Kendrick watched as the large shifter pushed the small woman behind him. From the name she had yelled, the man before him was apparently Aiden McKenzie, the Unit Commander.
‘Where is my brother?’ he repeated, locking eyes with the shifter.
Aiden stared at him for a moment then stepped back. ‘This way.’ He turned and started walking up the stairs.
Kendrick nodded at Amelia before following Aiden. Why was his brother’s body being kept at the Alpha estate? Aiden stopped and opened the door.
‘We brought him back to his own room.’ Aiden raised an arm, inviting Kendrick to step inside.
Kendrick shouldered past the massive commander and walked into the room. Lying serenely in the bed in the center of the room was his baby brother. Wires and tubes were everywhere, connecting him to the many beeping machines.
‘He’s alive?’ Kendrick felt his legs give out. A strong arm kept his knees from slamming into the hardwood floor. When he looked up, a large fae supported him effortlessly.
‘He’s still breathing, but we don’t know if he’s alive,’ the fae admitted.
Kendrick shook his head, trying to make his exhausted mind work. He had researched his brother’s unit decades before and kept close tabs on them, but for the life of him, he was having a hard time remembering the fae’s name. Darian! The fae member of the Alpha Unit was named Darian Vi’Alina. ‘What in the hell is that supposed to mean?’ He forced his legs to support him, and he stepped away from the men.
Darian spoke first. ‘Our enemy released a spell that strips a person’s soul from their body. Keelan was protecting us from that spell when he fell victim to it. The enemy took his soul, for what reason, we don’t know.’
Kendrick froze in shock. What the fae described was forbidden. To separate a soul from a person’s body was an affront to the Gods. No wonder the entire city was coated in black magic. He turned to find that the room was now filled with bleak-faced couples. The men he knew and, of course, his Amelia, but the other women, he did not know.
‘What you’re describing is forbidden.’ He met the eyes of each of the warriors.
‘Well, there seems to be a lot of that shit going around lately, Keelan-From-the-Future.’ The small woman said sarcastically.
Kendrick blinked. ‘I’m not Keelan. My name is Kendrick Ashwood. Keelan is my younger brother,’ he explained.
The woman rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever, clone boy.’
Kendrick stared. Was this woman damaged?
Amelia stepped away from Darian and wrapped her arms around his waist. Kendrick took a moment to enjoy a spurt of satisfaction as anger flashed in the fae’s eyes. Who was he to keep his godsdaughter from him? Wait? Didn’t Caiden say that Amelia had mated? So much had happened in the past couple of days. He returned the embrace and pulled back to pat her on the head like he always did. Her smile was wobbly, and her eyes were filled with tears.
‘Can you help him?’ she asked.
Kendrick forced a smile. ‘Of course, that’s what big brothers do.’
‘We can get the guest room ready,’ Aiden offered.
Kendrick shook his head. ‘No. I’ll stay in here with Keelan.’ He pointed to a sturdy looking recliner then turned back to them. ‘Who is in charge of those machines?’
A dark haired woman stepped forward. ‘I am. My name is Rheia Bradley. I’m a doctor. If there’s anything you need, you have only to ask. We all want Keelan back.’
Kendrick searched her face for deception and couldn’t find a trace of it. She exuded sincerity and strength. She was a good doctor.
‘We can leave him as he is tonight. I expended a lot of magic getting here so quickly, but tomorrow, I would like to know what each machine does. I may be able to cast spells to replace them depending on what they are doing.’
The doctor stared. ‘There’s healing magic like that?’
Kendrick was about to retort with sarcasm about humans meddling in the paranormal world when he noticed the looks of disbelief on the men’s faces. It dawned on him that he wasn’t in Storm Keep. Only younger witches were allowed to serve outside the city, and most of them weren’t trained in healing.
He clenched his fists in frustration then forced himself to relax. There was no point in being rude to the woman who was caring for his brother, despite her lack of magical ability. He should be thankful, not judgmental. He knew from his own surly thoughts that the day was catching up to him.
