My Brother's Keeper (Bewitched and Bewildered Book 5)

by Alanea Alder

  He heard Darian suck in his breath. "Oh, Gods, she's your mate!"

  Kendrick looked up and laughed harshly at Darian's expression. "You don't get it."

  Darian stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Talk to me Kendrick; your eyes are flashing silver. I'm not a witch, but I know that can't be good."

  Kendrick pulled all of emotions into his core. He took a deep breath and began channeling the anger and hopelessness down through his legs and into the ground. Only when the urge to destroy everything around him receded did he open his eyes to look at his brother's friend. "Two hundred years ago, I had a premonition that Keelan would die as a member of the Alpha Unit. When he told me he had volunteered to come to Lycaonia, I forbade him to come. For the first time in his life, he defied me. He said that he had his own reasons for coming to Lycaonia. I always believed that he had put your wellbeing as his fellow warriors above mine as his brother, and I was angry. I didn't understand until this morning how much you care for each other. What if Fate had to use Keelan to save my mate because I couldn't leave Storm Keep? What if it's my fault he was hurt?"

  Kendrick stared at the fae's feet, unable to risk the look of condemnation that he was sure was in Darian's eyes.

  "Kendrick?"

  Kendrick looked up just in time to see a large fist flying toward his head. When the punch connected, he flew backward and ended up staring up at the sky. Darian walked to where he lay and leaned over him. "Feeling better?"

  Kendrick blinked. His jaw was killing him but his head was clear. "Yes, actually, I am feeling much better, thank you. Hand up?"

  Darian reached down and pulled Kendrick up. "You know the only reason you're not buried up to your neck is because I really did need someone to put me in my place?"

  Darian nodded. "It's what brothers do for each other."

  Kendrick stopped brushing off his clothes and looked up. "Brothers?"

  "That's how this works, Kendrick." Darian waved his arm and pointed to where the unit members were laughing, teasing, and playfully knocking each other senseless. "Meryn was right; we're family, and family looks after each other. I think you've been alone too long, my friend."

  Kendrick didn't know what to say. "So we're brothers and friends?"

  Darian laughed. "Would you let anyone else get away with sucker punching you to knock some sense into you?"

  Kendrick smiled ruefully. "I can honestly say that has never happened before. Usually, I am the one doing the punching."

  Darian leaned against the bench. "Under normal circumstances, you are probably the one best suited for dealing with these types of situations. But this is about Keelan and Anne, so you're not really thinking clearly. Nevertheless, I am discovering that not thinking clearly is the norm when dealing with mates." Darian's eyes flicked back to the house. "They drive you insane. They don't listen; the very thought of them hurt makes you want to kill, but life without them would be no life at all."

  "I've only had Keelan for so long. I could get used to having more brothers," Kendrick admitted.

  Darian's look became devious. "Then as a brother, could you do me a favor?"

  Kendrick grinned. "Depends, what do you have in mind?"

  Darian pointed across the training yard where a white haired warrior was sparring with his unit. "That's Sascha. He and Keelan would go back and forth with pranks. Sascha liked turning Keelan purple and Keelan liked electrocuting Sascha. Maybe we should zap him for Keelan."

  "I like the way you think. How about this?" Kendrick brought up his power hand and twirled his finger in the air. The air around Sascha began to move, picking up rock and dirt. Sascha looked around wildly and saw Kendrick and Darian laughing.

  "That's not funny, assholes!" Sascha went to walk through the seemingly harmless breeze and stopped short when a spark flew. "Hey!"

  The men were laughing uproariously as they walked over to Sascha. "I heard you liked playing pranks on my baby brother, so I decided to join in the fun so you don't miss him too much."

  Sascha growled as the air calmed down. Tentatively, he tested the area around him and breathed a sigh of relief when he wasn't shocked again. "Ha, ha, very funny. I do miss Keelan though, the little guy always gave as good as he got." He glared at Kendrick. "No more sparks, I'm getting zapped enough on patrol; the damn perimeter gets me every time." The men laughed at Sascha's bad luck.

