by Mary Martel
Unforgotten Family
An Ariel Kimber Novel
Mary Martel
Contents
Dedication
Other works by Mary Martel
Blurb
1. Threat Received
2. It’s Not Safe
3. I Can’t Swim
4. What An A-Hole
5. Romero
6. I Can Prove It To You
7. Secrets Didn’t Make Friends
8. Poor Tyson Alexander
9. Don’t Say Creepy Out Loud
10. Past Your Fucking Curfew
11. Fuck Me
12. It’ll Be Worth It
13. You Can’t Be That Dense
14. Weirdness Overload
15. I Don’t Like You, Ariel Kimber
16. Give Me Cooties
17. Because She Was Dead
18. And His Hair
19. My Son Was Stabbed?
20. Don’t You Say Her Fucking Name
21. I Wanted Fast And Hard
22. Was He Breaking Up With Me?
23. Your Humble Servant
Epilogue
From the author.
Stay in touch!
The Dollhouse
Untitled
About the Author
For my husband.
My biggest fan and
the love of my life.
Thanks for always having my back.
X0
Mary
Copyright © Mary Martel 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Mary Martel, except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.
1st Edition Published: 2020
Cover Design by: EmCat Designs
All Rights Reserved: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction in whole or in part, without express written permission by Mary Martel.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Created with Vellum
Other works by Mary Martel
Ariel Kimber Reading Order
Brothers of the Flame
Love Potion
Blood Magic
The Ties That Bind
Tyson (Novella)
Good Witch, Bad Witch (Short Story)
Black as Midnight
Rain (Novella)
Dash (Novella)
Unforgotten Family
Other Works by Mary Martel
The Dollhouse Series:
No Mercy
Lost Faith
Dark Beginnings
Broken Pieces
Last Sins
Willow
Mercy Motorcycle Club:
Pretty Ugly
Pretty Complicated
Pretty Painful
Two Princes:
My King
The River Ash Wolf Pack:
Ashes
Embers
Kings of Torment Motorcycle Club:
Killing Time
Villainous Retelling:
Vanity
Co-writes:
Zombie Queen
Blurb
Ariel Kimber has settled into life with her family and coven. Everything seems to be as it should, and she finally feels like she's exactly where she needs to be in her life.
Her dad is awesome and she loves getting to know him.
Her guys are the best and she falls deeper in love with them by the day.
Her job at Fortunes for the Unfortunate does not suck and she's more than happy to spend her days there.
Her guardians have become family to her and she finally thinks she's living the good life.
But, like everything else in Ariel's life, that goodness does not last.
When the Council comes to call, she answers and refuses to bend to their will. They are not men who take this lightly and there will be consequences.
And her dream walking has gotten out of control and takes her to someone she can't forget or leave behind.
Her life quickly becomes a mess, and she's forced to do things that threaten her relationships in order to try and dig her way out of it. She'll do anything for the sake of her coven, but at what cost?
And will they forgive her when it's all said and done?
Chapter One
Threat Received
The Council was in an uproar, at least the one member standing in front of me was. I couldn't even hold it against them. If I were in their shoes, I would be pretty pissed off too. Then again, those assholes deserved everything they got, and then some.
Fingers snapped in my face and, this time, I didn't flinch. I was still afraid of this fat, bald, little man, I'd be a fool not to be. But I had bigger problems in my life and worse things to be afraid of.
Like this little man finding out that his missing witch was tucked away safely in Rain's cabin, and it had been my old man who'd run down his now dead Council member. And in my Range Rover, no less. A gift I'd been given by Marcus Cole who was now—yikes!—a new member of the Council.
My life was currently a giant pile of shit, and if I didn't figure a way out of it for all of us soon, I feared there was a chance someone else was going to die. And there was no telling whose side that dead body would be coming from, or falling on, for that matter.
"Did you hear me, child?" Adrian huffed.
No, no I had not.
"Of all the nerve."
I thought so too. This was utter bullshit. I groaned under my breath, but sat up straight and looked directly at him.
This fucker was here, in my home. Yes, it was Quinton's house, really, but since Dash and I had made our move official, it had become my home.
Now this fat, little man had barged in here when I was all alone, save for my bodyguards, of course, and he'd demanded I attend to him at once. I didn't take being bossed around very well, even on my best day. All I had wanted was to send him away. That was before he'd told Simon and Trenton they needed to remain in the hallway and weren't invited any further.
