Page 11 of Fennick’s Fortune (Sentinels of Apollo #2)

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Her mind has an incredible barrier around it. Unless she lets you in, it can’t be penetrated.”

“You’re a vampire. You get into everyone’s minds,” I protested.

“Not hers. I’ve met a few over the years who I couldn’t penetrate, though not many,” Nico admitted.

“I need to get her to wake up!” I snapped, not meaning to yell at him. I was frustrated and scared for her.

Panic grew inside of me. I brought her face to mine. “Akiva, please, you’ve got to let me in or come back. I can’t stand much more,” I whispered brokenly.

Not knowing what else to do, I sealed my lips to hers and kissed her.

I didn’t expect her to respond, but when her lips opened, I took the chance and slid my tongue inside.

Her mouth tasted like honey. I eagerly deepened it.

Suddenly, her tongue was sliding along mine, her body jerked, and I found her eyes staring up into mine.

I didn’t break the kiss until I’d nibbled on her bottom lip and pressed my mouth to hers twice, then I raised away from her.

Akiva stared at me, confused, and then surprised. Her hand came up to cup my beard-covered jaw, and she rubbed her hand against it. I wanted to moan. Bears were very tactile.

“What happened?” she asked hoarsely.

“You tell me. You went into a memory and took me with you. You kept telling me to leave, and then eventually, I was thrust out of it.”

“I did?” she asked, wrinkling her brow.

“You did. You scared the shit out of us.”

As I said the word “us,” she seemed to realize we weren’t alone and scanned the room. When she saw all my friends and Cerys, her face turned red. Akiva struggled to sit up, so I eased her into a sitting position while keeping her on my lap.

“Why are you all here?” she asked.

“Because I freaked out and called for Nico, and then Brax asked the others to come. Nico couldn’t penetrate your mind to get you free, Akiva. Did you know that your mind repels invasion?” I asked.

“No, I didn’t. I don’t understand. Why would I go into a memory and bring you with me?”

“We don’t know. Why don’t you tell us about the memory, and maybe we can figure it out,” Nico suggested.

Akiva tensed as soon as he asked her to tell them about it. She shook her head. “I can’t. It’s not real,” she mumbled.

“What isn’t real?” Royal asked.

“What I see might seem like a memory, but it’s not. I have a vivid imagination.”

“I beg to differ, babe. That was no imagination. It was real. You spoke to me in there and told me to leave. And when I didn’t, you told me to stay quiet. You seemed afraid I’d be hurt,” I told her, hoping to jar her to recall it.

Akiva didn’t bother to say anything.

“Fen, you tell us what you saw,” Brax said.

I told them what I had experienced, not wasting time.

But I kept the outline vague and gave no details.

Even so, as I spoke, Akiva grew tenser and tried to shrink inward.

She attempted to wiggle off my lap, but I refused to let her.

Finally, when I was done, the room was troubled, and she wasn’t making eye contact.

“Akiva, I’ve only met a handful of people whose minds I can’t enter in my almost seven hundred years. You’re one of them, and I’d wager the strongest. I couldn’t get through. I can’t tell if it was a natural barrier or one created,” Nico told her.

“Who could create one that strong?” Keir asked.

“My guess is either an extremely powerful witch or vampire if it’s not natural,” Nico said.

“Akiva, look at me. Tell me what that was,” I coaxed.

She emphatically shook her head and curled up.

“Fen, let me see what you saw,” Nico requested.

I had no problem allowing him into my mind. He asked as a courtesy. He hated to intrude without permission, though he could easily do it, and the person wouldn’t know he did. When he was done, he shook his head.

“It’s a memory, alright—and not a pretty one. Akiva, you called the man in it Dad. Was that your father?”

“It’s not real. It’s a dream,” she whispered.

“Who told you that?” I asked.

“Peaches and Ernie told me it was my imagination and that they didn’t want me to dwell on them. I haven’t done that in years,” she whispered, vaguely, like she was talking to herself.

“Who are Ernie and Peaches?” Banner asked.

This question made her head snap up. She glared at him. “They’re the wonderful people who took me in as a teenager. What’s it to you?”

“We’re only trying to help,” Banner assured her.

Her bristling eased, and she sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Maybe I should lie down and rest.”

I wanted to insist we talk this out until I realized she appeared exhausted, and the day was slipping away. Soon, the others would have to head to work. We were working on a timetable that wouldn’t allow us time to figure anything out at the moment.

“I think that would be a good idea. Why don’t you go upstairs and lie down?” Cerys jumped in to suggest.

As Akiva rose from my lap, while holding onto her arm to be sure she was steady, I felt cut off from her, which was silly. We didn’t know each other. It hadn’t been twenty-four hours since we met. Why was I feeling this way?

“I’ll help clean up the dishes before I do. You shouldn’t have the entire mess left for you,” Akiva told Cerys.

“Don’t worry about the cleanup. If I need help, I’ve got plenty right here. They won’t get their beautiful, soft hands ruined,” Cerys teased.

The guys began to protest and torment her back, which made Akiva relax. She excused herself. It took everything in me to stay where I was. When she had left and we heard the door close behind her, we got moving. We chatted out loud, but as we did, we also carried on a telepathic conversation.

“What do you think, Nico?” I asked.

“What I saw in your mind was no dream. It was a memory. And a fucked-up one. It looked like he was using those women for breeding. And that their babies were likely sold,” Nico confirmed.

“What the fuck?” Brax exclaimed.

“Oh, God, no,” Cerys whimpered in sympathy. Brax pulled her into his arms. I hadn’t told them that when I described the dream to them.

“Sorry, Cerys, we should’ve talked about this elsewhere,” I apologized.

“Don’t treat me like I can’t handle this. I feel for those women, not that I can’t handle it. You said Akiva was in a room with a bunch of women and was made to do something she didn’t want to do. Why was Akiva there?” she asked.

“It seems she was forced to touch the women, connect with their babies, and find out when they were to be born. And, if need be, to push the unborn babies to come in a designated timeframe, or they would be taken. I can only assume that meant C-section,” I explained.

There were plenty of mutters from my friends.

“Or they killed them,” Gunnar said softly.

“No, the man mentioned they would need to be bred again as fast as possible,” Nico clarified.

“Jesus Christ, and Akiva was how old?” Keir asked.

“She looked around eight years old,” I told them.

“That poor thing. No wonder she was so shaken and kept saying it was a dream. How horrible,” Cerys said.

“It’s worse than you think,” Nico told her.

“How can it be worse?” Royal asked.

“The man had them locked in a building and had Akiva locked in another. She begged him not to make her do it, and that it wasn’t right. In one of her moments of begging, she called him Dad,” I reminded them. They mustn’t have heard Nico say it earlier. My stomach churned at the thought.

“Goddamn, that’s sick and to be exposed at such a young age, then forced to help. I wonder what else she was made to do? And how did she come to be in the care of Ernie and Peaches?” Cerys muttered.

“I think we need to allow her to rest, and then when we’re all done with our day, and she’s had time to think, we’ll gather here tonight and talk to her. Before I forget, how are the others doing? Are they okay as they are? Or do I need to go check on them during the day?” I asked.

Everyone indicated that when they left, all was well.

Banner had the day off, so he volunteered to help me check on each one.

It wasn’t long before the others headed out to work.

I hung out with Cerys for a while. I couldn’t seem to tear myself away from Akiva.

I wanted to go to her room and lie down next to her so I could comfort her and maybe even myself.

I could admit I was shaken by what I saw.

What hell had she lived through? And the even bigger question was, was it still happening?