“Gemini drowned their own kids?” Rage trembled through my limbs.
“Gemini are fae, and fae are…not human.” Sadness tinged her thoughts. “Our ways aren’t your ways, and warg history is riddled with gnawed-on skeletons placed in closets too.”
I couldn’t argue her point. Wargs were a brutal race. The fusion of wolf and man had melded us into apex predators comfortable with our position at the top of the food chain. Had fae never come to this realm, that was a spot we would occupy solo.
“Is that why Theo lives apart from you?” It had always seemed odd to me that as close as the brothers were, Theo kept his distance.
“He’s safer alone. He can mimic anyone, anything. He can live any life he wants, and he often does.”
A chorus of angels sang in the back of my mind, and I got it. I understood in that moment the source of Isaac’s drive to push his own limits. His brother, his twin, a man who would naturally be a rival, had been born with an exceptional gift. What must have started out as sibling rivalry had become a habit Isaac had carried over into adulthood. Perhaps that explained his fascination with gadgetry too. Maybe it wasn’t, as I had thought, to augment his limited magical abilities, but a means of boosting his inborn ones.
Pressure in my spine caused me to gasp. “What’s Abram doing back there anyway?”
Neither alpha answered me, which convinced me I probably didn’t want to know.
As if he’d overheard my question, Abram announced, “Almost done. I need all but necessary personnel to clear the room.”
“I’m staying.” Isaac made it a statement.
“I figured,” Abram groused. “That’s why you get to play nurse. Go wash your hands and glove up.”
Nudging the alphas aside, Isaac knelt in front of my face so that I could see him. “I’ll be right here, beautiful. I’m not going anywhere.”
Later, as the pain short-circuited my brain and I drifted in the darkness, the warmth of his hand a beacon that kept me centered, I decided I might just believe him this time.
Chapter 13
While convalescing, I read an article in Popular Mechanics about how to survive a fall from thirty-five thousand feet. There was a quote in there, something about how liquid doesn’t compress. How it’s like concrete. According to the writer, hitting the ocean, or Lake Watauga in my case, meant I might as well have plummeted onto a parking lot instead of into a fluid body of water.
Slice it however you want. The end result is a very thorough splat.
Recovering from a fractured, well, everything, required three full weeks of rest, drugs, magic and surgeries before I began feeling like myself again. I hadn’t known it was possible to hurt so much and survive. Never again would I complain about shifting. That agony was fleeting. This ache was as persistent as a thirsty mosquito, pestering me the second I got comfortable. The downtime made me obsessive about all the things I couldn’t change.
Thierry, who had taken the news of the Morrigan’s release in stride, decided it was in the prince’s best interest to remain at Stone’s Throw with the pack until the assassin appointed to murder his parents had been captured. The downside of this was twofold. The pack had to protect Tiberius while close to the rift and within easy grasp of his aunt, and Theo had to continue impersonating me while I healed or else he risked exposing us to scrutiny that could get the prince discovered. Right now, Rilla knew we had Tiberius, but she wasn’t sure if he was hiding right under her beak.
Theo had risked so much for me. I wish I had understood how much at the time so that I could have thanked him. Any magical failure on his part would announce to the world that he existed. Cam made it sound like the Gemini council had disbanded, something about it being difficult to maintain control over a people so scattered. Still, if any of them took exception to his existence, he could be hunted down by his own people.
The burden of that possibility was more than I could bear. I had to heal. I had to return to Wink and get back in my cell before his duplicity was exposed.
But first, Branwen. Locating the king’s sister posed a challenge. Would the start of a war tempt her and her army out of hiding? How autonomous was her station? Did she require direct orders to intervene? Would the pendant be enough to sway her to our cause? Would she trust me based on jewelry alone?
And it would have to be me who approached the unwitting general. I still wore the pendant, since it wasn’t coming off without magical intervention. Any attempts at removing it, magical or mundane, resulted in the chain retracting to garrote-tightness. Thanks to my convalescence, I was holding us up on that front too.
