Ancient Protector

by Katie Reus

  Star had tried to find a therapist for Aurora to talk to, but was coming up short on that end. She’d encouraged her to start sculpting again, to just see her family—to eat without being convinced. She’d been so soft with her sister, but maybe Aurora needed tough love. It was impossible to know and she hadn’t tried it yet. Though it went against her nature, she was going to try anything at this point.

  Crunching on her apple, Harlow simply nodded.

  “We’ll meet you out in the garden soon.” They’d started their own garden and she might have used a teeny bit of her own magic to get it kick-started. Maybe that was one reason Star liked witches. Her kind and witches both used natural, earth magic. In different ways of course, but the core magic was the same.

  She raced up the stairs until she reached the third floor.

  Seriously, Aurora had chosen the third floor and farthest bedroom from everyone. Before, she would have been right in the thick of things. Her sister was a social butterfly, and cutting herself off like this wasn’t going to help her healing.

  Star didn’t bother knocking, simply opened the door and strode inside.

  “Hey! Knock much?” Aurora grumbled, not moving from the bed where she had the covers pulled up to her neck. The room was dark, but it was clear her sister was wide awake. She wasn’t reading or doing anything to entertain herself. Nope, she was just lying in bed staring off into space or drowning in her thoughts.

  Star simply snorted and headed for one of the three huge windows. She pulled back the thick white silk drapes over one, letting in rays of sunlight. Then she moved to the next. Then the last one, blasting the room with natural light even as Aurora shoved the covers off and jumped out of bed.

  “What the hell are you doing?” She yanked one of the curtains closed again.

  “You’re coming outside with me. We’re going to tend to the veggie and herb garden. If you don’t want to help, fine. You can sit and watch us and hang out with your family for ten minutes. Maybe get some vitamin D.”

  “You’re not my Alpha,” Aurora snapped as she stalked toward another window.

  “Yeah, well, I am your big sister. And I swear to the goddess that if you close the other curtains I’ll set them on fire.” Star knew she should dial it back, but nothing had worked with Aurora so far, certainly not patience.

  Okay yeah, maybe it hadn’t been that long since she’d been freed, but Star couldn’t let her sister hide away from her family. She risked going into a depression spiral that would just get worse and worse the longer she hid away like this.

  Aurora turned to stare at her, wearing the same damn clothes she’d had on for a week.

  “And take a shower before you meet us downstairs. You stink.” It wasn’t true but she knew her sister, and her sister needed a little tough love right now.

  Aurora glared even harder but subtly sniffed her armpit. Then she winced and wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m still adjusting,” she muttered.

  Sighing, Star sat on the side of the bed. “I know. I’ve been trying to give you time. Maybe six weeks isn’t long enough. But…you were in prison for a year. You’re acting like you’re still there. I just…miss you. We all miss you. People all over the world have lost their whole families. You’re still alive. I…I’m an asshole. I shouldn’t be pushing this hard.” She sure as hell shouldn’t be telling Aurora to shape up because other people were hurting too. That was a garbage thing to do. “Oh my God, I’m sorry. Seriously. I’m going into crazy big-sister mode or something.” The truth was, she’d been running on raw fear for a year straight before they’d saved Aurora and she hadn’t adjusted to this new reality either. She couldn’t quite believe Aurora was here with them, free. And maybe Star was having a hard time getting used to this Aurora.

  Aurora closed her eyes and scrubbed her hands over her face. As she let her head drop forward, her long, dark braid fell over her shoulder. “You’re not an asshole,” she muttered, dropping her hands and looking at Star. “I’ve tried about a dozen times to make it downstairs. But I keep chickening out. I feel…off and overwhelmed. And I’m not sure how to get back to who I was before.”

  “It’s going to take a while to get back to your normal, I’m sure. But he didn’t take your life. You’re still a fighter, still powerful,” she reminded her sister. They both were. Oscar and his clan had caught Aurora off guard—it had taken a dozen of his warriors to bring her down when she’d been alone. No one could have withstood that kind of attack. And then he’d kept her in an iron cage, unable to escape.

  “I know. I…I feel like I could sleep for an eternity.”

  Star hated everything Aurora had been through and wished there was someone other than Star she could talk to. Someone impartial, like a therapist maybe. Someone with training. But with the city rebuilding she wasn’t even sure if that kind of service was available anywhere, much less to supernaturals. And Star felt out of her depth. “Maybe just take a shower. You don’t have to come downstairs if you don’t want. I’m sorry I was being pushy. I’m just worried about you, and this is new territory.”

  Aurora smiled and reached her hand out, grasping Star’s. “I can do a shower. And…I’ll try to make it outside. Just give me time, okay?”

  Star nodded and stood. “I will. And I would hug you but not until you take that shower.” Her lips twitched slightly as Aurora stepped back.

  “I am kind of ripe,” her sister muttered. “And I’m pretty grossed out with myself right now.” She disappeared into the bathroom but Star didn’t leave.