It was insulting, especially given that we lived here and he did not. Not to mention he had no business telling either one of them what to do. Everything about this visit pissed me off, and I was trying my damndest not to let it show, because even though he didn't look it, he could be scary as fuck.
"What are you doing here, Adrian?" I was pleased my voice didn't tremble in the slightest. "You should really call before visiting, you know how Quinton can get. He doesn't enjoy pop-ins."
I didn't enjoy them either, because it seemed like only assholes—like this guy—and Rain showed up unannounced. I knew why Adrian thought it was okay, he was an entitled prick and knew there wasn't anything we could do to stop him. It was different with Rain. My dad could come over whenever the hell he wanted to, and if anyone here had a problem with that, they could take it up with me.
"Why, child, you don't sound happy to see me. My feelings might get hurt if you aren't careful."
Threat received.
I needed to try harder, or I was willing to bet I'd find myself in deep shit real quick here. Hopefully Simon or Trenton had used the cell phones I provided them with to call Quinton, because I needed him here with me, and I was willing to bet Adrian didn't have the balls to kick Quinton out of a room in his own damn
house. I'd dare him to try.
I stood from my chair and turned my back on Adrian. I walked across the room to one of the big windows facing the front yard and, further out, the road. I placed my palm against the cool glass as I scanned the driveway. There, parked at the end of the driveway waiting for Adrian to be done inside, was a black Escalade with windows too dark to see inside. I had no idea who sat behind the wheel and I didn't think it mattered. Adrian had lackeys to do his bidding, I imagined all of the Council members did.
Adrian sighed and the sound came out exhausted. "I want you to come out and sit in on a few meetings with me. A few of the other coven leaders have been requesting to see you, and you've not been interested with meeting with any of them. In fact, no one has seen your pretty face since the funeral, and it's about time we put a stop to that. You cannot hide yourself away and, honestly, child, I don't even know why you would want to. You could be a rising star amongst the witch community. You're bright, incredibly beautiful even with the scar, and you have so much magic inside of you. We've all felt it just standing in your presence. What would attending a few meetings with me hurt you? I want you to consider it. Please, Ariel, for me."
The desperate wheedling in his voice set my nerves on edge. Adrian was never desperate, that seemed so beneath him.
"What's going on, Adrian?" I asked in a careful voice. His tone had scared me, just a little. "You sound upset."
I hoped that wouldn’t be considered overstepping my bounds. With Adrian, there was no telling what was acceptable to say to him or not, and there was no telling what his reaction would be. He'd never been violent toward me, but I had seen through Isobel exactly what he was capable of. And it was, simply put, terrifying.
Because I was beyond stupid, I opened my mouth and rambled on like a bloody fool. "I understand things must be incredibly difficult for you after Daniel's death. You guys are like your own little coven. You know, family even. I can't even begin to fathom losing one of my own. I would be out of my mind in my grief, I'm sure of it."
Shut the fuck up, Ariel! Just shut your filthy, stupid mouth before you get yourself in trouble.
As far as pep talks went, that one sucked. I wasn't capable of anything else at the moment. And it didn't work either, because I opened my mouth and stupidly kept at it.
"I don't know how long you guys were together for. Not that I thought you were like, together, together. I would never make assumptions like that, but if you were, I certainly wouldn't have a problem with it. I'm totally down with one love and—"
Fingers grazed against my elbow. I jumped, and my mouth thankfully snapped shut. My palm fell away from the glass and I whipped around. My hand went to my throat and at Adrian's close proximity. I immediately felt trapped. I backed up, not stopping until I was pressed up against the window. The cool glass against my back was a shock to my system.
My chest heaved up and down as I stared down at the little man. You would think one so much shorter than me wouldn't be so intimidating. You'd be wrong.
"What do you think you're doing?" I croaked out in a choked up voice. "Do not touch me. I don't care who you are, you have no right to touch me."
Okay, well, shit. Maybe that was taking things too far, but fuck it. No one else would let him get away with this crap, and I was only expected to because I was female. That was all kinds of wrong, and I wasn't going to put up with it anymore. Everyone, including this prick, kept telling me about how strong I was supposed to be. If that was the truth then they shouldn't expect me to be weak when I found myself in wretched situations such as this one.
Adrian's eyebrows rose high on his forehead and his lips pursed unhappily. "I'm not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you."
Lies and utter bullshit. Not a word out of his mouth was to be believed.
I lowered my trembling hand to my heart and told my body to calm down. I willed the shakes to stop and they actually did. I was no stranger to fear, but my body was mine to control and I wouldn't allow fear to rule me. Never again. It’s part of how Vivian used to control me.