Grr. Stupid bones. Clearly, I should have drunk more milk as a pup.
“Are you ready for a walk?” Isaac asked from the doorway of his bedroom.
He had decided I was staying with him, in his RV. I’d been unconscious at the time, so it had been kind of impossible to argue the point.
Once I got over being grumpy about missing my own bed, I had to admit this arrangement made the most sense. I’d required a nurse in the beginning, and I could barely fit two people side by side at my place. That would have made entertaining the pack members who stopped by to check on me impossible too, when visitation was the best part of all this. Everyone brought food. Mmm.
Sedentary as life was these days, my body hadn’t gotten the memo. It craved extra fats and proteins until I had no choice but to chow down or listen as my gut howled with rage. For a warg used to compensating for the normal caloric requirements of shifting, that was saying something. I basically sat propped up in bed, watching movies and stuffing my face all day. Except for my daily walksies. Abram was firm on that point. Exercise was a must if I wanted to regain full mobility. And ever fit into my pre-Faerie jeans again.
I tilted back my head and huffed at Isaac. “I’m going to be magnanimous and not take that as a dog joke.”
“Good.” He made clicking noises behind his teeth and produced a box of cupcakes. “Come here, girl. Lemon meringue. Your favorite. All the way from the Cantina.”
While the Cantina’s name sounded Mexican, it didn’t know what it wanted to be when it grew up. There were pasta nights, the occasional pizza, and a baker’s case up front served candied bacon and other confections, including the world’s best cupcakes when Mrs. O’Malley was in the mood. I’d noticed she was in the mood a lot more lately. I was betting someone had put a bug in her ear about my accident. Considering I’d helped rescue her husband during Tiberius’s first visit, I expected she was spoiling me in lieu of thanks.
Water pooled in my mouth. “You’re not a very nice man.”
“A nice man would sit on the bed and feed you cupcakes until your eyes frosted over. A good man is trying to get you back in fighting shape. I’m no warg, but your wolf is driving me nuts. She wants out, and that can’t happen until you’re at one hundred percent.”
“You? Good?” Dull pain slashed my sides as I sat upright and swung my legs over the edge of the mattress. “Who told you that lie?”
“Now who’s being mean?” he grumped.
I cackled evilly to offset the grunt as my weight settled onto my feet. Getting out of bed was always hardest. Once I got moving around, it wasn’t half as bad. Stretching was forbidden, so I curbed the urge and took careful steps to join Isaac in the compact kitchen. He was not a fan of coffee, or my addiction thereof, but he had brought me a large cup of joe from the Waffle Iron to go along with the cupcakes.
I snatched it out of his hand, jangling a bracelet on my wrist—what I jokingly called my ankle monitor—and I moaned with happiness. “Where is Tiberius today?”
“Where do you think?” He shook his head. “He’s up at the cabin with Leandra and the kids. Cord sent Moore with him.”
Keeping the lovers apart had proven more trouble than it was worth. Hormonal princes tended to set fires on the back half of the property then flitter off while the pack battled the blaze. In the end, the alphas decided the risk of allowing the couple short, weekly vis
its was worth the reward of not losing timber to his temper tantrums.
Smart man that Isaac was, he carried the cupcake box—opened—and walked backward, forcing me to follow him. When I snagged the first one and shoved it in my mouth, he cupped my elbow and helped me down the stairs onto the ground. At that point, I was ready for another and crammed it in there too. He laughed and kept guiding me by dangling cupcakes just out of my reach. It was an amazingly effective technique.
Never taking his eyes off me, it was a small miracle Isaac hadn’t tripped. “How are you feeling?”
“Better now that I have this.” I smacked kissy noises against the paper cup filled with sweet, sweet coffee.
“Once you finish making out with Joe, can I direct your attention to the acreage to your right?”
We must have passed this spot a thousand times during my physical therapy. What he expected me to see now that hadn’t been there before was lost on me. Though I had to admit, it was my favorite place. High up the mountain that abutted this stretch of woods was an old bear cave. The wolf had claimed it as hers, and we retreated up there when leading a pack frayed our collective nerves.
