Blood Brothers (Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2)

by C. D. Hersh

  Delaney took them. “Thank you. I’m sure Lila will appreciate it.” His eyes were full of questions. She shrugged. “Beats me. I thought you might have an idea. You know him better than I do.”

  “Enough to know that was uncharacteristic behavior. Rhys would never leave unless there was danger.” His eyes narrowed as he searched her face. “Is there something about your daughter you’re not telling me?”

  That was an understatement. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Harry. She’s been distraught over Alexi’s death. She couldn’t bring herself to come face-to-face with the casket, but other than that.” She let her voice trail off, unwilling to add any more lies to what she’d already told him. The expression he gave her told her this conversation wasn’t over.

  “You going to the precinct?” he asked.

  “No. I’d better see what’s happening with Lila.”

  “Dinner tonight?”

  She shook her head. “I think I’m going to be needed elsewhere.” When he appeared disappointed, she hurried to add, “Rain check?”

  “Sure. Soon, okay?” He leaned close and whispered, “I miss you.”

  She missed him. The brush of his hand on the back of her arm sent shivers down her spine. Before his touch could tell tales on her, she moved out of reach. A question formed in his darkening eyes. She flashed him a tiny smile meant to ease his angst. Glancing over his shoulder, she saw Gladys advancing. Time to retreat before the office dragon began firing questions. Jerking her thumb in the direction of Gladys, she gave Harry a heads-up.

  “Chicken.”

  “Yep,” she replied, walking backward away from him.

  He grinned and turned to take on the barrage of questions from the office gossip. Questions she knew he couldn’t answer. Questions she’d have to deflect later when he asked them of her. Questions making a black hole in the pit of her stomach.

  Harry was right about one thing. Rhys would have never left the funeral unless Alexi was in danger.

  “What do ye mean ye sensed a shifter circling ’round the funeral?” Eli asked. “Outside the normal sensing range?”

  “I had every single shifter accounted for,” Rhys said. “I knew exactly where they stood, could measure every motion they made. Then I sensed something new. It appeared at the edge of the trees on the southwest side of the gravesite.”

  “That had to be nearly sixty feet away,” Delaney exclaimed. “Could you sense it, Eli?”

  “Nay,” Eli replied. “The laddie seems tae have surpassed me.”

  “How could he sense so far?” No ordinary shifter had ever been able to do that. But then Eli claimed Rhys was no ordinary shifter.

  She studied Rhys. What reason would he have for lying, especially since his actions had agitated everyone? “You’ve complicated things, Rhys. Harry hinted my Lila could be in danger because of what you did. Wanted to know what I was hiding from him.”

  Eli cocked his grizzled head, his piercing blue eyes stabbing at her conscience. “Are ye hiding something?”

  “This isn’t about me, Eli. Alexi could be in real danger.”

  “Or Lila,” Rhys added. “But which one?”

  “’Tis a guid question, laddie.”

  Eli’s gaze bore right through her. Delaney raised her defenses against him, determined to keep him from reading her and keep Lila out of the equation to stop further questions about her missing daughter. “Whoever came after her did so at Alexi’s funeral. This has to be connected to the attempted murder.”

  “Then we hafta consider Alexi ’tis the target. Did ye notice how the she-witch reacted tae Rhys bolting from the service?”

  “I caught her scowling, but as soon as she saw me she covered it.”

  “A this-didn’t-go-as-I-planned kind of scowl? Or a what-the-hell kind of scowl?” Rhys asked.

  “Hard to say. If I had to guess, I’d lean toward the first explanation.”

  “Then we need to find out if she knows who the shifter was,” he said, tugging Alexi close to him in a protective motion. “He wasn’t in his natural form.”

  “He was mimic shifted?” Delaney asked.

  “I couldn’t tell. I don’t have sensing the mimic and the alter ego thing straight yet. But he, or she, was definitely shifted.”

  She blinked at him. He expected to differentiate between mimic and alter ego shifting sensing? Whose idea was that? His or Eli’s? He could sense shifters from a farther distance than Eli. Mind shift. Draw out alter egos and life force. She opened her mouth to speak, then clamped it shut.

  “You have something to say?” Rhys asked.

  He held her gaze, reigniting the stirrings of devotion. Not as strong as when he’d pulled her life force, but still there. She fought against his charisma. He continued staring at her, expectantly, as she struggled to keep her thoughts from popping out of her mouth. Eli might completely trust this man, but she didn’t. If Rhys was who she suspected, they were screwed. She tore her gaze away from him, and the urge to tell all lessened.

  “Only that there was something in Sylvia’s demeanor which made me think what happened was a surprise to her also.”

