. He’s the enemy. He’s the deceiver. He pulls the strings. Cale wouldn’t believe it from me, but he’d have no reason to doubt you. Rueben Guedry is out to crush our family because of what we did to his father and uncle under your step-father’s command. But that was war. Those were acceptable casualties. What he ordered done to your step-father and brothers, that was personal retribution, and now he’s stolen away your chance to make amends for them.”
“No.” Grief, denial, fury battered at the weakening barrier of his beliefs. Mia . . . seducing him at Casper Lee’s party, trading his bed for Rico’s so she could use him and the jealousy between two brothers to get to the heart of their family, submitting to him to gain the mark that would provide entry to their clan, using his inevitable death to bring his family here together within range of a decimating attack. And it would all be on him because of his failure to act and do what was necessary to save them.
She’d said she wanted him, but never claimed to love him.
Just sex.
“No.” He closed his eyes, but he couldn’t stop what swirled into a soul-emptying whirlpool of deceit and deadly intention. “How can I stop it now? I’m dying, Jamie.”
A cool hand pressed to his brow, steadying the restless tossing of his head. “I can give you some time. Time to do the right thing for our family. This isn’t about me or Cale. It’s about all of us surviving what Rueben has planned. Would you see all of our brothers going through what’s being done to you? Cale, Rico, Kip? Our women, our children? Your sisters?”
“No! Jamie, help me!”
“Drink this. It’s not a cure, it’s just a delay. It should give you the time and strength you need to put things right.”
James put a small vial to his lips and Colin swallowed.
He drifted and dreamed, and when Colin finally opened his eyes, he doubted what had happened. Until he closed his hand and the sharp ends of his ear studs pierced his palm.
Jamie had been there at his bedside.
And if that was true, so were the words he’d spoken.
“There he is.”
“Hey, Chris.” Colin hadn’t called Kip by that name since their youngest brother was a pup, maybe six or seven. He didn’t know why, except that he’d been cataloging his past sins from as far back as he could remember, and he’d only gotten that far. He wasn’t going to be alive long enough to get even half way at this rate. “I was kinda expecting Red. He was checking into something for me.”
“He got tied up, so he asked if I’d give you a message.”
Hopeful eyes lifted at the thought of his request. “He was gonna call my mom for me.”
“He did.” Kip sat on the edge of his bed, fidgeting slightly, smile fixed on his face. “She said hang on, she’ll be here as soon as she can make arrangements for the girls.”
A tremulous sigh. At last, a chance to make amends.
“And that she loves you.”
Colin stared up at him for a long moment then closed his eyes. A small smile quirked his lips. “You’re such a bad liar.”
“That last too much?”
“To the moon too much.”
“Rico left a message. I’m sure she’ll call.”
The kid was staring at him with an uncomfortable awkwardness. Colin couldn’t stand it. “Do something for me, Kipper?”
“Anything, Col.”
“Get our family out of here
, tonight. They’re not safe.”
No questions. “All right.”
“I want you to look out for Rico. His heart’s in the right place, but his head’s usually pointed in the wrong direction.”
Kip chuckled. “No problem.”
“There is a problem. One he’s gonna get into the second my toes turn up. And hey, it’s okay. I know how hard it is to think when she’s got your eyeballs all fogged up.”
Kip sat up straighter. “Are you talking about Mia?”
“He’s gonna try to step in and take my place. No, no. I’m not angry with him. It’s just a habit of his, picking up after I throw away the best things in my life. But Mia may not be the best thing. Not for any of us.”
“What are you talking about? She’s your girl. He’s not gonna move on her before you’re cold, even if she’d let him.”
“You can’t let that happen. Mia isn’t who she pretends to be. She and Rueben Geudry want us all dead. They killed my step-dad and brothers, Kip. Murdered them. Burned them alive. I can’t let go until I know my family is safe. Can you make sure of that for me?”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
“You can’t tell Rico. Go talk to MacCreedy. Tell him what I’m telling you. Give him those papers. Tell him we might be trusting the wrong people. And you be careful, you hear.”
