by Claire Marta
Raven sensed eyes on them. Raising her chin, she found Ivan watching them closely over his shoulder. Their gazes locked. For a brief moment, she felt the cold laser beam intensity of his gaze. His lips canted in a knowing smirk before his attention moved on.
Raven felt a chill wrap itself around her, an odd sense of foreboding hot on its heels. Did he have something to do with the text messages? Had he encouraged Colin in Willow’s thwarted abduction? Did he already know she was Casey’s midwife?
It made sense if he was having her watched.
Staring intently at the woman beside her, it was almost as if he was willing her to acknowledge him. Casey’s eyelashes fluttered up abruptly. Gaze drawn to the man in front, she gave a sharp gasp.
It was obvious from her reaction that his presence rattled her. Raven had the impression something else was happening between them. Something she couldn’t see.
Placing her hand on her swollen belly, Casey cradled it protectively. From beyond her, Raven swore she heard Malik growl.
The sound broke the spell that Ivan had woven, freeing Casey from his control. Between the Bratva bratok and Colin Burke, the sooner they could leave here, the better.
Thankfully, the judge granted the defense attorney’s motion to adjourn for the day. Walking with Casey and her mates out the door and down the hall, Raven was breathing a sigh of relief when a man stepped in front of them, blocking their way.
“Casey Andersson?” he asked.
Casey stiffened at the sight of the envelope he held in his hand. “Yes.”
He shoved the envelope at her. “You’ve been served.”
“Oh, God.”
Trembling with trepidation, Casey opened the end, pulled out the papers inside, and read them. Color leached from her face. She looked at Malik and Iosefa. “Ivan wants a paternity test as soon as the babies are born,” she croaked. “I can’t… we can’t…”
Malik caught her as she crumpled. Iosefa took her purse and the envelope from her hand.
“We need to get her home,” Malik growled, sweeping Casey up and straightening to stand with her cradled in his arms. “Away from here. Away from him. Raven, is she safe to travel? Do we need to get her stabilized first?”
Casey’s pulse was better than Raven expected. Her blood pressure was still higher than she liked. “Let’s get her back to the Citadel. I’ll go with you if you have room for me.”
“We do. You can ride with Casey in the back. Just let us know where you want her—the infirmary or our bed.”
“Your bed,” she said. “I can take turns monitoring her with Cayden.”
Malik and Iosefa looked at each other. “There’s a guest suite for when you need a break. Tobias has already delegated it for your use. Let’s get her to the SUV. We can talk on the way.”
Raven followed the men to the parking garage and climbed in the back seat with Casey, who was awake but still in shock. She monitored her condition until they arrived at the Citadel.
Malik called ahead for someone to open the gate. Tobias let them in and followed them to the main building. Cayden was waiting outside the front door with Killian by his side.
“She’s suffered a shock,” Raven told them. “Malik, take her upstairs. Get her in bed. I’m right behind you.”
Cayden, Killian, and Tobias followed, too. The group headed to the second-floor apartment that the three mates shared. Killian and Tobias waited in the living room. Cayden and Raven stayed by the bedroom door, watching Iosefa turn down the bed and Malik tuck Casey into it.
Cayden pulled Raven aside and angled his head, studying her face. “How are ye?” he murmured, his concern for her apparent.
She leaned toward him, wishing she could take refuge in the shelter of his arms. But she didn’t dare seek it. She had to be strong for Casey, for herself, for Willow.
“I need to pee,” Casey complained from inside the master bedroom. Cursing her bladder, she headed to relieve it.
Raven smiled, remembering her own pregnancy until an anguished cry sent her and Cayden dashing for the ensuite. Malik knocked on the door, his face stricken and his fist white-knuckled with panic. “Casey, are you alright?”
“I don’t know!” she keened.
The door opened. Casey held a pair of underwear in her hands. The gusset was spotted with blood.
“Bed,” Raven ordered, snapping her fingers at Malik. He lifted Casey like a bride and carried her back to bed, laying her in the middle and stepping back to give Cayden and Raven room to work.
