Tira’s vision of his death, the one that kept her out of his arms, out of their arms, was bearing down on him. He swore he could feel his time running out.
Not just on his life, but with her.
From the first moment he’d seen her, when she’d been fifteen years old, he’d only ever wanted her to be his.
At fifteen, she’d been tiny and precious, curious and quietly funny. And still a child. He’d wanted to protect her from everything. He would’ve killed anyone who’d hurt her.
Sex wasn’t an issue because she was still a child and he was old enough to know better. Even at almost eighteen.
But he had been old enough to realize that when she grew up, she was his.
His and Duke’s.
Though they shared no blood between them—which was a fucking cosmic fluke as far as he was concerned, considering the life their parents had lived—they were brothers.
Born within months of each other, they’d shared a room in the house their parents had also shared. No, their life hadn’t been ready for mainstream America, but it’d worked for them.
Until Duke’s dad had died and his mom had taken Duke and—
Yeah, well, thinking about that just made his head hurt worse than it already did.
“Nic, can I come in?”
Tam popped her head around the slightly open door and waited until he nodded before entering the room.
“Did they leave?”
Tam nodded as she moved to the bedside and lifted his hand to check his pulse. “Wanna tell me why Tira looks like she’s ready to cry?”
Nic had never had a sister to confide in or bounce ideas off of. He’d never had a woman in his life who stuck around longer than a few months and none of them had ever made him want to spill his guts.
In the short time he’d known Tam, he’d discovered her to be surprisingly easy to talk to. He didn’t know if it was the nurse thing or just her personality but he knew whatever he told her wouldn’t leave the room.
“Because I played on her sympathies so she’d come back to the bunkhouse with Duke and me to take care of us.”
Tam’s eyes widened in shock as her hand froze in midair on its way to check his other injuries.
“Huh. That’s almost…amazing.” Her hands began to peel back the covers to uncover his naked body. Her gaze dropped to follow her hands as they pressed and poked. “Are you sure that’s the right way to handle this situation?”
“She told you everything, right?”
Tam nodded. “She told me about her vision. And how much she loves you both.”
“Did she tell you she had sex with Duke last night?”
Her gaze flew back to his. “No. She didn’t.”
Nic saw the questions in her eyes and shook his head. “Don’t worry. This isn’t about revenge. Hell, I’m glad they finally did the deed. I can’t touch her. Duke can. But he won’t. Well…he wouldn’t.
“They pretend to hate each other but Duke’s so fucked up with guilt about being able to touch her when I can’t and she’s so damn fucked up about that vision of my death that they can’t be in the same room without the tension level making everyone nuts. Yeah, the situation fucking sucks but I think…I think I may have a solution to all our problems.”
Tam sat on the edge of the bed as she pulled the covers up, her exam over. “And that is…?”
He’d had a lot of time to think about this. Years, actually, but he never thought he’d get to put his plan into action. That they’d never be in the same room together to see if it would actually work.
And he was afraid if he spoke about it to someone else, they’d point out a flaw he hadn’t seen. Something that would cause him to doubt. And he thought that might finally send him over the edge.
But for his plan to work, he had to get Duke and Tira and himself into close proximity. They needed time and privacy. And most of all, they needed to believe.
“I’ll let you know when it works.”
Chapter Four
A steady stream of guitar-laden metal leaked from the car speakers on the ride back to the boschetta.
Not loud enough to split ears but enough to cover the uncomfortable silence.
Duke didn’t speak at all except to ask if she was okay when he got in the car. Of course, she said yes. She wasn’t ready for an examination of what had happened this morning.
And she’d been rethinking her decision to go back to the bunkhouse with Nic and Duke since the second after she’d agreed.
How would she be able to take care of Nic when she couldn’t touch him? And now that she knew how it felt to actually hold Duke—and be held by him—how would she be able to stop herself from reaching for him again? When she didn’t want to hurt Nic?
