by R. A. Boyd
“I brought one for you too. Well, Riley did. She owns a shop in town. She’s pregnant and usually takes a nap when she gets home, so you’ll meet her later. It’s wonderful to meet you, Nev.” Cass spoke as if they were old friends, and she was just filling Nev in on what she’d missed.
Nev smiled and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard great things about you.” The handshake was firm and friendly, and when it ended, Nev took the offered pastry. She bit into it, and her eyes rolled closed in utter satisfaction. “Oh, my goodness. This is delicious. Riley makes these? She’s Teague’s mate, right?”
She nodded and swallowed her bite. “Yep. You’ll get to meet everyone at dinner tonight. I may not be there.” Cass stared at Nev as if she expected her to say something, and when she didn’t, Cass continued. “I know Bastian and Jax told you about me, and that’s fine. You should know. As much as it pains me, I keep to myself a lot these days. I was human before my mates claimed me, and I’m apparently bearing the emotional weight of the clan. Damon was the one to do it before the mates got here, but he’s a fallen angel. He can take it. My obsolete human mind has to work really hard at it.” She smiled at and Nev and took a deep breath. “I felt your unease, and I wanted you to know that you’ll be fine here. Everyone will love you.”
Oh, crap. Nev’s silly emotions had bothered Cass so much, she had to come over and put her at ease. What kind of impression was that?
“Cass, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… get in your head. I’ll take meditation or something if it helps you.”
An easy smile broke across Cass’s face, and she reached for a glass of milk Nev hadn’t noticed before.
She took one sip and put it back on the counter beside the breadbox. Cass’s eyes wrinkled at the sides as she giggled. “You don’t have to do that. It’s me. I’m the one who needs to work on it. I see a therapist to help. She’s also a shaman, so she helps me learn to tune people out.” She averted her gaze as if afraid to meet Nev’s eyes. “You’re just new here, and I can feel you because you are part of this clan. I’ll get better. I promise.”
Even though Nev hated hugging people who weren’t her family members or Bastian, she rounded the island and pulled Cass into a hug. Cass’s hands tentatively hovered outstretched in the air, but she rested into the embrace and hugged Nev back.
“I don’t know why I did that,” Nev said, taking a few steps backward. “I’d usually rather stub my toe than hug people. I hope I didn’t take it too far.”
Cass shrugged up one shoulder as she winked. “It’s the saber-tooth. It likes physical contact with clanmates. And Nev, you don’t have to apologize for feeling the way you do. This is a new place, and you just got pulled into a huge family who doesn’t know how to stay out of each other’s business. But it’s only because we care. So, welcome home.”
They talked a few minutes longer, Nev spilling her guts again about her life, and Cass apologizing in advance for going crazy and hurting people.
“I hear your mate coming closer,” Cass said, pointing toward the front of the house. “You’ve already made him better. Up until last month, when he started watching you, I broke his neck at least twice a week.”
Nev went to talk but didn’t know what to say. “You broke his neck?”
Cass waved it off and threw the pastry paper into the trash can. “Fallen angels a durable. Besides, I think he was doing it on purpose. I didn’t say that to freak you out,” she said, walking to the sink and rinsing out her glass. “I said it because I’m happy you make him steady enough to stop egging me on. He knows I’m not stable. My sister is usually here to help talk me down, but she and her mate Cole are undergoing IVF. They’re spending this week in Towson. They’ll be back in a couple of days.”
Okay. She would not freak out. Nev would not get nervous again because Cass seemed unapologetic about breaking someone’s neck. Maybe she only did it because she knew he would be okay. She hoped like heck that was the reason, but still, neck-breaking sounded horrible.
Nev rolled her shoulders back and closed her eyes. She opened one and then looked at Cass, who regarded her with a sideways smile.
“Things can get weird here,” Cass said, “but it’s good. We’re all good.” Her eyes shot to Bastian as he came through the door, and the welcoming smile disappeared from her face. “You’re hiding something from me. Someone… threatened you. No.” She turned her gaze back to Nev, and her eyes blazed amber. “Her. Someone threatened her. What’s happening right now?”
