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Liam
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NICK COULDN’T CONTAIN his happiness as he kissed his new mate and I had to look away from them. It was stupid, but I felt jealous now that he had someone more important than me in his life. He shared a link with Freya that took precedence over our twin bond. Even worse, I’d just learned that he’d always felt insignificant being the younger twin. Guilt ate at me that he’d gone off alone to try to take Killion and his nest down. It was my job to protect him and he’d apparently always felt like a burden.
I’d already spent one night being bombarded with the echoes of Nick’s ecstasy coming from the bedroom next to mine. I wasn’t sure I could handle another night of it, but I couldn’t leave just yet. I had to stay and show my support for our latest squad member. Freya would make an excellent addition to the team, yet I couldn’t help resent her a little bit. Uncle Mark had given me the ID to give to my brother’s mate when he’d arrived this morning, cementing her position on our team.
Nick might have been able to pick up on my emotions if he hadn’t been so deliriously happy and caught up in his new bond. While I was good at keeping my expression neutral, it was harder to control how I felt. We spent the day getting to know Freya and learning about her past. By late afternoon, I was desperate to put some distance between myself and the lovebirds. They kept sneaking off to their bedroom to have sex and Nick’s emotions flooded through our bond each time.
Alex took me aside after dinner. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked. Yas cast a curious look at us from her seat on the couch, but she didn’t seem alarmed. Whatever my sister wanted to talk about couldn’t be anything too bad. Her bestie picked up on her moods the same way Nick and I could usually tell how each other was feeling. Emma sat on the vamp’s lap, watching TV.
“Sure,” I agreed and we stepped out into the main hallway for some privacy. “What’s up?”
“How are you holding up?” she asked.
I frowned in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Nick almost died,” she reminded me gently. “You almost lost your twin. You can’t tell me that didn’t affect you.” Once again, I was reminded that she was wise for her young age.
Heaving a small sigh, I leaned against the wall and rubbed my face with my hand. “It was rough,” I admitted. I was used to being strong for the team, since I was their leader. Alex was family and it made it easier to show her my vulnerable side. “I felt it when he was shot through the heart and I didn’t know where he was or how to save him.” Tears glittered in my eyes and she drew me in for a hug. It was rare for her to instigate hugs, so I appreciated her effort to make me feel better.
“I can’t imagine how scared you must have been,” she said sympathetically when she drew back. “We all would have been shattered if we’d lost Nick. I know he thinks he’s less important than you because he’s the younger twin, but we all love him just as much as we love you.”
“He knows that,” I said, willing myself not to cry. “At least, he knows it now,” I added ruefully. “Besides, he’s found his true mate, so he’ll always have someone to love more than anyone else in the world.”
Alex took my hand, hearing the slight bitterness in my tone. “I guess it’ll be hard for you to share him with his mate,” she said, squeezing my fingers before letting them go.
“Mom and dad fell apart when Irene took you,” I said, thinking back to when Nick and I had been barely four years old. Her spells brightened momentarily at my reference, but didn’t quite wrack her with pain. “Uncle Mark and the others did their best to look after us, but we had to rely on each other for a few months. Our bond became stronger and we’ve always been best friends. Now he has a new best friend and I guess I’m the one who feels like I’m not important.”
Saying it out loud made me sound like a selfish bastard, but Alex nodded in understanding. “I kind of get what you’re going through,” she mused. “That’s how Emma felt when I raised Ike. She thought he was going to become my new favorite zombie and that I wouldn’t love her as much as I loved him.”
I snickered at her comparison and she laughed along with me. “Who knew zombies could be so complicated?” I asked.
“I guess they never were until mine came along,” she said with a shrug. “Now there’s a new type of zombie with emotions and intelligence.”
Delta swiveled her head to look up at me and I stroked her pale cream head. “We’d be lost without them,” I said and meant every word.
“Are you going to be okay?” she asked.
I hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. It’ll take me a few days to adjust. It would help if Nick could shield his emotions from me when he’s in bed with Freya.”
Now it was her turn to snicker. “You should take off for a few days to give them time to settle down,” she suggested, echoing my secret plan. “None of us will hold it against you. We know it’ll be unbearable for you because of your twin bond until they get used to being mated.”
I hugged her in gratitude for easing my fears that the team would think I was abandoning them. Nick was too caught up in his mating bond to care if I left for a while. “I just might do that, kiddo,” I agreed.
She wrinkled her nose at the nickname and we headed back to the main area. She headed for the kitchen, flicking a sly look over her shoulder at me. I checked my pockets, then rolled my eyes. “Can I have my wallet back, Agent D’Ath?” I asked with exaggerated patience.
“Sure thing, boss,” Alex said and tossed it to me with a smirk.
“She’s my best student,” Yas said proudly.
Everyone was seated in the living room now. There were only a few seats to spare. Gedniah took up two seats on his own with his sheer size. All of the mated couples sat next to each other. Nick and Freya were locked in a kiss. My little brother’s joy was oozing through our bond and I tried not to grimace.
Joining Alex in the kitchen, I made coffee for everyone, while she made tea for herself. She looked over her shoulder at the happy couples, then rolled her eyes. We both snickered, which made Crowmon and Yas look at us curiously. It was a private joke and it would be best for us to keep it to ourselves.
We watched a movie, then I headed to my bedroom I needed to escape from the overwhelming happiness emanating from my little brother and his mate. My phone rang just as I closed the door. “This is Agent Levine-Garrett,” I said, not recognizing the number.
“Hey, Liam, it’s Yousef,” one of my contacts who worked for a PIA branch office said quietly. He was calling me from his private phone rather than a work phone.
“Hi, Yousef. What’s up?” I asked, knowing full well that Uncle Mark had given us two weeks off and that cases weren’t supposed to come to us for another week.
“I heard about something strange and thought I should let you know about it,” he replied.
“What did you hear?”
“A couple of hikers reported feeling ‘an ominous presence’ in the woods today. They said it was so strong that they had to leave the area. The local cops brushed it off, but this isn’t the first time people have sensed something weird going on there.”
“What else have you heard?” I asked, already intrigued.
“I did some research and stories have been printed about the woods dating back for over a hundred years.”
“Don’t tell me, people have disappeared, never to be seen again?”
“Nope,” he refuted. “It’s just the opposite. A few people who’ve gotten lost inexplicably found their way back to the entrance to the trails. No one has died that I know of.”
“Why should I look into this?” I asked skeptically.
“I heard the hikers plan to go back and that they’re taking some hunters with them. If there is something in the woods, it’s about to be rooted out and shot to death.”
If the stories dated back over a century, then whatever this being was couldn’t have been brought here by the old gods. I’d needed something to keep me busy while I took a break and this would do nicely. “Where exactly is the hiking area?” I asked.
“It’s near a town called Red Creek in Maine. The trails are just a few miles away from the town.”
“Okay, I’ll look into it. Thanks, Yousef. By the way, don’t mention that I’m on the case to anyone. I’m still supposed to be on vacation.”
“It’s been a week since Agent Steel gave us that order,” Yousef said in amusement. “I figured you’d be going stir crazy by now.”
“Good call,” I said, laughing with him. I didn’t mention that our vacation had been harrowing so far. We hung up and I switched on my laptop. I needed to do some research and I couldn’t perform it on the computer table. The others would no doubt be curious if they saw what I was doing when they walked past me.
