One part of Mark thought he might feel sorry for Kindra when he saw her. Nope. Not really. Anger boiled under the surface. Not full rage, thankfully.
And maybe if she hadn’t tried to throw herself at him like she was ready to fall back into his arms, he wouldn’t be so ticked. But she burned that bridge, then set off a nuke on top to decimate any chance at a reconciliation.
He headed back to the living room and flopped into a chair. He thought about calling Gina, but the way she was growing, there was a good chance she needed sleep.
Why hadn’t he thought to make sure there was someone there to help her? He dropped his head and dug the phone out of his pocket. He wound up dialing Emily.
She answered after a couple rings. “Hey, Mark, everything okay? Robert filled me in on Gina. Need any help?”
“Actually, yeah, I was hoping you and maybe Clint could head over to hang out with her. Everyone who was at my house are now at a cabin in the woods. I have no idea where we are.”
“I do, but don’t worry about that. Clint and I will head over to Gina in a few minutes. But how is she?”
“Sleeping, and a warning, she looks about six or so months pregnant.”
“Wow, that is moving fast.”
“That’s why you need to be there. I imagine she’ll be having the baby soon at this rate. I just don’t know when. And right now, we’re dealing with the bitch who helped get us into this situation.”
“The pregnancy?” she asked.
He sighed. “No, not that. But with the doppelgangers. My wife.” He groaned. “Tell me Robert filled you in on that part of the story.”
“Yeah, how long ago was that?”
“Fifty years ago. This would be easier if they had all died back then.”
“I get it. I’ve been there. I’ll make sure Gina is well cared for.”
“Thanks. Tell her I’ll be back soon. I can’t imagine they want me here while they question Kindra. I know I should feel some sympathy, but I don’t. Not even a little.”
“You don’t have to. No one ever said you did.”
“Yeah. Hey, tell Clint hi for me. I may need to spar soon.”
“I’m sure he’ll be ready when you are. He is getting tired of Lincoln kicking his ass.”
He chuckled. “I can imagine.”
Robert came down the stairs. “We need to talk.”
Mark sighed. “I need to go. Thank you for helping Gina.”
“Anytime, Mark.” She hung up.
Robert planted his ass in front of him. “Gerard no longer taints her thoughts and memories. She isn’t wrong. She was manipulated at every turn. I delved into her head while she was asleep, and her memories have shifted into reality, showing a heavy dose of Gerard pushing her motivations and changing memories. She nearly broke his hold a few times.”
“Don’t, Robert. Isn’t it enough I’m trying to help her? I don’t care how influenced she was. If it was true love, she would have found a way around it all.”
“Not necessarily,” Preston answered. “I can think of a couple who took more than two hundred years to find themselves back together. Do I think that was the case with you? No. But she is the mother of your child, and you did love her once. So give her a chance to at least apologize, even if she can never fix anything.”
He groaned. “That means you need me here when she wakes up?”
“Would be for the best. And if Emily calls to let me know Gina needs you, you will be there in a heartbeat. However, right now, she’s sleeping.”
“Yeah, and that’s why I called her.” He sighed. “I’m not sure what I can do to help.”
“Just be here for Valen and listen to Kindra if she wakes up. Her head is a mess.” Robert lowered his voice. “Right now, she’s full of regrets, but she’s considering going back to Gerard if Valen won’t accept her, because she’ll have nothing left. Valen needs to believe you when you say you want to help. It will give her a fighting chance. And right now, I think that might be the most important factor we have.”
“I hope she really is worth the trouble.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “And that’s hard to say because I know Valen wants her around, but I’m hoping he’ll want to start over out here. Of course, I know nothing about his life, or what he really wants, other than he’s having a kid. God, this is fucked up.”
“Unfortunately, there has been a lot of that going around for the last few years. But it seems that things tend to work out for the best for the most part. Hopefully it will continue to.”
“Yeah, agreed.”
Robert nodded to the hallway.