“I give up.” I braced a hand on the nearest tree. “What am I missing?”
“Here.” He passed me a folded paper. “Maybe this will help.”
I skimmed the first page, and my heart flip-flopped. “Isaac?”
“It’s all ours,” he confirmed. “Both our names are on the deed.”
“Your mom gave this to us?” I crushed the papers to my chest. “How can we repay her?”
All my savings had gone bye-bye when I purchased my pop-up RV for cash.
Isaac chuckled and offered me another cupcake. “My mother is a lot of things, but she’s a businesswoman to the core. This isn’t a gift. I purchased twenty acres total. Three front the pack’s land.”
“You bought land?” The absurdity of it stumped me. His mother lived and breathed real estate. She bought, sold and traded property to suit her whims. Isaac helped with the business, but he had never taken an interest. Until now. “I need you to spell this out for me before I get excited.”
“I bought this from Mom before we parted ways in New Mexico.” He cupped my cheek and used his thumb to get rid of the cake crumbs on my mouth. “Cord and Cam don’t see the pack relocating any time soon. Or they didn’t. With the declaration of war hanging over our heads, that might change.” He leaned over and kissed me gently. “There’s this carpenter I know, a real whiz with a hammer. I figured I could maybe sweet-talk her into helping me design a house and build it here.”
The cupcake slid from my fingers. The depth of my shock must have stunned Isaac. He knew I never wasted food, and never, ever cupcakes.
“You actually mean it,” I realized. “You’re going to stay.”
His lips closed over mine a second time, a gentle promise. “You don’t have to take me at my word. I’ll show you, day by day, week by week, year by year, that I’m not going anywhere.”
Tears blurred my eyes as I leaned against my mate. Mine. This was really happening.
“It’s a beautiful thought,” I told him through my sniffling, “but I want you to be happy too.”
“All I need is—”
“Hear me out.” I pressed a finger to his lips. “I would be thrilled for us to have privacy.” Sex, when we got back around to it, was not something I wanted to share with my neighbors. “How about we compromise? We run power, water and sewage out here, maybe pour us a nice-sized patio and build a roof over the whole thing. That way your RV is protected, we get more outdoor living space, and we’re still mobile in case the travel bug bites you.”
“You spent a lot of summers in that cabin with Meemaw.” He studied me as if unsure what to believe. “I thought you might like to have your own.”
“Meemaw and Pawpaw made that cabin home. The structure doesn’t matter. It never did.” I patted his chest. “I would sleep in the leaves and be happy if that meant I could keep you.”
“You’re sure it’s not too cramped?” he pressed. “I bought the RV when I was single. I could trade up if you want more room.”
More room? He had given us acres to run, to patrol, to mark as our own. What more could a girl want?
“All I want is you.” I kissed him, snaking my hand around to steal a replacement cupcake. “And maybe this.”
The wail of a siren cut through our private moment. Living in the South, I had to admit my knee-jerk reaction was still to seek shelter in an interior room of any handy dwelling. But in this case, it meant we had company.
“We need to get you back inside the RV.” Isaac supported my elbow so I could walk faster. The box in his hand drooped, as though he was tempted to drop it and run with me, but he snapped it shut and tucked it under his arm instead. Good man. No cupcake gets left behind. “I’ll get you settled then meet up with Cammie.”
“I want to go too,” I protested, well aware of how petulant I sounded, but I was so bored.
“We can’t risk anyone outside the pack recognizing you. They’ll wonder how it is you’re here and not in Macon, and when they go digging, it’s Theo they’ll uncover.”
I didn’t protest again. It wouldn’t do me any good, and he was right. The last thing I wanted was for Theo to get hurt because I was acting like a brat.
Isaac trundled me up the stairs and into bed, pausing to plant a bone-melting kiss on my pouty lips before leaving me with the cupcakes for company.