By the time Duke pulled to a stop in front of her house, she’d almost convinced herself to thank Duke for the ride then tell him to return without her. They were grown men. They could take care of themselves.
But… She couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to do it.
As Duke got out of the car, she gave herself a moment to close her eyes and try to wipe her mind. She couldn’t go in to see her mom with all this shit in her head. Her mom would pick up on it in a heartbeat and get upset.
She’d just turned to open her door when Duke did it for her. She thought he’d stand aside when she turned to slide out of the Jeep but she froze when he settled his hands on her hips and lifted her out.
Stunned when he didn’t remove his hands right away, she lifted her eyes and caught his, staring down at her with that look—half torment, half desire.
Without stopping to think, she lifted her hands to his cheeks, rough with dark stubble. She wanted him to rub that scruff all over her body, particularly between her legs. While Nic kissed her and caressed her.
Duke’s eyes closed for a brief second before he sighed and pulled her tight against him, her arms curving around his neck.
“Ti.”
There was a wealth of questions in that one word but no answers.
“Not now, Duke. Okay? Not now. My mom…”
His arms tightened. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
As soon as he released her, the front door of her home opened and a slim redhead bounded out with a huge grin on her face.
Kyle’s teen daughter, Catene, ran up to Tira and gave her a hug, careful not to touch exposed skin. Tira had never wanted to stifle the girl in any way and the few times she’d actually tried to read Cat, the visions had been murky, as if something was intentionally messing with them. It was odd but made Cat one of a small group of people Tira could touch. Not including eteri, of course, who barely ever bumped against her praenuntio.
“How’s Nic? Is he okay? And Kaine? Mom said they were hurt but they’re going to be fine. Are you sure? Your mom’s been really calm. She slept all night and I gave her breakfast. She seems to be in a pretty good mood this morning. She and Mom are talking about something they didn’t want me to hear so they told me to come wait for you guys.”
Without waiting for Tira to answer any of her rapid-fire questions, Cat turned to Duke, her gaze narrowing directly on the bruise on the side of his head.
“Hey, Duke. Heard you were hurt too. Are you okay? That’s looks really painful.” She grabbed his hand and started to drag him into Tira’s house, leaving Tira to follow along, shaking her head at the girl’s energy. “I can make you a poultice to cut down on the pain and the color. Come on in and sit down and I’ll get the ingredients from the garden.”
“Nice to see you too, kid.” Duke’s slow drawl held only a hint of his amusement. Tira knew he had quite the soft spot for Kyle’s daughter. Hell, they all did. She was the youngest child of the boschetta, and one of the youngest lucani children as well. Her mother, Margorie, was a member of the boschetta, whose Gift for horticulture had been passed on to her daughter. And her fathers, Kyle and his best friend, Danilo Ferrante, had given her the ability to shift into a beautiful black wolf.
Every time she saw
Cat, a piece of Tira longed for what she represented. Her mother had, at one point, had a successful relationship with two men, which had resulted in Cat’s birth. And even though Kyle had found his own mate, Margie and Dan remained committed to each other and the three of them reared Cat.
She experienced that same longing whenever she met with her best friend, Nica. Nica was living with two brothers, Tanner and Jensen Miller. They’d made a commitment to each other, the three of them. And they were making it work.
“Tira, is that you?”
Her mother’s voice calling from her bedroom jolted Tira out of her thoughts and she quickly wiped her mind before she hurried to her mother’s room.
She blinked to see her mother sitting up in bed, the restraints undone as her hands moved in a motion Tira hadn’t seen her use in months. She was knitting, a hobby she adored, always had. Until a few months ago, when the psychosis had gotten worse.
“Mamma, are you… You seem well this morning.”
Tira turned a questioning glance at Margie, who merely nodded and smiled. “She had a restful night.”
Slightly stunned at her mother’s mood, she leaned in to kiss Su’s cheek.
