Mark stared at his phone then looked at Robert. “Uh, shit. We need to go back. I guess Kindra wants to come in.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe she wants to take Valen’s side, whatever that winds up being.” Mark scrubbed his face.
“Want to come with us?”
“We got to figure out where she’s going, and if Valen wants to come. Because, honestly, I may be tempted to strangle her. And I know Gina wants to.”
Robert stood. “Then first stop is back at your place. We can go from there.”
Mark nodded.
Robert touched him, and everyone was back at the house, except Draecyn.
Valen held Gina, ready to take her upstairs. “She fell asleep. I think it’s the baby.”
“It is,” Morrigan answered.
Mark moved to Valen and took Gina with a smile. “Thank you.”
“She took care of me. And she’s made me feel welcome. Hell, like part of the family already.”
“Good, I hope you mean that. I’ll be right back, then we can figure out what to do about your mother.”
He nodded.
Mark hurried up the stairs and tucked Gina in. Man, he wanted to stay with her, take care of her while she went through the craziest pregnancy ever.
Robert touched his shoulder. “Want to stay with her?”
Mark shook his head. “No, I need answers. Druciela can take care of her.”
“What about Cora?”
He groaned. “No offense, but I’m not sure I can trust her. I mean, I know she’s not with the doppelgangers, but I don’t know her anymore.”
“Her heart is in the right place. That’s about all I can tell you. However, Kindra is a little different. She doesn’t seem to know what she wants.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure she ever has.” Mark looked back at Gina. “Let’s go, but she’s not staying here. I don’t care if Cora stays here, but Kindra won’t.”
“A jail cell sounds like a better idea, but I may take her to the Council to stay in one of those. She wouldn’t be able to cast anything.”
“I doubt she has the ability to cast anything to get her out of a cell. Besides, aren’t they all warded anyway?”
“We’ll figure that out once we get your son and her in the same room. And just in case, we’ll keep an eye on both.”
“I was going to suggest that.”
“Standard procedure.”
Mark touched Gina’s face. “Be back soon, love.” He headed downstairs.
* * * *
Valen swallowed hard, then took a step toward Robert as they came downstairs. “You may not trust her, but give my mother a chance, please. She’s not all bad. Just easily controlled.”
“Valen, as much as I don’t want her in my life, I don’t wish her to suffer, either. We need to find her and see if we can help her. Then we’ll figure out where she can stay until everything goes down.”
“Morrigan says she’ll need to be there for the confrontation, if she joins us. Otherwise, she’ll continue to fade.”
“Only if she chooses to let me cleanse her, but she’s let Gerard in, and it will be far harder on her than it was on you, Valen,” Morrigan explained.
“She’ll have to make that choice,” Valen answered. “But she’s always done everything for me, and if she sees me turning against them, she will too. Especially with Cora here to talk some sense into her.”
Cora snorted. “I don’t know about that. I can’t make her listen to anything. Neither could Mark.”
“Because he brainwashed her,” Valen answered, heat in his voice. “She’s starting to wake up and see what was really going on. He was in her head the whole time.”
Mark sighed. “Let’s just find her and figure out if we can save her.”
Valen threw his arms around Mark and squeezed. “Thank you.”
“Hey, final say isn’t mine, kid. And right now we don’t know what’s real or not in her head. We have to be careful,” Mark warned.
“Yeah, I know. Doesn’t stop me from hoping for the best.”
Mark managed a smile. “You should. Sounds like she raised you right.”
“For the most part.”
Cora patted his shoulder. “You should go. Kindra may get skittish and run back to him.”
“We’re going,” Mark said.
Robert touched them both and they were gone. It was just the mage, and his father with Valen.
“How did you know she’d go to the overlook of the falls?” Valen asked.
Robert lifted a shoulder. “Took a glimpse of your head before taking us.”
“Why here?” Mark asked, his eyes narrowed.
“Said this was one of the places you took her to make her fall in love,” Valen answered. “That after you got your first car, you took her out here, on a road trip. I guess you camped nearby after spending all day at the falls.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Mark muttered. He leaned against the rail, facing away from the falls, and closed his eyes.
Valen didn’t know how to help him. He didn’t know what to say. Then he saw his mother and the look on her face as she hurried toward them.
Her eyes were locked on Mark, who still hadn’t opened his. Tears slid down her face, and she made a sound.
She still loved him. Some part of his mother loved his father. The one he just met.
* * * *
Kindra hadn’t expected Anders to be standing there with her son. Why should he? She did everything in her power to help Gerard win.
Her heart broke as she made her way to Valen, but then she saw Anders and hurried her pace. Self-hatred and guilt rolled through her, but that didn’t stop her from running.
His eyes opened as she threw herself at him.
He caught her shoulders, holding her back with his jaw clenched. “Don’t, just don’t. I may be compassionate enough to want to save you for our son’s sake, but there is no way in hell you can show up and think anything I once felt for you is still there. It’s not, it never will be again, and I’m not even sure you can be saved.”