‘Yes, maybe in the next couple days I can show you different spells,’ he offered, trying to make his voice sound gentle.
‘I would really appreciate that. The more I can do for the Keelan the better,’ Rheia said, wiping her eyes.
Kendrick felt like an ass. The poor woman obviously cared for his brother, and despite being pregnant, her focus was solely on Keelan.
‘Thank you,’ he said simply.
Rheia sniffled then shook her head. ‘You’re about to collapse. Get a good night’s sleep, doctor’s orders.’ She wagged a finger at him playfully.
He nodded. ‘I agree.’
The couples waved goodnight and started to leave.
‘Goodnight, Keelan-From-the-Future,’ the small woman said as she walked out the door.
Kendrick was about to reply then stopped himself; he was too tired. When he looked up, he noticed that only Darian remained.
‘Can I help you?’ he asked flatly.
‘I have a message for you from Keelan,’ Darian said quietly.
Kendrick frowned.
Darian continued. ‘He knew. Somehow, he knew what was going to happen. Before the spell went off, he said, ‘Tell my brother he was right, but this was the only way I saw where you all lived. Tell him I’m sorry for what I’ve done, but I’d do it again.’ He created a shield that protected us from the spell; without him, we’d all be dead, or worse, feral.’
Kendrick felt his stomach knot. Keelan had known all along what his fate would be if he joined the Alpha Unit. Kendrick had told him of his premonition two hundred years ago. In fact, it had been the root of the argument that led to Keelan leaving home. That Keelan had had his own premonitions and thought of the others first, hurt. A part of him felt betrayed, as if Keelan didn’t care that he was Kendrick’s only family. However, that small, rebellious voice quieted when he looked up and saw the pain in Darian’s eyes. For over two hundred years, Keelan had called the Alpha Unit home, and judging by the way the members of this house were acting, he had also called them family.
‘I want to scream and curse him, you know,’ Kendrick finally admitted.
Darian nodded. ‘I called him an idiot and screamed in his face after it happened.’
Kendrick looked into the large fae’s face and recognized a look he had seen not only on his own face but on Caiden’s as well, the expression of an older brother who had failed to protect his younger sibling.
‘Do you think… was there…’ Kendrick took a deep breath. ‘Was he in pain?’
Darian thought a moment and shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. His face was peaceful and he was smiling.’ Darian visibly swallowed hard.
Kendrick snorted. ‘He would, the little shit. He has always been the most exasperating child. He always put others before himself, to the point where I would get angry with him for being so kind. What kind of bastard does that make me?’
Darian walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘It makes you a brother. Trust me, I have an older brother, Oron, and he has said the exact same things to me. Sometimes, us kid brothers need to be reminded that we can’t save everyone.’
Kendrick ground his teeth together. ‘I didn’t remind him enough.’ He looked over his shoulder at where Keelan lay, looking like he was simply sleeping.
‘We’ll get him back, I swear it to you,’ Darian vowed.
Kendrick stared him in the eye before he glanced down at the silver ring on Darian’s finger. ‘I will hold you to that, Your Highness.’
Darian flinched and removed his hand from Kendrick’s shoulder to hide the ring. ‘There aren’t many people outside the fae who recognize this ring. How do you know it?’
Kendrick shrugged. ‘I am an archivist. It is my job to study and to learn, and I have had a long, long time to do both.’
Darian ran his hand over the back of his neck. ‘The others don’t know. I would appreciate it if you didn’t say anything.’
Kendrick nodded; it was a reasonable request. ‘You have my word.’
Darian looked relieved. ‘Thank you. Well, I’ll let you get some rest. See you in the morning, breakfast is at eight, if you’re up.’
Kendrick inclined his head and Darian left.
Sighing, Kendrick walked over and sat down in the recliner next to his brother.
