Betrayer (Hidden Book 7)

by Colleen Vanderlinden

  That was where Brennan sat, and I repressed a sigh. It was always much easier when I was ready to see him, when I could prepare myself mentally for whatever confusion he caused in me. Yet there he was.

  “You are a complete idiot,” I said, walking toward where he sat.

  He laughed. “I love you, too, Tink.”

  I stood, resting my hands on the back of the sturdy wooden chair across from where he sat. “I am not joking around. That was a theory, about you being immortal. I did not intend for you to go out and test it.”

  “Believe me, I didn’t intend to get shot, either. That hurts like a son of a bitch,” he said.

  I felt whatever ire was inside me lessen, just a bit. “Does it still hurt?”

  He shook his head. “Asclepius does good work.”

  I nodded. “He does. Are there still wounds?”

  “No. I have a couple of new scars, but that’s it.”

  I did not respond.

  “How was your day?” he finally asked. I merely looked at him, slightly raising my eyebrow in response. He laughed. “That good, huh?” He gestured to the chair I was leaning against. “Take a load off and tell me about it. You must have pissed Artemis off. She insisted on cooking for you.”

  “I know,” I grumbled, settling myself into the chair. “She called to blame me for you getting your fool self shot,” I said. I focused, sensing. “Is Asclepius still here?” I asked, feeling the power signature of the healer immortal.

  Brennan nodded, then leaned forward, gesturing for me to do the same. “I think he and Artemis are… you know…” he said.

  “What?” I asked, genuinely confused.

  “Oh, come on. You know what I’m saying,” he said.

  I shook my head.

  “They’re messing around.”

  “What, now?” I asked, glancing toward the house.

  “No! Not right this second. I mean, in general. They’ve gone out every night I didn’t need Artemis to watch Sean.”

  I leaned back and shook my head. “You are such a gossip,” I said.

  “That doesn’t seem like a weird pairing to you? The kindly healer and then Artemis, who pretty much wants to put an arrow through anything that moves in a way that annoys her?”

  “They are both immortals,” I said.

  “And, what? That’s enough?” he asked.

  “They understand one another in a way very few would be able to. It is difficult for someone who has not lived as we have to understand it. Most of the immortals who are interested in having relationships, sexual or otherwise, have paired with just about all of the others at one point or another. Except for Hephaestus,” I added. “And the Furies. And me.” I shrugged.

  He did not respond, and I felt the stupid urge to keep talking. “Zeus has been with everyone who showed the slightest interest, and many who did not want him at all. Artemis seems to like the quiet types, and I do not think she ever involved herself with Zeus or Ares. There was a period of time when Apollo and Hestia lived quite happily together,” I said, remembering.

  He laughed, shook his head. “The immortals almost sound like Nain’s team.”

  I tilted my head questioningly. “How so?”

  “It was pretty much the same with them. For example, when my mom met my dad, she was dating Nain. She, Ada, Ada’s husband, a couple other women, and Stone were all on Nain’s team. Nain had dated Ada really early on, I guess— “

  “Ada?” I asked in shock, envisioning the stately older witch.

  “I really do have to show you some pictures. Ada was hot.”

  “I do not doubt it. She is a beautiful woman. Aging is a strange thing,” I said.

  He grinned, then continued. “So Nain dated Ada, and they stopped but it ended on good terms. Then she started dating the man who she eventually married. Her first husband,” he clarified, and I nodded. “And Nain started dating my mother but that ended after a while, too, and my mom and dad started dating. Stone dated Ada for a while too, before Nain did,” he said, remembering. “I think it was likely kind of for the same reason. They all understood one another better than anyone else could. Really, I guess that trend didn’t end with them.”

  I nodded, realizing it was true. Not only had Mollis been with both Nain and Brennan, but Shanti had dated a teammate, Levitt (a demon who we had unfortunately lost), and then Zero. Ada had married Stone a few years past.

