by Ivy Asher
“It’s okay, Squeaks. You’ve been there and done that more than any of us, and you know it will stop hurting soon. Just breathe through it. I’ve got you. I’ve always got you,” Ryker comforts, and I fist my hand in his shirt and press my forehead against his chest.
I really should be used to this by now, but maybe no one ever really gets used to pain. Adapt, maybe. Work through it, if I’m lucky, but I don’t think getting used to it will ever be in the cards for me. Bastien announces that Siah’s runes are starting to appear, and I force myself to look and see what’s showing up. It’s not just his Chosen marks. My Sentinel runes rise slowly to the surface on his arms and chest, and I’m glad at least that we’re now all connected. It feels right in a way I don’t have words for, and I feel a pure sense of peace sink deep inside of me and settle there.
There’s always been this underlying drive in me that was searching for something. Home, my place, purpose, I could never quite put my finger on what I felt was missing. But as the pain flairs one last time and then starts to recede, I realize I have all of those things with me right here and now. My runes light up, and everyone else gasps when theirs take on the same ethereal glow. Bastien and Valen both hiss in pain, and I turn my attention to them, worried.
“Just…getting…new…runes,” Valen bites out, and I look around at the rest of my Chosen and see that the same thing is happening to them too.
It’s all over in less than a handful of minutes, and everyone slowly powers down like our batteries finally wore out. “Everyone okay?” I ask, running my gaze over Siah and the others. Everyone nods absently as they stare at the new runes on their hands. Siah’s rune is lined up and just as bold as all my other Chosen runes, but the new rune on everyone’s palm is the one garnering the most attention. Six thin black diamonds, evenly spaced from each other and forming a circle, now fill up the entire palm of all of our hands.
“You’ve got a new one there too,” Sabin tells me, and he points to just right of my neck.
My eyes flash over to Siah, and he cranes his neck to see what Sabin is pointing at. I just know this new rune has something to do with Siah’s abilities as a lamia, just like the new runes I got from being with Torrez were about his abilities as a shifter. I don’t even try to deduce what this new rune could be for.
“Fuck, you think it’s going to give me fangs?” I ask, not sure how I feel about that, and the guys all shrug. “I mean, I already have the speed and like to drink blood—”
“My blood,” Siah interjects.
“Does that distinction matter?” I ask.
“Yes,” he answers simply.
“Okay, correction, I like to drink your blood. What else can you do?”
“Well, aside from speed and strength, we can heal relatively quickly, we can feed off of others’ magic. Some lamia can use different aspects of magic after they feed, but it doesn’t last long, and it’s pretty rare. We all possess the ability on some level to compel. There is the whole fangs and claws thing.” Siah looks up like he’s going through a mental checklist. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
“The compulsion thing could come in handy,” Knox admits. He runs his hand over Bastien’s face and makes his eyes huge. “It’s my night with Vinna; you feel the need to make cupcakes and do my laundry,” he monotones and waves his hand as if he’s attempting to hypnotize Bastien. I chuckle and immediately start jonesing for a cupcake.
“Should we test the new runes out?” I ask no one in particular, but sudden pounding on the door demands everyone’s attention. Torrez jogs over to save the door from the assault it’s under, and Kallan, Enoch and Becket come pouring into the room, their various magical weapons ready.
“You okay?” Enoch demands, his eyes roaming over the room and everyone in it.
“Yeah, what’s wrong?” I demand, worry rising inside of me at their intensity and obvious concern.
“We all lit up like fucking glow worms; did that not happen to you, too?” Kallan asks, his throwing knives disappearing from his grasp.
“Shit, sorry, I figured it would just be my Chosen that lit up like a Christmas tree. Did you guys get new runes, too?” I ask, as I raise up my palm and display the circle of six diamonds.
Enoch and the others quickly look at their own hands and then back up to me. “No, nothing new that we know of.”
“Oh you’d know it,” Valen tells them. “There’s no mistaking when a new rune shows up.”
