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“NOW THAT YOU’VE HAD time to recover, maybe you can explain why you went after Killion alone,” Uncle Mark said in a foreboding tone.
I’d been dreading this question, but they all deserved an answer. I waited for Syd to carry our drinks in on a tray before I replied. “We all know I’m expendable,” I began and heads instantly shook in denial. Liam tried to mute his pain, but I still felt it. “Liam is our leader and I’m just his little brother,” I went on. “I’d always wished I’d been the one who’d been kidnapped instead of Alex. Liam and Alex are special, but I’m ordinary.”
“I didn’t know you felt that way,” Liam said guiltily. “You know mom and dad love you just as much as they love us.” He flicked a look at Alex, but didn’t say her name. He didn’t want to trigger her spells.
“I know they love me, but I’ve always felt inferior,” I said with a shrug.
“Is that why you went after Killion?” Uncle Mark asked. “Do you have a death wish?”
I hesitated before answering. “I didn’t want to die,” I struggled to explain. “It was just something I had to do. When I saw Alex had been traumatized by the witch again, something inside me snapped. Franko is dead, so he can’t kidnap her again, but Killion is still out there. I wanted to hunt him down and eradicate him, so he couldn’t put her through more pain. She’s already been through enough.”
Alex hunched her shoulders, clearly feeling responsible for my decisions. “I’m not worth you losing your life,” she said, paling slightly.
“Yeah, you are,” I argued. “We’ve just gotten you back and people keep trying to take you from us. I’d be willing to die if it meant keeping you safe.”
Her eyes welled with tears, but she refused to let them fall. Yas dabbed at her eyes with a tissue Brynn handed her. All of the females were misty-eyed.
“No one is going to sacrifice their lives for me,” my little sister said fiercely. “We’re going to find Irene Dawson and put her out of her misery so we can all be safe.”
“I will personally remove the witch’s head from her shoulders if she ever crosses my path,” Freya said.
“We need to get my mate a sword,” I said to Liam.
“A sword?” Harlan asked in interest. “Are you good with them?”
“I’ve had fifteen hundred years of practice,” Freya said dryly. “I doubt there are many who could match my skill.”
“I can’t wait to see her in action,” Syd said in anticipation. “Now we’ve got someone else on the squad to teach us new skills.”
Uncle Mark was still upset with me for putting myself in what he saw as unnecessary danger. He stood up and beckoned me. “I’d like to have a word with you, Nick,” he said.
Freya looked at me in concern when she felt my trepidation. I shook my head when she arched an eyebrow, silently asking if she should come with me. I followed Uncle Mark out into the main hallway so we could talk privately. Instead of berating me, he pulled me in for a hug. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, kiddo!” he admonished me.
I hugged him back, being careful not to squeeze him too tightly and accidentally break his bones. “I’m really sorry, Uncle Mark,” I said when he released me and took a step back. “I didn’t hunt Killion down with the intention of dying.”
“Did you do it for glory?” he asked, still struggling to understand.
I shook my head. “I just had this niggling thought that if I could find some of his hair, I could get a witch to cast a tracking spell on him. I planned to find his lair and burn it to the ground while he and his nest were sleeping.” That was before I’d met Freya. She’d wanted to fight him face to face so she could lop his head off for murdering her fledglings.
A strange look came over him. “When did you get the idea to search for Killion’s hair?”
“A few weeks ago. I searched all of the places he’s been that we know of, but came up blank. Then I thought of searching the site where he ambushed Uncle Philip, Aunt Kala, Alex and Crowmon. You gave me the perfect opportunity to search when you told us to take a couple of weeks off. I went to Denver to trick Liam into thinking I really was hooking up with someone for a few days.”
“Then you just happened to run into your true mate,” Uncle Mark mused.
I caught his meaning instantly. “You think Fate orchestrated this?” I asked.
“Why not?” he said wryly. “She’s managed to throw the rest of us who’ve found partners together.”