Everything felt and sounded normal except for the spotting. “We don’t want to take any chances,” Raven told her. “I’m putting you on total bed rest. Malik, Iosefa. She doesn’t set foot outside this bed without someone to help her, you hear? Cayden, we’ll need the wheelchair brought up and the walker. Something to help you when you use the bathroom,” she told Casey, “and the wheelchair when you need to move around. We’ll get a hospital table up here, too, to slide over the bed for you to eat and troll social media or read ebooks. I want lifting kept to a minimum. Five pounds, preferably less. Whatever you need to keep this space calm and tranquil, I’m ordering Malik and Iosefa to see to it. And gentlemen? No sex with Casey. I don’t care what you do with each other, but hands off your mate, do you understand?”
The men nodded glumly.
Casey didn’t like it any better than her men but there was no help for it. Raven was determined to keep her babies viable. The men could just deal with it.
Although probably not with each other—or that’s the vibe she was getting. Unlike Emmett and Theo, their interests didn’t extend to each other. Both men were clearly crazy about the woman that they shared.
“I’m going down with Cayden and see what medical equipment he has to send up,” she told Casey. “You are to rest. Period. Your only job right now is to be as serene as a Madonna and give these babies the best chance they have to get here. I’ll have Cayden do an ultrasound tomorrow morning when your bladder is full for best contrast. Right now, I need to talk to Tobias. Mention was made of a guest suite. It might not be a bad thing to make use of it. That’s assuming I can bring Willow. I’ll see what he says, anyway. Malik, Iosefa, one of you, stay with her. Call me with any immediate questions or concerns. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Cayden trailed after her. Raven headed down the hall to the living room where Killian and Tobias were waiting.
“It’s Ivan Michalov’s fault,” she told them flatly. “The man has a hold on her that I don’t understand. I swear, she had her eyes closed and he looked at her until he willed them open. She was served papers as we left the courtroom. He’s demanded a paternity test as soon as the babies are born, and we all know what happens if the true results are told.”
Tobias frowned. “I’ll talk to The Eden Foundation. They have labs. One should have the accreditation we need that will give us the results that we want.”
Faked. Or partly faked. The only thing real would be the result showing that Ivan was not the father.
As much as Raven hated the thought of deceit, she understood that it was the only way to protect them and keep them safe.
“I know the trial is underway, but hopefully we can limit Casey’s contact with Ivan,” he continued grimly. “If anything else is sent to her, it goes through me. I won’t have her or the babies put at any more risk.”
“After what she went through, I’m surprised you handed him over to the authorities and didn’t take matters into your own hands,” she told him honestly. “With what you are, what you can do..., from the reactions of her mates…, they wanted to.”
“We are here for a higher purpose. It’s not our place to interfere with human justice. He needed to answer for his actions in a court of law where he shall be judged by a jury of his peers. If justice is served, he will pay dearly for the crimes he has committed but punishment will be administered through the legal system, not by our hands.”
“And if it’s not?” she asked, thinking of all the
criminals who walked free. “What happens if he’s acquitted or found innocent or there’s a mistrial and his case drags out for years? What if he manages to get out on bond or he makes a deal with the DA to turn state’s evidence in exchange for having the charges dropped? Don’t think it can’t happen. I’ve seen it,” she warned, keeping her voice low enough that Casey wouldn’t hear her.
“My ex was there today,” she told them, seeing a chance to try to alert them without revealing the texts she’d received. “He’s a defense witness, which means he’ll be testifying on Ivan’s behalf. I don’t trust him any farther than I can throw a stick. I wouldn’t put it past him to be working with Ivan, combining resources to keep tabs on Casey. On this place. They could be watching all the cadre members and Morgan and me, now that I’m working with Casey. I hope you warn your men to be vigilant. Keep up their guards and take note of anyone who seems to be following them or appears interested in them.”
Colin was out there somewhere. He could have followed her here. He could be waiting for her at home.
