Chapter Eighteen
Damascus
Out West
The Reservation
For Timothy Blackhawk, it had been a restless night, and he hadn’t been able to get much sleep. Normally, he worried about Callen, but his one grandson wasn’t even on duty last night.
He was off last night and today, and if Timothy was stirred up, there was only one reason why.
His other grandson.
The energy in the universe had somehow shifted, and that was a problem. All of his well-laid plans felt like they were beginning to unravel, and that didn’t work for him.
Everything had to happen in a specific order. If a single thing happened out of place, the whole plan would crumble.
And it was imperative that Ethan find the raven. If she was to meet and marry him, so that he could be saved and have a clear path to the man he was meant to be, there could be no mistakes.
And this felt…off.
It was time to figure out why.
So, after hours in the tipi, walking in the smoke, he saw the reality of it all, and it didn’t make him happy.
Not.
At.
All.
This called for an intervention. The last thing he needed was the last year’s work being undone due to something that did NOT have to come to fruition.
It was time to prepare.
So, after walking in the smoke, Timothy got in his old truck and headed across the reservation to his other grandson’s home.
Once there, he got out and headed up the walkway. At the door, he didn’t hesitate to walk in like he owned the place.
If he was going to be in the trenches fighting for Ethan, his other grandson was going to be too.
Inside, he put on a pot of coffee, and waited for it to perk. When he poured Callen a cup, he carried it toward the man’s bedroom, and pushed the door open.
Inside, his son was sleeping, and there was another random woman in his bed.
“Okay, fun’s over. Hussy, head the hell home,” he stated.
The blonde sat up, and gasped.
And Callen looked horrified.
“DAD!” he said. “We talked about this!”
The Native man didn’t flinch.
“You should go,” he said to the woman. “He’s got an STD. You’re likely sick. Go get checked out.”
Well, that worked.
The woman gave Callen a foul look, and then grabbed her things. The whole time, Callen sat there, and he couldn’t believe it.
“DAD!” he said again, and Timothy handed him a cup of coffee.
He wasn’t dealing with this.
That was tomorrow’s battle. Since there were condom wrappers on the floor, at least his grandson had bagged up.
“Hush,” he said.
When the woman left, slamming the door behind her, as she left the cabin, Timothy sat on the side of the bed.
“I thought we discussed this, Timothy,” Callen said, using his name.
The older man laughed.
“Like we discussed you not fucking your way through everything with a vagina. If you can’t keep up your end of the deal, I can’t keep up mine,” he stated.
Callen rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“This has to stop, Dad. How am I going to meet a person if you can’t keep out of it?”
Wyler stared into his eyes.
“You’re not meeting a quality woman in a bar while you’re getting shitfaced drunk. Hasn’t your father taught you that?” he asked.
He stopped him.
“He’s not my father. He’s my sperm donor. We both know that.”
That was neither here nor there.
Right now, Timothy had ninety-nine problems, and for once, Wyler wasn’t one of them.
FINALLY.
“She was a nice lady. She’s a teacher.”
He didn’t care.
Really.
“That’s great. Ethan’s coming home.”
Callen paused, the cup of coffee halfway to his mouth, and he stared at the old Native man.
“Pardon?”
Timothy was to the point.
“I was feeling off this morning, so I went into the smoke. I saw it. Ethan’s about to come home, and he’s not going back. We have to stop that.”
Callen stared.
“Uh, I’m good with him coming back. I’d like a chance to work on my relationship with my brother.”
Timothy yanked him by the hair.
“HEY!”
He pointed.
“If you want to meet the woman you’ll marry, you’re going to help me get him to leave here again.
This is all a house of cards, built on the Ace of Spades.
He’s the ace, and if he doesn’t leave here, and continue on the path he’s supposed to be on, that jacks up your future, too.
Both of your happiness is tied to one moment in time, where Ethan meets the Raven. ”
Uh-oh.
Callen didn’t like that.
“So my happiness is contingent on getting my brother to leave the reservation again?”
Timothy nodded.
“This place is toxic to him. Unless he heals all of those traumas, and finds himself again, being here will eat away at him until he takes his life.”
That made Callen sick.
“What?”
“He cannot stay here, Callen James. I love him so much, but in this case, we have to do what is best for him. When he comes back, you have to be the one who talks him into leaving again. If I do it, he’ll tell me to fuck off and mind my business.”
Oh, Jesus.
This all sounded bad. Ethan didn’t like to be told to do anything, and Callen wasn’t on his list of favorite people. They had a rough relationship as it was.
