by Ivy Asher
I look around the room for the first time and realize that I’m not in the assigned room they had me in before. I’m not sure who this one belongs to with its warm burnt orange tones and textured rugs and furniture set about the sizeable space. There’s a wall of bookshelves filled with books, and I’m tempted to go check out the collection, but a kiss to my neck pulls me away from that plan. I look up into Valen’s warm hazel eyes and match his tender smile.
“You scared the shit out of us.” He punctuates the statement with another short kiss to my lips. “I’m so relieved you’re okay. We all are,” he tells me, his lips against mine.
“Just keeping you on your toes. Wouldn’t want you to get too comfortable and secure, thinking things are just going to be smooth sailing from here on out,” I tease.
Valen chuckles. “True. The craziest shit does seem to happen around you.” He kisses the tip of my nose.
“Yeah, and I fucking love it!” Knox announces, as he snags me out of Valen’s grasp and lays a noisy quick kiss against my lips. I laugh, and he gives me a wink.
“Now, let’s get you the fuck out of this house, so we can get you settled into where you belong,” Bastien declares, before he also pecks me all too quickly on the lips.
Alrighty then, looks like kissing in front of the others is officially a thing now. Good to know. The guys start to spill out of the room into the hallway, and I find myself sheltered right in the middle of them. They’re once again in that protective mode that I first witnessed on the night of my reading. Their positioning warms my heart just like it did the first time I noticed it and every time it’s surfaced ever since.
Our group makes its way to the living room where Enoch, Nash, Kallan, and Becket shoot up from where they’re sitting on the couches and chairs.
“Are you okay?” Nash asks, taking steps toward me like he can only be reassured if he can see for himself.
They guys tighten around me infinitesimally, but it’s not lost on Nash.
“I wouldn’t hurt her,” he defends, and the rest of his coven close in next to him in a show of support.
None of the guys say anything as they do their best impersonation of the fucking secret service.
“Are you okay?” Kallan asks, reiterating the unanswered question.
“I will be...”
“Vinna, we need to talk.” Enoch interrupts, stepping forward to take point for his coven.
Bastien and Valen move in closer to one another in front of me, cutting off Enoch’s line of sight.
“Will you guys cut it the fuck out! We’re not going to hurt her, so stop treating us like we’re threats!” Becket shouts at the guys.
“Vinna, what happened at the house? Why did you storm out, what got you so upset?”
Enoch’s question cuts off the mounting fight that is itching to take place between these two groups of casters.
I reach forward and pinch both Valen and Bastien’s asses. I get a good hold on both of their butt cheeks and use it to guide them over so I can have some space to move forward. I get that they’re feeling territorial, but talking to Enoch and the others like they’re disembodied voices floating in the ether isn’t going to work for me. I need to see their faces when this conversation goes down.
My eyes land on Enoch’s.
“What has your dad talked to you about when it comes to me?” I ask, keeping my emotions in check and my face blank.
His eyebrows dip down slightly in confusion. “Nothing.”
My blank looks turns incredulous. “Well, I guess if we’re going to just lie to each other, this conversation is over.”
I try to move to leave, but I’m boxed in by big muscular bodies, so I end up kind of bouncing around until the guys get the hint and start moving toward the door. We’re definitely going to have to work on our synchronized stomping out.
“You’re powerful. Probably the most powerful Sentinel anyone has seen since The Forsaking, which is what my ancestors called it when the Sentinels broke from the casters and disappeared,” Enoch confesses, and I whirl around.
His body language is resigned, but his eyes are pleading.
“How long have you known? I ask. At the same time, Kallan and Becket turn to Enoch and demand to know what the hell he’s talking about.
It’s not lost on me that Nash doesn’t seem as confused as the rest of his coven.
“I suspected when I first saw you at the beach that day, but I knew when you picked Harris up by his neck and threw him down. My ancestors have been passing down stories about the magic users of old for forever. When I was younger, they were fairytales my mom would tell me at bedtime. But when I saw your markings and what you could do, the fairytales I loved as a kid became real.”
Enoch’s explanation doesn’t surprise me as much as it would have before his dad’s threat. I figured his family had seen and interacted with my kind recently enough for the knowledge to still be fresh, or somehow the stories of another race of magic users weren’t as dead and buried as the readers seemed to think.
“Seriously, what the fuck are you talking about?” Kallan demands again, looking from Enoch to me when his question isn’t immediately answered.
“I’m not a caster,” I tell him. “I’m apparently from a different race of magic users called Sentinels. That’s why I can do the things I can, and why the lamia are after me.”
Kallan stares at me. His aqua-blue eyes run over every inch of my face, and I think he’s trying to gauge if I’m fucking with him. He turns back to Enoch.
“You knew this the whole time, and you didn’t say anything?” Kallan questions, his voice overflowing with hurt and swirling with anger.
Enoch sighs and runs a tired hand over his face. “My dad told me not to.”
“We’re your fucking coven!” Becket shouts at him. “You’re telling me you don’t trust us?”
“It wasn’t like that. This information is dangerous. He was trying to protect you, as is his duty.”
“Do you really believe that, Enoch?” I interject, speaking over the bickering and accusations that are flung between each other.
