The Shadows

by J. R. Ward

  Walking forward, he mounted the couple of steps and went by the hostess stand; then headed past the dining rooms and into the bar area in the back. The flap doors to the kitchen were over on the right, and he took his leather jacket off as he went, leaving it on the bar.

  The place was empty as usual on a Monday night.

  His clubs were closed, too.

  He was going to go to them tomorrow night, though. Because . . . well, that was just what he was going to do.

  Unless the Brothers needed him.

  Jesus, and he thought he'd owed Rehvenge before? It was nothing compared to what he felt for the Black Dagger Brotherhood and their King.

  Anything, anytime for those males.

  Forevermore.

  He found himself hesitating at the kitchen's entrance, staring at the pair of doors, both of which had circular windows of Plexiglas in them so that the waitstaff didn't smack each other around as they carried trays of food in and out.

  Putting his palm on the one on the right . . .

  . . . he finally pushed in.

  Right away, the smell of his brother's famous marinara sauce hit his nose--and actually, for the first time since his Selena passed, he felt a pang of hunger.

  iAm was facing the stove, stirring a huge pot with a spoon as long as an arm. ". . . proper amount of oregano. It's mission-critical."

  Over on the left, at the far end of the stainless-steel counter, a small round table had been set up with a linen tablecloth, place settings, and flowers in the middle. And the Queen of the Shadows was sitting at the thing, her head and hair exposed, her beautiful, kind face tilted toward his brother . . . her eyes lit with such devotion and love, Trez took an instant adoration to the female.

  She noticed his presence before iAm, Mr. Formerly Silent But Now Chatty Cathy, did.

  With a quick flush, her face changed, tension tightening the features, squeezing out her smile.

  iAm wheeled around. "Oh, hey, brother, you made it."

  "Ah, yeah." Trez pushed his hands into the pockets of the jeans he'd worn. "I'm here."

  "Well. Ah, good." iAm came around, and even though they weren't normally huggers, he gave a good, hard embrace. "Ah . . . so, yeah. Thanks for coming."

  "Thanks for having me."

  They both looked at the Queen. Who slowly rose to her feet and smoothed down the shimmering robe she wore.

  Diamonds. It was covered with a fine mesh of diamonds.

  And for a moment, panic fisted Trez's chest, the sight of those gems set in metal returning him to--

  No, he thought. That was not necessary. That was no longer the reality they were all living in.

  It was over. The nightmare was well and truly over, and he was going to need to trust that--because this female? She was going to be part of his family.

  There was no way the two of them weren't getting mated ASAP.

  He could smell the bonding scent riding on the air over all those Italian spices.

  Trez broke off from his brother and went over to the tall, slender female.

  It felt really fucking bizarre, but goddamn it, he sank to his knees and prostrated himself at her feet.

  "Oh, please don't," she said as he began to recite the proper greeting. "No, please. I'm . . ."

  When he looked up, she had actually gotten down on her own knees with him.

  "Please," she said. "Call me maichen. That's what iAm calls me."

  maichen. As in maid? Trez thought.

  Huh. Now he had another reason to like her.

  Sticking his palm out, he said, "Hi. I'm iAm's brother . . . Trez."

  She started to smile. Then she laughed--and clasped what he'd offered back. "Hi. I'm iAm's--what's the word?"

  "Wife. Well, soon to be," iAm said roughly as he came over. "But 'wife' is what you're going to be out here in Caldwell."

  She squared her shoulders and tried it again. "Hi. I'm iAm's wife . . . maichen."

  Trez smiled back at her. "Nice to meet you . . . maichen."

  *

  Some two hours later, the three of them were still around that little table. After an initial awkwardness, it was a shock how easy it was. Then again, even though she was a queen, iAm's maichen was down-to-earth, funny, sweet.

  And man, oh man, was she in love with him. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off her man, and every time he looked at her in return, she blushed.

  Jesus, if Trez could have picked someone for his brother? She would have been it.

  "More cannoli?" iAm asked as he got up with his plate. "I need another."

  "No, thank you," maichen said. "I'm so full, I think this robing is going to split."

  "I wish you'd met my queen," Trez blurted to her.

  As both of them froze, he shook his head. "No, don't freak out on me. I'm . . . I just wanted to say it. I think Selena would have thought the world of you."

  maichen looked at iAm. Looked back at him. Then she put her hand over Trez's. "I know I would have adored her. iAm spent most of this afternoon talking about her."

  "Really?" Trez said, glancing across to his brother. "You did?"

  iAm came back with a couple of cannoli. "Yeah. I wanted maichen to know who her sister-in-law was."

  Annnnnd cue the eye sting.

  Shit.

  Looking away to the stove, Trez cleared his throat a couple of times. "I think that's awesome. That's just . . . really awesome. Thank you."

  When he was able to shift his focus back, he found the pair of them staring into each other's eyes, as if they were so grateful to have one another, as if they knew just exactly how lucky they were . . . as if they had every intention of cherishing each night they had together.

  May it be a hundred thousand more.

  As Trez looked at them both, he thought his queen had been right. If he had stayed up in the Fade with her? iAm would not have this moment, that female, these coming years.

  Selena had been one hundred percent correct.

  Painful as it was to be without her, agonizing as some nights were undoubtedly going to continue to be . . . seeing his brother happy and in love gave him a sudden peace about it all.

  Somehow, in the midst of the great infinite, and in spite of his mourning, he knew he was exactly where he was supposed to be at this point in time.

  Guess it was fate.

  As iAm leaned in to kiss his mate, Trez tilted his head back and mouthed, Thank you, my queen. We needed this.

  Looking for more?

  Visit Penguin.com for more about this author and a complete list of their books.

  Discover your next great read!