Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
ROMULUS
I lead the way up the stairs and try not to hyper-focus on her lighter footsteps behind me.
Abaddon is home. He’ll side with me about the necessity of sending her away.
This is a good thing.
I ignore the clenching in my chest at the thought and channel any emotion I feel into fury at Remus for ever bringing her here in the first place.
I reach the first floor and, across the expanse of the large open room, see my brothers and their families spilling through the front door like a wave of warmth and chaos.
Baby Raven escapes her mother’s arms and immediately takes flight, spiraling in joyous loops toward the high ceilings, her tiny wings beating furiously.
Ksenia, heavily pregnant and glowing despite her obvious exhaustion, waddles over to one of the overstuffed chairs near the fireplace and lowers herself down with a grateful sigh. My three brothers head directly toward me, purpose in their strides.
I stride confidently to meet them.
But apparently, I’m not fast enough.
Because from behind my back, Lauren scurries forward like she owns the place.
“I’m so excited to meet you!” she exclaims, voice bright with genuine enthusiasm. “I’ve heard so much about you. You must be Abaddon.” She holds out her arms. “I’m a hugger. Are you a hugger?”
Abaddon looks utterly dumbfounded at the reception—a comical expression on my lion-man brother’s typically fierce face. The movement does look vaguely like a nod, and Lauren must take it as such because she throws her arms around his middle and squeezes.
Hard.
Hannah pops up behind her husband, eyes sparkling. “Did I hear you’re a hugger?” she asks enthusiastically. “I’m Hannah!”
“Hi! I’m Lauren,” Lauren barely gets the words out before Hannah has consumed her in an embrace that lifts her slightly off the ground.
“Welcome to our home,” Hannah says warmly, pulling back to beam at her. “We’re so glad to have you.”
I’m already shaking my head. “No.”
Hannah introduces her to Kharon—who offers a gentle smile and a more reserved hug—and then Layden, who looks up from his device long enough to give an awkward half-wave.
“No,” I say more firmly. “Not welcome to our home. She has no business being here. Remus captured her. We need to return her to where she belongs immediately.”
But Lauren just waves a dismissive hand at me. “Isn’t he so dramatic? No one captured me.”
Abaddon’s head swings my way, golden eyes questioning.
“You said there’s video,” I defend myself. “He flew down in a human city and took a woman. How is that anything but capturing?”
“Oh.” Lauren says it so breezily I want to shake her. “I volunteered. No capturing. Girl Scout’s honor. I mean, I was never a Girl Scout, but I was always their best customer every year during cookie season.”
Abaddon’s eyes meet mine again, and I can read the question there: Is she serious?
Every word out of her mouth is obviously deflection. We need to talk man to man, away from the chaos.
“Come. Let’s speak privately.” I gesture him away from the women.
But Lauren puts a hand between us—actually physically blocks us.
“Hey, no. What, are you two big men gonna go and decide the fate of the little woman without any input from me? That’s bullshit.
” Her eyes flash. “If you’re gonna talk about me, do it in front of me.
I deserve to be part of this conversation. ”
“I like her,” Hannah declares immediately, crossing her arms. “I say we keep her.”
Abaddon rolls his eyes but also crosses his arms, staying put. A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “She has a point. Why discuss her fate apart from her presence?”
I shoot a glare Lauren’s way. She wants to hear what I have to say? Fine. I won’t hold back.
“Remus is a loose cannon. He lied to all of us, waiting for the family to leave so he could pull this stunt.”
Abaddon grunts, and I know I’ve scored a point. His tail flicks once—irritated.
“Plus, he’s found some way to manipulate our connection. He made me sleep for three days straight while he...” I wave a hand, searching for the right word that won’t scandalize everyone, “...wooed her.”
Kharon’s eyebrows shoot up at that. They’ve all circled around us now, forming a tight cluster. Even Ksenia has leaned forward in her chair, one hand on her rounded belly, listening intently.
“What’s the longest you’ve slept before?” Kharon asks quietly.
“You know us. It’s usually hours at a time. Twelve at the extremes.” I drag a hand through my hair. “One time, during an arduous battle, I slept for twenty-two hours while he had one of his especially manic, bloodthirsty episodes. But that was five hundred years ago.”
Abaddon taps his bottom lip with one finger, thinking. Then his eyes zero in on something past my shoulder.