  Kendrick chuckled. "I'll add that to my list of things to investigate about the perimeter." He turned and shook hands with Darian. "Thank you again. I know what I have to do now." He looked back at the house. "Can you watch over them while I'm away?" Kendrick looked around and spotted a timid-looking Basil standing on the sidelines. He waved the young man over.

  Darian released his hand and nodded. "Of course, where are you going?"

  "Into the city, there are some errands I need to run. I'll be back in about an hour or so. Oh, and tell Aiden I'll be using Basil as an apprentice for a while. I forgot to mention it at breakfast." He turned to Basil. "You're coming with me. We'll hit the magic supply stores in town to pick up what's needed for you to conduct your own experiments."

  Basil stared. "My wallet is in the barracks."

  Kendrick raised an eyebrow. "What kind of master would I be if I didn't provide my apprentice with the basics he needed to learn?"

  Basil beamed up at him, and in that moment, reminded him so much of Keelan his heart ached. He cleared his throat and laid a hand on the young witch's shoulder.

  Darian nodded at them then looked around frowning. "Wait. Where's your car?"

  Kendrick smirked. "Who said anything about driving?"

  Kendrick took a deep breath and began moving. With each step they took, his magic condensed long distances into short, manageable ones. To Darian and the others, he and Basil would have simply disappeared. He would make his way into town to meet with some of the residents, pick up supplies for Basil, and then he would return to the Alpha estate to claim his mate.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It was late afternoon, almost evening. After Anne changed Keelan's IV bag they had switched from Tezuka's story to another anime when she said she wanted to watch the rest of it with Kendrick. She was just about to press play and start a new series when they heard car doors slam outside. Elizabeth stood and pulled the curtain back. "Gods above, it's the committee members." She whirled around to face Meryn. "Remember what we talked about. You are a shy mute."

  Meryn crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "You're not being nice."

  Elizabeth went to the mirror and fixed her hair. "I don't have to be nice; I'm your Yoda. You're nowhere near ready to tangle with these sharks, maybe in another couple years, but not now."

  Meryn sat up. "I don't see what the big deal is."

  Elizabeth turned. "Because you won't be able to win them over by being blunt and funny. They only respect one thing and that's power. Frankly, you haven't built up enough of a reputation for them to take you seriously. These men were around before the pillar cities, Meryn; they live and breathe etiquette and deportment. Please, just this once, listen to me on this," Elizabeth begged.

  Meryn sighed and nodded. She took pinched fingers and dragged them across her mouth. "I'll be mute."

  Anne exchanged glances with Rheia who was looking equally as nervous. Anne turned to Elizabeth. "What do we do?"

  Elizabeth smiled. "If asked, just introduce yourselves. Keep it short and polite, either Amelia or I will do most of the talking."

  Amelia stood and straightened her sweater. "I'm used to these types of men. I sit in for Caiden all the time at home for council meetings. I may carry some clout since I'm an Ironwood and can trace my line back to the royal palace."

  There was a knock on the door and Ryuu stepped in. Anne could see that he did not look happy. "Ladies, you have visitors in the front room." Penny and her grandmother walked in. They had been displaced by the visitors.

  Elizabeth turned to Noah and Jaxon. "You two stay here, I don't think they're here t
o question you." Both Noah and Jaxon looked relieved. She turned to the room. "Come on ladies, let's not keep them waiting."

  Rheia kissed Penny on the cheek and ruffled her hair.

  "They can die of old age for all I care," Meryn muttered.

  Elizabeth shot her a dirty look. Meryn rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and right in front of Anne, it was as if she transformed. Gone was the quirky, vibrant woman and in her place was a wide-eyed, scared looking creature.

  Elizabeth patted Meryn on the head. "Good girl." Meryn held on to the hem of Elizabeth's sweater and they walked out of the room.

  "Freaky," Amelia and Anne said at the same time.

  Rheia shook her head. "I think that transformation will give me more nightmares than the ferals."

  They left command central and headed to the front room. Ryuu had brought in more seating to accommodate so many people. In addition to the seven-man council, there were also the three Lycaonian council members seated before them. The men rose as they entered the room. There were only enough empty seats left for the five women to sit down. Anne looked around the room, trying to spot Kendrick. Darian stepped forward from where he had been standing next to the wall with the other Alpha and Gamma Unit members and leaned down to her ear. "He had to run to the city to do some errands; he should be back any minute now."

