Page 2 of No Honor Amongst Shifters (It’s a Psychic World #9)

THE ONLY PERSON WHO visited Alcott was his brother.

Other people came around to leave him food, but they never talked to him.

It was a good thing.

Alcott didn’t want to talk to them.

He could tell what they wanted to say to him just by looking at them, which was why he’d made the habit of sitting by the window and staring outside as he listened to whoever was there move around the room.

It wasn’t like they went far, anyway. They came inside just enough to put their tray on the dresser, picked up the one they’d left earlier, then ran.

Misha was the only one who knocked, so when the door opened without a knock announcing that someone was there, Alcott kept his attention out the window.

He’d been spending a lot of time there, watching the trees and the birds and the other animals in the trees.

It was kind of boring, but he felt he didn’t deserve anything more.

How could he watch TV or anything like that when he’d betrayed so many people, including his brother?

“Alcott,”

someone said.

Alcott jumped and turned.

He hadn’t expected Elijah to visit.

Why was the clan leader there? Alcott didn’t think he would be kicked out of the clan so soon, especially not when the clan was still at war with the coven, but maybe Elijah had decided on a different punishment for him.

Maybe he would have Alcott killed, after all.

Alcott stared at Elijah.

He didn’t think he could ask.

He was scared that if he opened his mouth to do it, he’d start begging, and he didn’t want that.

Whatever punishment Elijah decided for him would be all right with him.

Elijah sighed and stepped deeper into the room.

The door was already closed behind him, and Alcott didn’t consider trying to open it.

Elijah wouldn’t be taking any chances.

“I want to talk about what happened,”

Elijah said.

There was nothing Alcott wanted less, but he nodded. Of course the leader wanted to talk about what he’d done.

“What do you want to know? I think I’ve already told you everything I knew about the coven, but I can go over it again. Maybe I’ll remember something.”

Elijah shook his head.

“I want to talk about what happened to you.”

Alcott looked down at his hands in his lap. The scrapes on his palms were healing, but he could still see traces of them, even though the smallest ones were already almost gone.

“I’m sorry,”

he whispered.

“Why are you apologizing?”

Alcott didn’t want to talk about what had happened to him. He’d already said enough. Elijah and probably everyone in the clan knew how much of an idiot he’d been. He didn’t need to rehash that.

But Elijah had asked a question, and Alcott owed it to him to be honest.

“They beat me up. That’s all there is to it,”

he explained.

“Yes, that’s obvious, and I already knew it. The beating isn’t the only thing I’m asking about, Alcott. I want to know how you ended up trusting a mage you barely knew over me and the clan.”

Alcott shook his head.

“I don’t have an explanation. Sorry.”

Elijah was silent for a moment. Alcott was afraid to look at him, so he didn’t. He kept his attention on his hands and picked at one of the scabs. It would hurt if he managed to tear it out, but he deserved that pain.

“I’m worried about you, and I know I’m not the only one,”

Elijah eventually said.

“You don’t have to talk to me if you’re feeling uncomfortable, but I wish you’d talk to Misha.”

Alcott shook his head. He didn’t deserve for anyone to worry about him, least of all his brother.

“Misha should focus on his boyfriend. They’re still in the honeymoon phase.”

Elijah snorted softly.

“I don’t think they’ll be able to fully enjoy their honeymoon phase until the cockatrices and the coven are dealt with. Besides, being with Olsen doesn’t mean he’s not worried about you. He loves you.”

“And I love him. You should tell him I’m fine, though.”

“But I would be lying to him.”

“I don’t want him to worry about me.”

Alcott didn’t explain that it was because he thought he didn’t deserve it, but he suspected that Elijah knew. He was a smart man.

“You’re his brother. He’s going to worry about you whether you want it or not. You don’t have to make this harder for him or for yourself. Just talk to someone, even if you don’t want to talk to him. I promise it will help.”

Alcott shrugged. Why would Elijah want to help him? He knew he could trust the leader, but at the same time, he didn’t understand. Elijah shouldn’t be here, worrying about Alcott. He should be focused on the fight that was coming for them.

But Elijah cared about Misha, and Misha cared about Alcott. Of course Elijah was worried. He wanted his assistant to be happy, and because of Alcott, he wasn’t. Elijah cared about all of his clan members, but Alcott wasn’t one anymore, was he? It might not be official, but there was no way Elijah would allow him to stay after what he’d done. Hell, he didn’t deserve to stay.

The best thing he could do was keep the distance between him and Misha growing. That way, when he was kicked out, it wouldn’t hurt as much. Misha would be able to focus on Olsen and everything else, and he wouldn’t feel Alcott’s loss as keenly as Alcott would feel his.