“Cale will know what to do.”
“No!” At Kip’s alarmed look, Colin gentled his tone. “Cale might not be the best one to handle this. Do as I ask. Just MacCreedy. Promise me.”
After an obvious struggle with his conscience, Kip mumbled, “Okay. That’s how I’ll play it. But I think you’re wrong. I think she lo—”
“What do you know about females like that, kid? Your family’s a G-rated after school special!”
“I haven’t been a kid for a long time, Colin. No one growing up under our father could afford to be. If I was, I wouldn’t be lying to a really nice girl who doesn’t deserve to be taken advantage of.”
Colin closed his eyes, the weight of what he was asking lying like a concrete slab atop his chest. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who else I can count on. It’s not fair and it’s not right. Just forget I said anything. It’s okay. It’s okay.” His strength faded, his hopes with it.
“Col, I’m sorry—”
“No. Don’t say you’re sorry for being a good man doing the right thing.”
Kip didn’t respond.
“There’s something you can do for me, though.”
“Anything. Just ask.”
“Help me get the hell outta here.”
They met outside Colin’s door, so lost in their somber introspections they almost bumped into each other.
Cale instantly squared up, defensive and wary. Mia just sighed, too exhausted and heartsick to deal with him. When she reached for the door knob, he gripped her hand, firmly, but not hard.
“You’ve got no business being here.”
She smiled at the wrongness of his gruff statement. “I have every right, and you know it.”
“I don’t know any such thing. I haven’t heard it from my brother, and until I do, nothing you say counts for shit.”
“Always the predictable gentleman, aren’t you, Cale?” She pulled her hand free. “I don’t have time to play games with you. Not when I could be spending it with him.”
“It’s not you he needs to see. It’s his family.”
“His family,” she sneered. “What a joke. A bag full of crazies tied up in lies. You and your queen broke his heart, did you know that?” Her eyes burned at the thought of Colin’s torment. “You have no idea what you’ve put him through, how he’s struggled to meet your imperfect expectations. Why do you think he came here? Why do you think he turned to me instead of you?”
Cale’s narrowed stare gave her an unflattering once over. “I can only imagine.” He caught her hand as it flashed toward his face, the hand that wore Abel Conroy’s ring. He stared at it for a long moment as if trying to decide what to say, settling on silence.
Mia pulled away and tried to elbow past him to enter the room, but the Terriot king stood firm.
“That mark on your shoulder gives you no leverage with us.”
"I don't want anything from your family. I just want him."
With that tight claim, she pushed the door open. And stood speechless in dismay.
Seeing her expression, Cale shoved by her to face the sight of an empty, freshly re-sheeted bed. He took a gulping inhale. “No. No, he’s not dead. He’s not.” Frantically, he looked past the female who’d crumpled against the wall, hugging empty arms about herself, to the sight of Susanna LaRoche hurrying toward them. To her, he cried, “Tell me he’s not dead!”
“He’s not, Cale. He’s not. He’s gone.” She gripped his forearms to steady him against that buffeting truth. “He checked himself out, said he didn’t want to die in here.”
“And you just let him go?”
“I had no right to stop him.”
“Where did go?” Mia demanded. “To his house?” She looked to Cale in challenge, as if daring him to beat her there.
“He said he wanted to be alone with the things he loved.”
The things he loved, not the people who’d disappointed him. The impact of that shocked both brother and mate.
“We can’t just let him give up!”
“He hasn’t. He gave me all he could for study, for the good of our people, would’ve given more, but I wouldn’t let him.” Susanna smiled at her sadly. “He’s accepted what he can’t change, what I can’t change, as much as I wish I could. You should respect his wishes.”
