Page 2 of Blood and Magic (RBMC: Helena, MT #2)

I rubbed my temples and tried to focus on the metrics on the television in front of me, but what was the point, truly? In the end, none of this mattered.

Death was a tricky thing. It put a lot into perspective.

Like how long I’d spent doing things because my father expected me to.

Or how much I’d lived in the giant shadow of my sisters.

I wasn’t as smart as Ava; she’d graduated from Harvard Law.

I wasn’t as ruthless as Guin; she’d become the heir apparent.

And I wasn’t nearly as loved by the Vanderbilt patriarch as Sol; she’d been allowed to do whatever she wanted after college.

With this new lease on life, I was determined to find my purpose, to feel alive in all its splendid glory, no matter what that entailed.

* * *

NOW

“I can’t believe you’re going to be gone for two whole months,” Ava said, pouting at Sol. “Are you sure you can’t take us with you?”

Our youngest sister laughed and wrapped an arm around Ava’s shoulders. “Trust me. You don’t want to go on this trip.”

“Bali would be wonderful,” Ava said. “I don’t have to spend time with you and your fiancé, Mr. Grumpy Gills.”

“Ugh,” Guin cut in, twisting her hair into a pin curl before securing it with a bobby pin. “They’re ridiculously disgusting together. It’s intolerable being in the same room as them.”

Sol narrowed playful eyes at her and stuck out her tongue, reminding me so much of the younger version of herself.

I sat in a corner, sketching them in my notepad while we gossiped and de-stressed from the week's wedding planning events. I could have wasted hundreds on a gift, but Orion spoiled Sol with whatever she wanted, and God knew she already had everything she could need. Instead, I’d decided to give her a series of portraits commemorating her big day and the moments leading up to it.

It was more personal, and she’d appreciate the intimacy in it.

Tonight was a sisters’ bonding sleepover. Tomorrow would be the rehearsal, culminating in the big moment the day after.

“I still can’t believe you’re getting married to him,” Ava said, turning to our eldest sister. “You’re okay with this?”

I didn’t honestly expect Guin to disagree.

In the six months since Sol met Orion, Guin had gotten close with the Royal Bastards, too.

She had an “understanding” with their president, Kodiak…

whatever that meant. Neither she nor Sol had been particularly forthcoming about how we’d gone from hating the Bastards to welcoming them into the family within a matter of weeks.

All they would say was they didn’t believe the Bastards had killed our mother, and we needed them to survive.

They had gotten us through the winter, and without their help, our company would have tanked when the ranch hands walked.

No one had heard from Percy or the Bloody Scorpions in months.

The RBMC had stepped up, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. And now Sol was marrying one of them?

“Sol is as hardheaded as the rest of us,” Guin explained. “There’s no telling any Vanderbilt what they can or can’t do. If she wants to marry Mr. Tall, Dark, and Grumpy from the wrong side of the Missouri River, who are we to stop her?”

“Hey!” Sol brushed wisps of her ginger hair from her face before rubbing in moisturizer. “He’s not as grumpy as he used to be. And in two days, he’ll be your brother-in-law.”

“Not by choice,” Guin said quickly.

“Who would have thought our baby sister would be the first to walk down the aisle?” Ava shook her head and laughed.

“I hope you didn’t think it would be me,” Guin said. “I’d rather chew off my own foot.”

“Romantic,” Ava added. “No, I just thought…well…maybe me or Mae would have gone first.” My twin met my gaze. “Do you still talk to Zachary?”

I winced at the thought of my former friend with benefits and shook my head, softening a dark shadow around my sketch of Sol with my finger. I’d have graphite smudges on my hands for days, but that was par for the course. “No. Very much no.”

“Pity,” she said. “I thought he liked you.”

“Well, he ended up marrying a Kennedy, so I doubt he thinks of me at all anymore.”

“Okay, back on task,” Sol said, grabbing her phone.

“We’ll be gone from June into July.” She went through all of the ranch activities that would need to be done in those weeks.

Since the Vanderbilts had made a tentative truce with the Bastards, they’d agreed to help us maintain what our father had built.

Orion had taken on the lead rancher role until things were more stable.

Surprising everyone, she had become his right hand. She managed the horses and drew up plans for the cattle, even while maintaining her corporate position on the board.

“Mae, you’re still okay with stepping in, right?”

I nodded, reminding myself I could do hard things.

I’d grown up on this ranch, after all. Just because I’d gotten a business degree and spent most of my time in an office didn’t mean I couldn’t return to my roots.

Despite having a special connection to my favorite horse, Molly, I’d never really worked the ranch.

Father had always hired help for that. But I could shout out orders well enough, and I’d been cleared from my day job to work remotely for the duration.

“I’ll be in Europe for that international trade alliance conference,” Ava said. “And then I’m doing a networking tour. I’ll be gone until August.”

My heart ached at the thought of being separated from my twin for so long.

Of course, we’d spent time apart before, and we did our best to distinguish ourselves at boarding school and college.

But no one knew me the way Ava did, and the notion of two long months away from her formed a pit in my gut nearly the size of Jupiter.

“I’ll be in Bozeman for most of it,” Guin added. “If you need help, call me. I’m only an hour away.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “The Bastards are sending someone to replace Orion, right?”

Sol nodded. “That’s the agreement.”

“I’m sure whoever that is will know what they’re doing,” I said. “Besides, we’re not losing our ranch hands this time. They’ve got a well-oiled machine going out there. I’m here more as a supervisor anyway. A face to put on the family name.”

“How are you feeling these days?” Sol asked, her eyes full of genuine concern.

