Page 16

Chapter 16

Andy

A fter my little interlude with River and Zhong, I dozed for a bit, the stress and burnout of running on pure nervous energy finally catching up with me. I woke up slowly, my mind still chasing the remnants of some faint dream.

I stretched, careful not to wake the men who were sleeping beside me. My body definitely felt better, the tension from the past few days replaced with a soft, languid feeling. I turned my head to the side, taking in the view of River’s tousled black hair on my pillow. He was curled on his side next to me, one arm flung over my waist, his handsome face looking so sweet and relaxed in his sleep. Zhong was lying on his back behind the shifter, taking up most of my oversized bed as he snored faintly. The soft rumbling sound made me smile.

My heart still ached at Hasumi’s loss, but here was the proof that no matter how much that loss hurt, I was still so amazingly blessed by the goddess. I didn’t know what I’d ever done to earn so much love and support from such amazing people. But I needed to stop taking that blessing for granted.

I rubbed absently at my wrist a few times before I stopped staring all googly eyed at the beautiful men in my bed and realized what the tingling sensation in my wrist really meant. The unsettled feeling that lingered in my aura and settled in my chest wasn’t all due to my own grief.

Silently cursing my own stupidity, I slowly sat up. I had been so obsessed with burying my own pain and stress in my research and spellwork that I had become selfish. I wasn’t the only one who loved Hasumi. There was certainly someone who had loved them just as much as I did. And who had needed them even more.

I carefully slipped out from under River’s arm, trying my best not to wake him. He huffed in his sleep and rolled over, immediately curling up against Zhong instead. The gargoyle reached over to gently ruffle River’s shiny hair, then cracked his eyes open enough to look at me.

I made a dismissive gesture, urging him to go back to sleep. “Aahil,” I mouthed.

Zhong nodded and closed his eyes, settling in to go back to sleep. I went and quickly pulled on some clothes. Just as I finished dressing up, River started to shimmer. His magic rippled over him, and he seamlessly transformed into a big, sleek black jaguar, still curled up against Zhong’s side. Still completely asleep.

Zhong didn’t open his eyes. He just lifted a hand and gave the big cat some sleepy scratches at the back of his neck. River started purring like a giant house cat and snuggled even closer to the gargoyle as they both relaxed back into sleep.

“That’s so ridiculously fucking cute,” I breathed to myself.

Then I shook my head and quietly left the room to find my jinn.

Aahil was hurting. Of course he was. He was probably so afraid without Hasumi there to help him manage his overwhelming emotions and keep his power in check. And I had completely ditched him to wallow in my own pain and fear. I could feel him now, along the thread of our magical bond, and I berated myself for not checking on him sooner.

I knew he had the propensity to turn his anger and pain toward himself when he was upset. But he had seemed to be doing okay the last couple of days. Or, as okay as any of us were. I should have checked in on him though. He had a bad habit of pretending he wasn’t falling apart inside when in reality he was in shambles. I felt like a terrible partner, and now I was talking myself into a panic, afraid he was going to hurt himself like he had threatened to so many times before.

I turned my focus inward and followed that faint sense of him, surprised when it led me to one of the last places I would have ever expected. Ambrose’s room. The door wasn’t fully latched, so I tiptoed over and pushed it open just a bit wider to peer inside, not sure what I would find.

Ambrose’s red eyes met mine from where he lay on his bed, with a small blanket-covered bundle lying half on top of his chest. I took in the sight and my chest swelled with a bittersweet feeling of relief and love. “Is he okay?” I whispered when the blanket-covered jinn didn’t stir.

Ambrose gave me a soft smile. “Sleeping,” he whispered back.

Of course. If there was one person left in this messed-up house who could ease his pain and make him rest, it was Ambrose. The man literally devoured nightmares. “Thank you,” I whispered, knowing the words didn’t do my feelings justice. It was… Goddess, it was such a warm, safe feeling, knowing that no matter what, everyone in our odd little family had each other’s backs.

Ambrose lifted his free hand to crook a finger at me, beckoning me inside. I smiled and snuck in, easing the door closed behind me. Then I carefully settled onto the bed beside Aahil, curling myself around him in the big spoon position.

The jinn sighed in his sleep and snuggled his face more securely into Ambrose’s shoulder, while simultaneously wiggling his butt closer to me. I chuckled softly and managed to get the edge of the blanket free so I could slip underneath and soak up the heat radiating off the fire elemental.

“Stop wiggling around,” he murmured, his sultry voice heavy with sleep.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said softly, nuzzling my face into his silky hair.

He huffed, and I knew if he was sitting up and more awake, he’d have his nose in the air and his haughtiest expression on. “I don’t know what you’re blathering about witch. Shut up.”

I chuckled again. He knew exactly what I meant. “Love you, jerk.”

He gripped my hand under the covers, where it lay on his stomach and gave it a squeeze. “Gross. Less talking, more sleeping.”

I snuggled into him, meeting Ambrose’s gaze over the top of his head. The boogeyman grinned and kissed the top of Aahil’s head. “Yes. I was much enjoying my cuddle, witch. Don’t you dare ruin it with your awful affection.”

Aahil snorted. I rolled my eyes. And we all began to relax.

A sudden storm of alarm erupted inside me and raced through my aura, making me jerk upright with a yelp.

Ambrose and Aahil sat up too, though much more slowly, to stare at me—Ambrose with concern, Aahil with irritation.

I groaned and tried to tone down the magic flowing through me as I scrambled off the bed. “The wards,” I muttered. “The fucking wards are going crazy.”