  I blushed a little, and he noticed, and once again I damned his preternatural senses.

  “What, Tink?”

  I shrugged.

  “Tell me.”

  “I had been wondering if anyone would be looking at me strangely for the way I have been… involved with Nain, and then with you.”

  He shook his head, grinning. “Thanks for admitting we’re involved.”

  I glared at him.

  “As for the rest of it, I don’t think anyone who matters gave it a second thought. Pretty much par for the course. We all work so damn much, we’d never find anyone otherwise. And like you were saying earlier, no one else would really understand it, the way we live. We’re all insane in our own way.”

  I nodded. “Very much like the immortals. I admit, I did not even consider that it could be seen as strange because of the way the immortals are.”

  “You never were involved with any of them, though,” he said, bringing us back to the original discussion of immortals and their love lives. “Except for Big Red.” For some reason, the shifter insisted upon referring to Triton by this particular nickname.

  “We were not involved,” I said. “Like Hephaestus, he was my friend. Is my friend,” I corrected. “And no, I never was involved with anyone. I was not supposed to be interested, so I tried not to be. It was really not all that difficult.”

  “Why not?” he asked quietly. “You just said yourself that no one else can quite understand what it’s like to have lived as long as you have. That seems like it would probably be comforting.”

  I looked down at the tabletop, ran my fingers across the gap between the wooden slats. “I understand myself just fine without anyone else’s help,” I finally said. And then I looked up. “Besides, immortals tend to be rather full of themselves, and I find that tiresome.”

  He grinned. “It’s a good thing I’m not cocky like that, huh?”

  I rolled my eyes. “When you behave that way, I find it charming for some reason. Ridiculous male.”

  “Eunomia. Was that a compliment?”

  “Do not let it go to your head.”

  He was about to say something else when Artemis called us in for our punishment… or supper, depending on how one chose to look at it. And again, I was unsure whether I was grateful or irritated by the interruption. Honestly, it seemed like I was both, and that made no sense at all.

  When we went inside, we walked into the kitchen to find Asclepius standing over the stove, stirring something in a large gray pot with a concerned expression on his face. Artemis was in the dining room setting out silverware, and the local jazz station played softly on the stereo in the living room.

  Asclepius looked up and greeted me with a smile, his blue eyes twinkling happily. He still retained the snow white beard and long white hair he always had, but had traded the sky blue robes he’d always worn for jeans and a garish lime green polo shirt. “Guardian!” he said, stepping toward me.

  “Asclepius. It is a pleasure to see you,” I said, shaking the hand he’d offered.

  “Very pleased to see you, as well. How is your back?” he asked, his tone taking on the warm, concerned note he used with all of those he healed. I reflexively flexed my shoulder blades, which, once upon a time, would have had my wings fluttering. “It gives me no pain,” I finally said.

  He studied me. “I am sorry I couldn’t save them,” he said softly.

  “You did what you were able to. I remember one wing being completely chopped off in the fight. There would have been no way to save it anyway.”

  Asclepius furrowed his brow. �
�I tried. Sometimes, if you reattach the limb quickly enough, we can get it to fuse again. You were already fading…” he paused. “It was, honestly, save you or save the wing. So your Queen used her blood to keep you with us while I did what I had to do. At first, we tried doing both, her suffusing you with her blood while I tried to get the wing to take. It just didn’t work.”

  “I did not know all of that,” I said. I glanced at Brennan. “You did not tell me this part.”

  “I didn’t know. I wasn’t allowed in the room while they were trying to heal you,” he said, throwing Asclepius an irritated glance.

  “Yes, and that seems to have been a wise choice, considering your behavior over the bandage incident, son,” Asclepius said mildly. Chastened, Brennan smiled and shook his head.

  “You may have a point.”

  I shook my head and turned back to Asclepius. “Thank you for trying.”

  “Mollis was insistent that I try, until your condition just kept worsening despite her blood. I do not understand why her blood didn’t work, though,” he said, raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner.