‘From what I have seen, you have an amazing family here, Kee. I can see why you would want to protect them. What I can’t understand is why you didn’t call me for help? Did you think I was still angry with you for leaving? Did you think I wouldn’t drop everything and move heaven and earth to get to you?’ Kendrick rubbed his hands over his face. If only he could talk to his brother one more time.
He reached into the small leather pouch at his waist and pulled out his cell phone. He selected a number and dialed.
Caiden answered on the second ring. ‘Kendrick?’
‘How much do you know?’
‘Amelia called earlier to warn us. She said that the ones who’d kidnapped her were only interested in using her as a bargaining chip to get to me and my brothers, the Ironwoods and the Ashleighs. The enemy is harvesting powerful witches to steal their magic, and evidently, we’re high on the list. I feel flattered.’ He chuckled dryly. ‘She also told me what happened to Keelan. I went to your place, but you had already left. Where are you?’ Caiden asked.
‘The Alpha estate.’
‘But that’s across the country!’ Caiden exhaled. ‘You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know what laws of physics you ignored. How is Keelan, really?’
‘I’ve never seen worse. The only thing here is a shell–skin, bones, and hair. Nothing of my brother is here. The only reason he’s in a bed and not in a grave is because this shell is breathing. They have him hooked up to so many machines I can’t tell exactly what the body is doing and what help he is getting from the tubes and wires.’
‘Gods Kendrick!’ He heard Caiden take a deep breath. ‘What do you need from us?’
Kendrick allowed himself one brief moment to contemplate calling his friend to his side, there was no family on this earth he trusted more than the Ironwoods and, through them, the Ashleigh brothers. But he knew that if he was selfish enough to call them to his side, he would only be putting them in danger. He would be doing exactly what their enemy wanted, getting the Ironwoods to leave the safety of Storm Keep.
‘You stay there, it’s not safe for you to come here. You’d be playing into whatever trap the enemy may have set for you.’
‘If it’s that dangerous, then you need me more than ever. Don’t forget, my baby sister has already been kidnapped once. You expect me to sit here and do nothing?’ Caiden demanded angrily.
‘Yes. Yes I do. There is a bigger picture here, Caiden, one that is so large I can’t even see the edges yet. Leave Amelia to me. I won’t let anything happen to my godsdaughter. In the meantime, I need you to tighten up patrols. Use your defunct Elder status to get the council to agree to lock down the city. If these monsters require magic, then Storm Keep represents a stockpile. I need you where you are,’ Kendrick replied evenly.
‘Damn it all to hell, Kendrick! Why do you always make sense? If I had known that you would need me in my Elder hat, I would have told Father to stay home,’ Caiden complained.
Surprised, Kendrick asked, ‘You saw Marshall recently?’ He hadn’t heard that the Ironwood elder had returned.
‘For all of about an hour before Amelia called. Evidently, Mother and Amelia are directly related to Commander McKenzie’s mate. Once Mother heard that, she marched Father out the door to head to Lycaonia. They should be there soon.’ Caiden’s voice held a smile.
‘Godsdammit!’ Kendrick swore.
Caiden laughed over the phone. ‘I know you get along with them so well.’
Kendrick pulled the phone away from his ear and glared at it. Wait. Amelia was related to the commander’s mate? He put the phone back to his ear.
‘The commander’s mate wouldn’t be a short, deranged little human, would she?’
Caiden’s laughter answered his question.
Wonderful.
‘You mean to tell me my brother is lying here in a coma, every witch is in danger, my best friend and godsdaughter are at the top of the enemy’s hit list, and I have two versions of Amelia to watch over, plus your flaky mother?’ Kendrick bit off every word.
Caiden couldn’t catch his breath, he was laughing so hard. ‘Serves you right. That’s what you get for being a hermit for centuries.’
‘Bollocks!’ Kendrick swore and hung up the phone.
Lily Camden, Amelia Ironwood and Meryn McKenzie in the same house at once. He looked over to his peaceful looking brother and shook his head.
‘Lucky bastard.’ He sat back and reached down to the side of the recliner and pushed the seat back, took his brother’s hand, and fell asleep.