The heat in his voice tore through her, but she deserved the accompanying pain. He gave her so many chances to do the right thing, and she continued to do everything wrong.
Her knees gave out. Then someone touched them both and they were gone, to some home out in the woods she didn’t even recognize.
She looked up at the blond mage and her memory of the day she met Anders’ mate came back to her. At that time, she was helping Gerard.
“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” she screeched, backing away until she was pressed against a wall.
“No, but I wasn’t going to bring you to Mark’s home, where his mate is. When I was in your head before I saw the signs of full manipulation from another party. It seems that is broken somehow, and that’s good, but that means I don’t know where you stand.” The mage shook his head.
“Who are you?” she squeaked.
“Robert McCallister. The man you knew as Anders Woeller is now Mark. He became a werewolf to save his life. The life you ripped apart, and Gerard nearly ripped from him.”
She met Anders’—Mark’s gaze and tears filled her own. “I wasn’t strong enough to resist him. And when I did he would hurt me. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, but the more I become one of them, the less his influence holds. And now I’m sitting here full of guilt he managed to block.”
“I don’t care. It’s too late for that. Right now, we need to stop them,” Mark said, a hardness in his voice that had never been there while he was her Anders.
“Mom, are you still willing to have the rest of Gerard’s bullshit pushed out of you? If so, say the words and we know probably the only person who can fix what that thing did to you and me.”
Kindra hugged Valen. God, he looked so much like Anders. He was so much like him. She wanted to be a good mother, but she’d never been. Valen would have done better under Anders’ roof. God, why did she let Gerard into her head?
She turned to Mark. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t, because nothing can change the past. And honestly, I found the one I’m supposed to be with, and she isn’t you.”
Her eyes closed. “Just do whatever you need to fix me. Please. I want to be there for my grandchild and I don’t want to be one of them. I didn’t see what they were doing, what they were capable of. I don’t know how things got to where they did, but I want to stop them, if possible.”
“It is,” Mark said. “You’re not going to like it, though.”
“Is it becoming a wolf?” she asked, hope leaking in. Maybe if she were like him he would change his mind. Maybe.
“No, and even if they did make you a wolf, I would insist you go to any pack but mine. There is no way in hell I want to deal with you that much.”
That hurt worse than anything she’d ever felt, and she couldn’t blame him. Hopefully this woman was far better to him than she’d ever been. There were so many things wrong with her choices over the years. Most of them were for her parents, or for Gerard. The only thing she ever fought for was Valen. That was it.
Robert cleared his throat. “I’ll be back. I’ll bring a couple mages and the woman who can potentially undo whatever the doppelgangers did.”
He disappeared.
She frowned at Valen. “Doppelgangers?”
“Yeah, they aren’t just little people, they become that person, or the clone of their victims when they come to a place. That’s what they are.”
“Makes sense.”
“Mark…I know you don’t trust me, but it wasn’t all me.”
“Yeah, got it. Just means your love for me wasn’t strong enough to overcome everything. But hey, it seems your parents are the reason you thought you loved me in the first place. So what’s done is done.”
“You don’t have to be so harsh.”
“I could be worse, Kindra. You did put a knife in me.”
She nodded. “I wish I had control then. I would have put it in Gerard.”
Robert came back with Cora, two other women, and two more men.
Cora took one look at Kindra and took a step toward her. “Do you get it yet?”
“Yeah, but who is this?” she asked.
“This is Tremaine, and he will ensure you stay in a safe and unfindable place until we find these things. Then you may be needed there.” He nodded to the curly, dark-haired man. Next, he pointed to the man with icy blue eyes and tattoos. “Preston.” Then he held his hand toward the woman she didn’t recognize. “Morrigan, who will do all she can to remove the corruption Gerard and his people left inside you. And Druciela who got Cora away from Brightwater bay.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” she assured.
“Mom, it’s painful, really painful, and they say it’s going to be worse than what they did to me.”
“I don’t care. Whatever I have to do to prove I choose you. I’m done letting other people decide for me. Just do it.”
Mark nodded and walked away.
She wanted to reach for Mark, but she was the one who threw him away. What a fool she’d been, and for years. If only she could go back. But it was too late for that.
She knew where they had been before being sent through the portal, but not how to get there.
Morrigan stepped toward her. “Are you ready?”
Kindra let out a strained laugh. “Doubt it, but that hardly matters. It needs to be done.”
“Bravery I can appreciate. You may want to sit for this. Maybe even lie down.” Morrigan frowned. “Actually, lie down. That’s probably for the best.”
Robert started toward a hall. “I’ll take you to a room you can use.” He led them through a door to a guest room.
“Thank you.”
Robert dipped his head and left the room
Mark stepped in and moved to the corner. She lay down, and Valen sat on her opposite side and took her hand.
Then Morrigan touched her hand, and all she knew was pain.