Everyone in the room gives a simultaneous shudder, and for some reason, it makes me smile. “I guess the Shields lucked out in the pain department on this one,” I tease.
Everyone except for Becket gives me a confused look.
“Fuck, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you guys about this,” I apologize, and I move off the bed and over to Enoch and the others.
“Adriel told me what your runes are. Apparently, Sentinels can mark what Adriel called Shields. He said that they’re like guards, and that’s why each of you has weapons and is connected to me through my magic. Shit, that reminds me too, we need to search this place. He said he had a book about Sentinels. That it had a bunch of information in it about all of this,” I say and gesture to Kallan and the others. “He knew a hell of a lot more than the fucking readers knew, and they supposedly have a whole archive on Sentinels,” I add.
“Hold on, wait, so he said they’re some kind of bodyguard runes, and you’re just taking his word for it?” Enoch questions and takes a step toward me. “Why would you believe anything he said?”
I pause for a minute, a little taken aback. It’s a valid question, and I think back to the exchange and to why I didn’t doubt at all what he told me. “He thought I already knew when he brought it up. He seemed shocked that I didn’t know,” I tell Enoch, and I look to Becket for backup. “He was a psycho, so I get why you wouldn’t want to accept anything he said at face value, but he didn’t have any reason to lie,” I explain.
“That you know of,” Enoch counters.
“Enoch, what he said made sense. There’s the fact that you have only a couple of weapons, your runes are different, and I told you from the beginning that you didn’t feel like Chosen to me.” My eyes soften, and I try to be easy in how I say all of this to him, but it’s obvious Enoch doesn’t want to hear any of it.
“Or he was manipulating you, and our connection is incomplete just like Torrez’s was and now isn’t,” Enoch argues, and I release an exasperated huff.
“She’s telling you that’s not how it is, and you’re not listening,” Valen asserts, and Enoch gets even more irritated.
“No, she’s telling me what some serial killer lamia told her, and nothing about that is definitive.”
“Enoch, just stop,” Kallan interjects, and everyone goes quiet. “We’ll look for the book Vinna is talking about and see what it says. I’m tired of all this fucking fighting. What purpose does it serve? Guards or Shields or whatever we are, it’s fine. If Vinna wanted us that way, she’d be with us in that way,” Kallan tells him and then gestures to Siah. “She doesn’t hold back when she wants something,” he adds, and the air in the room grows heavy with what Kallan isn’t saying out loud.
Enoch runs his gaze over the Sentinel runes that Siah is now sporting, and I see the flash of hurt in his eyes. I fucking hate that he and Kallan look so fucking crushed, and I wish there was something I could do to make it better, but I stay quiet. They won’t want my pity or to feel like consolation prizes. They’re not Chosen, but they’re still marked and important to me. I hope someday sooner rather than later they’ll see the truth in that and realize that I was never the one for them. We’re meant to be connected the way that we are; I don’t know why, but like Sabin said, I trust the magic.
A phone in the room chirps with a reminder, and Knox moves to grab it and turn it off. “Ryker, you’ve got about ten minutes before you need to go relieve Nash,” he calls out, and the phone in Knox’s hands reminds me of something I made a mental note to do.
&nb
sp; “Do you think Aydin or anyone has called the sisters?” I ask. “Do you think they know…” I trail off, and Ryker gives my shoulder a squeeze.
“I don’t know,” he admits, and no one else says anything.
I reach out my palm toward Knox, and he gives me a sad smile and places the phone in my palm. I take a deep breath and click on Birdie’s contact and then put the phone on speaker. The line rings a couple of times, and then I’m greeted by a voice that makes my heart squeeze and longing swell up inside of me.
“Vinna, my love, you have the most perfect timing,” Birdie announces, and I can’t help but laugh. The sisters say they’re nulls and don’t have more than a thimbleful of magic, but I don’t know how accurate that really is when they always seem to just know things, like it’s me calling from Knox’s phone and not him.