“Was it my safety your dad was concerned with when he threatened that I either pick you and your coven, or risk being exposed as a Sentinel?”
I watch Enoch carefully, looking for any sign that he knew this was his father’s plan. He’s either an incredibly talented actor, or the shock he’s currently wearing is genuine. Man, what I wouldn’t give to be able to scent a lie like the shifters can. My stomach shouts its displeasure at me, sounding a lot like the growling wolves I was just thinking about. Ryker presses a hand to my lower back and leans into me.
“Let’s get you fed and rested. We can deal with all this shit another day.”
I nod and give him a tired smile. I would kill for three burgers the size of a plate and a hot soak in a tub.
“Well, it looks like you guys have some shit you need to work out between yourselves. And if I don’t eat soon, the hangry is going to kick in, and with the extra batteries my magic just acquired, that’s probably not going to be enjoyable for anyone. I’ll come and get my stuff this week if that’s cool, and then I’ll just see you guys around, I guess?”
I get all awkward and fidgety as I try to say goodbye. It comes out more like a rambling question, and I all but wink and shoot them a gun finger while making a weird clicking sound with my tongue. Why is this weird as fuck?
“What do you mean get your stuff?” Nash asks, speaking for the first time since the Sentinel truth bomb exploded all over this room.
“I’m all awakened now, so no more manipulative magical guardians for me. I can go where I want to go now, and that’s always going to be with them.”
Nash looks at each of the guys surrounding me one at a time and then back to me, he parts his lips to say something, but Enoch cuts him off.
“You still need to train and work on your magic, especially now that you’ll have access to even more of it. This is the best place to do that. Loo
k at how far you’ve come already. What did they teach you the whole time you were at your uncle’s house? We are the best coven to help you.” He gestures to the guys around me. “Don’t let them convince you that they are your only option.”
“Listen, you arrogant piece of shi—”
I step in Sabin’s path as he moves from behind me to square up with Enoch. I reach back and grab Sabin’s hands and place them firmly on my ass, hoping that will give him something else to think about aside from wanting to rip Enoch to pieces. Knox moves to step forward, and I grab his hand in mine. I hold it up for Enoch and the others to see.
“If you know what I am, then you know what they are to me.” I point to the runes on Knox’s ring finger. “They’re mine. I’m theirs. It’s a done deal.” I lower Knox’s hand but keep my fingers intertwined with his. “Thank you for bringing me back here instead of to your dad’s house.” I pause. “Maybe your dad didn’t have the best intentions, but he was right in saying knowing about me is dangerous. You guys said I could trust you. I really hope that’s true.”
“Vinna, wait!” multiple voices shout out at me, as I turn toward the door.
I look over at them and the step toward us they all seem to have taken. “It doesn’t have to be us or them,” Kallan tells me, his eyes darting to Enoch for the briefest of seconds.
Enoch’s gaze drops at Kallan’s words, but when the room grows quiet again, his aqua eyes fix back on me.
“We’re here no matter what happens,” he offers.
His hand reaches out toward me for a beat, but he forces it down. Enoch’s body language changes as some kind of decision or acceptance takes place inside of him. He looks up at me, and I don’t see the pleading or apology that I saw before; determination stares back at me, and I’m not sure what to think about that.
I give him, Nash, Kallan, and Becket a nod, not sure what else there is to say. This time when I turn for the door, no objections or pleading words pull me back. I squeeze Knox’s hand and look up at him beaming.
“Take me home.”
27
Darkness kisses everything around me, and I lean back against the headrest, happy to watch beams of moonlight flit across Valen’s face as he drives the Jeep to wherever home is. This moment feels surreal to me, but I hold tightly to that too good to be true feeling, knowing it may be fleeting and hard to find again, or at least it has been for me in the past.
Each of us stares out into the night, lost in our own thoughts and feeling no push to invade the quiet calm of the moment with words. The road we’re on winds up and then down, and a mailbox appears in the distance. Valen slows as we get closer to the mailbox, and we turn down a long paved driveway towards a house that’s lit up like a beacon in the dark.
The outdoor lights paint the two-story brick home with warm, gold tones, and I spot touches of ivy climbing up the sides of the structure. The brick’s been treated with something, and it has more cream tones to it than the deep red it probably once was. We pull towards two garage doors, and one of them rises, lighting up the empty space my Jeep now gets to claim.
We pull into the garage, and I realize there must be another set of garage doors on the other side of the building because there are plenty of open garage spaces in front of me. The space can easily hold more than six cars, and I spot ATVs already parked in the corner. I immediately think of all the fun things we’ll add here over the years, the toys we’ll acquire and the life we’ll build.
I feel Ryker’s gaze on me and catch Valen staring at me from the corner of my eye too.
“What do you think?” Valen finally asks, and I can hear a touch of nervousness in the questions.
“I love the ivy and the brick. I can’t wait to see it in the daylight if it’s already this pretty in the dark,” I exclaim, as a huge smile takes over my face.
Valen’s worry slips out of his features, and he gives me a killer grin that befuddles my brain and scrambles my hormones. I reach out a hand to caress his cheek, marveling at how incredibly beautiful he is. I run my thumb over his full lips as my eyes rove greedily over his features.