“And you’re sure?”
Timothy stared at him. Then, he proved that the Shaman wasn’t to be messed with at all.
“The woman that left, her name is Emily. She has a mother who was arrested for fraud, and her father is a deadbeat. She also used to strip in college, and she is infertile.”
Callen stared at him.
He knew about the stripping, and the infertility. That’s why he thought she’d be a safe bet.
“I hate when you do that.”
Timothy shrugged.
“Hate the game, not player.”
Callen laughed.
“It’s hate the player, not the game.”
The older Native man was to the point.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is your brother will be home soon, and if he comes here, he cannot stay.
I have work to do to make sure that happens.
I want him here for me, not for him. We need to do what’s best for him, and your father is not going to be able to be my partner in crime on this one. Tag, you’re it, Callen James.”
Well, shit.
He would like to see his brother again. They had much to make amends about.
“Am I allowed to be nice to him? Because I don’t want to be a dick.”
Timothy was grateful that with this past Christmas, Ethan had reached out to his brother, and had given him a gift so they could begin healing.
“Don’t be a dick. You just have to remind him that he’s meant to be in the FBI, and not here. This is your journey, and neither one of you will reach your goal if you do it here together.”
He hoped the old man was right.
Because he’d give his left nut to have his brother back. The hole in his heart from losing Ethan was a sucking wound, making his whole being hurt.
“Okay, Dad. I’ll help.”
That was good.
“When he comes back, move back in with me so he can use your cabin. Give him some space.”
He could do that.
Ethan was, after all, his brother.
“Okay, Dad. He can crash here. I’ll get the place cleaned up. When is he coming?” he asked.
Timothy said only one thing.
“Soon.”
Oh, boy.
As the old man walked out, Callen sat there. He wasn’t sure how this was all going to play out.
But he knew one thing.
He wasn’t one hundred percent sure he’d be able to get his brother to leave the reservation.
He missed him.
And deep down, he wanted one thing.
His brother back.
* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *
The Resort
Same Time
It was clear that someone was still struggling, and Will really hated that he’d put Corbin in this position. The last thing he wanted was to strip away all the progress they’d made the last five weeks to start back at zero.
This was his fault.
And he needed to fix it.
The man he loved was clearly struggling, and what he’d learned was when Corbin went silent, he was thinking too much.
Like now.
“Are you angry with me?” he asked.
Corbin looked over.
“Pardon?”
Will was tucked beside him on the lounger, and they were waiting for Gene and Ethan outside their room on the beach.
“I did this. I took you back there, and I’m sorry. Do you want me to go home, and you can finish your vacation here?”
Corbin stared at him.
“No, that’s not what I want.”
Will touched his face.
“Then, talk to me, Corby. You’re doing battle alone, and I can’t help fight if I don’t know what you need.”
He’d been thinking about all of this.
“I’m sorry, I’m not strong anymore. I used to be able to bounce back fairly quickly, and now…I don’t. Something is broken in me, and I wish to God I could fix it.”
Will was patient, and he wanted Corbin to know that he’d never leave his side.
They were going to be together for a very long time—until death did they part.
Bet.
On.
It.
Only, he knew that if he didn’t give the man a reason to keep fighting, he’d backslide into that darkness.
And he’d lose him.
“Corby?”
When he opened his eyes, he waited, not sure what his boyfriend wanted.
“Yeah?” he asked.
Will went with his gut. He had to give Corbin a good reason, and he knew of one.
It was the best reason to fight, too.
“Marry me.”
After Will said the words, Corbin wasn’t sure he had heard him correctly.
He lifted a brow.
“Pardon?”
Will was dead serious.
Why wait?
They needed each other, and while it was a good plan to give Corbin something to fight for at the beginning, Will knew that he needed something to keep fighting.
Like their marriage.
So, he explained.
“I don’t want to wait. I want to get married. I know you want to work back to where we were, but I don’t care about the past. I want our future. Marry me. I brought the rings. When we get back home, let’s do it.
That astounded Corbin.
He’d been thinking how he was going to lose this happiness because he wasn’t able to get his shit together. Now, he wanted to get married?
“But I’m broken.”
Will stared into his eyes.
“No, you’re not. This is just a part of our journey. You’ve never been broken to me. Marry me, Corbin Price, and be my husband. I want to start my life with you, and make this journey together.”
He couldn’t believe it.
“Really?”
He nodded his head enthusiastically.
Will had never been surer in all of his life.