Page 33

Ledger

A rson was so busy hunting down and torturing the siren that started this whole shitstorm, I didn’t have the backup necessary to catch all of the bastards that attacked our mate.

But I’m wise enough to take a page out of the psycho’s book on the ringleader that I did manage to refrain from killing at the scene.

“I have to admit Cyrus, I knew you were a solid firefighter. Never imagined you did it because you were a suicidal idiot with a hero complex, though. Attacking a shifter’s mate? A female center no less? What the actual fuck is wrong with you?”

Hanging from the rafters, he spits blood onto the ground of the shed on the outskirts of my property. Just far enough that Ever won’t stumble across us or hear, but close enough that I can be there within two minutes if she shouts.

“I’m not going to defend myself to you.” His lip curls in disgust. “What the fuck were you thinking, Ledger? Mating a mimic?” He spits the word like a curse, and I throw a punch into his ribs so hard, they release a sickening crack as he cries out in pain.

“I didn’t mate ‘a mimic,’ I mated Ever. An amazing woman that knows her worth, that appreciates the supernatural like no one I’ve ever encountered, and knows damn well that she doesn’t need me.

She chooses me. Every day when she wakes up, she chooses to do the hard thing and love four stubborn, overbearing men that don’t deserve her, but desperately try to.

She could have any myst she wants, yet she comes home to me every night. Why wouldn’t I fight for her?”

Cyrus chuffs, glaring at the wall. “Mimics are monsters. They use people and cast them aside like yesterday’s trash.”

Something in his tone gives me pause. “You’ve met one before, I take it?”

Baring his teeth, he jerks his bound wrists, fighting his chains to no avail. “Yeah, I’ve met a leech before.”

When I hold his steady gaze for several weighted minutes, his angry mask finally cracks. “It’s his fault she’s gone,” he whispers.

He takes a few moments to collect himself before continuing.

“We worked in the same building, but in different departments. Once my mark appeared, I started bringing her coffee every morning. I was trying to lay the groundwork to ask her out on a date without springing it on her as soon as my mark showed up, you know? No pressure or expectations because she already had a chosen mate, and wasn’t sure how he’d react when he found out she met her fated. ”

His expression shutters. “The fire alarms still haunt my dreams. Once they went off, I rushed down to her floor, and it was already encased in flames. I tried to use my powers to control them, but,” he trails off with a shudder, sucking down a shaky breath.

“I couldn’t. All my life I was more at home playing with fire than toys, and in one soul-wrenching second, that ability was suddenly gone. I lost her in the blaze, and without my abilities, the smoke was too much and I passed out while searching.”

Cyrus meets my eye, blazing with fury now that he’s pulled himself from his nightmare.

“Later discovered that there was a mimic working with her on that floor that stole my power to save himself from the fire. When I came to in the hospital, my mate was missing. Not dead. Missing . Someone took her, and I couldn’t save her because of him. ”

My stomach churns, imagining it. Ever, kidnapped. But then weeks and months going by without a trace. Stuck in a never-ending Hell of not knowing where my mate was or what someone was doing to her, and helpless to do anything to stop it. To save her.

Pretty sure I just threw up in my mouth a little.

“Do you hate shifters?”

Cyrus’s face twists in incredulous confusion and shoots me a pointed look. “ One of them is definitely on my shitlist.”

Not backing down, I raise an eyebrow. “Your brother is one though, right?”

He grunts.

“Do you hate him now because of what I did to you?”

Face scrunched, he says, “What? No, of course not. What does Langston have to do with anything?”

“And what does my mate have to do with the mimic that fucked you over?”

Eyes falling shut in defeat, he exhales heavily. “Enough with the lecture, you’re just going to kill me anyway. So get on with it, will ya?”

“You’re such an asshole.” With a swipe of my claws, I free his wrists, letting him fall to a heap at my feet. “But you have every reason to be. Fates know I lost my shit when my mate was taken from me.”

Cyrus whips his head up in surprise. “What did you do?”

I give him a pointed look. “I brought her home.”

Fire sparks to life in his eyes again, and he nods slowly. “What about the missing mysts?”

“Correlation does not equal causation, jackass. Mysts from all over the country flock here because they’re escaping shitty situations and seeking sanctuary.

Ask the gargoyles to see the town records and you’ll see how many people leave town every year; not always by choice, but because they were foolish enough to leave the barrier for some reason or another and never came home.