  Instead she opened the windows, letting in fresh air before stripping the sheets. Then she hung up some of her sister’s discarded clothes. She wanted Aurora to come out and see the bed cleared off so she couldn’t get back into it without putting on new sheets. When she was done, she looked around the prettily decorated room. There were bright pops of color everywhere. The comforter was a simple pin-tucked white, but a purple and red throw blanket from Morocco had been tossed onto the end of it. And colorful pillows were on the chaise by the window. The furniture was all upcycled stuff from Aurora’s place back in Saint Augustine. The art itself was from local artists in New Orleans, some oil paintings and others simple sketches. Star had chosen every single piece specific to her sister’s tastes. And she’d also brought everything that had once mattered to Aurora from where she’d lived before.

  She’d bought this house sight unseen nearly six months ago, knowing that it was going to be a landing point for all of them once they found Aurora. New Orleans was a friend to magical creatures and King was a strong Alpha. He embraced diversity among his pack, which was one of the main reasons they’d chosen the city in the first place.

  Though there was another reason. Someone close to Star and Aurora lived nearby and they’d needed to find her—needed to discuss borrowing a weapon that should help them against Oscar if he came after them. But they hadn’t been able to find her just yet. She’d moved in the last year, and Star was still working on figuring out her exact address. But she had no doubt she was in the city or on the outskirts. She would never leave New Orleans.

  The shower was still running so she headed downstairs. To her surprise, Harlow was waiting by the front door.

  “How’d it go?” she asked, eying the bundle of dirty sheets.

  Shifters had exceptional hearing, but they’d been three stories up and Harlow clearly hadn’t been trying to eavesdrop if she was asking. “She’s getting in the shower at least.”

  Harlow grabbed the sheets as they headed to the kitchen. “That’s progress. And I’ll start this for you.”

  “You don’t have to do that. And that’s what I’m trying to tell myself about progress. One day at a time.”

  Even as she did try to tell herself that it was good her sister was taking these steps, guilt still gnawed away at her. She should have been with her sister; Aurora never should have been taken. If they’d been together, they might have been able to take on a clan of dragons. Maybe they wouldn’
t have survived, but at least they would’ve killed a whole bunch of them.

  “You hungry?” Harlow asked as they reached the kitchen.

  “This will do.” She grabbed a bright red apple from the aqua-colored bowl on the island countertop.

  Harlow nodded and veered off toward the laundry room, which was attached to the kitchen.

  Gardening had never been her thing, but everyone was trying to be more resourceful, to be more independent and grow their own food. King was working with different farmers in the surrounding areas and she’d heard that there were greenhouse vegetable and fruit gardens going up everywhere—they planned to build one in the yard here as well, in addition to the garden they’d already started. And Bella was talking about getting chickens and goats.

  King was also working to set up warehouses for temperature-controlled storage for all sorts of food. He’d basically taken over any abandoned warehouse and was turning them all into places that manufactured anything the people of New Orleans might need. It was damn smart and she was impressed with how he was rebuilding, even if it was in the early stages.

  Luckily it wasn’t like they were starting from scratch. There was limited internet and communication between various cities across the world. And many Alphas were already in alliances with each other, which made things a whole lot easier as they restructured the power balance in general.

  Supernaturals were adjusting better than humans, that was for sure. Because now supernaturals were out to the world and in charge of law enforcement and all governments. That had been a huge shock for humans everywhere. Right now Star knew that Kyoto, Edinburgh—and most of Scotland and the UK in general—Rio de Janeiro, Mauritius, South Australia, parts of New Zealand, and many island nations around the world had come through largely unscathed compared to other areas that had been razed to the ground. There were so many areas that had simply ceased to exist—including big cities along the eastern seaboard in the United States. Washington DC was gone as well as other capitals around the world like Moscow and Cairo.

  So even if there was some infighting in New Orleans among supernaturals, that was for King to worry about for now. She was just trying to keep her own family safe at this point.

  * * *

  “I’m about done with this gardening for the day,” Taya said as she stood and tugged off her gardening gloves. In typical Taya fashion, she wore jeans and a T-shirt with no adornment, and her long, bronze, naturally caramel-highlighted hair was pulled up into a ponytail.

  The sun was an hour away from setting and Star was done too. But not for the day. She had a meeting in less than an hour and needed to at least rinse all the dirt off first. Since they’d arrived in New Orleans, she’d been go-go-go, trying to make sure they had strong allies and that she could keep her sister safe. And if she was busy working, then she didn’t have time to sleep.

  Didn’t have time to dream. The bizarre dreams she’d been having for the last year were getting more frequent, more intense. And she was over them.

  “Hope you guys aren’t headed back inside,” a familiar voice said from the lanai.

  All of them turned at once as if it had been choreographed.

  Aurora stood there, her brunette hair pulled up in a ponytail, her face freshly scrubbed. She wore a pair of Star’s leggings and one of Axel’s oversized sweaters, which engulfed her.

  “Nope, not going anywhere.” Grinning, Taya tossed her gloves next to the bean plant she’d just potted.

  “Are you hungry? Thirsty?” Star asked, striding toward the lanai.

  Aurora stood next to the wrought iron patio table that once upon a time had been spray painted a pretty blue. Now the paint was flaking off. “I’m good. But it’s nice getting fresh air.” Aurora eased down on one of the paint-chipped chairs and smiled at everyone. “The garden looks incredible. And I see you started on the greenhouse building today too.”

