by AJ Renee
“Never.” She laughed, then sobered. “Have him ask her why I can’t communicate with Rye.”
She rubbed her eyes, tired of all the tears. Her skin tingled with her magic, like a muscle tensing at her stress.
Peter squeezed her knee and offered her his phone. “She wants to talk to you.”
Brandy accepted it, but instead of setting it to her ear, she pushed the speaker button. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Serena’s melodic voice said. “Tell me everything that’s happened.”
She nodded before remembering Serena could not see it. Starting from the moment she woke up alone in bed until the last few minutes, she retold every magical detail she could. It felt odd trusting this woman, one who had shared a bed with Ryan and had shown an instant dislike to Brandy.
“All right, first things first, the good news is he’s not dead.”
Placing a hand on her flat stomach, Brandy thought of their child growing up without him. “How do you know that?” she asked, a tremble in her voice.
Serena cleared her throat. “I’ve never bonded myself, but all the stories passed through the generations say when you lose your mate, you feel gutted. The moment they die, it feels as though someone has stuck you with a hot sharp blade. Since you didn’t describe that, he’s alive.”
Brandy sagged with relief. “Oh.”
“Serena? Could Ryan be keeping her out?” Peter asked.
“I don’t think he can… but someone else could. Brandy?”
“Yeah?”
“I need you to reach out to him. Search the connection, see if you feel anything that doesn’t belong.”
She handed Peter the phone. “Okay.” Leaning back against the cushion, she took a few deep breaths and shut her eyes. “Rye? Ryan?” She searched their connection, noting once again the stillness. Her eyes opened with frustration and met Peter’s. “I can’t do this!” She jumped up from the couch and paced the area in front of him.
“You can do this, and you will do this. If someone is blocking him from you, you need to find out who.” Peter moved in her path and grabbed her by the shoulders. “I’ve seen you do some un-fucking-believable magic in a short time. This is a walk in the park. You’re a natural. Now shut your eyes and search!” His words ended in a low vibrating growl, his eyes flashing gold.
She shook her arms free and pushed her hair from her face. Expelling another breath, she shut her eyelids again. The magic along her skin rolled and expanded, and she gathered every bit of it and pushed her connection to Ryan’s. “Damn it, Ryan, I’m going to kick your ass after all of this!” Her mental shout snapped into the void of their connection, and a strange crackle reverberated back at her.
“Ah!” Brandy shouted, gripping her head with both hands.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” Concern filled Peter’s face as he searched hers.
“I don’t know. My shout boomeranged back? I’m not sure.”
“That’s great!” Serena called from the forgotten phone on the couch cushion. “Someone’s blocking you two. Now do it again, but be ready for it and call out inverto. Let’s see if you can’t create a hole in their design.”
“Ready?” Peter asked, and Brandy nodded.
Her eyes unfocused as her lids dropped again. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and shouted at Ryan. Brandy was ready for the sizzle of magic and shouted, inverto! The answering pop didn’t hurt her head, but rather, the familiar buzz made her heart skip a beat.
“If I get my hands on the asshole blocking you!” she shouted, shoving every ounce of power she held into it.
She prepared for the echo and countered. Brandy searched their connection as Peter guided her to the couch. After doing it another two times, she fell back against Peter’s arm.
“What did you get? Did you do it?” Serena called.
“We’ll call you back,” Peter said and ended the call. “Take a breather, babycakes. I’m going to get you some tea.”
Memories of Ryan and their time together flashed through her mind. Every minute between them mattered and had brought them to where they were. She wanted more time with him. Hell, they had created life. Whoever was keeping him from her would pay. Now she knew what it was to be loved and cherished like no man outside her family had ever cared for her before, and she refused to give it up. It was no wonder the women before her had failed at denying their mates.
Peter offered her a protein bar. “Here, take a bite and drink some water while the tea cools.”