“I’m feeling well, sweetheart. How are your boys?”
Before she could answer, Duke stepped into the room. “We’re fine, Su. Nic got his insides scrambled a little but he’ll be good in a few days.”
“That’s nice, dear. Tell him not to worry about that pain in his lower back. It’ll be fine in a few days.” Her mother turned toward her again. “And I’ll be okay so you don’t have to worry about leaving me here while you care for the boys. I already asked Margie to enlist Lais and Ronia to stay with me a few days. They need something to keep them occupied now that their daughters have moved into the city for a while.”
Tira felt tears rise at how much her mom sounded like the woman she’d been before the psychosis had gotten so bad.
Maybe I should go away more often.
Guilt smacked her hard in the heart. How could she even think that? She loved her mom. She would care for her until…
Until the end.
“Su,” Margie said, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to steal Tira away for a few minutes to go over some of the potions we talked about last night.”
“No problem.” Su waved them off with one hand and a knitting needle. “Duke will do just fine to entertain me while Cat goes to see Sera. She’s about to call for you, sweetheart.”
Sure enough, the trill of a cell phone sounded from the other room.
Cat laughed and yelled goodbye over her shoulder as she headed for the front room.
Tira caught Duke’s gaze and he nodded once before transferring his focus to Su. Tears came to her eyes as Duke’s entire demeanor changed. He reached down to take her mother’s hand in his then leaned close to brush her cheek with his lips. Her mother couldn’t read him either, which had never seemed to upset Su as it did Tira.
Su had merely shrugged her shoulders and said, “It happens.”
Tira had always wished she had her mother’s knack for accepting things she couldn’t change. It’d make life much easier.
After assuring her mother that she’d be close, Tira followed Margie out into the kitchen and slid onto a stool at the island.
“So,” Margie said as she got mugs from the cabinet and poured hot chocolate from a pot on the stove. “I’m sure you’re wondering what happened since you left.”
As she wrapped her hand around the warm mug, Tira let out a small snort. “You could say that. Yesterday, I…I had to use the restraints, she was so frantic and I was worried she was going to hurt herself. Today she’s lucid. What’s going on?”
Margie sat opposite her, her own mug in her hands. “Well, I’m not exactly sure and this could just be a short break in the dementia but I’m not convinced that’s all that’s going on here.” She paused and the grimace on her face made Tira tense. “I think… Well, there’s just no easy way to say this so… I think part of the rapid deterioration may have been due to the close proximity you and she have been sharing these past few months. And…I think some time apart might not be a bad thing. For either of you.”
* * * * *
“Now tell me how you’re really feeling, Duke. I sense you’re trying very hard to hide something.”
“I didn’t know you were an empath, Su, in addition to a fortune teller.”
Duke smiled as she laughed, her voice not as strong as he remembered but not as frail as he’d feared when he’d first seen her lying in bed.
“No, no, I haven’t developed another Gift. The one I have is more than enough. It’s just that when you lose your sight, your other senses become much better.”
Su’s formerly clear blue eyes were clouded now and stared sightlessly in his general direction. That, more than the streaks of silver in her hair and the tremble in her voice, made his chest tight with frustration. Because there was nothing he could do for her.
He immediately flipped back to the first time he’d met Su. It’d been right after Tira’s first vision, the one that had fucked them all over so badly. He’d had to take Tira home after she’d calmed down. It’d taken him an hour to get her to stop crying, holding her in his arms and rocking her. Nic had had to leave. Tira had been unable to look at him without sobbing.
He’d driven her home, his own shock and fear stealing his speech, and Su had met them at the door. She’d known what had happened, had seen it in her own vision.
He’d found out later that Su had known hours before what was going to happen. That she’d seen her daughter’s agony but she’d never told Tira.
Su had taken Tira in her arms that night, nodded to Duke and shut the door behind her. He’d come back the next day to check on Tira and he and Su had forged an unlikely friendship.