“What’s going on out there?” I reached out to Zed, who had been my eyes and ears as of late.
“The same trio as before,” he panted, clearly on the run. “They flew in under a white flag.”
“Don’t believe it,” I warned him, gut roiling with too much sugar and nerves.
“The alphas are smarter than to trust any fae at face value. One is fae, and the other is married to one.”
I snorted a laugh that sent a twinge down the length of my spine.
“Looks like the gang’s all here. The pack has shifted, but the alphas have not,” he continued to narrate. “I’m taking up position behind Cord and Cam. Sounds like the sirens want the prince back. No surprise there.” A growl spiced his next words. “The leader is offering her condolences.”
“Nice.”
“Huh.” He sounded puzzled. “The alphas didn’t correct her. Must be some fae-etiquette thing happening.”
“Or they don’t want her to know I’m alive so she won’t try to finish the job.”
“Good point.”
Zed fell silent, and I tried not to pester him while he listened. The situation was dangerous, and I didn’t want to distract him when he ought to be focused on protecting the alphas, and himself.
“Cam is slick.” Awe tinged his words. “She deflected just enough she might have thrown the sirens off Tiberius’s scent. Rilla can’t be sure now if he’s here or if he’s already been turned over to the conclave. Looks like the birdbrains are leaving in a huff.”
“I’m surprised they waited so long to put in an appearance, honestly.”
“Cord wondered the same thing. Cam is mentioning a mourning period and how it varies across species. She thinks the pause in hostilities might have been a show of kindness. It’s not like they have anything to lose. They’ve got a lot more magic up their sleeves than we do.” He barked a wolfish laugh. “Hell, we don’t even have sleeves in this form.”
“Thanks for the update.” Bedrest or not, with the pack around I was never left out of the information loop.
“No problem. Uh, I gotta go. I get the distinct impression Cord asked me a question, and I missed it.”
Zed severed our mental connection and got back to work while I shifted on my side and started picking at another cupcake. I was in real danger of slipping into a sugar coma when the exterior door clicked open. Isaac rattled through the kitchen and brought me a cup of milk before sitting at the foot of the bed.
“I assume Zed gave you a play-by-play?” He peeked in
to the baker’s box, but kept his thoughts to himself. Smart man.
I peered at him over the rim of my mug. “How did you know?”
“Cord was talking to him for five minutes before he realized Zed had zoned out.”
“And you assumed it was my fault?” I fluttered my lashes for effect.
“You two are peas in a pod. Zed never gets in trouble without help from a certain she-wolf.”
I pretended offense, but I couldn’t deny the allegations. Zed was a straight arrow. I was the one whose bright ideas often ended in regret and mud in uncomfortable places.
I passed over the mug and rested my hand on my taut stomach. “Is Enzo coming over later?”
Our resident witch visited every few days to channel healing energies through me. Though Isaac, wary of Enzo’s enthusiasm, had exacted a blood oath from the witch that he wouldn’t experiment on me during our sessions. I wasn’t worried. Enzo had been so enamored with the flora trimmings he and I had taken in Faerie that he paid my crew to construct three simple greenhouses for him. Last I heard, he had set up a cot in there to better coax his babies to root. Give him a few months and a healthy garden, and then we would have to keep an eye on him.
Isaac shackled my ankle with his palm. “Should I be jealous you sound excited by the prospect?”
“Three weeks in bed, Isaac. Three. Weeks. I’m happy when anyone comes to visit. I’m so bored you could drive a nail through me.”
“Carpenter humor. Cute.”
I wrinkled my nose at him.
“Knock, knock,” Cord’s voice rang out. “The door’s open. Mind if we come in?”
“Please do,” I hollered back loud enough to make Isaac wince.
Cord strode through the kitchen, the top of Cam’s head visible over his shoulder. Both alphas joined Isaac on the mattress, causing it to dip and a twinge to flare in my hip.
“How’s the patient today, Nurse Isaac?” Cord noticed his grip on my ankle. “She trying to escape again?”
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