Page 71 of Kai (Alpha Heroes #13)

Cece

Days after returning to Astor House, I sat on my bed, reclining on a pile of pillows.

Even though I balanced my computer on my lap, it was hard to concentrate on my work.

My mind spun, processing too many things at once.

It had been amazing to see my sisters again, to hold them, love them, catch up with them and learn about their lives and loves.

We’d also dissected our gifts as best we could.

Our reunion had been the stuff of dreams, a mix of joy and grief, tears and laughter.

In my sisters’ arms, I’d come home. I cried so much during the first few hours that Thena and Missy got worried.

They’d never seen me cry before. I told them to get used to it.

Ugly crying had turned into a permanent feature of the new Cece.

My return to Astor House felt surreal. A lot of things had changed since the last time I’d been here.

The house flowed with good energy, and yet a few ghosts remained behind to ambush me when I least expected them.

A lot of unfamiliar faces bustled all over the place, challenging my underdeveloped social coefficient.

This explained why I’d sequestered myself in my bedroom and still wore my pajamas this late in the morning. I’d gone from one extreme to the other. Even with Kai by my side, bridging me back into the world, I needed to pace myself.

My gaze drifted to the semicircular bank of windows that edged my room.

It occupied one of four medieval-looking towers that Father had added to Astor House’s extravagant design.

Nix and Dash’s rooms were in what Father called the “bachelor quarters,” but he’d insisted that each of his daughters had to have a tower.

Mine faced west. His persistence wasn’t to make us feel like princesses; that much I knew. To separate us, maybe?

It didn’t matter now.

I looked around my room. At the height of my adolescent rebellion, I’d defied Father, ripped out the ornate wallpaper, and dragged out every stitch of baroque furniture his designer had selected.

Then I’d furnished the room in a sparse Scandinavian style that contrasted with the rest of the house.

I’d made the space mine, just to give my father the finger.

My gaze roamed beyond the windows. Outside, the crisp sky of a classic bluebird day framed the Rocky Mountains. The whitecaps crowning the waves that enlivened the lake reminded me that blue skies seldom guaranteed warmth at the foothills of the Wyoming Rockies, where the wind blew year-round.

On the summit of the tallest peaks, the bright sun refracted on pockets of snow and ice. They clung to barren heights and talus fields, refusing to melt. In the distance, they flashed like mirror signals, mysterious messages that my heart had yet to unravel.

When my stare lingered on the small glacier perched on the north side, I thought I spotted three brief flashes, followed by three longer flashes, and then three more flickers. Talk about visual disturbances. I refused to believe that the mountains were sending me an SOS.

I blinked the notion out of my head and remembered how Nix and I had explored those summits together. Embracing the wonderful memories soothed my sorrow. Nix would’ve wanted me to remember the good times.

My gaze fell on the silver tray standing on the table by the window.

It held a couple of empty plates and mugs stained with hot chocolate.

A smile curved my lips. After a night of pleasure and early morning delights, Kai had gone down to the kitchen, and after taking over the kitchen from Cook, brought up a delicious breakfast we’d shared in bed.

I slid my hand over the silky duvet and widened my grin. Not only did I get to sleep with Kai every night—although “sleep” was too chaste a term to describe what happened when we slept. We were pledged to each other. I got to wake up next to him every day for the rest of my life.

Kai had left the warmth of our bed a while back.

The doctor who treated his wounds upon arrival had told him he needed rest, but my stoic Marine refused to slow down.

He’d joined Tracker Team’s huddle every morning so far.

It took place downstairs, in the huge, ornate library that now served as the team’s headquarters.

Today, he and Dash planned on paying Jack Levine another visit, something they’d done twice a day since we arrived.

They’d stowed the merc in the cellar, where a specially prepared room had been waiting for him.

It was comfortable, or so I heard, but as secure as Fort Knox, a high-end prison that gave the asshole plenty of comforts, but zero freedom.

Finally, we’d contained the nasty piece of work.

My plan was to never, ever see the sick douchebag again, even though the sheer amount of information Kai and Dash were gathering from the dick-faced blabbermouth meant the merc was in for an extended stay.

Tracker Team was the only protection standing between him and his murderous ex-boss.