  “I canna believe the she-devil dinna have anything tae do with this.”

  “Whether you believe it or not, we can’t risk a frontal assault by asking her.”

  “Then we send Rhys undercover. With the laddie’s skills he should be able tae ferret out mair than you or I.”

  “Whoa,” Alexi said. “Undercover? Over my dead body.”

  “Don’t say that,” Rhys said, frowning.

  She thrust her hands on her hips. “I don’t want him anywhere near her.”

  Whirling to Eli, Delaney said, “I agree.” If he consorted with Sylvia how would they know he wasn’t spilling their plans to her? Accept for the Alexi sting. She thought he really loved her. But then Lila thought the same thing, and now she was missing or dead. “No. We have to keep him away from Sylvia.”

  “I agree with Eli,” Rhys said.

  So it was going to be men against women. At least she had an ally in Alexi.

  Grabbing his arm, Alexi held on as if she planned to physically restrain him. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “I’m a cop, an ex-Army ranger, and according to the old man and you, a pretty powerful Promised One. I think I can hold my own against a woman.”

  Alexi punched him in the arm. Hard.

  “Ow, that hurt.”

  “You chauvinist pig! She tricked you into screwing her. The only thing you held against that woman was your naked self.”

  “It’s all about that one incident, isn’t it?” Rhys cupped her chin in his hand and tipped her face toward his. “I love you, Alexi, and I swear I won’t ever do that again. She can’t fool me anymore.”

  “Besides, we’ll handfast ye tae yer man afore we send him undercover. I mean on his mission. He’ll be bound tae ye.”

  “For a year and a day, according to you,” Alexi said with a scowl.

  “Forever and ever, sweetheart. I’m saying that now, and I’ll swear it before witnesses. Nothing, except death, will separate me from you.”

  His words caused Delaney to shudder. Was death what separated him from Lila? She wanted to protest, but Alexi went all sappy and glued herself to him, obviously swayed by his declaration. So much for allies. She wouldn’t tell Alexi everything anyway. Some secrets had to be kept. She’d learned that the hard way.

  “’Tis settled then. We’ll have the handfasting as soon as possible and plan Rhys’ spying mission.”

  “After a honeymoon,” Alexi said.

  Eli’s red head shook. “Nay. ’Twill havetae wait until later. Honeymoons are for getting tae know each other, in mair ways than one. Seems tae me ye’ve already been practicing.”

  “El
i!” Delaney exclaimed, surprised at his chastisement.

  Alexi blushed and Rhys actually growled at Eli.

  The Keeper of the Stone shrugged. “Well, ’tis true.” He headed toward the kitchen, muttering loud enough for them to hear, “At least he’s making an honest woman of ye. ’Tis some wouldnae buy the cow if they were getting the milk free.”

  Rhys started after Eli, but Alexi restrained him. “Leave him be. He’s only saying it because he cares for me.”

  “Should know me better than that by now.”

  “Why?” Delaney asked. “Because he believes you’re The Promised One he’s been searching for? Because you’ve pulled his life force and ego out? Only proves you’re powerful, not trustworthy.”

  “Because it’s obvious I love Alexi, that’s why. I am trustworthy. Ask Captain Williams. Ask Alexi.”

  “She’s prejudiced, as is the captain, and Eli’s blinded by his search.”

  “Are you taking this attitude because of what happened the day Eli introduced me to the council? Because if it is, I didn’t mean to do that to you.”

  Better to let him think that. “I understand it wasn’t intentional but it was disconcerting.” Especially since she hadn’t fully separated from him.

  “Ask anyone on the force. Check me out if you don’t believe it.”

  Oh, she would, but she had to keep that a secret, too. “Eli’s my superior. If he’s says he trusts you, then I will.”

  She shuttered her emotions to keep them from seeing the truth. If she wasn’t careful she’d be so deep in lies she wouldn’t be able to keep them straight.

  “What did you think you were doing?” Sylvia poked her finger against Roc’s chest, her irritation radiating hot enough to sear him. “You were supposed to watch, not cause a scene.”

  He rubbed the spot she’d jabbed. “How was I supposed to know he would take off like a banshee?”

  “I’m the one leading this, Roc. I know Rhys. You follow my orders.”

  She stabbed at him again but he grabbed her hand, his anger rising to meet hers. “You are not my father, Sylvia, nor are you Falhman. We are in this together as equals-as much as you can be an equal to a Promised One as strong as me. Roll your finger back into your fist and don’t poke me again.”

  She blanched at his words and dropped her hands to her sides, curling and uncurling her fists. He waited to see if there would be any other reaction as her color rose, her jaw working side-to-side. Finally, she returned to a normal shade and her hands relaxed, but not the set of her jaw.