  Anne nodded and turned back to face the imposing men in front of her. To the left, an older version of Aiden smiled at them. Beside him, a blond fae man was nodding encouragingly. Elizabeth and Meryn both smiled back at him. Next to him was a man in emerald green robes. There was a small coffee table between those three and the seven committee members. The dark haired, oily-looking man bowed and remained standing when the other men sat back down.

  "Ladies, thank you for joining us. Allow me to introduce everyone. To my far right, the Lycaonian Shifter representative, Elder Byron McKenzie. Then we have the Lycaonian fae representative, Elder Celyn Vi'Ailean, and then our esteemed Lycaonian witch representative, Elder Rowan Airgead." He pointed to his chest. "I am Daggart Hemlock, a witch representative of Storm Keep and head of the newly formed Committee. To my left is my colleague, Adalwin Dulse, another witch representative of Storm Keep."

  Anne thought both men looked like they belonged in a dungeon as torturers. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were up to no good. Adalwin looked like he had been up for days. Since being introduced to paranormals, she had never seen any of them looking so tired and haggard. He looked like he should be in bed, not out causing trouble.

  "On the other side of Adalwin are the fae representatives of Éire Danu, Brion Li'Aereil and Varis Vi'Eilendis."

  Anne noticed that Elder Celyn flinched at Varis's name, which made her like Varis even less. If Elizabeth and Meryn liked Elder Vi'Ailean, then she would trust his opinion, and judging by the way he was looking at Varis, there was bad blood between them. Of the two fae introduced, Varis was the more arrogant one. Brion twitched nervously and kept looking around the room.

  "Beside Brion, we have our vampire representatives, Edmond Devan and Jourdain Régis." Daggart continued.

  Anne thought that Edmond looked like every version of vampire she had ever seen on television. He wasn't handsome like Gavriel; he was very ordinary, from his stereotypical dark hair to his Victorian style dress. Jourdain, on the other hand, was handsome, and he knew it. His lip seemed to be stuck to the tip of his nose in a permanent sneer. Anne instantly hated him.

  "And last, but certainly not least, our Lycaonian representative, Réne Evreux." Daggart sat once he concluded the introductions.

  Anne thought that Réne looked sullen, as though he wanted to be anywhere but here. If she didn't know better, she would have said he looked angry with the other committee members.

  Anne looked over as Elizabeth stood gracefully. "Thank you for such a thorough introduction. Allow me to do the same. I am Elizabeth Monroe. My uncle is Magnus Rioux of Noctem Falls, and I am mated to Gavriel Ambrosios. To my right, we have Meryn McKenzie, the mate to our esteemed Unit Commander and future Elder, Aiden McKenzie. Next, we have Rheia Bradley, a much-respected doctor and mate to Colton Albright. Beside her, we have Amelia Ironwood, daughter to Elder Ironwood of Storm Keep and mate to Darian Vi'Alina. And this is our newest family member, Anne Bennett. She has just completed arduous schooling to become a nurse, and she has been taking care of Keelan Ashwood, the warrior who sacrificed his life so that the Alpha Unit would live." Elizabeth sat back down and took Meryn's hand in a gesture of support.

  The men nodded at the women as they were introduced. Mostly, all eyes were on Meryn, but Anne noticed that vampire Jourdain stared at Elizabeth.

  "Now that we know each other, let us move on to the topics at hand--" Daggart began.

  "Don't you mean allegations?" Elizabeth interrupted.

  Daggart smiled at her. "Allegation is such a harsh word." He smiled at her in a condescending manner. Anne fought the urge to smack him.

  "So you simply wish to discuss certain topics, with no intention for any actions to transpire after the fact?" Elizabeth asked.

  Daggart shook his head. "There have been some extremely reckless decisions made by some of you ladies that have resulted in damages to public property."

  Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "I disagree. Everything that was done was in response to unusual and dire circumstances. I can't believe that the Committee would value property over the lives of our people."

  Adalwin shook his head. "Had things been done the way we have always done them, we wouldn't have had any damages."