  “Most of my injuries were from Netherblades. The damage they inflict is horrific, for those souls we hunt, and for us as well,” I explained, and Asclepius nodded slowly, as if lost in thought.

  “If not for that influence then, we may have been able to save them,” he murmured.

  I shrugged. “There is no point in ‘might haves.’ I am alive, and I am grateful for that. I had not realized how truly grievous my injuries were, focused as I have been on the loss of my wings. So I thank you,” I said to Asclepius.

  He shook my hand again with a smile. “It is my role in this new world of ours. And it is a pleasure when I am able to save someone the world truly needs.” He paused again, an uncomfortable look on his face. “This thing between you and your Queen… is there anything at all I can do? She likes me. I think,” he added after a pause.

  “She likes you,” I assured him, taking a seat at the small dining room table when Artemis motioned for us to sit. Sean clambered into a chair next to where his grandmother would be sitting, and Brennan sat beside me. “But that matters little. She has every reason to be furious with me. I knew what I was risking.” I disliked lying, especially to those few beings I actually liked, and it rankled me to have to do so with Asclepius.

  “But you’ve always been by her side… since before we even knew who she was. I don’t understand how she can just toss you aside like that,” he said, no little frustration in his voice.

  “She’s a cold bitch at times,” Artemis muttered, not loudly enough for Sean to hear, but Brennan heard. I waited for him to defend Mollis, but he did not.

  “She is not cold. Never that. She often must do things she dislikes. And trust is very important to her. I broke that,” I said. “Please do not insult her in front of me, or we may have a problem, Artemis.”

  Artemis stopped in the act of spooning some of the stew (at least I guessed that was what it was) onto Sean’s plate.

  “Was that a threat, Guardian?” she asked softly.

  “I do not make threats. I make promises,” I said mildly, keeping eye contact with her.

  “All right now, let’s not do this, hm?” Asclepius said, trying to lighten the mood.

  “So she tosses you aside, bans you from setting foot anywhere near your former team and the Netherwoods, kicks him out,” she said, gesturing to Brennan, “for the crime of being the one with you at the time, and you’re just okay with that?”

  “It is unfortunate that her ire extended to Brennan,” I said, knowing, truly, that that was what had Artemis so irritated.

  “She takes any opportunity she can to— “

  “You do not want to finish that sentence,” I said quietly.

  She glared at me. Brennan and Asclepius showed more sense than I had originally credited them with by staying out of it.

  “You and I have never had a problem, Guardian. I have always found you to be sensible. But this is completely asinine and the insult she has given to my family won’t be forgotten,” Artemis hissed.

  “It wasn’t an insult to your family, Grandma,” Brennan finally said. “She’s pissed at me because I went along with E and kept what was going on to myself. It’s not the first time she’s been pissed at me, and I don’t think it’ll be the last,” he finished with a grin.

  Artemis just grunted.

  “Erm. About that,” Asclepius said, looking uncomfortable again. “Word among our kind is that her ire over the situation is fueled by whatever it is that is going on between the two of you,” he said, glancing between me and Brennan.

  “Nothing is going on between us,” we said in unison. Despite our earlier discussion, it seemed to be something we were protecting, something just for the two of us, both of us almost possessive of the fledgling relationship that was growing between us.

  “Because you’re both idiots,” Artemis muttered as she tried to cajole Sean into taking a bite of something that may have been a potato.

  “Whether there is or not, it is clear the two of you have gotten closer these past weeks,” Asclepius said. He pushed some of the food around on his plate, trying not to grimace. Then he looked back up. “The first time I met you,” he said, looking at Brennan, “I was there at the behest of Hades because you were gravely ill and Mollis begged him to help you somehow.”

  “Yes, and thanks,” Brennan said. “But that feels like a lifetime ago, and she has everything she wanted back then. This has nothing to do with anything like that. She hates secrets, and she hates lying even more,” Brennan said.