A supply run, visiting family, went too far on a run; the tragedies are endless.

We can only protect people from threats that come here intending to harm someone.

You know that. So you also know damn well that my mate never would have made it past the barrier if she intended to hurt anyone. ”

He scowls, but stays silent, so I press on. “Put that anger to good use instead of letting it blind you. Find your mate,” I command as I finish freeing him from his restraints.

“Thank you,” he whispers, rubbing the raw flesh of his wrists as he tentatively moves for the door, growing confidence when I don’t stop him.

“But Cyrus?” He tenses up, expecting an attack, but I just…

can’t. Not when I finally understand why he’s such a dick.

“You’re right. Ever is a threat. And yet, she didn’t lift a finger to retaliate when you attacked first, because all she wants is to be left alone.

Remember that before you go off half-cocked again and become the same kind of monster as the one you’re searching for. ”

He swallows and dips his head before limping out the door.

Swiping a hand down my face, I follow him out. It’s only been a day since Cyrus firebombed Myles’s store, but word is spreading like wildfire. By the end of the week, there won’t be a soul in Mercy Ridge that doesn’t know Ever is a mimic.

The walk back to her house only serves to amp me up, my instincts twitching with the open exposure of Ever’s yard.

I scour every shadow in the faint treeline, feeling eyes on me, waiting for an opportunity to strike the second my guard’s down.

By the time I’m pushing open the back door, I’m strung so tight, I’m on the verge of snapping.

Nostrils flaring, a snarl is torn from my throat as I navigate the halls, finding my family in the entryway with Mr. Nocturne. Door open and leaving them exposed to attack.

Without preamble, I reach past Dane and slam it closed.

He eyes me cautiously, finishing his sentence slowly. “- be delivered to my house tomorrow evening. I heard about the incident at the workshop, so wanted to stop in while I was in the neighborhood and apologize personally. If I’d had any idea how people would react-”

We’re abruptly plunged into darkness, the lights cutting out in the house and everyone immediately going on high alert.

Arson disappears, merging into the shadows as if he were one of them, returning a few minutes later with blood splattered across his upper body.

“Found the guy that cut the power. He refused to talk, and I didn’t want to waste time torturing a lost cause if this was supposed to be a distraction to make a move on my mimic babies. ”

“Arson!” Bellamy hisses, darting a nervous look in Dane’s direction.

“Oh like it isn’t already all over town,” the shadow demon argues, but grimaces and scratches his jaw, realizing he fucked up.

Dane adjusts his cufflinks, unfazed. “This is my fault. If it wasn’t for the project I commissioned, you’d never have been exposed.

” He frowns in Ever’s direction. “The core is due in tomorrow anyway. I insist you come stay with me until this all blows over. I’ll have Bennett set up a workspace for you and you can finish the project there.

Hopefully by then, tensions will have cooled and people will have found something new to be upset over. ”

I share a look with Myles, finding him actually looking relieved at the idea.

And Ever is right behind, eyes closed and some of the tension seeping from her shoulders.

Reluctantly, I have to admit… I think it might be exactly what she needs right now.

Things are escalating far too quickly, and while we can take on a small army for our mate, even the four of us don’t stand a chance against an entire city of supernaturals if they turn against us.

Now that news is spreading about mimics, it’s going to draw a whole new host of problems out of the woodwork to contend with, too.

Scared townspeople are one thing, but if hunters start flocking in trying to get their hands on them?

We can only handle so many threats at once.

“Give us an hour to pack our bags. Arson, see if Oscar will pet sit while we’re gone.”

Arson picks up Adam's cage and shakes it to wake him up. “Be good for Gramps, or I’ll get you a couple more scaly roommates.” In a blink, he disappears.

Dane frowns. “What on earth was that?”

Ever sighs wearily. “Long story. Text us your address and we’ll meet you there?”

Dane grimaces, shaking his head. “The protections on the property won’t allow you to shadow walk in. I’ll have a car sent.” Immediately lifting his phone to his ear, he walks off to arrange everything.

I roll my eyes. Rich people.

Looking at Ever scanning the hallways of her dark house with anxiety, though, brings me back to reality and has determination settling into my bones.

She needs a break. A temporary vacation.

And I need time to make a plan for how to deal with all of these new threats long term.

Because like hell am I going to let these people chase my mate out of her home.

Even if it kills them.