Alcott deserved all the pain coming to him. Misha didn’t.

ROSLIN WAS IN THE KITCHEN to get a snack. He’d just wanted some food before dinner, which didn’t explain how he’d ended up glaring at the two people by the stove.

They knew he was there. He’d said hello when he’d walked in, and they’d waved back. Roslin didn’t know the names of every single clan member, although clearly, he should. There were just too many people who lived in the house. He didn’t know who was on cooking duty today, but considering what they were doing, he might decide to skip dinner.

“I’ve been spitting in his plate since he got locked up,”

the woman on the right said.

“It’s the least I can do, you know?”

“Elijah would be pissed if he found out,”

the man next to her answered.

“I don’t think he cares.”

“He’s keeping Alcott in the house. Of course he cares.”

“He’s keeping him because he thinks he can use him and because of Misha. He doesn’t really care about Alcott. He definitely wouldn’t care if he found out we were spitting in his food.”

“I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like something Elijah would be okay with.”

It wasn’t something Roslin was okay with. He didn’t care what Alcott had done or what these people thought of him. No one deserved to eat food that had been spat on. Even more so, if these people were willing to do something like that, who was to say they hadn’t done worse? And if they hadn’t, maybe they would eventually.

Roslin knew Elijah well enough to be sure he wouldn’t be okay with this. No matter what these people were telling themselves, they were in the wrong. It wouldn’t be right even if Alcott had betrayed the clan because he wanted power or money, but that wasn’t why Alcott had done it. Roslin might not know all the details, but Alcott’s betrayal hadn’t been malicious. He’d been swindled by a mage.

He’d been betrayed by someone he thought cared about him, and these people weren’t helping with that feeling. They were supposed to care about Alcott. He was supposed to be part of their family. They might be angry because of what he’d done, but that still didn’t give them the right to do that.

“I’ll make up a plate for Alcott,”

he snapped.

Both the man and the woman jumped and turned. The woman’s eyes were wide, but the man went on the defensive.

“We’re the ones cooking today. It’s our job to bring food upstairs.”

“Is it also your job to spit in his food?”

“We were just talking,”

the woman quickly said, but the man wasn’t backing down.

He squared his shoulders and faced Roslin, and Roslin almost hoped the guy would say something bad. He wouldn’t mind using his fists. Having to stay in the house without doing much of anything was getting frustrating, but maybe Roslin could take that frustration out on someone.

The woman put her hand on the man’s arm. When he looked at her, she shook her head, and the fight leaked out of him.

Roslin sighed. He should’ve known that was how it would end.

“You want to take food to the traitor?”

the man asked.

“Feel free to do it. Less work for us, especially for someone who doesn’t deserve it.”

“Do you know the entire story?”

Roslin wasn’t sure how many people did. He knew because of Misha, but Misha didn’t have that many friends. Gossip had been running rampant, but more often than not, it wasn’t correct.

“I don’t care about the entire story. He betrayed us. He shouldn’t be here anymore.”

Roslin shook his head and reached between them to grab a clean plate from the counter. He looked around, taking a few moments to find the trays. Once he did, he filled the plate with fresh food and placed it on it, then opened the drawer to grab a fork. He reached for a knife, too, but the man stopped him.

“He’s not to be given anything sharp.”

“It’s a butter knife. What do you think he’s going to do with that?”

Although stabbing this asshole with a butter knife sounded satisfying.

“I don’t care what it is. He’s not allowed knives.”

Roslin really needed to talk to Elijah. He understood why people were angry, and he didn’t blame them for feeling that way, but he suspected that their feelings were getting to their heads, including having power over Alcott. This guy felt like he was the person in control when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

He grabbed the tray.

“Fine. No butter knife for him. He’s allowed a bottle of water, though, right?”

The woman gestured at the fridge. Roslin balanced the tray on one hand while opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water with the other. He didn’t look back as he walked out of the kitchen. Thankfully, he’d stopped these two from spitting into Alcott’s food, but he suspected they might do it again. Elijah had asked that whoever cooked the clan’s meals bring up a plate to Alcott’s room. The only way to make sure none of them would be doing anything to that food would be to take their place.

It wasn’t only the spitting. It was that Roslin didn’t trust any of these people when it came to Misha’s brother. The spitting was disrespectful, but what if someone decided to take more drastic measures? What if they couldn’t forgive that Alcott had betrayed them? Roslin couldn’t allow anything to happen to Alcott. It wouldn’t be right, and he didn’t want Misha to be hurt. Hopefully, talking to Elijah and pointing him in the direction of the problem would help.

Roslin wasn’t sure what he’d do if it didn’t.