Since my near-death experience six months ago, I hadn’t had so much as a fainting spell.

But something still wasn’t right. That hollowness had taken hold deep in my soul, my body yearning for something tangible. I just didn’t know what it was.

I’d tried a variety of activities to fill it: skydiving, base jumping, heli-skiing. Aside from a massive adrenaline rush and a few new hobbies, it didn’t bring me what I was after. My sisters had called it reckless, but I didn’t want to squander my new lease on life.

“Okay,” I said, trying to keep a poker face.

Sol glanced at Guin, a quick exchange between them that made me curious.

“No headaches or body chills?” Guin said, securing another pin.

“Why do you ask?” Now that they mentioned it, I’d had a twinge between the eyes for the last few days, but I chalked it up to allergies and the stress of a job that didn’t truly satisfy.

“Just trying to make sure you’re not about to drop dead on us again,” Guin said.

“Well, the last time that happened, I had no warning whatsoever.” I accentuated a curl on Sol’s shoulders and tilted my head to the side, admiring my work. Her nose wasn’t quite right, so I took an eraser to the lines on her face and started over.

Again, Sol looked at Guin, who raised her eyebrows once as if to say, “Who knows?”

I glanced at my twin, sending my own mental message.

What are they hiding?

“What’s with the secret glances?” Ava said.

I didn’t like being kept in the dark. The only two who were allowed to share telepathic communication were Ava and me, and we had identical DNA. Our neural synapses had been formed together in the same amniotic sac. Ergo, we were entitled.

“What? Can’t sisters be worried about their family?” Guin rolled her eyes and returned to the vanity mirror, placing another pin curl in her hair. “God forbid.”

After our mother died, Guin had stepped into the role of matriarch.

She kept the rest of us in line and protected us from the extent of our wicked family.

But she never lied to us, not about something important.

To see her go from hating the Bastards to welcoming them with a rapidly decreasing frost made me curious.

Ava glanced back at me. They’re definitely hiding something.

Agreed, I mentally replied.

“You’ll let me know if you start feeling different, right?” Guin said. “Both of you?”

“Different how?” Ava asked, narrowing her gaze.

“Just… different,” Sol said, glancing at her phone again.

I could have sworn her eyes changed to amber and back to green, but perhaps I’d imagined it.

After all, no one’s eyes changed colors like that, and she’d inherited the same emerald irises as our mother.

Ava and I, along with Galahad and Liam, had gotten our father’s dark coloring.

“Anyway, the rehearsal is tomorrow. Everyone will be here except for Van.”

The mention of my childhood crush got my attention, and I snapped my gaze to my sister.

“Why not?” Guin asked. “He’s a groomsman. He can’t miss the rehearsal.”

“He said he had a conflict,” Sol said. “Orion told me to drop the issue, so I didn’t argue.”

“Well, the show must go on, I suppose,” Guin said, looking at me before returning to her hair prep.

“Are you sure you don’t want a bachelorette party?” Ava said. “We still have time. We could take the family jet anywhere. Atlantic City. Vegas.” She gasped as if an idea had just occurred to her. “Monaco.”

Sol laughed and shook her head. “No. There’s no reason to aggravate my betrothed any more than I already have by insisting we spend the night before the wedding apart.”

“I’m surprised he let you out of his sight,” Guin said. “Bastards are notoriously territorial.”

“Speaking of Van,” I said, clearing my throat. “Are you two still together?”

Guin snorted and shook her head. “Heavens, no. As I said, there’s no man with hands big enough to carry my crown, and I like it that way.”

Sol giggled.

“What?” Guin balked and stared at our youngest sister.

“Nothing,” Sol said. “Nothing at all.”

Guin returned her forest-green eyes to me with narrowed inspection. “Why do you ask?”

I pretended like my interest in the Bastard was purely professional.

He’d worked the ranch in his early twenties, back when I was just starting to go through puberty.

He and Guin had been…friends? Friends with benefits?

A hearty teenage fling? With her, it was difficult to tell.

She treated boyfriends with the same apathetic disinterest as she did strangers.

In the deepest, darkest recesses of my poor pathetic heart, I’d admit I had a teeny tiny crush on him when he worked here. Most of the day workers ignored us or acted like my father might shoot their eyes out for even glancing in our direction. But Van had been nice…decent…dare I say, flirty?

But then he’d left and joined the Royal Bastards and became our enemy.

Except now they weren’t enemies, and the lines were so blurred, I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel anymore.

I hadn’t seen Van since I was a little girl, but the thought of his bright brown eyes and big smile sent a shiver down my spine, pooling in my lower stomach.

I was twelve years younger than him, barely more than knees, elbows, and braces at the time.

But he saw me, and growing up in Guin’s massive shadow meant not many people did.

He’d been a part of my sexual awakening, and if I happened to have a preference for blonds, well, could anyone honestly blame me?

At such a tender age, he’d made an impression.

“Just curious,” I said in answer to my sister’s question.

Shrugging and ignoring the steady thump of my heart as it pounded against my ribs, I kept my gaze fixed on my drawing.

The mere thought of Van set my pulse skyrocketing for no obvious reason.

I decided it was the remnants of an early girlhood fascination and let it go.

But my question had gotten Ava’s attention, and she raised an eyebrow at me.

I ignored that, too.

Sol went through the rest of the wedding plans, and when it was over, we gathered around our family table for dinner.

For the entire night, I tried to hide my relief at hearing that Guin and Van weren’t together, even as it mixed with an excited trepidation of seeing Van again after all these years.