Rico joined them, looking between their determined faces, not really wanting to know what had set them against each other, other than the obvious. Then he saw the empty bed. Before he could react, Mia grabbed his arm.
“C’mon. Let’s give your brother what he wants, and your king the nothing he deserves.” And before Rico could question or protest, she started dragging him down the hall.
Colin ached from the inside out. Every muscle and tendon hurt. Movement brought objection groaning through his joints. Exertion shut off his breath like a faucet turned down to the occasional drip. Convincing Kip to leave him to the inevitable had sucked out his remaining energies. He was too weak to venture off the couch, and his head pounded at the slightest vibration of sound. He couldn't even enjoy his music.
He lay in the darkened room now that day passed into evening, listening to his shaky breaths, waiting for his time to wind down, too weary to care, too exhausted to worry or feel afraid. He just wanted the long, unhappy twists and turns of his life to be over.
The rattle of his door knob woke a groan of annoyance. He'd made himself pretty damn clear that he didn't want to be bothered, and there was no way he could drag himself to the door even if he wanted company. Maybe they’d just go away.
No such luck. The lock turned at the coaxing of a key. That could only mean one thing. Mia. The last, and the only, person he longed to see.
"Hey, bro. You decent or deceased?"
Rico’s question provoked a reluctant smile. "If I was the latter, what kind of answer were you expecting?"
"That one. Good to know you're still alive. I brought company."
Even in his fragile state, Colin couldn't mistake his mate's scent. Love and longing undercut his fears. But only until Jamie’s words stabbed like a knife. She’d done this to him. Or at least had allowed it to happen. While sharing his kisses, his caresses, their damned bond! There’d never been a happily-ever-after for the two of them in her plans. She’d known that while sitting at his bedside like a vulture waiting for him to die, so she could use that gift he’d given her to gut his family.
Emotions twisted up inside him, raw and filled with a pain he looked forward to leaving behind. How could she? I loved her so much!
But she’d never told him she loved him. Ever.
A sudden rush of sensation swept over him. Helplessly, he drew her in like pu
re oxygen while telling himself he didn't want to see her, didn't want her to see him laid out like a corpse-in-waiting. Before her essence could twine around him like the arms he so wanted to feel, he thrust up a psychic wall, bracing it with a single word.
No!
He wouldn’t allow the mockery of her false feelings to make a fool of him this last time. He felt her surprise, her push back, but his will was too strong, resolved not to let her feed on his misery. But there was no way to prevent her from being one of the last things he’d see. The one vision he desperately needed to hold close in his last moments, even if it was an illusion. The struggle to sit up drained his nearly depleted reservoir of strength. Then Rico was there to pull him the rest of the way.
"Before you go bitching at me,” his brother scolded, “at least say hello."
Colin took a ragged breath and nearly strangled on it as the expected sight of Mia Guedry was joined by a younger female.
"Colin?" Her tone was as hesitant as his heartbeats. "I won't blame you if you don't want to talk to me, but please don't send me away."
"Katy?" For a moment he just stared through disbelieving eyes at his middle sister. "What are you doing here?"
"Aunt Sylvia came to talk to us without Mom knowing. She wanted to smuggle us back here on her helicopter, but we decided it’d be better if two of us covered for one. We drew for it."
"And you lost?" His voice cracked painfully.
Her eyes overflowed. "I won. I couldn't stand it if my last words were the ones you remembered. I'm so sorry for what I said. Can you forgive me?"
"Not with you standing over there." He opened his arms, and she barreled into him with rib-cracking force.
Mia watched from a distance, standing in the safety of Rico's shadow. The look on Colin's face when he closed his eyes and pressed his cheek into the tousled dark hair was what she'd come to see. That's the image she'd hold forever. He could push her away for whatever reason, but he couldn’t take that from her. She squeezed Rico's arm, mouthing a silent thank you, and slipped out unnoticed by the pair on the couch.
"I should go, too," Rico said aloud, drawing his brother's attention.