"I'm going to need you to take several steps back." This time my voice didn't so much as quiver. "I'm serious, Adrian, step back."
If I wasn't careful, the lights in here would start to flicker with my emotions being so out of control. My magic could sometimes be like a live wire, and if sparked it could set things ablaze and do some real damage. We didn't want that.
Adrian raised his hands in a show of peace. He took several steps back, and I could finally breathe normally again.
My palms went to the glass, pressing flat against it. Immediately the window heated up and my back started to sweat. I dropped my hands to my sides and clenched them into tight fists. My nails dug into my palms painfully, likely cutting into the skin, and an immediate calm settled over me.
"Everything okay in here?" Trenton, bless his soul, had gone against Adrian's orders to check on me. Hell, maybe he could even feel my distress. I didn't exactly know how their tattoos worked or what all they did, but I knew they had a magical connection to me and their tattoos were a part of that. Whatever the reason he'd chosen to disobey Adrian's orders, I was eternally grateful.
Adrian whirled around, his ridiculous cape flying around him, wrapping around his legs, and he snarled, "I told you to wait around in the hallway until you were told otherwise. Who do you think you are to disobey me, boy? Don't you know who I am?"
Adrian practically foamed at the mouth, and I had never seen the man so angry before. Usually, he held his composure much better. The mask was slipping and the real Adrian had started to show.
Trenton straightened his shoulders, spread his feet apart as if he was getting ready to fight, and stood his ground. "I know who you are, I have not forgotten. But, with all due respect, sir, I no longer take orders from you. The only person who has any claims on my brother or myself is the female standing behind you at the moment, and right now I would like for you to step away from her like she asked you to."
Simon appeared behind his brother's shoulder with a menacing look on his face. He stood beside his older brother and crossed his arms over his chest. The muscles in his arms bulged at the movement, and the silver tattoos on his forearms and throat flared brightly to life just for a second.
I suddenly felt too warm as his magic reached for me, wrapping itself around me protectively. Claiming me as its own.
"We only allowed you to be in here alone with her out of respect for your position on the Council. It seems that now you've overstayed your welcome here, though, and it's time for you to leave. If Ariel wishes to meet with you again, she will be in contact with you."
Trenton nodded his head in agreement with his brother. "And if that happens, you should know now that you will never be alone with her again. My brother and I will be with her every single time you are within shouting distance. And don't get any ideas about using magic to harm either one of us, because we are defending our charge."
Both brothers placed their left palms over the right side of their chests. Something moved beneath their matching black t-shirts, just a slight shifting across their flesh. It was there and gone so fast that if I had blinked I would have missed it.
Trenton smirked at Adrian, smug and up to entirely no good. "It won't work, because we are protected against many things when we're protecting Ariel."
I absolutely did not like the threat in his voice. Or the fact he said many things instead of all things. He'd just exposed a weakness while boasting about his strengths. If I caught it, I'm sure Adrian hadn't missed it. He was far too clever to miss something so important he could use against his newest opponent.
"I believe it's time for you to go," Simon said as he attempted to stare down Adrian.
This was dangerous territory we'd stepped into here, and my guardians had happily walked right on into it. For me.
Adrian's hand held a slight tremble as he raised it to his forehead. He swept the back of his hand across his face, mopping up the sweat there.
He looked like a freaking junkie in need of his next fix. He shook his head and his lips twitched like he didn't know if he wanted to snarl or smile at them. I knew neither would look friendly on his pudgy face.
"You're both going to regret this day. The Council will not stand for this type of disrespect. Mark my words, you'll live the rest of your lives regretting this day." Adrian shook his pointer finger in their direction and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.
I assumed he had more to say, but was simply too enraged to get it out.
Oh shitty, shitty, fuck.
This moment was definitely worthy of the F-word.
I sucked in a lungful of air and almost choked on it.
A threat had just been placed against my bodyguards. A very serious threat. I knew it was their job, their duty to protect me, but that didn't change the fact that they were mine too. Both of them were absolutely mine. Our relationships might have been strictly platonic, but they had become my family as much as the other members in my coven were.
And, let's face it, what was mine was mine. I didn't take kindly to people trying to mess with my family.
I shook off my nerves, squared my shoulders, and then skirted around Adrian, heading straight for the chair I had originally evacuated in order to stand by the window. I sat in the chair with my back held ramrod straight and my legs crossed at the ankles. I placed my hands in my lap, bloody palms facing up, one atop the other.