  The others crowded around the table and chairs, basically staring at Aurora.

  “Oh my God, you guys. I’m going to go back to my room if you sit there and stare at me like I’m an animal at the zoo.”

  Brielle snorted and kissed the top of Aurora’s head. “I’m going to grab a bottle of wine from the cellar. I’ll also bring out some food. You might not be hungry but I’m starving.”

  “You’re always starving,” Aurora murmured and dispelled the tension in the air.

  The others sat and started talking all at once.

  Star pulled out her cell phone, ready to cancel her appointment.

  Aurora stopped her as if she’d read her mind. “I know you have that meeting with Cynara tonight. Don’t cancel it because of me. I’m not going anywhere. Promise.”

  Star wanted to ask her sister if she was sure, but also didn’t want to insult her or spook Aurora into running back upstairs. She needed to treat Aurora like normal, and the fact that her sister was downstairs with all of them, relaxing? Yeah, Star had to play this right. She shoved her phone into her back pocket. “It’s kinda creepy that you knew I was going to call her.”

  “Sister power.”

  She laughed at that.

  As Brielle stepped back outside with a huge charcuterie tray, Axel bled out of the shadows, likely called by the food. Freaking lions and their stomachs.

  “Something smells good… My favorite sweater!” he said laughingly as he approached the table.

  “It’s mine now.” Aurora pulled the turtleneck up over her face and inhaled. “Even if it does stink like lion.”

  “I smell great. And I have it on good authority that my natural scent is like Calvin Klein cologne.”

  “Is that what your last girlfriend told you?” Aurora asked, snickering. “Because she lied, lion. She lied.”

  Star snagged some cheese as she listened to the banter continue between everyone.

  She wasn’t naïve enough to think that Aurora was magically all better, but the fact that her sister was down here was a huge step in the right direction.

  Not wanting to make a big deal about leaving, she excused herself so she could wash up and change out of her dirt-stained clothes. The sound of laughter trailing behind her warmed her from the inside out. Aurora was going to come through this.

  Of that, Star had no doubt. Her sister was strong.

  That monster had kept her in prison for a year, draining her blood for his own sick uses. One day Star was going to kill him for what he’d done.

  For now, they were safe and had regrouped. Regaining strength and allies mattered. Hell, it was almost paramount if they wanted to come out alive after a battle with his clan. But one day…Star would end him.

  One day she would make him sorry he’d ever been born. Star was playing the long game with this. Oscar would die eventually.

  Slowly and painfully. He wouldn’t be the first dragon she’d killed either—and something told her he wouldn’t be the last.

  Chapter 7

  Showered and dressed, Star met Axel by the front gate. “You look nice tonight,” she said, surprised.

  He lifted a dark eyebrow as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Surprised, really?” Tonight he’d worn slacks and a dark green button-down shirt that looked good against his bronze skin. He’d pulled his longish hair back into what humans were calling a man-bun. For Axel, it wasn’t like he could help it. No matter how much the male cut his hair, it just grew and grew in thick, luscious dark waves. If she didn’t love him so much, she might be jealous.

  She laughed lightly. “Sorry. I’m so used to seeing you in your tactical gear patrolling. Just weird is all.”

  “As weird as those wolf shifters walking down the street? Because I’m pretty sure one of them is wearing a blue headband.”

  She blinked once as they strode along the uneven sidewalk. Axel hadn’t been kidding. Two gray and white wolves were trotting down the middle of the road as if it was no big deal. And yep, one of them had a sparkly blue headband, which somehow looked adorable.

  Freaking wolves, was all she co
uld think. Because that was such a wolf thing to do.

  This would take getting used to—for her and definitely for humans. Now that supernaturals were out to the world, they weren’t hiding what they were anymore. Well, not all of them. She was, but that was a different case. And she had a feeling some people would keep their identities secret unless they trusted others completely as well.

  She and Axel fell in step with each other, and they both waved at the wolves who barked in response.

  Yeah, that was pretty surreal.

  “So what’s this meeting about?” Axel asked as they reached a four-way stop.

  The walk to the French Quarter was about twenty minutes from where they were and she liked stretching her legs. She wasn’t the only one because there were a decent amount of joggers out this evening. Two jogged across the street in front of them as they made their way to the other side.

  She’d studied a detailed map of the city but she also liked getting a layout for where everything was. There was so much beyond the city limits as well but she would explore that later. “Cynara wanted to talk to me about putting on a few shows around the city.”

  “I think that’s a good idea.”

  She shot him a sideways glance as they crossed the street. Mardi Gras beads still dangled from the trees above them, something she learned was a typical sight around here. Even in the aftermath of The Fall, the beads were still clinging everywhere. Though she’d heard that King’s pack had decided to do away with the plastic beads in general since the plastic caused such a litter problem.

  “Agreed. We need all the goodwill we can get from people. We need allies everywhere if Oscar decides to come after Aurora again.” And probably her, if he’d figured out Star was the same, which was a real possibility considering she’d shown off some of her powers at that airport.