Mark turned to find Valen heading his way. “What would you have done if you knew about me?”
Mark let out a sound full of pain. “I would have fought to keep you. I should have anyway. God, I’m a fool.”
“You’re not. I wish I had known the truth earlier.”
Cora joined the conversation. “I wish I could have told you about Mark, but I thought he’d died. I didn’t want you to ask your mother or Gerard because I feared what Gerard would do.”
“Not Mom?” Valen asked.
Cora let out a breath. “She would have told Gerard like she did everything. It’s why I stopped relying on her when I tried to leave the many times. If I could have done what Mark did, I could have stopped all of this.”
Mark sat forward. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we can’t change the past,” Mark said. “And really, who knows what would have happened. I know you aren’t happy, Cora, but this is your chance for a fresh start. I have a mate who fills my life with happiness, and now my son, who is having his own child. I have to say, I like where we are. At least, I will once we deal with the doppelgangers once and for all.”
“And what if we don’t manage that?” Valen asked. “What if my wife never understands why I sent her away?”
Mark shook his head. “Don’t ask what if. It will work out. It has to, because I sure as hell won’t let them win after all this time has passed. Neither will Robert, Preston, Tremaine, or anyone else who will help, and trust me, there are plenty of us.”
“While we wait for her to wake up, can you tell me about your pack?” Valen asked.
Mark smiled. “Sure, I can do that. I’m an enforcer, and our Alpha is a good guy.” Mark told him everything he thought of and answered all the questions Valen came up with.
* * * *
Someone squeezed on her head, her entire body. Pain throbbed through Kindra. Gerard’s voice pulled at her. Let me in, my love.
“Don’t let him,” a woman insisted. “Fight the bastard with everything you have. You can’t let him win if you want to keep your son.”
Kindra’s eyes flew open. The only one in the room with her was Morrigan, the Fae who ripped her soul apart to get rid of Gerard, and there he was trying to get in again.
“Damn it, Kindra. I can’t do all the work for you. You need to step in and fight for yourself,” she growled, moving her hands over her.
Magic flowed around her, blocking Gerard from doing more than send her thoughts.
Panic flooded her system. “What if I can’t keep him out of my head?”
“You can, and I’ll show you how. First, we need to show him you don’t want him there. And that means you need to repeat the words I’m about to say.”
She nodded as her back bowed in pain. And still, she found the strength to repeat the words, as she thought about Valen, and what she needed to do to prove she was on his side, and if that was Anders’, or rather Mark’s, then so be it.
A glow emanated from within, then filled the entire room.
Gerard cursed before retreating.
She smiled, victory washing in. He had no hold on her.
“Wait, we aren’t out of the woods. Quickly, follow this spell, and it will erect a shield around you that will keep him out for the time being. And later, after we’re through the worst of all of this, maybe even sooner, I’ll teach you how to become immune to all mind control.”
“You will?” she asked.
Nodding, Morrigan helped her sit up. “On one condition. You don’t pull anything stupid and try to win Mark back. It won’t happen. And you trying means you aren’t taking all of this nearly as seriously as you should.”
“I am taking this seriously, and I saw the look on his face when I first saw him and forgot all the hell I put him through. I knew before I ever saw him again that it was too late to fix anything with him.”
“Good, because he may be the only one who can stop these things from moving on to the next town and tearing apart a community.”
“I didn’t know.”
“No, I don’t imagine you did. What’s important is that you take a little time to learn from me how to block people from your head. Some people mean well, but memories, even those you don’t actively remember, can put you in danger. So I’m going to show you how to block even Robert, but not until we’re done learning what we can about where these beings are. I imagine we’ll be ready to confront them by tomorrow.”
“Why do you say that?” Kindra asked, wondering if she could stay on the opposite side of Gerard after all these years.
“Yes, you can, and you will, or you will die. It’s that simple. I’ve cleaned him from your system. Now you have to prove it was worth the pain. And if you love your son, that should be a yes.”
“It is.” She meant it.