“I’m not hung—”
He pressed the bar to her lips. “Eat it. If not for you, for my godbaby. You need your strength, Brandy.”
Her gaze raised to his, and she noticed the worry lines around his eyes. “It’s killing you to not be out there searching for him.”
“He’s my brother in all the ways it matters, but he’s entrusted me to keep you and the baby safe. I trust my pack to do their job.”
She bit into the bar, and the moment the flavors burst on her tongue, she shoved it into her mouth like she had not eaten in years.
“Taste good?” Peter chuckled.
She shoulder-checked him and focused on each savory bite. Peter grabbed the wrapper from her hand and passed her a water.
A few minutes passed in silence. It was far from comfortable, as they both were eager to get Ryan back. The air around them vibrated with anxiety and fear. Brandy was relieved to have Peter at her side, guiding her and backing her up. “Thanks,” she muttered.
“For what?”
“Everything…”
Peter pulled her into him and kissed the top of her head. “Babycakes, you’re the little pain-in-the-ass sister I never wanted. Omphf.” His breath caught when her elbow connected with his stomach. “I was kidding! Testy, testy!” He held her tighter and grabbed a hold over her arm before she could get him again. “Look, I’ve watched Ryan do what he could to avoid finding his mate. When you popped onto his radar, I was excited for him. Not all of us are lucky enough to find our other halves. I get why he was reluctant, but I’d do anything to finally feel whole.”
His voice was sad and resigned to the life he led. Brandy’s heart squeezed. “Will you release my arms so I can hug you?”
He eyed her skeptically. “No more elbows?”
“Shut up, you big baby!” After hugging him tightly, she loosened her hold and pinched his side.
“Ouch! What the hell was that for?”
Brandy shrugged as she picked up her tea.
“You got a mean streak,” he muttered.
She did not bother replying to him and sipped her tea after blowing on it. Scooting to the edge of the couch cushion, she planted her feet flat and sucked in a breath.
“Test your bond, but don’t try the other thing. You need to recover a little longer.”
She nodded and let the magic around her swirl. “Rye? Can you hear me?”
Silence, a faint familiar buzz, and more silence.
“Anything?”
“He’s not responding, but I can kind of feel him. It’s not very strong, but if I can—”
“No!” Peter’s eyes flashed gold, and his alpha magic overwhelmed her. “Absolutely not. This isn’t a discussion. In another hour or two, you can, but I will not have you hurting yourself or the baby. Now… do you think we can trace his magic and figure out where he went?”
Her attention shifted to the shimmering threads still in the air. “He found me by following my magic. I should be able to do the same.”
She pushed to her feet and followed Ryan’s path.
“Finish your tea first,” Peter said and hurried to the kitchen. He returned with a few more bars and two water bottles. “Eat another one now. Once you’re done, cloak yourself, and only then will we leave. Are we clear?”
Brandy accepted the bar and rolled her eyes. “You realize I can freeze your ass again and do this my way, right?”
His mouth pulled into a thin line, and a menacing growl vibrated through his chest. “And when I unfreeze,
I’d find you dead because you’re so fucking stubborn you got yourself killed. Your death would surely kill Ryan. Neither of those scenarios is acceptable, so don’t you dare defy me again.”
Peter’s words clawed at her heart. The images they created were so vivid, she gasped for a breath and felt the room spin.
“Babycakes?” His voice called through a narrow tube. “Are you okay?”
Brandy shook away the vision and inhaled deeply. “I’m sorry.”
His hand wrapped around her neck and drew her to his chest. He pressed his cheek to the top of her head. “You hate being pushed around. I get that. I’m not trying to be an ass, but you need to understand my need to protect you, not only for Ryan but because now you’re part of my family. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, and I’ll promise to at least make you think you have a choice.”
She scoffed at his words but nodded against him. “I’ll eat the damn bar.”
After eating and drinking, she used the bathroom. Meeting Peter at the door, she cocked her head to the side. “Didn’t you tell Serena you’d call her back?”