“We just got done dropping off the Fight Master and Body Opponent, and everything went smoothly! Cyn—”
Panicked, I cut Birdie off. “Oh hey Birdie, I’ve got you on speaker phone,” I announce, and I work hard to maintain my composure and not give anything away. I don’t even dare look at Sabin and risk that he might somehow put those out of context clues together.
“Oh hello, everyone, you’re just going to love the new equipment that came in for the home gym; it’s pink!” Birdie says with a squeal. I internally send her long-distance, high five vibes for that smooth as fuck cover up and then make a mental note to buy actual pink gym equipment so no one ever figures out what we’re really up to, and by no one, I mean O Captain, my Captain himself, Sabin.
“So who all is with you, my love?” Birdie inquires, and I quickly name off everyone in the room. Birdie must have put us on speaker on her side too, because Adelaide and Lila greet everyone right alongside Birdie. There’s a pregnant pause that fills the room after everyone’s hellos have been exchanged, and I’m not sure how to tell them what I need to tell them next.
“Oh, my love. Who is it?” Birdie asks me, her voice immediately sad and knowing.
“Keegan,” I tell her, and my eyes well up with the empathy I feel as the sisters gasp. I can hear their stifled whimpers, and I can just picture them huddled together, hands over their mouths and tears streaming down their faces.
“And Lachlan,” I add, and I drop to my knees as I hear three of my favorite women in the world break.
Sniffles sound off in the room, and I know the loss is thoroughly sinking into the boys too, their grief churning to the surface as they hear the sisters lament the men they loved like their own children.
“Lachlan was with Keegan when he passed,” I tell them, feeling like they need those comforting details. “I was with Lachlan. He said he was ready to go and that he’d say hello to Keegan when he saw him again.”
Siah sits down next to me and pulls me into his lap as tears drip off my chin and wet my shirt. Bastien, Valen, Knox, Ryker and Sabin are huddled together, hugging and supporting each other as they wade through their mourning. I watch them for a moment, so grateful that they have each other. They all grew up with Lachlan and Keegan in their lives, and I know they’ll help each other remember the good times and the love in ways that I’ll never be able to.
Siah wipes at my cheeks, and I’m reminded that there’s more to tell them. “Sisters?” I pause and take a breath to try and control the emotion in my voice. “Fuck, I love you, and I’m so sorry, but there’s more.”
“Oh no,” Lila begs, and I instantly realize what I just said.
“No, shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that; everyone else is fine. It’s just that…Vaughn is here.”
Adelaide gives a surprised shout, and then there’s a bunch of noise on the phone like maybe it was dropped. After another second of fumbling, Birdie’s voice comes back crystal clear and determined.
“We’re on our way,” she announces, and I stare at the phone, surprised. “We should have come in the first place, but we thought we’d be in the way, and…but if we’d just gone then, we’d be there right now to hold each of you…” Emotion overtakes Birdie’s ability to speak, and Lila takes over.
“We’re on our way; we’ll let you know when. We love you all, and we’ll be there as soon as we can, okay?”
“Okay,” I agree. “We love you, and we’ll see you soon,” I confirm, and the guys all say the same thing before the sisters hang up so they can start making plans to get here. I stare at the phone for a couple beats and feel the small circles that Siah rubs at the small of my back. I feel drained. Witnessing the sisters’ pain and loss felt worse than experiencing it myself.
I look up and notice Becket wiping at his face discreetly, and I’m reminded that, despite his efforts to stay strong while we were in the cell and dealing with Adriel, he has a shit ton of hurt he’s dealing with too. We never talked about what he learned when he stayed back in Solace, and I wonder if he’s been able to talk to anyone about what happened with his dad. I make a mental note to ask him, even if I’m the last person in the world who he’d probably want to talk to.
30
A knock at the door calls everyone’s attention, and everyone takes deep breaths or wipes at their cheeks. I watch the guys tuck away their sadness as Becket moves toward the door and pulls it open. Nash is standing on the other side, looking exhausted. His eyes get wide with confusion when he spots his coven inside, and he steps into the room.