Foolishly, he’d thought it was because Su knew she’d never have to share Tira with them.
But over the years, he’d begun to wonder if she hadn’t been hoping…
“How are you really feeling, Su?”
Su’s lips curved in what looked like a grimace. “Healthy as a horse and sharp as a tack. Unfortunately, I know it won’t last. Tomorrow I may not remember my own name.”
His hand tightened on hers and a cold shiver raced down his back. He hated the fact that he could do nothing for this woman. And that she was so calm about her own fate.
He couldn’t even bear to think about this happening to Tira.
Before he could say something, anything, Su’s expression became determined. “You need to get her to change her mind, Duke. I don’t want her to rot away here taking care of me. I made mistakes. I don’t want her to repeat them. She won’t listen to me. I’ve tried to talk to her but she’s too much like me. Too stubborn for her own good.”
Blessed Goddess, he wished he had that much control over Tira. But he didn’t. He couldn’t.
“I’m the last person she listens to, you know that.”
“Then you have to change that. You and Nic. I don’t want her to end up here, strapped to some damn bed like a lunatic. There have been times I’ve thought about telling her to leave the boschetta, to give up her Gift and let someone else carry the burden. But my daughter’s Gift is strong and vital to the boschetta. She knows giving up her Gift to another, letting another carry her weight, would be weak. And Tira’s not weak. She has to see that. She has to know it.” Su stopped to take and release a deep breath. “I worry so much, Duke. You have to do something. And soon. Or I’m afraid it will be too late for all of you.”
* * * * *
“Are you sure it’s okay to move him, Tam? He still looks really pale.”
Praying to the Great Mother Goddess that his knees didn’t buckle as he walked to Duke’s truck, Nic tried not to let the fear in Tira’s voice get to him.
She and Tam had remained on the porch while he and Nic headed for the truck, ostensibly for Tira to get last-minute nursing instructions.
Nic knew she was worried about
him. Which was both gratifying and ass-chafing.
Yeah, he looked like shit. For that matter, he felt like shit. He’d had his insides rearranged when that beam had fallen on him.
But he wasn’t dead. At least, not yet.
According to Tira’s vision, that was coming soon enough and he’d be damned if he went to his grave with regrets.
The three of them had wasted the past eight years. He wasn’t wasting any more. His plan would work. It had to.
And after he and Duke made her theirs, then he’d be able to die. Maybe not happy but at least satisfied, knowing Duke would be there for her.
“Well, I wanted him to stay a few days more but you know what he’s like,” Tam said. “I don’t think he’ll do any more damage but keep him in bed as much as possible. The internal bleeding has stopped and lucani healing is remarkably fast so he shouldn’t be in danger of starting again but keep an eye out for unusual paleness and lethargy.”
Tira sighed deeply before she thanked Tam and headed for Duke’s Jeep at the bottom of the steps. Nic had pulled himself into the front passenger seat. No way could he get in the back without contorting his body in ways it really wouldn’t like.
Duke stood by the front bumper, watching him with narrowed eyes.
Yeah, he got that Duke wasn’t totally on board with the plan. At least not yet. But when Nic got a chance to tell him what he planned, Duke would be fine. He had to be.
Because Nic couldn’t bear to be apart from her any longer.
As he watched her come closer, he felt the arousal he tried to keep banked struggle to run rampant. He’d had years of practice keeping it confined but he’d hadn’t spent much time with Tira.
That was going to change so he needed to keep it together.
When she reached the car, Nic watched her and Duke exchange glances, heat passing between them before Tira dropped her head and slipped into the backseat. When Duke climbed into the driver’s seat, he sighed, shoved the car into gear and headed for Tam’s old house.
Since joining Kyle as sicarii, he, Duke and Kaine had moved into the old Guiliano place. It was only a mile or so away from Kyle’s and though it only had one bedroom when they’d moved in, he and Duke had added on another two bedrooms.
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