  He decided not to push her any further. “You were right about Rhys. He looks exactly like me. Arrange the meeting as soon as you can.” I need to know why he had Lila in his truck.

  “It might take a little while.”

  “Make it happen sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I want to learn all about him. Who he is. What’s he done. Everything. Get the information for me.”

  “I already have a lot of it. The minute I met you, I started checking him out. I found out he’s adopted, like you.”

  “Really?”

  “Like your adoption, the records were sealed.”

  “You checked on my adoption? Why?”

  She gave him a disgusted frown. “For a potential Promised One, sometimes you can be naïve. You’re both adopted. Both sealed adoptions. Both Promised Ones.”

  “You believe we’re brothers?”

  “I believe you are twins. Identical twins.”

  He let the idea sink in for a moment. His adoptive parents must not have known about a sibling, otherwise they would have moved heaven and hell to get possession of another potential Promised One. If Rhys was his brother, he’d have to protect him from his power-consumed father.

  “Identical twins? I could have a blood brother?”

  Sylvia nodded. “If he’s your brother, and I will find out, you’ll click. All we have to do is play it right and talk him into ruling with you, not against you. Twin bonds are strong and we can use that to our advantage.”

  He felt the bond already merely thinking about it. Life as an only child in a power-driven family had been tough, and he’d dreamed many times of having a sibling, begged his parents for a brother or sister. But they had been focused on him. His future potential. They’d thrown every ounce of effort into grooming him as ruler of the Turning Stone Society and of the world. It had been, and would be, a lonely existence.

  A brother, someone who would have his back unconditionally. Next to finding Lila, which Rhys was key to, ruling with his brother sounded like heaven.

  Chapter 21

  “Captain Williams,” Harry said as he answered his ringing office phone.

  “It’s Alexi, Captain.”

  Sliding the papers he’d been checking aside, he gave her his full attention. “How are you? I didn’t get a chance to talk to you after the funeral yesterday. Is everything okay?”

  “Fine. In fact, better than fine. Rhys and I are getting married tomorrow, and I want you to give me away.”

  “Married? Is that wise, considering?”

  “We’re not going to leave a paper trail, if that’s what’s worrying you. We’re handfasting, an old Celtic tradition which will bind us to one another until we can do a proper ceremony. Eli will be presiding, and Delaney will be my maid of honor.”

  A knock sounded on the office door, and Rhys stuck his head in. Harry waved him forward. “Shut the door behind you,” he instructed. “I’d be honored to give you away,” he said to Alexi. “What time?”

  “Six p.m. We’re having a small dinner afterward. You’ll stay, won’t you?”

  “Is Delaney staying?”

  He heard Alexi’s smile in her reply. “If you do, I’m sure she will.”

  “Then I’ll be glad to have dinner.”

  “Great! See you then.”

  “Alexi?” Rhys asked as Harry hung up the phone.

  “Yep. About the wedding.”

  “She beat me to the punch. I want you to be my best man.”

  “I can do both. After all, you two are my favorite detectives.”

  He stuck out his hand, and Harry grasped it and shook it.

  “Thanks, Captain. Means a lot to both of us.”

  Rhys’ demeanor changed, and Harry knew they were back to business.

  “I’m ready to return to work. I need one day after the wedding.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes. I can’t hunt the trash who tried to kill her when I’m trapped in the house.”

  “Must be driving her nuts to be cooped up.”

  “She’ll get used to it.”

  The door opened, and Delaney came in. “Rhys, I heard you were here.”

  “Who?” Rhys asked.

  “Gladys. Who else? She’s laying in wait, along with Sylvia.”

  A wordless communication passed between Rhys and Delaney, one which Harry couldn’t quantify. He tried to dismiss it, but couldn’t. They were conspiring.

  “Guess I’d better take them on,” Rhys said. As he moved toward the door, he called over his shoulder, “See you tomorrow evening, Captain.”

  “I see you got your invitation,” Delaney said as she sat at her desk.

  “Whose idea was it?” Harry asked.

  “A joint decision. Those two are determined to be together in spite of the danger, or maybe because of the danger.”

  “I’ve heard danger increases passion. Adrenalin and all that.” He peered at her intently. “I’m all for adrenalin, but I prefer the emotions that stick around, such as the ones I feel for you.”

  Her heart thrilled at his declaration. She so didn’t deserve his affections, not with all the secrets she was harboring from him.

  “Dinner tonight?” he asked
, rolling his office chair over to her desk.

  “Can’t. I’m shopping with-” She managed to stop short before she revealed one of those secrets. “I’m shopping for Alexi’s wedding dress tonight.”