  Elizabeth smiled sweetly. "In that case, can you please go to the super ferals--"

  "Reapers," Meryn whispered.

  Elizabeth glanced down at Meryn and continued. "Please go to the reapers and convince them to go back where they came from and to stop killing people. That way, we can go back to doing things the way we always have."

  Adalwin's face flushed at her response.

  "We don't need her introducing human technology; it isn't needed," Edmond protested.

  To Anne's surprise, it was a white-haired man leaning against the wall who responded. "I'm Sascha Baberiov, Gamma Unit leader. We..."--he pointed to the rest of the warriors--"the units disagree. Since the introduction of updated technology, we have been able to save lives without losing warriors. I know of several instances where Noah and Jaxon were able to direct units away from pockets of ferals in the last battle using the city's surveillance cameras. They were able to avoid being outnumbered and were able to escort civilians to safety."

  "Who the devil are Noah and Jaxon?" Edmond demanded.

  Elizabeth smiled. "Noah Calloway and Jaxon Darrow are the first students in Meryn's technology learning program. As the Gamma Unit leader has pointed out, it's already a huge success."

  Daggart pointed to Elizabeth. "That brings me to my next point. We have methods of teaching our young people so that they can be closely monitored. How do you explain your out of control witch unit warrior who cast the perimeter spell?"

  Aiden stepped forward and Anne could tell it was taking every ounce of his will not to yell at the accusing committee members. "As previously reported, no unit member witch is responsible for casting the spell that created the perimeter."

  Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, looking smug. "Maybe you should reevaluate your teaching methods, witch representative of Storm Keep. It looks like one of your witches has been naughty."

  Anne could hear the wood crack under Daggart's hands as he grasped the arms of the chair. "Our methods are perfectly sound."

  Jourdain locked eyes with Elizabeth until she shuddered and looked away. Gavriel was behind her in an instant, his eyes glowed bright red as he hissed at the other vampire.

  Jourdain smiled mockingly and spread is hands. "Forgive me, but I haven't seen little Bethy in quite some time; old habits die hard."

  Elizabeth held onto Gavriel's hand so tight Anne could see her knuckles turning white. "I'm fine." She took a deep breath and
sat up straighter. "If you gentleman have nothing more substantial to discuss, frankly, I find your allegations groundless and insulting." Her voice held an edge that hadn't been there before Jourdain's stare.

  Jourdain leered at her. "We're just getting started. We haven't even discussed how the Alpha Unit let one of their own warriors be compromised and fall into the hands of the enemy."

  Anne felt him before he even walked into the room. She turned to the doorway to see Aiden and Colton parting to allow Kendrick to enter. The committee members turned to look at the new arrival. Daggart and Adalwin were staring with mouths open at Kendrick. Suddenly, the room felt smaller, as if it couldn't contain Kendrick's very presence.

  "I will not allow you to turn my brother into a political stepping stone." His deep voice resonated through the room.

  Jourdain turned back to Elizabeth, ignoring Kendrick's entrance. "You may have a pretty answer for our reasonable concerns, but you cannot deny that... that human is incapable of leading our units." His long finger pointed directly at Meryn.

  Byron stood, growling lowly. "First, be very careful how you address my daughter, Jourdain. Second, I follow her lead, as do the men. Are you trying to tell us that, with our combined thousands of years of training, we don't know what we are doing?"

  Jourdain scowled. "Of course not."

  Kendrick walked behind the chairs of the committee members slowly, causing each one of them to flinch. He stopped at end of the row. "I believe she is doing exceptionally well."

  Daggart looked up, his eyes dark. "And why would the opinion of an archivist who has yet to receive a Mastery level matter to anyone?"

  Kendrick nodded while smiling. "You're absolutely right, I'm just a poor scribe from the Lower City."

  Daggart smirked at Kendrick's admission.

  "However, Lady Fairfax isn't, and neither are many of her other highborn friends, or many of the Lycaonian citizens I spoke with today." Kendrick kept walking until he was behind the women's chairs. "You see, they trust Meryn implicitly. Because, when it mattered, this pregnant human female took up arms and protected not only her mate's unit warriors, but also the people of the city. Unlike certain elders who show up after the fact, pointing fingers."