Word was the merc had become the poster child for collaboration.

A knock startled me. I froze and held my breath. Go away . I needed my quiet time.

I ran down the mental inventory of humans who now dwelled in Astor House.

All the members of Tracker Team now lived here.

Micah, Matt, and Fin had rooms in the guest wing.

Mina Moses, Tracker Team’s cyber hunter in chief, also kept an apartment at the house.

She shared it with her husband, Trevor Marks, one of Nix’s dearest friends.

Even though my time with Trev had been brief, I’d been ecstatic to see him again.

He was now deployed on a mission to verify the intel Levine had given me while on Serenity , the information regarding Affie’s whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Mina worked day and night to crack the encryption protecting access to the memory stick Kai and I had found hidden among the trinkets stored in my photo box. The woman was a hacking machine.

Dash and Thena lived in a spacious set of rooms in Thena’s tower. Javier, too, had moved into Missy’s tower, just as Kai stayed with me. It was astonishing. Who would’ve thought that Astor House would ever hold not one, not two, but three love nests?

Four if I counted Mina and Trev.

Besides Tracker Team and my sisters, a whole slew of characters populated the ornate halls.

Sandy, our house manager, who took care of everyone, and Cook, our chef, who fed our little crowd.

Monique Stuart, my father’s assistant, and Paolo Davis, Thena’s assistant, visited often to help my sister run the vast Astor conglomerate and her new philanthropic projects.

A pair of busy nuns wandered the place in their penguin habits, courtesy of Missy and Javier’s misadventures in Central America.

Yeah. Nuns. The odd pair had shown me the chapel they’d set up in what had once been my father’s spa room.

Talk about a miracle! The space had gone from pagan spa to religious temple. Even now, I chuckled.

I was learning to cope with the crowd, but I needed to take it slow.

The knocks came again, insistent and louder.

“Open up, Cece.” Thena’s musical voice drifted through the doors.

“We know you’re in there,” a decidedly more assertive Missy said. “We’ve got a couple of things to share with you. They’re important news, and we’re not leaving, so you might as well let us in.”

“Oh, it’s you guys.” I set my laptop aside, pushed off the bed, and strolled across the room. “You should’ve said so.”

Missy strode in as soon as I threw the door open, her steps confident, her long, red-haired ponytail swinging back and forth. “What took you so long?”

“She was probably in her head.” Thena followed Missy inside. “Cece’s thoughts are so profound that it takes her a while to surface from her deep dives.”

“You don’t have to speak about me in the third person, you know.” I retraced my steps and plopped down on my bed. “I’m right here.”

Thena gestured with a hand. “Move over.”

I scooted to the middle of the bed. She eased down, reclined to my left, captured my hand, and flashed what had to be the most beautiful smile in the world.

“I can’t say it enough.” Her breathy voice shook with emotion. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

Her soft gray eyes locked with mine for a second before she enveloped me in yet another heartfelt hug.

Thena’s sky blue aura ignited around her, cool, calm, and serene.

It reminded me of my sister’s integrity, honesty, and sensitivity.

It shimmered with silver at the edges, raining down sparkles of love into my rainbow energy, and humming a soothing melody in my head.

This was the woman who’d taken on the role of caring for all of us when our mom passed; the smart, kind, responsible, loving soul who’d stayed behind when the rest of us fled and taken the brunt of Father’s abuse to stay true to the oath she’d made.

The color of her aura testified to her extraordinary levels of generosity and loyalty.

Enveloped in her violet aura, Missy climbed on the other side of my bed and joined our group hug, reminding me of what we used to call our “cuddle puddles” as kids.

Her gorgeous aura spoke of the healer in her, of her kindness and her innate desire to help improve the lives of others—the qualities that had always defined her.

Her light was strong, and her energy pealed like delicate wind chimes in my head.

Javier had been right all along. Missy had changed, and I loved the confident woman she’d become.

After everything that had happened to them—to me—I couldn’t believe my good fortune. I wasn’t afraid of my gift anymore. Our gifts were useful to each other and to the team. As I hugged my sisters, I let my tears run. Yeah. Vulnerability was both a bitch and a friend.