  I could tell the conversation was starting to make him edgy. He disliked the charade just as much as I did, and neither of us felt comfortable hearing Mollis insulted.

  “Do you want to take a walk?” I asked him, and he gave a terse nod. We got up, scraped our plates off into the garbage, loaded them into the dishwasher, and then left out the side door.

  When we reached the end of the driveway, Brennan took my hand in his and we started walking down the tree-lined street he lived on. Small homes, almost identical in appearance, lined both sides. The streetlights that we passed gave everything a bluish glow, and I could hear, occasionally, a dog bark, or the sounds of television coming from the homes we passed.

  “Are you working tonight?” I asked him, lacking anything better to say and far too distracted by how much I enjoyed being close to him.

  He nodded. “I’m patrolling with the Grosse Pointe shifter alpha later.”

  “How is that working out?” I asked, and he gave my hand a gentle squeeze. The alpha of the Grosse Pointe shifter pack was not one of Brennan’s favorite people, mainly because the man, the alpha, saw Brennan as a challenge to his authority. And, really, he was. Brennan had slowly but surely started to become recognized as a sort of alpha among alphas. He was the only one the shifter leaders would take orders from, most likely because they were able to sense that he out-powered them. Just as immortals do, shifters respect power even when they respect nothing else.

  He shrugged. “It’s all right. I can tell he wants to get yappy sometimes, but he has enough sense to just shut up and work.”

  I hid a smile. There was that arrogance, which, on any other male, I would have found distasteful. He did not state things to brag. He was honest. He recognized his strengths and had no problem with using them to his advantage.

  “Is he still trying to set you up with his daughter?” I asked quietly, immediately wanting to kick myself for being pathetic enough to ask.

  “Who told you about that?”

  “Artemis,” I said, breathing out an irritated breath. “I think she was trying to goad me. She is angry with me over this entire thing.”

  “Which is stupid, but she’s stubborn if nothing else,” he said. “Yes, he’s still trying to set me up with his daughter. I’m not interested and I told him so.”

  “Why not?”

  He stopped walking and draw me into his ar
ms, lowering his lips to mine, claiming my mouth as if he had every right to do so, as if the concept of me refusing to kiss him hadn’t even entered his mind.

  And he was right. I had no intention of refusing what I had been longing for the past several weeks. He held me tightly in his arms, and his lips on mine felt even more wonderful than I’d remembered. I was warm throughout my body, and when he traced his tongue over my lips, I opened, granting him the access I knew he wanted. After a few breathless, perfect moments that had my head spinning, he brushed his lips across mine one last time, and backed away.

  We stood on a dark corner, and it almost looked as if his eyes glowed when he looked at me.

  “Does that answer your question, Eunomia?” he asked, and I wet my lips, nervously running a hand through my hair.

  “I thought…” I began, trailing off. Conversations like this one made me uncomfortable. In all honestly, I truly had not had to deal with anything quite like this before him.

  “What, Tink? You thought that what happened in Japan was a fluke, that it wouldn’t continue here?” I did not answer, and he stood, watching me as my mind went back to a flight we had shared together, the intensity of our first kiss once we landed. “You want it to, don’t you?” he asked quietly, shaking me out of my memory.

  “I do not know,” I said.

  “Yeah you do,” he said, and even though I was looking down at my feet, I could hear the warmth in his voice, the smile there. “You’re just freaked out by the fact that you want something that has nothing to do with duty or stabbing things.”

  “I only stab things as a matter of duty,” I said, and he laughed, low, in a way that sent a pleasant tingle down my spine.

  “Way to ignore the rest of it,” he said quietly, and when I looked up at him, he was still smiling warmly. We had had this conversation before, of course, and it had mostly ended the same way.

  “I am not ignoring it. What is it? Do you need so badly to hear me say the words?” I asked.

  His face closed down, and I knew immediately that I had said the wrong thing.