My hand is shaky, and I pretend it’s more from low blood sugar than the realization that all of the obstacles that have kept me away from my Chosen just became obsolete. Finally, it’s just me and them. Valen grabs my hand and kisses the inside of my palm, his eyes filled with something deep and infinite that I’m not sure I’m ready to name yet.
Ryker climbs out of the back seat and circles around to my side of the car. He opens the door, and I watch Sabin, Knox, and Bastien pile out of Sabin’s Bronco in the spot next to the Jeep. Ryker takes my hand and leads me through a door into the house. We pass through a small hallway with doors that he doesn’t point out or explain, into the kitchen where Birdie, Lila, and Adelaide are busy making something that smells like heaven.
I pause in the entryway and watch as the sisters bustle around the kitchen, moving seamlessly around each other as they work. It gives me such a sense of rightness that goosebumps rise up on my whole body, and my eyes well up. I don’t wait for them to notice that they have an audience, I walk right into the middle of the melee and open my arms wide. A gasping squeal echoes around the large kitchen and three of my favorite people in the whole world crash into me as I’m seized up and surrounded by sister love.
We hug, and cry, and hug, and say nonsensical things to each other about how sorry we are and how much we’ve missed each other. I’m not sure what the apologies are about, I catch murmured tear-stained mentions of Lachlan, the coven, Talon, my parents, them. But none of it matters right now to me. I’ve missed them so much, and they’re here, and right now in this moment, everything feels like it’s exactly the way it should be.
We all wipe tear tracks from each other’s cheeks and then laugh at our own silliness. I look over to the guys who’ve gathered around the edge of the kitchen to observe our particular brand of crazy, and they’re all beaming.
“Thank you!” I tell them, beyond grateful that somehow they managed to convince the sisters to be here tonight.
Inside I’m hoping it’s forever, but even if it’s only for tonight, it’s exactly what I needed to feel complete and at home here. Knox lifts his shoulders in a shrug.
“Don’t thank us, thank them.” He gestures behind me.
I turn to see Aydin and Evrin, leaning against a wall that leads into the dining area. I don’t know how I missed the ginger giant’s hulking frame or Evrin’s tattooed presence. I hesitate for the briefest of seconds before I push past the uncertainty and act on the instinct that’s driving through me. I walk over to where Aydin is standing, look up into his dark-gray eyes, and open my arms. His eyes flash with surprise and his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat as he tries to swallow down the emotion now simmering in his gaze.
“I’m sorry, Little Badass,” he tells me again, and he bends down and scoops me up in a giant hug. Tears fall freely down his cheeks into his auburn beard and get crushed against my shoulder. He squeezes me tightly and straightens up, lifting me off the ground and up to his height.
“I’m so fucking sorry,” he mumbles over and over again, and I let his apologies wash over me.
I can’t tell him that it’s okay, because it’s not, but I can feel and hear how sorry he is, and it’s enough to turn that sliver of hope I’ve been grasping into a window of possibility. We can work to get back to a better place, and I know that he will. I hang in Aydin’s hug for a while, until we’re both brimming with the silent reassurances that we needed to be able to truly move forward.
Aydin sets me down, and I immediately move to stand in front of Evrin, my hands outstretched and offering the same forgiveness. Maybe that hug-it-out theory isn’t so fucking weird after all. Evrin looks unsure for all of one second before he accepts my offer and steps into me, giving me a strong, reassuring hug. He utters his apologies too, making promises to do better and try harder. It seems easier for me to let go of Evrin’s part in all the bullshit. I don’t know
why that is, but it gives me hope that I can do this forgiveness thing after all.
Everyone is sitting at the table, full, happy, and leaning back after consuming the massive spread that the sisters laid out for us. I went full-on wild, rabid badger as soon as the food was within reach, practically growling at anyone who got too close to my full plate. I think I emptied and refilled it five times, but the food coma I’m currently suffering from makes it difficult to recall the details accurately. Everyone is laughing and joking, filling me in on old stories or calling each other out on embarrassing things, and it all feels so perfect that I’m fighting off my exhaustion tooth and nail so that tonight doesn’t come to an end.
I yawn loudly, slapping a hand over the sneak-attack betrayer of my fatigue. One yawn quickly morphs into another, and my body demands that I wave the white flag on this night and immediately crawl into somewhere soft and warm and sleep for a week. I lean into Ryker, who wraps an arm around me to support my suddenly leaden upper body. I offhandedly wonder if I can convince him to carry me to wherever I’m supposed to be sleeping tonight because I just don’t think I can convince my legs to work.
“I think Squeaks is ready to call it a night you guys,” Ryker announces.
I give a small, tired smile because he’s absolutely right, but at the same time, I don’t want this night to end. It’s like I’m afraid if the fun and ease of tonight suddenly stops, somehow I might never get it back. I just want to stay here, locked in this moment where nothing bad is happening, and everyone is happy and laughing. As if Valen can read my mind, or sense the battle raging inside of me not to let tonight become a yesterday, he comes up with a plan to keep everyone here.