WHEN ALCOTT HEARD THAT someone was at the door, he tensed. The only one who regularly wanted to talk to him was Misha, and Alcott wasn’t okay with other people being so close to him.

He was scared. What if they decided to do something to him? He didn’t think Elijah would be okay with that, but he wasn’t here right now. Something could happen to Alcott, and Elijah wouldn’t find out until it was too late. He’d be angry, but maybe it would be worth it to the people outside the door.

Or maybe they were just here to bring Alcott his food.

He rolled his eyes at how dramatic he was, but his heart still raced when there was a quick knock before the door opened. He didn’t have the time to wonder if it was Misha. A man stepped into the room, carrying a tray.

Alcott recognized him. He would’ve recognized Roslin even before Misha started dating Roslin’s brother, but it had been important to him to know who Olsen and his family were after that. From everything he’d found out about them, they were nice people.

He supposed he was about to find out.

Roslin looked around the room. He was visibly curious, at least until his gaze stopped on Alcott. Alcott was in his usual spot in the window seat, pressed against the glass. He didn’t move. He stared at Roslin, wondering if the man would get angry. Maybe he didn’t want to be stared at. Alcott hoped that the fact that they were brothers-in-law meant that Roslin wouldn’t hurt him, but he couldn’t be sure. At the very least, he expected Roslin to ask him why he’d done what he’d done or to berate him for it.

Roslin put the tray down on the dresser next to the one that held Alcott’s breakfast. Roslin’s frown deepened when he saw that Alcott hadn’t eaten much. Alcott had tried, but he just wasn’t hungry.

“I wouldn’t have eaten, either,”

Roslin commented.

“That doesn’t look appetizing.”

Breakfast had been scrambled eggs—no bacon—and toast. It had already been cold by the time it reached Alcott, so he’d nibbled on half of the toast and left the rest. There hadn’t been anything to drink with it. Alcott was used to that, so he drank from the tap in the bathroom.

“Lunch is better,”

Roslin continued.

“And I filled your plate myself, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

Alcott swallowed. He hadn’t been worried about anything before, either, and he wondered if he should have now. He was kind of afraid to ask. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know if anything had happened to the food he’d eaten. It hadn’t been poisoned since he was okay, and that was all he needed to know for his own sanity.

“Is there anything specific you’d like to eat in the next few days?”

Roslin asked, turning to Alcott again.

“I don’t do much cooking, but I can come up with something.”

Alcott stared, wondering why Roslin was doing this.

“I’m a prisoner,”

he croaked. His voice sounded rough. He wasn’t using it much, and he was sure that Roslin could hear it.

“Even prisoners need to eat.”

“They eat what they’re given. I don’t think anyone has ever asked a prisoner what they wanted to eat. “

“I don’t know about that. I mean, people used to imprison kings and queens, right? I can’t imagine they were treated like every other prisoner.”

Alcott had no idea what was going on.

“I’m sorry?”

“Like that English king’s wife. She was imprisoned before she was killed. Do you think she ate the same thing as the guards and everyone else? She was the queen.”

Alcott wasn’t sure what that had to do with him.

“I’m not a queen,”

he said quite stupidly. Obviously he wasn’t a queen.

“No, but you’re human. Everyone deserves a bit of decency.”

As far as Alcott was concerned, he’d already been given a lot more than a bit of decency. He was alive and in his bedroom instead of dead or stuck in a cell. It could’ve been much worse.

It still could be, depending on what happened with the coven and the cockatrices. Alcott didn’t want to think about that, though. He’d have to deal with the consequences of his actions soon enough. It would be of no use for him to obsess over them while there was nothing he could do about what was happening to him.

He wished it was easier to stop thinking about it.

ROSLIN COULD SEE THAT Alcott was confused. He didn’t blame him. He was being confusing.

The two of them had never talked before. Olsen and Misha had gotten together recently, and there hadn’t been time for an official meeting of the families. Misha only had Alcott, but still.

Roslin wished he knew Alcott better. He wanted to help him, but he didn’t know how. From what Misha had said, Alcott had refused to talk to him. When Misha visited, Alcott stayed silent. Roslin had gotten a few words out of him, though. Maybe that meant he was finally ready to talk, or maybe he just didn’t want to talk to his brother.

Roslin could understand that. Sometimes, the only thing he wanted to tell his brothers was to fuck off. Of course, he had three of them while Alcott only had one, but still. Brothers didn’t always understand. They could be annoying and persistent, even when Roslin wanted time alone. Maybe that was what Alcott wanted.

“Is the boy talking to you?”

Kenny asked as he drifted inside the room.

Roslin had stopped jumping when a ghost appeared in front of him a long time ago. It was a good thing because it meant he didn’t look like an idiot every time it happened, which was way more often than he wished it did.