Bastian muttered a curse as he put the plates of food on the table. “Damn-it, Cass. I know you don’t mean to dig in my head, but—”
“Don’t do it, Bastian.” Cass walked over to him and stood so close she had to raise her head to look at him. “This is our clan, and she is one of us. If someone threatened her, you need to tell me. You need to tell Jax and Damon.”
A sickly sweet scent filled the room, and Nev gasped as the heavy feel of high humidity coated her skin. God, what was that feeling? Nev had to fight with herself not to drop down to her knees to escape the sensation.
“I’m sorry,” Cass said, voice sounding as if she fought back tears that threatened to take her over. “I don’t mean to. It’s just… just tell me. Is she in trouble? Are you?”
Nev had to fight to look up at were Bastian and Cass stood. Even he looked affected by whatever was happening. Was it Cass? Could she make people feel weak and submissive like this? It was horrible.
As quickly as it came, it disappeared as if someone turned on a high-powered fan and blew it away.
“Cass,” Bastian muttered. His neck was turned to the side as if he were offering it to her. “Relax. I was going to tell you about it at dinner tonight. If you came. Jax and Damon already know. Someone from the Rogue clan, a witch, was the one who totaled Nev’s car and almost killed her in the process. At least that’s what we think. I’m just worried about her.”
Nev frowned as she listened to him speak. His words were true but sounded off. Shifters could pick up on emotions, so maybe this was what worry sounded like.
“That’s it? That’s what’s bothering you?” Cass asked, looking over at Nev. “Is there another part to this story, because I feel like it is.”
Bastian looked down at her and nodded. “I’m just scared for my mate.”
Nev grew uncomfortable as she watched them stare each other down. She could tell Cass wasn’t trying to be intimidating, but maybe she sensed the same odd quality in Bastian’s words that she had. Wow, she really needed to get a manual on how to be a shifter.
“I’ll keep her safe, Bastian.” Cass looked over at Nev and smiled, the protective emotion evident in her gaze. “I’ll protect you. I may need help trying to navigate how to do this, but this clan still means the world to me. I’m part of the Alpha Triad, and that’s what we do. We keep our people safe.” She turned back to Bastian and said, “You just need to make sure you tell us everything.”
****
Icy tendrils of trepidation dropped ice in Bastian’s gut as he looked down into Cass’s probing gaze. She was small, but damn-it, she was fierce, protective, and downright vicious when she chose to be. She meant what she said, and Bastian was afraid she would figure out what he’d done before he had a chance to make it right. Not sure if she could pick up on his thoughts, Bastian focused on the cartoon theme song Nev hummed off and on last night.
Before he broke down and told her what was happening, Cass wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a tight hug. She was warm against him, and as if she were some magician who could make everything better, Bastian could feel comfort and protection radiate out from her to him.
He hugged her back and then poked her beneath her arms, causing her to jump back as an explosion of giggles burst through her mouth.
“Dang-it, Bastian! You know I don’t like being tickled.” Cass still laughed as she retreated toward the kitchen door.
He looked over at Nev and said, “She’s a fi
bber. She wouldn’t laugh so hard if she didn’t like it.”
His mate snorted a laugh and walked over to sit down at the breakfast nook where he’d left the food. “I get it. I don’t like being tickled either, but if you’re ticklish and get tickled, you laugh even though you want to punch that person in the throat.”
“Exactly,” Cass admitted, pointing at Nev. “See, Bastian. She knows exactly where I’m coming from. And your mate just gave me an idea. Do that again, and I’ll punch you in the throat,” she sang. She turned around and looked at Nev. “He’s been warned.”
“Yes, he has,” Nev replied, dark eyebrow raised as she smirked. Wasn’t she supposed to be on his side?