He shrugged. “I don’t report to her. If Ethan is with her, he’s sort of safe and—”
“Sort of safe?”
He rubbed the back of his neck as he pulled open the front door. “The woman is a bit of a man-eater.”
“Witches are cannibals?”
Peter choked on a laugh as he peered down the hall. “Cloak yourself. Let’s go,” he said and urged her out of the condo. “I don’t mean literally.”
“What do you mean—”
“Do you really want to talk about Ryan and Serena?”
Her brows knit together as she kept her eyes on the magic that lay ahead. “How big is her coven?”
He chuckled but did not press her change of subject. “I’m not really sure. I think I’ve come across more witches out of it than in it. So many are like you, not knowing what they are. Unlike you, their powers are weak and can fill books for odd, unexplainable events.”
“I don’t suppose Xander has gotten back to you?”
His shoulders tensed at her question. “No.”
“Call him?”
“He knows what I expect of him.”
She nodded but remained quiet. The threads shimmered a little stronger the farther they got from the apartment. People passed them on the street, unaware of her at his side or at his back as Peter and Brandy wove through the sudden batches. No one noted the shimmering trail, and she wondered if any of them could even see it.
It seemed Ryan had taken the long path to wherever he’d gone. They crossed streets and spotted the threads along blocks they had not walked. At one point, they crossed in front of the café, and her feet stopped moving.
Inside, her workers took orders and filled cups to the brim. Regulars sat comfortably at their tables, either reading, studying, or playing on their devices. It was as if no one noticed her absence.
“Babycakes?” Peter whispered. “You okay?”
“Do they even care I’m not there?” she asked, sounding more dejected than she wanted. Before Peter could answer her with sympathetic words she did not care to hear, she stepped around him. “Come on, Ryan’s not going to save himself.”
Brandy did not know how long it took them to get there after all the weaving, but they eventually stopped in front of Alumbra Fitness. There were no windows on the front of the building, shielding the clientele from being gawked at as they worked up a sweat.
“Come on, looks like he went to his apartment.” Peter removed a set of keys from his pocket as they ascended a set of stairs. He sifted through them until he found the one he wanted. The soft click of the door unlocking echoed, and he pushed the door wide. “Stay here. I want to make sure no one’s lurking.”
When Peter returned and nodded her in, she looked past him at the sparsely decorated apartment. A well-used leather couch sat across from a flat-screen television. An Xbox console sat below it with a DVD player and audio system. There was no coffee table or side table, and a couple of old stains darkened the relatively clean carpet.
Brandy noted the bare walls, free of any personal effects, and followed Peter into the kitchen. He leaned a hip against the counter and produced another power bar. He offered it to her without a word and ran a hand down his face.
“I’m going to be sick of these by the end of the day,” she told him and peeled the wrapper back.
“We’ll find you something else to eat, but it was the best I had. You need to start your vitamins and set up an appointment once we get this dumbass back and make whoever is behind all of this pay.”
It felt strange to plan for a future. With a baby at that. She still could not believe she was pregnant. She did not feel pregnant. Hell, she had not even missed a period. The thought made her open an app on her phone.
“What are you doing?”
She raised the half-eaten bar, asking for a second. Brandy stared at the countdown and cursed under her breath. Her period was five days late. “I’m pregnant,” she muttered to herself.
Peter chuckled. “You are. Why are you saying it like you didn’t know?”
After setting her phone next to Peter, she leaned her elbows on the counter and expelled a breath. “Holy shit… I mean, you said… and then Junior arrived, and I forgot about all those pregnancy tests—”
“They would have said negative anyway.”
“But I guess a big part of me didn’t believe you, or didn’t want to believe you,” she said, ignoring his words.
Peter laid a hand on her back and rubbed. “I get it, but there’s no reason to lie to you, and I promise I won’t. I’ve never lied to Ryan, and I won’t lie to you. You two created life, and once everything calms down and both of you are safe, there’s a huge barbecue with your name on it.”