He kept his attention on Alcott. He’d trained himself to ignore ghosts, mostly so he wouldn’t look like he was nuts when he was in the company of other people. He didn’t have enough fingers on both of his hands to count the many times a ghost had ruined an evening out or a date.

But this wasn’t a date. Alcott already knew that Roslin was a psychic, so he probably wouldn’t think anything of him talking to Kenny. Still, Roslin ignored Kenny and kept his attention on Alcott.

He didn’t look quite comfortable in that window seat. He was leaning against the glass, which was hard, and his legs were tense. Roslin wanted to tell him he should relax, but telling people to relax usually didn’t end well. There was a reason Alcott was tense, and Roslin couldn’t say he blamed him.

“He already knows you can see me,”

Kenny said.

“You might as well answer.”

Rosen sighed and turned to look at Kenny.

“Hello to you too, Kenny. What can I do for you today?”

He heard Alcott sucking in a breath, but he didn’t look at him.

“I’m just checking in on him,”

Kenny said.

“Why?”

Roslin was curious because Kenny had been a member of this clan. His wife, his children, and grandchildren still were. He should want Alcott to pay for what he’d done, right?

Roslin didn’t feel that way because even though he was a clan member, he’d only moved into the house recently. He was also human, and of course, through Misha, he was kind of related to Alcott.

Now that he thought about it, Kenny was kinda related to Alcott, too. Alcott was Misha’s brother, and Misha was dating Olsen. Tim, Kenny’s grandson, was dating Victor, who was Olsen, Donahue, and Roslin’s brother.

Gosh, this was complicated.

“Because he’s not a bad person,”

Kenny said.

Rosen agreed, but he was pretty sure that most people in the house wouldn’t.

“I’m glad you think that.”

“I’m glad you think that, too. You know, he hasn’t talked to anyone but Elijah since he came back. He hasn’t even talked to his brother.”

Roslin nodded. “I know.”

“But he talks to you.”

It hadn’t been much, but he had talked to Roslin. Roslin wasn’t sure what it meant—if it meant anything at all.

“He needs a friend,”

Kenny continued.

“Maybe you can be that friend.”

“I don’t know about that,”

Roslin murmured.

“But you’ll keep an eye on him anyway.”

Roslin nodded because he would. He’d do it for Misha, but not only. Now that he knew how some of the clan members were treating Alcott, he’d decided that someone needed to be on Alcott’s side. Roslin doubted that Alcott wanted him, of all people, to be that person, but did it matter? Alcott needed all the help he could find.

“You know, I understand why you did what you did,”

Roslin told the man.

Alcott blinked.

“Are you talking to me?”

“I am.”

Alcott nodded.

“Okay. I wasn’t sure because you’ve been talking to the wall for a few minutes.”

“I was talking to Kenny.”

“He’s really here?”

“He is, and he’s worried about you. A lot of people are, including your brother.”

Alcott’s expression smoothed out, and he turned back to the window. Roslin suspected that meant he was done talking, which was infuriating. Roslin understood why, though.

“You trusted someone you thought loved you,”

he said softly.

“Isn’t that what everyone wants? Someone who will love them?”

“I don’t think that everyone would’ve betrayed the people who are supposed to be his family the way I did,”

Alcott whispered.

“Probably not, and I’m not saying that what you did is right. I’m just saying I understand.”

He paused. He had no idea where this conversation was going, but he didn’t think Alcott would want it to continue. That was fine.

“I’ll be the one bringing up your meals from now on.”

Roslin waited for Alcott’s answer, but it never came. Alcott didn’t react at all.

Roslin grabbed the breakfast tray and opened the door. He cast one last glance in Alcott’s direction, then stepped out into the hallway.

Kenny followed him. They walked down the hallway together, and Roslin waited for Kenny to ask what was on his mind. Roslin had gotten to know the ghost, and he liked him. He especially liked that Kenny didn’t seem to be angry at Alcott.

“I’ve seen how some people treat the boy,”

Kenny said.

“I’m glad he won’t have to deal with them anymore.”

Roslin nodded once. “I agree.”

“Do you really understand why he did it?”

“Well, I don’t know if I have the entire story. From what I do know, though, he wanted to help a man he thought loved him. Who would’ve said no?”

A lot of people would have, actually. Alcott was young, though, and from the little Roslin knew about him, he’d been searching for love all his life. The only person who’d always been on his side was his brother, and now, Misha was with Olsen. His attention was divided, which was normal, but if he’d been the only person Alcott had felt he could rely on, Alcott had probably felt the loss keenly.

It wasn’t an excuse, but it was an explanation—one Roslin understood.