“No.” Lance bound his brother’s arms with one of his to stop him. “This can’t be happening.”
Lance was ready to lose it. He knew he had to keep it together, but his heart rate sped up like crazy. His heart spasmed in his chest like it had been transformed into a bouncy ball. He could hardly breathe, and he could feel it: he was on the verge of a panic attack.
“I’m taking you home,” Lance rasped. He caught Ash’s eye and his heart steadied enough to keep him sane. “We’re taking you home.”
“I’m here,” Ash said as if to reassure him.
“And then I’m calling Josh,” Lance said, hauling his brother up, trying to get him back on his feet. If Ash hadn’t touched his hand right then, he probably would’ve gone into hysterics anyway, but somehow the gesture grounded him. God, what kind of power did Ash have?
He started running at the mouth. “This shouldn’t be happening. You were all better. It’s almost been an entire month, and you’ve been all better!”
“I’m okay, Lance,” Yuri said, grimacing once again.
“Obviously you’re not okay!”
Despite what it may have looked like, Lance wasn’t mad at Yuri. He was mad at the universe. He was mad at the fucker who used Black Magic and ruined Yuri’s life. It was unfair. His brother didn’t deserve it.
Lance and Ash worked together to drag Yuri home. Yuri tried to help, but his legs weren’t working. Each step made Lance more worried. It was like Yuri was reverting. He hadn’t had a seizure, but this was all too familiar.
When they got back in the house, Lance lifted Yuri up and set him down on their bed. Sweat dripped down Yuri’s skin as he took in shuddering breath after shuddering breath. He tried to sit up, but Lance pressed his chest down. “Stay,” he growled.
“I’m feeling better,” Yuri insisted. “My head doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“You’re not fine, and you’re not better.” Lance was very close to pulling out his own hair.
Ash stood behind him, warm hand on his waist. “Breathe, Lance,” they said. “Breathe.”
“I’m going to get Gale,” Lance said. “And call Josh.”
Lance laid his hand on Yuri’s forehead. It did seem like his temperature was back to normal. That was quick—and strange.
“All right, okay, but that’s not…” Yuri sighed. “Maybe there’s something else we should be worrying about.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Lance demanded.
“I saw him.”
“Him?”
“Luc.”
Ash held Lance tighter and pressed their body into his as every muscle in his body tensed. “What? When? Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I was hoping it wasn’t real, but the holes are still there and—”
“Still there?”
“Remember when I dislocated my shoulder?”
Lance crumpled. “For fucking real, Yuri.” If Ash hadn’t been actively pressing their hand against his chest, massaging the space above his pounding heart, he knew he would have been on the floor, but Ash knew just what to do. Somehow. “Tell me everything.”
Yuri said, “I started having some weird nightmares. I figured they were just nightmares, but they were… different, like I was seeing through someone else’s eyes. Then I figured out who that someone was: Luc. And I recognized the area he was in. It looked like Eurio with all these black and white spruces. I went out to see if I could find the place I saw in my dream outside of town, and that was when I found those holes, but I convinced myself I was just… I don’t know, seeing things, so I didn’t bring it up.”
“That’s not good.”
“Yeah.”
“So, what’s going on exactly?” Ash asked.
Lance explained, “When we were kids, we lived on the streets with our dad. He brought us over to the United States from Russia. Looking back on it, I guess he was probably running from something, trying to keep us safe. I don’t know. He never said. He just took us and left. We didn’t have the easiest time, and our dad got whatever shit jobs he could to keep us fed, but even then we never had anywhere we could stay for long. Then, one day without warning, this psychotic shifter-witch hybrid came and killed our dad. He cursed Yuri with his fucking Black Magic, too.”
Ash ran their teeth over their lower lip. “So, there are witches too, and magic… I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Turns out the curse is what made Yuri sick all this time. That was why I was never able to help him and couldn’t find anyone either. I didn’t know it was Black Magic making him sick, but a White Witch from this big shifter alliance called Trinity came in over a month ago, and he helped Yuri. He hasn’t had a seizure since then, and now he’s having nightmares about fucking Luc Lenoir himself. We didn’t know the fucker’s name before, but apparently he’s a high-profile criminal as far as Trinity is concerned. This makes everything worse.”