I turn and see Layden looking down at his handheld device, absorbed as ever in whatever digital rabbit hole he’s fallen into.
“Did you have something to do with this?” Abaddon’s voice drops to that dangerous rumble.
Layden doesn’t even look up.
“Lay.” Abaddon snaps it out like a whip crack.
Layden finally looks up. “Huh?”
“Remus’s sudden ability to stay awake?”
“And our blocked memory?” I turn on my little brother, pieces clicking into place. Of course. All the new magic he’s brought with him. I should have suspected him sooner. “Did you do something?”
He just shrugs, eyes already drifting back to his device.
“Are you gonna accuse me of everything that goes wrong? Did I or did I not bring you the potion that unlocked the potential within so you could finally put on a glamour and travel amongst the humans as one of them?” His voice rises, defensive.
“That allowed you to take your whole family on vacation safely? And what do I get in return? Suspicion. All I’ve done since I’ve been back is nice things. ”
“You mean apart from the time when you were trying to separate me from my family by sending me back to a realm apart from them forever?” Abaddon growls, taking a threatening step forward.
Layden’s eyes snap up from his device, and I see genuine fire in them.
Pain. “No forgiving and forgetting from you, huh, big brother? Guess I’m not the only one who can hold a grudge.
I thought that was just me getting even for you letting our father cut off my wings and stab me right in front of you.
” His voice cracks slightly. “And that’s before you buried me alive.
My bad if that doesn’t make the slate between us clean.
You’re still gonna suspect me of every little thing. ”
“Abaddon.” Hannah hisses his name, fury radiating from her small frame as she shoots him a look that could melt steel.
But Layden’s already turned and is stomping away, shoulders rigid.
I toss my hands in the air. “Great. We didn’t get any answers.”
Hannah spins on me, and I actually take a step back from the fire in her eyes.
“You’re just as bad as him.” She throws a thumb at Abaddon.
“Always treating Layden so suspiciously. How is he ever going to feel like this is home if you keep acting like he’s the enemy?
” Her voice softens, but the reproach is still there.
“You’re going to drive him away again if you aren’t careful.
And he’s right. The glamours were incredibly helpful.
Abaddon and Kharon were able to walk around the city just like anyone else. Even Raven.”
She looks up at her daughter flying around the ceiling with a warm, maternal gaze that makes something twist in my chest.
“She’ll have so many more opportunities if she can walk in the human world too. She can go anywhere she wants when she grows up. Be anything she wants to be.”
Abaddon’s gaze immediately softens as he watches his wife and daughter. His whole body language changes—from warrior to devoted husband and father in a heartbeat. I know he’ll give Layden anything he wants as long as it makes his family happy.
But I just narrow my eyes after my retreating brother’s back. I’d bet anything he had something to do with Remus’s sudden new abilities.
Time to get this conversation back on track.
“We’ve lost the point.” I make my voice firm, authoritative. “Remus is being Remus, and we all know how dangerous that can be. He’s taken this woman under false pretenses.”
“I don’t know about that,” Lauren pipes up, completely unbothered. “I think I knew what I was getting into. Like you said, he did fly down from the sky. I saw the tail and everything.”
I turn on her. “But you didn’t know he shared a body with me. And you didn’t know he was one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”
She waves a hand breezily, like we’re discussing the weather.
“You know, I was thinking about that. Really, how much pressure should I put on the guy to disclose everything in the first few days of knowing someone?” She shrugs.
“I think he wanted me to get to know him for him—without all his baggage. And I really liked what I got to know. I want to get to know him better.”
I cough out a scoff. Baggage? Did she just call me baggage?
“Seems reasonable,” Hannah says, nodding approvingly. She links her arm through Lauren’s in a gesture of solidarity. “Besides, what’s the harm in her staying a little longer?”
“There’s lots of harm!” The words explode out of me, and all their heads swing my way at the outburst.
Dammit. I’m losing tactical ground because of my emotions. Something that usually only happens to my opponents. I’m always the cool, calm, and collected one.
I try to gather myself. Stand straighter. Use reason instead of volume.
“The humans will be looking for her. You said the video of Remus’s reckless actions was all over the human networks.”
“It’s not that bad, actually.” Layden’s voice comes from behind us.