“I’ll—” Ambrose started. Aahil vanished from sight in a shower of sparks, and he paused before continuing his sentence, “go check things out,” he said dryly. Then he also dematerialized, both of them off to see what was going on.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I hurried toward the door. It must be nice to be able to just poof off to wherever the hell you wanted on a second’s notice. I had to huff and puff my way down a couple flights of stairs, damn it.

The others joined me along the way. They weren’t as intimately tied to the house’s security as I was, but they were all tied to me, in one way or another, which let them sense when there was a problem. And there was a huge problem.

An intruder was standing in the middle of the grand entry. Bella. But she wasn’t alone. A man knelt on the marble floor in front of her with his hands tied behind his back. Her hand was fisted in his hair and she held a knife to his throat.

“Bella? What the hell?” I demanded, finishing my descent and coming to a halt with the others in a ring around my crazed-looking sister.

Her wild eyes darted around the room, then came back to rest on me, and I saw burning fury there. “It’s time to stop hiding, little sister,” she snarled. “I need your help.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her. “ My help? You need a long stay at a fucking insane asylum. Why in the realms did you just blast through my wards dragging along an enemy?” The only reason the wards would react so strongly in alarm was if someone with harmful intent tried to cross the barrier. So, this guy was either SA or cult. And the only way he had been able to actually get into the pocket world was because someone of Lovell blood had brought him in.

I was fuming. How dare she violate my sanctuary this way? And now that he was inside the wards, how would that affect their ability to keep others of his kind out? “You’d better fucking explain yourself in the next five seconds,” I growled, “or you’re dead.”

She sneered at me. “As dead as Junaid? As dead as your pretty little elemental? For once in your life, stop being so fucking stubborn and listen to me!” Her voice rose to a shout before she got a grip again and spoke in a tone of forced civility. “I need to know what’s in his head. Now. I know your people can find out. And then you can help me stop this shit once and for all.”

I arched a brow at her. “You’re here because you think one of us can read minds? And you are still insisting that I get involved in your stupid, dangerous schemes? After both of us have lost so much? Are you absolutely fucking insane?!”

She narrowed her eyes at me. The only feature we really had in common. “Oleander Lovell,” she snapped. “I saved your petulant ass from the whims of our coven. I have protected your secrets while you hide here like a spoiled child in your little fantasy world. But I will not let Junaid’s death go unavenged. He will not have died for nothing!”

The man she was holding whimpered and a thin trickle of blood dripped down his throat where her knife had apparently slipped during her rage. “You will help me, little sister. Or I will slit this maggot’s throat right here and now and use the blood magic our dear parents forced me to learn when I was ten years old to bring down every last one of your wards.” She grinned. “One way or another, you are going to come out of hiding and end this evil.”

I gaped at her. “Are you fucking threatening me right now? In my own home?”

She growled, clearly completely out of patience with me. “In our home, Oleander. The one I fucking gave up so I could live on the run while you were well taken care of. The mansion you lounge in while the world falls apart because you can’t be fucking bothered to lift a finger. My home, which I would have inherited by right if I hadn’t given it to you. I will level it. I might not be as clever as you are with your magic. My well might not be big enough or my mind flexible enough to create or destroy an entire pocket world by myself. But I doubt you want to live here in a smoking pile of rubble.”

I glared at her. “Fuck you.”

She glared back and tightened her grip on her captive. “Five.”

“You won’t do it,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and acting like I wasn’t the least bit concerned.

“Four,” she snarled.

“Andy,” Zhong said softly, “Maybe we should—”

“Shut up!” we both snapped at him in unison, neither one of us looking away from the other.

“Three,” Bella bit out, bracing the knife more firmly against her victim’s throat.

“If you kill him, you won’t get information,” I said dryly.

“Two,” she warned.

I rolled my eyes. “If ruin our sanctuary you definitely won’t get any fucking help from me.”

“One,” she whispered.

“Go to hell,” I snapped. “I’m sure mom and dad are waiting for you with open arms!”

“Zero.” She moved without hesitation, slitting the guy’s throat with one vicious motion and reaching for her magic in the next instant.

I blinked, feeling a little disoriented.

“Two,” Bella warned.

River was somehow standing between us. “Stop it. Both of you just stop acting like bratty kids fighting over a toy and listen to yourselves! You’re both acting like complete assholes, and I know both of you well enough to know that’s not who you are.”

He glanced my way and lifted an eyebrow. “Especially you, Oleander.”

“One,” Bella whispered.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, fucking fine! I’ll listen to whatever bullshit she has to say. But that’s it.” I pointed at Bella in warning. “I’m not agreeing to fight your stupid war for you.”

Bella yanked on her captive’s hair, dragging him to his feet. “Up.”

I shook my head at her and gestured toward the kitchen. I didn’t want to do this shit in there, but there were herbs there, and the floor was marble, like out here, easier to mop up blood than the other rooms that had rugs or hardwood. “Fucking bullshit,” I muttered as I stomped off, leading the way.

But under all my bluster was adrenaline and sheer panic. I recognized the sensations of River’s time jumping. If he had intervened, that probably meant things had gone horribly wrong the first time around. Or maybe the first few times around. I would have to ask him about it later. But one thing was clear. I couldn’t trust my sister. Not if what I suspected was true and she really had attempted to destroy our sanctuary.

“Goddess fuck my life,” I muttered to myself. “I knew this whole fucking day was too good to be true.”