“Or better,” Yuri said. “What if we catch the fucker and end this?”
“You aren’t going anywhere.” Lance poked his brother in the chest when he tried to sit up once again. “Be good, stay in bed, and let Ash watch over you. I’ll be back. Ash, don’t let him do anything stupid. No setting yourselves on fire.”
“We didn’t set ourselves on fire,” Ash corrected.
Lance threw up his hands in exasperation. “Whatever.” He stormed out of the house. He didn’t bother with a coat and left a trail of clothes in his wake as he shifted, handing everything over to the white-tiger half of him. Then he ran.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“LANCE REALLY LOVES YOU,” Ash said. “He drops everything if it means helping you.”
Yuri groaned. “I know. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“Maybe it would be if you wouldn’t do the same. But you would.”
“How do you know that?”
“You’re already doing everything you can to make Lance happy. Everything you told me, supporting this thing with me and Lance, telling him not to worry about you. You look out for each other. I’ve never been close to someone like that. It’s sweet.”
Yuri snorted. “Well, you are now. Lance picked you. That means everything coming from him.”
Ash smiled and looked down at their lap before returning their gaze to Yuri. “You two have a complicated past.”
“Kind of.”
“Black Magic sounds very dangerous.”
“Yeah, it’s shitty stuff.”
“I grew up in foster home after foster home, without any siblings, without any ties to my past, and I certainly never had anybody to stick up for me the way you and Lance do. I hope you two realize how lucky you are in that aspect.”
“I hear you.” Yuri looked up at the boring ceiling, following the lines where the different wooden slats met. Yeah, he’d had a lot of health problems thanks to that Black Magic curse, but he knew he was lucky. He wouldn’t trade his life for anything. He wouldn’t trade his brother for anything either.
“Since I never really had a home, I hit the road with my ukulele as soon as I turned eighteen, and I never looked back. I’ve never wanted to stay anywhere. I kept traveling, playing music, and searching—though I wasn’t sure what I was searching for. Until now. This is the first time I’ve stayed anywhere more than a week. This is the first time I’ve wanted to stay. Maybe Lance and you are the family I’ve been searching for this entire time. I never thought I was looking for family, but I think it must be the truth. There’s nothing that feels like this, you know?”
Yuri wasn’t sure what to say. He and Lance had lost their dad at a young age, but they had always had each other. He didn’t know what it would be like to be completely on his own. He figured he’d be fine after a while, but there was something reassuring about always having Lance there. Even when Yuri felt alone in his sickness, Lance was always there. Then Mateo came along later. And Yuri couldn’t forget about Eurio itself. This place had been kind to the twins. This place had become home and extended family.<
br />
Yuri and Lance were often closed off, but they were safe in Eurio. Feeling safe didn’t come without trust. So, troublemakers they might have been, but those like Gale and Weston saw through them. They cared and kept them here anyway, and they’d help if the brothers asked. Yuri thought of Lance as his one security in life, but maybe there was more security than he thought. He had a safe foundation here that he could always return to.
That was oddly comforting.
“Lance used to be really guarded around me,” Ash said. “These last few days have been a big breakthrough, but even before that, he was slowly softening around the edges. When I first met him, when I spilled that drink on him, that was probably the worst introduction ever. He got pretty pissed off, but I insisted on helping him out. I got him a new shirt too, before he headed out into the cold. I guess that left an impression on him because I saw him at the bar again one night. He watched me sing. I wasn’t sure he’d talk to me, but he was there, so I made the first move again—sans spilling a drink all over him.”
Ash laughed. “I’m not going to lie. I thought he was hot as hell. I don’t know what I was hoping to get out of talking to him, though. I just did it, and it turned into something. We became friends, exchanging stories, snippets of our lives, though we never got into anything too personal at first. Eventually, I learned about you and how hard Lance was working to help you. I started liking him more and more, not just because I thought he was hot, because of this connection I’ve never had to anyone. I’ve had my fair share of one-night stands, but Lance wasn’t like that. Isn’t like that.