Willow. Jaysus. She prayed that Mrs. Myers would have the good sense to turn him away should he knock on her door. She needed to call her. Warn her.
“Excuse me,” she blurted. “I need to talk to my babysitter, and I’ll need someone to let me out so I can catch a ride home.”
Killian looked at his superior, whose head dipped in a nearly imperceptible nod. “I’ll take ye,” the Irishman offered.
“The SUV’s still out front with the keys inside,” Tobias told him. “Just bring it back in one piece, please.”
Killian grinned. “I’ll try my best, sir.”
Raven pulled her phone from her purse and dialed her neighbor while they walked, headed downstairs. “Hello? Mrs. Myers? This is Raven. I’m headed home from the courthouse. How’s Willow? Is she handy where I can speak to her?” She felt an urgent need to hear her child’s voice, to know for certain that all was right in her little world.
“She’s playing tea right now,” she said. “Willow! Willow, dear, your mother would like a word. Talk to her, please, and I’ll fetch another cookie. Yours is nearly gone. Here she is.”
“Mummy! You need to come have a cookie. They’re so good!”
Raven felt a flood of relief. “I will, I promise, as soon as I get home. Listen, sweetheart, we need to stay with my friends for a while. At the place where we went to the party with the dragon.”
Willow squealed happily. “Can I bring Prince with me?”
“Prince?”
“My puppy,” her daughter giggled. “Colin gave him to me as a birthday present. He’s so cute and cuddly. I love him so much.”
Raven experienced a tidal wave of panic. “Is Colin there now? Baby, give me back to Mrs. Myers.”
“Is everything alright?” The elderly woman sounded confused and concerned.
“Is my ex-husband still there?”
“No. He turned up a while ago. Wanted to take Willow out for ice cream but I knew better than to let her leave with him. When I refused to open the door, he tied the puppy to the porch rail and left. I’m not very good with breeds so I don’t have a clue what she’s been given.”
“You did the right thing,” Raven told her, heaving a sigh of relief. “Whatever you do, please don’t open the door to him if he comes back. I’ll be there soon.”
Chapter Nine
Killian watched Raven closely while she was talking to Mrs. Myers, not liking the sound of things. “Trouble?”
“My ex-husband,” she explained after a pause. “He dropped off a birthday present for Willow. A puppy,” she added meaningfully. Her brow furrowed and she gnawed at her lip, doubtless remembering the failed kidnapping attempt at the zoo. Whoever had tried to take Willow had known it was her birthday and offered her a puppy.
Coincidence?
Not bloody likely.
Feck.
Where in heaven’s name was Theo? In this morning’s daily orders, the Greek was supposed to watch Willow. Aiden had been assigned to Raven while Zac worked at the Citadel and stayed close to Morgan. Tobias made sure that at least one partner was free to stay with their fated mate when he could. No more ordering a pair out on patrol unless they were unattached. Lukas had watched Raven until she went into the courthouse, where Malik and Iosefa were waiting inside. She didn’t know it, but she’d had cadre members serving as her guardian angels, watching over her from the moment she’d left her house.
Now it was his turn. Only because Casey needed Cayden more.
“Perhaps ye should think about bringing Willow and moving into the Citadel until the babies come,” he said. Opening the door of the SUV, he waited until she was settled in the passenger seat before shutting the door and taking his place behind the wheel. “Look at all the uncles and aunties she’ll have. Plenty of help with the dog and child. Built-in babysitters for the times when yer cousin cannot come. Give it some thought. Casey would welcome it fer her own piece of mind. Morgan, too.”
“Mine, too.”
The words were said beneath her breath, more thought than spoken, but perfectly plain to his supersensitive hearing. The way that she was feeling, with the threat of her ex out there, they stood a good chance of talking her into it.
If initially they didn’t sway her, he wouldn’t hesitate to use his true voice to charm her.
Raven’s car was sitting outside her garage, left out so the rain could help wash it, she said. He parked behind it and followed her next door. Mrs. Myers seemed delighted to see him. Willow paid him no mind. Her attention was focused on the puppy in her lap, her stuffed unicorn momentarily abandoned.
