After introductions, a quick lunch of chicken paninis and coleslaw, and a lot of awe-struck gawking between brothers who hadn’t seen each other in almost three human lifetimes, Cynthia took Cordray out back so Trace and Brak could talk privately.
Trace had seen the love bites on Cynthia’s neck and wondered just what the relationship was between her and his brother, especially given the platonic way Brak had introduced her.
“Is she your mate?” Trace bobbed his head toward Cynthia, who was showing Cordray around an array of potted flowers on the deck’s banister.
Brak cleared his throat and sipped from the glass of water he was holding. “No.”
Something about Brak’s no-nonsense answer sent Trace’s hackles up. “Does she know that?”
Brak shook his head and changed the subject as he gestured toward Cordray. “You’re newly mated. Congratulations.” He bobbed his head and briefly glanced down at his hands before squinting toward the sliding glass door again. “She seems like a strong female. Perfect for you. I always knew you’d mate someone strong.”
Brak obviously didn’t want to discuss his mated status or what was going on between him and Cynthia, so Trace wouldn’t push it.
“She’s tough as nails.” His adoring gaze turned toward Cordray. Inked up, pierced, TNT-with-a-short-fuse, big-hearted Cordray. “Our bond became official just yesterday, but I think my body knew weeks ago.” He smiled to himself as he recalled the way he’d gotten hard around Cordray right from the moment he met her. She had awakened him in every way imaginable, and now they were bound together for life.
“Why? What happened?” Curiosity—genuine and demanding—brightened Brak’s face.
Trace preferred not to get too specific about the details. After all, he and Brak were still strangers in a lot of ways, so talking hard-ons and sex wasn’t exactly comfortable. As they got to know one another again, maybe such conversations wouldn’t be so hard.
“I just felt alive around her, that’s all. My blood warmed.” He placed his hand on his chest. “And my heart hurt when she wasn’t around. It was like I was addicted to her.” He glanced toward his striking mate again as she tucked her long hair behind her ear and bent to sniff a flower. Something in the gesture seemed so out of character for her, yet so perfect. He fell in love with her just a little bit more. “I still am.” His heart skipped as she straightened and offered Cynthia a smile as pure as Rocky Mountain snow, completely transforming the character of her face. He hadn’t seen Cordray smile half as much as she had in the last twelve hours, and never as genuine. It made him feel like a hero, because he knew he was the reason for her newfound happiness. She certainly was for his. “I think I’ll always be addicted to her in one way or another.”
Brak nodded and looked away. He seemed troubled, and Trace suspected Cynthia was the reason why.
“You sure everything’s okay?” Trace said, frowning.
“Yeah.” Brak fiddled with his glass then agitatedly set it on the coffee table. “I’m just trying to get acclimated to being back in the real world.”
He’d mentioned he’d been held prisoner by a pair of unscrupulous vampires almost as long as Trace had carried around a lifetime of guilt, but he hadn’t given him many details.
“What happened, anyway? How did they get to you?”
Brak sighed and rubbed his palms over his face. “After Mom died, Father began falling into a trance-like state. It began immediately, but the transition was gradual. He told me that our mother had cast a spell on him. One that would make him fall into hibernation when she died to keep him from succumbing to mated-male suffering.”
Trace had never known. Then again, he had never fully learned the extent of his mother’s voodoo powers. He’d missed out on so much.
Brak rubbed his palms over his thighs. “We didn’t have long to find shelter before Dad fell completely unconscious, so we traveled to Louisiana, where Mother had family. The day after we arrived, Father fell asleep and never woke up. For all intents and purposes, he was in hibernation. Mom’s relatives tucked him away in an underground room and tended to him every day. We were safe there for a while, but one of our cousins was an opportunist. He betrayed us, making a deal with a pair of vampires to get rid of us.”
“Jacob and Haslet.” Trace spoke quietly, nodding, putting the pieces together from what Brak had told him during lunch.
Brak’s pale eyes somberly met his. “They killed everyone and took our father and me away.” His eyes narrowed bitterly. “By then, my phantom abilities were no secret, and they saw an opportunity. They used me to do their dirty work. I had to kill for them. Over and over and over again. They threatened to kill our father if I didn’t. They held his life over my head.” He paused and glanced outside as if he were looking at some faraway place. “And I missed everything.” His brow furrowed as a note of sadness and hidden pain fell over his face. “They made me use my power in a way it was never intended, and I missed the world growing up around me.” He hung his head. “I missed it all. And maybe I missed my chance.”
Trace didn’t know what Brak meant by that, and he felt like he shouldn’t ask. As if Brak had intended it as a rhetorical statement.
Moving slowly, Trace leaned forward and quietly propped his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together. After giving Brak a few seconds to work through whatever was tugging at his mind, he said softly, “I found our dad in a dreck laboratory in Arizona. How did he get there if Jacob and Haslet were holding him prisoner?”
Brak took a fortifying breath and straightened, apparently pushing aside whatever was bothering him. “I guess Father had begun to awaken, and they didn’t know what to do with him except drug him and keep him in an induced coma. Then Bishop came along, and they struck a deal with him and sold our dad to him. Like he was a piece of property that could be bartered away.” He made a disgusted face then looked out the patio doors at Cynthia. His expression instantly softened. “Cyn took care of me while I was out of my body, as well as afterward, when I returned and couldn’t function on my own. One day while I was out doing their bidding, she helped me find them.” His gaze flicked to Trace’s. “It was the same day I found you in that cell.” Trace nodded in understanding. “Anyway, she helped me find them, and when she did, I ghosted into the home where they were holding me prisoner in the basement. That’s how I learned what had happened—that they no longer had our father, which meant they no longer had leverage over me, either. So I killed them. And then I escaped to come and find you. Now, here I am.”
“And our father? Have you seen him?”
“I’ve visited him once, but I’ve been too exhausted to go back. He’s not very coherent, anyway. One minute he seemed to recognize me and the next he didn’t.”
“Is that normal?”
Brak shrugged. “I don’t know how our mother’s spell was supposed to work, except that he wasn’t supposed to awaken until it was time for him to meet his next mate. I don’t know how long the awakening process takes or what we can expect once he’s fully lucid, but if he’s waking up, I’d say he’s going to meet his next mate any day if he hasn’t already. Or, who knows, it could be another year. Like I said, I don’t know exactly how the spell was supposed to work.”
Trace rubbed his hands up and down his face then over his scalp as he settled back in the chair again. “Jesus, everything’s happening at once.”
“What do you mean?”
It seemed like Trace’s life had been a whirlwind for weeks. Up, down, around. He’d been tossed more than a salad and longed for a reprieve so he could enjoy being newly mated for a few days.
“There’s just a lot going on. I’ll tell you about it later, when we have more time.” He thought about Skeletor and the button Cordray had brought with her. “Right now, I’m hoping you can help us.”
“Sure. How?”
Trace went to the patio door and tapped on it to get Cordray’s attention. Then he motioned for her to join them. Cynthia trailed behind as they re-entered the house.
“Everything good in here?” Cordray glanced from Brak to him.
“Yeah, it’s all good.” He held out his hand. “I want to show Brak the button.”
Her eyes lit hopefully as she pulled the button from her pocket and set it in his palm.
Trace handed it to Brak. “We need to find the person who belongs to this button. Can you help us?”
Brak wrapped his large hand around the small piece of round plastic and exchanged glances with Cynthia. Then he nodded as he lifted his eyes toward Trace again. “Trace, my brother, my gift is your gift. I was born to help you.”