Cass made a popping noise with her mouth and then said, “And he’ll be fine. If he can survive a broken neck, he can take a throat punch. Bye, you two. I’ll try to stop in for dinner.”
Bastian stared at Nev until he heard Cass’s footsteps fade in the distance. “She’s like my kid sister. That is the most I’ve seen her smile or joke in a long time. Thank you, Nev.”
And he meant it. Bastian didn’t know if it was the joy of having a new mate in the clan, or if Cass was finally coming back to herself, but he was happy as hell she seemed more like the Cass he knew and loved.
The bad thing was, she was able to pick up on his distress from the phone call he’d received. How the hell did she do that? Everyone knew he was pissed off because of the attack on Nev. That was a given. But the latest conversation with Remus made Bastian want to kill everything he could get his hands on.
‘Meet me at the Baltimore compound, or I will bide my time and kill every single one of the mates. Fuck with me, Bastian, and I will tell them everything. I’m sure Ronin would love to hear what you did.’
That was enough to put Bastian on edge.
Remus wanted him to come that night, but Bastian managed to get a few extra days. There was no way in hell he could sneak away until Nev was comfortable in his home. And he needed time to figure out a plan. He’d wasted too much time thinking about how horrible of a person he was that he never stopped long enough to figure out what to do.
Now, he had two days to come up with one before Cass figured him out, or Remus ratted him out. He still had time. Remus enjoyed using it as leverage against him way too much to tell the other Ghost clan members what happened. The thought of harm coming to anyone in his family made him clench his fist against his leg to tamp down on his anger. How could an angel even think of harming someone out of spite? That’s not how they were made.
“Are you okay?” Nev asked, standing in front of him.
Damn. Bastian had been so deep in his head, he never even noticed Nev get up and come over to him.
He hesitated for a moment before answering. “Yeah. I’m good. Hungry?”
Nev regarded him pensively. “Yes. I am. Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“Tell me if anything is wrong. I know I’m new to this, but I’m here now. Someone tried to hurt me to get to you. I get that. But I need you to tell me if you need help or support.”
Bastian wished he could make that promise to her. He knew if he said the words out loud, she would figure out he was lying. Nev would soon pick up things she would never have figured out if she were still human. He hated to lie, but there were some things she couldn’t know right now. No one could.
Instead, he nodded and kissed her forehead. “Let’s eat. There’s French toast, bacon, and some kind of quiche thing Riley made. She’s trying out new menu items for her shop, and we’re the lucky ones who get to try the food. And I really do mean lucky. She’s a damn good cook.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They shared more about their lives as they ate breakfast. Bastian answered questions about the pyramids and Noah’s Ark, and Nev told him what it was like seeing ghosts as a child.
Most mediums had a hard time in life, but Nev had been lucky enough to have a mother like Gwendolyn. She may not have been able to see spirits, but from what Nev told him about her, she was able to see auras and how people were connected to each other.
They were both fortunate to exist in this century. Supernatural capabilities were notorious up until a few decades ago. People were tortured, jailed, and killed for anything considered abnormal or un-Godly, and both Nev and her mother would have been targeted as witches or demon spawn.
“Why did she call it gleaming?” Bastian asked as Nev snuggled into his side.
She took a sip of coffee and pushed her empty plate toward the middle of the table. “When she was growing up, she said it was the only word she could associate with what she could see. She once described it as beams of different colored lights radiating from different points on a person’s body. I had her draw where the colors came from, and they all lined up with chakras. She said that all those colors culminated into a rainbow that encircled a person and flashed brightly, shooting straight into the Heavens. They gleamed like stars in the sky. Every single person she met had their own unique hue. Mom had to focus on shutting out the colors so she could see the person’s face.”
“When did she realize you could see ghosts?” Bastian asked, pulling the ponytail holder thingie from her hair.
Nev always kept it up and off her shoulders, but he loved her beautiful hair wild and free. He stroked her tresses, catching a few of the dark coils and pulling them just so he could watch them bounce back to her full mane.