Apparently, he didn’t storm off to his room after all. He’s meandered to the fireplace couches, but now he’s heading back in our direction, having been listening to our conversation the whole time.
Again, my eyes narrow at him.
“Look.” He holds out his phone.
A video plays on it—a serious man in a suit speaking while sitting at a news desk. “The incident that took the Internet by storm has officially been debunked as a hoax. In Miami this week, a winged man appeared to descend from the sky to the shock of everyone in the plaza.”
“Many took amateur video of the incident.” In the corner of the screen, a shaky video shows a shadow descending into the center of the plaza, people scattering in all directions.
“And the world has been ablaze with conspiracy theories about the man, who some on the scene heard claim to be a god. But today, the Florida man has been arrested, along with his illegal jet pack.”
The video changes to police pulling a tall, drunk-looking man out of a trailer while another policeman holds up a large jetpack, and still another drags out a pair of massive, synthetic wings.
“In other news, yet another federal bank has been hacked—”
Layden turns off the video. “See? No long-term ramifications. The humans have already moved on to the next story.” He smirks. “They have the attention span of goldfish.”
“That’s that,” Abaddon says with a broad smile, clapping me on the shoulder hard enough to make me stumble slightly. “Problem solved.”
“Wha—”
“What’s for dinner?” He turns to Hannah, already moving on. “Should I sear some steaks?”
“What do you mean, problem solved?” I demand, voice rising. “She can’t stay!”
Abaddon turns to Lauren, eyebrows raised. “Do you want to leave?”
She shakes her head firmly. “No. If it’s not too much to impose on your hospitality, I’d really love to stay and get to know Remus better.”
Abaddon claps his hands together decisively. “Sounds like it’s solved to me.”
“What about the little problem of him and I sharing a body!” I demand, gesturing wildly at myself.
Hannah looks genuinely sympathetic as she reaches out to put a gentle hand on my bicep. “I can’t imagine how difficult this is for you, Romulus. It’s not like you two could really discuss what it would be like if one of you started dating.”
Dating?!
What alternate universe have I stepped into?
“This is Remus we’re talking about!” I pull away from her touch. “Psychopathic murderer? Does no one remember?”
But Kharon only steps forward, dark brows furrowed with concern. “We all have a past, brother. Even you.”
“Exactly,” I say heatedly, seizing on his words. “Which is why we need to keep her—” I wrench my head so fervently in Lauren’s direction that it almost snaps, “—away from us.”
Kharon’s eyes are full of compassion—that gentle, kind expression he always has—and I want to punch him for it. Especially when he says softly, “We are no longer the monsters we once were.”
Instead, I just laugh. A cackle that I know only from my memories. My brother’s manic cackle bubbling up from somewhere deep inside.
“You think people change?” I say accusingly, pulling back from all of them. Creating distance. “You think you’ve all become so civilized because you put on these stiff clothes and play happy family?”
Baby Raven has flown down to perch on the back of Ksenia’s chair, her small clawed feet gripping the upholstery. All of them are watching me like I’m the crazy one.
I’m the only one speaking any sense here.
“We’re monsters!” The words rip out of my throat. “We were born cursed, and we’ll die cursed!”
My words ring out, echoing off the stone floor and walls.
Silence.
And then Lauren steps forward calmly, like I didn’t just shout at everyone. “You know, I used a quick-rise yeast for the bread I started downstairs, and I bet it’s the perfect time to pop it in the oven.” She smiles winningly at Abaddon. “Some fresh-baked bread would go fabulously with steak.”
“I can make some rosemary potatoes and salad that will round out the perfect meal,” Hannah says enthusiastically. She puts an arm around Lauren’s shoulders, and together they start toward the stairs like they’re already old friends.
Everyone joins them. Kharon helping Ksenia up from the chair with tender care, one hand supporting her back. Abaddon scooping up Raven mid-flight and settling her on his broad shoulders. Even Layden, tucking his device away and falling into step.
I’m left alone in my righteous indignation.
Standing in the middle of the room like a fool.
The last one to go is the baby. She flies in my direction, hovers in front of my face for a moment, then shakes her little head at me like she’s disappointed. She sticks her thumb in her mouth and flies away to follow her parents.
Even the child thinks I’m wrong.
I stand there in the empty room, fists clenched, chest heaving.
And realize with growing horror that I’ve lost.