“I named him Prince,” she told them, picking up one large paw. “I wanted to paint his nails but Mrs. Myers said that he might lick it and get sick so I didn’t. Colin said he’ll be a big boy. Bigger than me when he’s grown.”
Killian studied the animal more closely. That face. That wheaten coloring. Those paws. “He’s an Irish wolfhound,” he told Raven, certain that he had the right of it. “And ye know how big they get. It won’t be long before his tail is knocking things off bottom shelves… then tables. Yer house is a cottage. Not near the room that we have at the Citadel. If yer backyard isn’t big enough for him to run, ye’ll need to walk him down to the park for a jog.”
Raven sighed. “What was Colin thinking? He knows we don’t have room to keep him.”
“We can’t keep him? We have to keep him!” Willow cried, hugging the puppy hard enough to make him wriggle, trying to escape her grasp. “Prince is mine! Please, Mummy? He can stay in my room. I’ll pick up my toys and keep them in a box. He won’t bother anything, I promise! I’ll take care of him. Feed and water and brush and walk him. Mrs. Myers told me there’s a lot of re-response… a lot of work when you have a dog. You’ll have babies and I’ll have Prince. I’ll work, too, just like you, Mummy!”
The little girl stared up at her mother with so much hope in her tear-filled eyes, Killian felt his heart lurch.
“Cayden and I can help,” he offered. “Take the beast for good runs. Train it right, and he’ll be a good guard dog to have around. Loyal. Devoted to her above all.”
Raven’s expression wavered, crumbling under her daughter’s pleading. “Alright, he can stay, but I want him to obey commands. I have enough on my hands with you.”
Giving a cheer, Willow dashed up to Killian with the puppy still cradled in her arms to wrap her free one around his leg and squeeze him tight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Don’t forget to thank yer mother,” he told her, ruffling the blonde curls on the top of her head. “Ye mind what she says and look after him.”
“I will,” she promised him, her big blue eyes serious. “Thank you, Mummy!”
Killian smiled. There was no doubt in his mind that Cayden would agree. It was just another way of being part of their lives. If they could show Raven that they could function as a family unit while she was at the Citadel, it would make things easier.
/> “I’ll let Tobias know ye’re coming and about the new member of the family.” Reaching down, he petted the puppy’s head. His caress was met with an enthusiastic lick.
Raven nodded. “Come, Willow. We need to clean out the fridge, get some clothes packed, and pick out some coloring books to bring with us to keep you occupied.”
“Look after Angus and Prince for me,” the child told him, plopping the unicorn beside him and dumping the gangly-legged bundle of fur into his arms.
Killian grinned, watching it flaying about as he cradled it, its brown eyes on the little human when she skipped away. He could already tell they were going to be trouble together.
Shuffling to the door, Mrs. Myers informed him she was going to help them.
Taking a seat, he kept Prince in his lap, petting the pup’s head while finding his phone with the other.
Tobias picked up on the third ring.
“Raven has agreed to stay. Willow will be with her and a new addition, a puppy,” he informed his superior. “Her ex was over here earlier. It’s a little too convenient that she saw him at the courthouse as well today.”
Prince took the opportunity to scramble from his position. Flopping onto the floor, the puppy rolled onto its back to offer its belly for a scratch.
“It will be safer for them here,” Tobias agreed. “You and Cayden can have more time with your mate. Theo can better assess the extent of her daughter’s powers. It will also be good practice for the men to have a child around. Soon, we’ll have our hands full with all the babies.”
Killian wasn’t sure they were ready. Everyone was excited but the reality of offspring was incredibly different than what he had imagined. Willow was as much theirs as her mother was. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t of their blood. They would love and cherish her as their own. Already they were worrying for her. Stressing over a future mate.
A prince.
Slowing his strokes, Killian frowned down at the pet still wriggling at his feet. Where had Willow gotten the name for it? Did she sense something of the future? Or was this male somehow in contact with her? The latter had him grinding his teeth.