She sighed and rubbed her hand up his leg and rested it on his thigh. “She saw it in my gleam the day I was born. Her grandmother taught her how to point out gifted people. People like us have pure white sparkles in our gleam. She said it was like the stars themselves rested inside our bodies. My sparkles are in my eyes and chest. I can see the dead, and I’m an empath.”
He drew in a breath as he pulled back and looked into her eyes as if he could see the light radiating from them. He imagined he could. “That’s why you connect with people so well. I’ve watched you for a long time, and you have a way to make people feel listened to.”
Bastian tucked her back under his arm, loving the way her curves fit perfectly into his body.
“That’s because I do listen to them. I get a sense of what they feel or what they’re missing, and I try to send my positive thoughts to them. It sounds juvenile, but that’s the best way I can explain it. It doesn’t happen with everyone, though.”
From centuries of experience, Bastian knew that some people didn’t want to be comforted or have a connection with others. Maybe those were the ones who weren’t receptive to the reassurance Nev tried to give them. No one can comfort a person who doesn’t want help.
His phone buzzed from on top of the counter where he’d left it, but Bastian didn’t care who it was. Remus gave him a few more days before he had to make a decision. The only other people who had his number, other than the people he lived with now, were the Ghost shifters in Salvatore, and they could kiss his ass.
“Hmm. Who was your first ghost?” he asked, bringing his attention back to Nev.
“My grandmother. Well, at least, she’s the first one I remember.” She quieted for a few moments as if the memory was too painful. When she spoke, her voice was a whisper. “She died when I was four, and I remember the funeral. But then she came back that night and sang me a song. She came every night and sang me to sleep until I was eight. Beautiful songs. Some in languages I didn’t recognize. She asked me not to tell mom I could see her. Said it would bother her to know her mother was still hanging around and that her own daughter couldn’t see her.” She smiled fondly and circled her finger around the top of her coffee mug. “The last time she came to me, she said she was crossing over. That the light was getting brighter, and she couldn’t walk away from it anymore.”
The more she spoke, the more Bastian fell for her. Nev was unlike anyone he’d ever met. Her perseverance at being so focused and living the life she’d lived amazed him. Knowing exactly what she wanted at fifteen years old and working her a
ss off until she was a partner at a successful business before she was twenty-five. Turning her vision into something that grew, and then retiring at forty with more than enough money was a rarity in this world.
Nev’s heart was pure. The fact that she was an empath only supported the integrity she possessed. Empaths were created to be kind-hearted. They needed to be so they could help people.
“Are you happy here?” Bastian needed to know.
She’d been thrust into this life with him. Regardless of how close the Ghost clan was or how hard they’d worked to keep peaceful lives, things would be hard on them until the Rogue clan stopped their assault. They’d done enough damage to his family, and Bastian would be damned if he let anything darken Nev’s life.
Nev made a low noise in her throat as if thinking over his question. “I am. I didn’t expect this when I woke up yesterday morning, but I don’t think I would take back a thing. You mean so much to me, and it’s scary. Yes, I had the hots for you before yesterday’s bathroom session, but I just didn’t know what to do. Coming to New Rose was refreshing for me. You have no idea how hard it sucks to have ghosts continuously ask you to do things for them. It’s exhausting. But, if I could, I usually did what they asked me to. Some people can’t move on if they have unfinished business.”
That was really a thing? Bastian thought that was just something they did in movies or television shows to intrigue the viewer.
“Do they ask you to do weird things?”
She snorted a laugh and nodded. “Most of it was just me passing on a message to someone. I’ve become a pro at making up stories about how my mother knew someone’s mom or dad and how they always meant to tell someone something. Another biggie was making letters look old so I can say I found it in a cellar or it’s been at the post office for years.” She chuckled and took and ran her fingers up and down his stomach. “It sounds cheesy, but when people have been waiting for that last bit of communication from a loved one, they will believe almost anything. As long as I have the evidence to back it up.”