“I guess Freya and I wouldn’t be any different,” I agreed uneasily. I hated the idea of being manipulated without my knowledge, but I was grateful I’d found my true mate.
“Charles will need to examine you both,” Uncle Mark said. “He’ll need to test Freya to see what her strengths and weaknesses are.”
A thought occurred to me and I felt Freya’s instant excitement. “Now that she’s alive, she’ll probably be able to walk around in sunlight again.”
“It’s a possibility, but we’ll have to be very careful when we test that theory,” he warned me. “She’s a master vampire, after all.”
“Not anymore,” I refuted. “Alex can sense that my mate doesn’t have that sort of power now. I think she’s a lot like Yas, except she has a heartbeat.”
“We’ll know more once Charles has seen you both,” he figured. “Your parents aren’t going to be happy when I give them my full report,” he added sternly.
I blew out a sigh, then nodded. “I know they’ll be disappointed in me for putting myself in danger like that.”
“I haven’t told them what happened to you yet,” he said. “I’ll wait until I see them face to face before I give them the news.” I had the feeling he was putting it off. My parents were fiercely protective of their children. They were going to be upset when they found out I’d come so close to dying.
“I should call them and tell them myself,” I realized.
Uncle Mark looked relieved. “I was hoping you’d say that,” he admitted. “You should call them soon,” he added, then scanned is hand to let us back into the main living area.
Liam was hiding his thoughts from me. His face was blank when we entered the living room. “Can I talk to you alone, bro?” I asked.
“Sure,” he replied and followed me upstairs to my bedroom. “What’s up?” he asked when I closed the door.
“If you want to hit me, go ahead and get it out of your system,” I said, knowing he was suppressing his emotions behind a strong façade.
His tight control broke when I pushed a wave of remorse at him for scaring him. He lunged forward and hugged me hard enough to almost crack my ribs. “I would have died inside if I’d lost you, little brother!” he said through his tears. “I love you more than anyone else in this world!”
My guilt increased and now I was crying, too. “I didn’t go after Killion and his nest to hurt you or to lash out at you,” I said when he pulled back. “It isn’t your fault you were born first and that you should be the alpha of our squad.”
“I know it isn’t my fault, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling crappy that you missed out.”
“None of that matters now anyway,” I said to lighten the mood.
“Why not?” he asked skeptically.
“Because now I have Freya. I’ve found my true mate and we can face every obstacle together.” For a moment, I felt his grief and hurt that I had someone more important than him in my life, then he shut his emotions down. “Don’t do that,” I said and shook him by his shoulders. “You’ll always be my twin. That bond will never be broken. When you find your true mate, you’ll realize that no one else can ever be as important to you as she is.”
He gave me a skeptical look, then took my phone out of his pocket. “Isn’t there someone you need to call and grovel to?” he asked.
I’d left my phone on the charger in the hotel room, so it was ready to be used. “Mom and dad are going to kill me,” I groaned.
“That’s what you get for going off on your own like an idiot,” he said with a smirk, then opened the door.
Freya entered moments after he left. “I’m not going to let you face your parents alone,” she said and we sank down on the bed together.
I called mom’s number and she answered almost immediately. “Hi, Nick! How are you?” her warm tone soothed me, but I knew it wouldn’t last long.
“Is dad there?” I asked.
“I’m here,” he confirmed from somewhere close by.
“You might want to sit down,” I warned them. “I have a story to tell you and you’re probably not going to like it.”
“Here we go,” my dad muttered. “Something tells me Fate has been meddling again.”
“Has she been interfering?” mom demanded.
“Yeah. I’d like you both to meet my mate, Freya.” Stunned silence came down the line.
“Hello, Lexi and Reece,” Freya said. “We’ve met before, but I don’t really remember much of it.”
“We’re sitting down,” mom said and I could hear the puzzlement in her voice. “Tell us what happened.”