“I was going to grab Ryker and update him on Silva and the others before I pass out,” he announces, looking at Enoch and the others like one of them is going to give him a look that fills him in on what’s going on.
“We can step out,” Ryker motions toward the door, and Nash looks from Ryker back to Enoch.
“I’ll come with you,” I tell Ryker, and I give Siah a quick peck before he helps me up from his lap. “I wanted to go check on Sorik and Vaughn,” I explain, and Ryker gives me a sweet smile and puts his hand out to me. He intertwines our fingers, and we both move for the door.
“We’re going to come check on Silva,” Valen and Bastien announce, coming with us.
“I’m going to come and check on the pack,” Torrez decides.
“We’re coming too,” Knox shouts out, and he, Sabin and Siah all rush to join us as we head out the door.
I smile and don’t blame them for wanting to leave behind the heaviness that permeates the air in this room right now. Everything that just happened was intense, and it seems like everyone could use a break. I realize in this moment that I want all of them as close as I can have them from here on out. No more solo missions to save anything or splitting up because it’s the only way. It’s us against whatever comes at us now, exactly as it should be.
As we make our way to where the injured are, I notice that, aside from Siah, I don’t spot any other lamia. We need to talk with Siah and Sorik soon about what happens now with what’s left of this nest. I have no idea how many lamia were killed in the fighting or exactly what’s going to happen now for any of the survivors. I don’t want to be responsible for their well-being, but I don’t want to leave them to the wolves, literally or figuratively, either. Siah said there were good lamia here that didn’t agree with Adriel and what he did, and they deserve to build a life somewhere they feel safe and protected now that he’s gone. And we need to figure out how to make that happen.
We walk into a long room where mattresses have been arranged neatly on the floor. Most of them are empty, but a few have sleeping shifters in them. Ryker kisses my hand, and then he veers off to go talk to Aydin and Evrin who are in chairs next to the bed Silva is in. I give Aydin and Evrin a wave, and they return it before turning to Ryker and listening to whatever it is he’s saying.
“I’m going to go speak with Alpha Volkov,” Torrez tells me, but I grab his hand when he moves to walk away.
“I’ll come with you,” I tell him. “I want to say thank you. We would have been screwed if they hadn’t agreed to fight with us.”
Torrez gives me a smile and then pulls me into his side. We spot
Fedor standing in the middle of a group of shifters as he assigns tasks. It sounds like he’s making arrangements for patrols and the pack members who are almost done healing. Slowly shifters break away to go about doing what they’ve been told, and Fedor’s gaze lands on us.
“Torrez!” he greets boisterously, his face lit up with excitement. He stomps over to us and pulls Torrez in for a bone crushing hug and administers several back breaking man slaps. “How’s mated life treating you?” he asks and gives me a wide smile and a friendly nod.
“Couldn’t be better,” Torrez tells him as he straightens up, and I swear I hear every one of his vertebrae snapping back into place.
“I’ll say,” Fedor agrees. “I mean, what better honeymoon can there be than to battle side by side and then fuck all night while wearing the blood and ash of your enemies?” Fedor declares, and I try not to scrunch my face up at that very vivid and disturbing visual. I probably shouldn’t be shocked; this is the dude that thinks Brun would make a better mate than me. He’s obviously got a fuck ton of screws loose.
“Alpha, thank you for your help. We couldn’t have done it without you,” I tell him, and his smile grows impossibly wider. “If you or your pack ever need anything, I hope we’ll be the first call you make,” I offer.
“You know, now that you mention it, I would like to set up some breeding exchanges with the Silas pack. Now, I know you’re not a current member,” he tells Torrez, “but you left in good standing, and if you’d make the introductions between me and Alpha Silas, I would be very grateful. I have a number of unmated females, and the packs nearby aren’t producing the same quality of shifter that clearly the Silas pack is,” he adds.