She offered him a smile, her stomach flipping around and catching up to her mind. “I’m going to be a mom.”
He offered her water and took her wrapper. She took in the threads of magic which seemed to fill the entire space. “Why did you come here, Rye?” she asked, trying to piece together the puzzle.
Peter’s phone rang, and her eyes darted to Peter as he lifted his cell to his ear. “What did you find?”
Her heart thumped against her chest as the seconds dragged by. His face was blank, but slowly his eyes darkened before flashing gold. He was pissed.
“Don’t move,” he barked into the phone and grabbed her by the elbow on the way out of the kitchen. He guided her out, locked the apartment, and walked them into the gym below in complete silence.
Brandy barely had time to register the couple of men and women lifting weights. The smell of dirt hung heavy in the air and became stronger as they moved down a hall. They passed a few closed doors and turned down another hall before stopping at the second from the left.
He released her and turned the knob in one fluid move. “Show me,” he growled, and the two men in the room cowered at the power in his voice.
She stared at the three of them. The men were equally as large, but it was clear the alpha was in charge. Peter had only allowed this side of him to come out a few times, but even then, she had not really understood the strength behind his position.
Tearing her eyes away from them, she followed their attention to various screens. They watched Ryan appear and head up to the apartment for about an hour. The angles changed as Ryan stepped by different cameras watching the outside of the building.
Brandy stepped closer to the screens as Ryan paused. His head cocked to the side, and his mouth moved. “Who is he talking to?”
“We don’t know. I’ve been interviewing the whole pack,” Xander told her from the doorway. “No one remembers seeing Ryan come in. About a minute after this frame, the cameras all failed.”
“What time was this?” Peter asked, his voice hard.
“We don’t know. When the machines were messed with, it jacked everything up. We were lucky to recover as much as we did.”
<
br /> Peter pounded a fist on the desk, and his eyes narrowed. “Go back a minute and run it another after this spot.”
No one spoke as the three and a half minutes played. She inched closer to see what had drawn Peter’s attention.
“Wait!” he snapped, but the recording continued. “Here,” he said pointing at the screen when it stopped. “Zoom in here.”
The room stilled. Breaths were nearly inaudible as the man zoomed in on the edge of the screen. “What is that?” Brandy asked, unable to decipher the change in colors.
“Not a what… a who. Aja. It’s a bit out of focus, but her ring is one of a kind. She used to be part of Serena’s coven. She challenged Serena and failed. When do the cameras go?”
“Not long after,” the man said, and hit play on a different screen.
Peter shook his head and growled deep in his throat. “Ready to knock down that barrier, babycakes?”
“Um, yeah?” she said, trying to catch up with whatever thought-process train Peter was riding.
“Xander, can you grab one of the protein—”
“Oh God, no more please!” She whimpered, unable to stomach another bar.
Peter’s lips tugged up into a smile. “Protein shake from the kitchen? I’m assuming chocolate would appease milady?” he asked, a teasing tone to his voice.
The other men shuffled, avoiding her gaze.
“A chocolate milkshake would be amazing!” she said.
“We’ll be in the office. Come on,” he told her and guided her back down the hall. “We’ll need to let Serena know Aja is involved, but I need you to break down more of the barrier. Hopefully enough that you can talk to Ryan and figure out where the fuck she took him.”
“Could she be the witch working with the demon?”
Peter opened a door and ushered her in. “Exactly what I want to know, which means he’s the bait.”
“The bait? The bait for what?”
“For you.”
She spun on her heels and found Xander with a dark shake of sorts. “Ack! You scared me! That doesn’t look like a chocolate milkshake.” She pouted at the plastic container he was shaking.
“It has milk, and I’m shaking it. Ergo, milkshake!” Xander teased, but his lips did not tip in amusement.