“You know, he was actually the one to ask me on our first official date. We went swing dancing. It surprised me. I had mentioned I loved dancing only once and he remembered. Of course I said yes. It was a lot of fun. He must’ve had fun too, because he asked me on another date after that. It went on like that, and I started asking him out too. We made loose plans like this or we’d meet up by chance because we never exchanged phone numbers or addresses. We’d touch base at Tipsy or the library, but I think that proves how much we went out of our way to see each other even though both of us were reluctant to give more. Not even reluctant, I think. Just scared.”
Well, if Yuri wasn’t sure about how Ash and Lance felt about each other before, he was now. Talk about sappy. Gag.
“Dinners,” Ash said. “Movies. We’d hold hands, gaze into each other’s eyes, and he’d give me this beautiful smile he wouldn’t give anyone else. It was all a first for me, and, God, did it feel amazing. I felt loved, but I refused to use that word at the time. It seemed too desperate. Maybe too hopeful?”
“And you felt all that without sex,” Yuri said.
“Yeah. I was so starved for all the things Lance gave me that I didn’t ask. It wasn’t until you showed up a few days ago and we conquered fire that I had sex for the first time in months. And I only did it because I thought Lance was done with me. He’d never been away so long.”
“You wouldn’t have come with me if he hadn’t disappeared on you.”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t have. And I felt guilty when Lance came back the next day. It sort of felt like I had betrayed him? And he knew. I didn’t know it at first, but he knew. He came back, apologizing for leaving me so long and without saying a word. He was intent on making it up to me, and we had sex. I thought everything was perfect at last. It was going exactly how I wanted it to. It was like that night I had spent with you put everything back on track somehow. I know Lance is who I want more than anything. That’s still true. Lance was worried about telling me his truth, but he had no reason to be.”
“Good. Lance needs you.”
“You say that like you’re not planning on sticking around, Yuri.”
Yuri thought about sitting up again, but each time he tried, he got dizzy.
“Do you always put your feelings last?” Ash asked.
“I think you mean first.” Yuri smirked.
Ash shook their head. “Does it make you feel lonely, like you’re missing out on something? Do you feel like I’m stealing your brother away?”
“No. I’m not a sap like Lance. In fact, we’re apparently the exact opposite when it comes to romance and sex.”
“Maybe, but you’re the same in one way: you’re both afraid of losing each other.”
“I’m not.”
Ash raised an eyebrow at him like they didn’t believe him. “You both depend on each other more than anyone. It’s been like that all your life, and now I’ve come along to crash the party.” Ash cracked a hopeful smile. It was questioning, like they were wondering if they even had the right to smile. “But I feel like I belong here.”
“You do. I’ve never seen Lance so happy. I used to think he would always need me, but I don’t think that’s true anymore. So yeah, things are changing, but if it makes him happy, it’s okay.”
“He’s always going to need you, Yuri.”
Yuri wondered if that was true.
“It’s too bad Lance can’t seem to appreciate how good you are in bed,” Yuri commented, trying to shift the conversation away from him.
Ash was silent for a moment. “Yeah, it kind of is. When Lance and I had sex, I really enjoyed it. I don’t think he enjoyed it much at all. It’s going to take some time to figure out, but I want to.
“Lance loves me. I don’t doubt that, and that means much more to me than sex. He still holds me, takes my hand, kisses me. Maybe it’s unusual to keep it at nothing more than that, but that doesn’t matter. What works for us is not the rest of the world’s business. And you’re both tigers. You shared a big secret with me, and I don’t want to give this up for anything. I think I’ll want to travel and sing with my ukulele still, but I want this place to be my home, the place I come back to. Maybe Lance will hit the road with me. Did you know he’s a good singer?”
Ash was rambling. Yuri chuckled. “I had no idea.”
“I guess what I’m really saying is I want to keep fighting for Lance. Whatever that means, even if it’s running across a frozen lake and braving a fire, I want this family.”
Another pain shot through Yuri’s head before he could reply, and he grimaced. He heard a voice: “Who is this?”
“Yuri?” Ash said.
A chill crawled up Yuri’s spine, and he bared his teeth. Lance needed to get back here soon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“IT SOUNDS LIKE TERROS Sight,” Cedar finally said after grilling Yuri on everything that had been happening. “To me, anyway. I guess. Maybe Josh didn’t neutralize all the Black Magic in your system. Maybe it’s connecting you to Luc somehow. You’re an Earth Shifter, so accessing Terros, Earth Magic, is possible for you.” She frowned and made a call, in which she made a bunch of snappy demands. After she hung up, she said, “Lance, I need to use your computer. My phone can cast to it, right?”
“Yeah, should be able to.” He was too tired to ask why, and he was happy to do anything if it would help Yuri. He led Cedar to the living room to get her set up. Josh was indisposed, so his help was out of the question. He was the only one who ever came close to curing Yuri, so things couldn’t get much worse in Lance’s opinion.
Lance got Cedar logged on and left her to it. He scrubbed a hand down his face as he went back to his and Yuri’s bedroom. Ash took his hand. Gale, Ike, Mateo, and Austin were in the room too. Weston and Cary would have come if Gale and Cedar hadn’t said they had this covered.
“Get better,” Ike said as he rocked against the bed.
“How are you feeling?” Gale asked.
Yuri was sitting up, so that was a good sign.
“Fine other than at random times and moments it’s like I have double vision or something,” Yuri said. “‘Terros Sight,’ according to Cedar. No more seizures, though.”
Cedar was alone in the living room, but Lance could hear her voice. She was getting loud again, saying, “It’s an emergency. Hell, even the Earth Alpha herself.”
“I feel fine now,”
Yuri said. “Honest.” He got off the bed. Lance had half a mind to keep him there, but Yuri rushed past, and they all congregated in the living room.
“Earth Alpha,” Cedar said suddenly. She bowed a little, her disposition changing as she offered her submission.
Lance glanced at the phone in Cedar’s hand, displaying some live-chat app using video, then to the wide computer screen, curious about what the Earth Alpha looked like. The Celestial Alphas were supposed to be among the most powerful shifters on the planet—if not the most powerful—according to Iris and Cedar. This one didn’t look like anything special, though. She was small and skinny, delicate like a flower, but then Lance saw something in her eyes that stopped him cold. He had to avert his gaze.
“Let me speak to Yuri,” the Earth Alpha said. Her voice was as gentle as a spring breeze. “I’m going to give him a condensed lesson on Terros Sight.”
Yuri bent down beside Cedar and took her phone. While the Earth Alpha was clearly visible on the computer screen, voice sounding through the speakers Lance set up, the thing had no webcam or mic of its own. “Yuri here.”
“Nice to meet you, Yuri. My name is Rei.”
“Trinity’s Earth Alpha.”
“Yes. For the safety of everyone around you, I’m going to need you to listen closely and concentrate. If Luc is in the area, as seems to be the case, Eurio could be in danger. Do not engage if you have any choice. I’m going to instruct you on how to activate Terros Sight so you’ll hopefully be able to track his movements again, consciously this time. If you see him, memorize the location. I will be traveling to you shortly, whether we get concrete information on Luc or not, but the top priority here is for you all to stay safe. I want you to stay in your houses if possible. The only reason you should leave is if you are warning other residents of the danger or if you have a safe place where you can all gather. Understood?”
“Yeah. Got it,” Yuri said.
Lance gripped Ash’s hand tighter. The Earth Alpha herself was coming to Eurio? That sounded like way too big of a deal. It made him nervous. A cold sweat broke out across his skin. Ash took his other hand and said, “It’s going to be okay. We have each other, and we’re going to make it okay.”
Valentine's Day Tigers (The Holiday Shifter Mates Book 3) Page 14