Chapter One
Kytten
The ringing of my phone woke me out of my sleep. Saving me from the nightmare that plagued me. Looking at the caller ID, I smiled. Peace settled over me immediately.
“Hey, Val.”
“Kytten, I need you to do something for me.”
“Sure, anything.”
There was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. Val had saved my life. I owed her a debt I could never repay. She’d found me on the streets when I was just eleven years old. Scared, hungry.
Alone.
I’d been wandering around for days, looking for my brother. He’d told me to stay put, and I tried. I really did.
In my defense, he’d left to get us food. But he never came back. He had been gone two days before I got up the nerve to go looking for him. Only I didn’t know where to look.
So I’d wandered around the streets of Vegas. Hiding in the shadows, crying for my brother. Eating out of garbage cans like a stray cat. It was why Val called me Kytten.
When Val found me, I had been curled up under a dumpster in an alley. Screaming my head off, terrified of the man trying to pull me out. Val rescued me.
Then she took me home with her.
I told her about my brother, and for years she helped me look for him. I never stopped looking for him. Val explained he might be gone. That the only reason he hadn’t come back was because something had happened to him.
That wasn’t the only reason people didn’t come back.
I knew the truth, though. With everything she was capable of—and she was fucking capable of a lot—she wasn’t Wonder Woman. Despite what I believed when I was a child.
Thorne was still out there, though.
Somewhere.
No one would convince me otherwise.
He was my twin brother, and twins had a connection no one could explain. Hell, I couldn’t explain it. But I knew if he was dead, I would feel it. I would die too.
I loved Val and the family she had created here at the Nyght Nymphs. But a chosen family couldn’t always replace blood. And Val wasn’t my blood. Thorne was, and I would never stop looking for him.
Despite believing he was gone, Val understood.
She had a family she couldn’t be with. A daughter someone had stolen from her.
Who now lived in hiding. Someone it wasn’t safe for her to be near.
I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have your child taken away from you and, once you found her, not be able to embrace her.
I wondered if my mother felt that way. Was she like Val? Did she leave us to keep us safe? Or did she just not want us? I absently scratched at my chest.
“I need you in Oklahoma City,” Val instructed, pulling me from my musings. “Find Dr. Melissa Jefferson and watch her. She has my granddaughter.”
“You have a granddaughter?” I asked, sitting up.
I was wide awake now.
“Yes.” I could hear the smile in her voice, and my skin burned. “I have a son, Kytten. Twins, and no one ever told me,” she whispered.
Twins? She had twins?
Not just a daughter, but a son, too.
My left hand tightened on the phone as I held it, while my right hand scratched at my thigh. Val had two children. A girl and a boy. Like me and Thorne.
There would be no room for Thorne when I found him. No room for me once her daughter was safe.
My heart began to race. I looked around my room. It was here somewhere. I’d had to move it. Val almost found it last time.
I had to be more careful.
Pulling the drawer to my desk open, I rummaged around inside it.
“Kytten? What are you doing?”
My body jerked, and my back straightened. I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat from the tone of her voice. “Looking for a pen. I need to write down the information,” I lied.
The line was quiet. I closed my eyes. Val knew I was lying. I suspected she might know what I was doing, but she never asked me about it. She wouldn’t, not without proof.
“Kytten, we’ll find him. If he’s still out there, we’ll find him.”
My eyes watered, and the lump in my throat I’d already tried to swallow down grew. I nodded, though she couldn’t see me. I needed a release. It was all too much. Bubbling inside me like a volcano ready to blow. I had to let it out.
“I’ll call Slyce. This is too much for you.”
“NO!” I took a deep breath. I hadn’t meant to yell at Val. But she didn’t understand. Asking me to do something, then taking it away made it worse. “I can do this. Tell me what I need to know.”
I was met with silence, and I knew she still considered pulling me out.
My body relaxed when she said, “Dr. Melissa Jefferson is a child psychologist in Oklahoma City. She is taking care of a little girl named Danika Franks. I want you to find them and watch over them. Do not engage. Just watch. Keep them safe.”
Keep them safe.
I could do that.
“I’ll leave in a few hours.”
“No, I need you to leave now. I don’t know how safe she is.”
Fuck.
She knew how long it would take. Did she know what had me hesitating? I only needed a few minutes alone. Time to comprehend what she’d told me. Consider what it meant for my future. I’d never stay on my bike with the way I felt right now.
“Kytten!”
“I have to pack a bag.”
“You have a go bag, Kytten,” she gently reminded me. “Do I need to come back? You know I will.” My shame grew with every word. Val was needed in New York. She couldn’t drop what she was doing to coddle me and my issues.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “No. I’ll leave now,” I said, as I dug my fingernail into my arm. I couldn’t wait.
So I had to improvise.
Oklahoma City was small compared to Vegas. It was quiet and serene. Too quiet. There wasn’t enough noise to drown out the thoughts that plagued me.
Finding Dr. Jefferson was easy. She was a well-known psychologist. Her office sat in the heart of the city, making her easy to observe.
Sitting in a coffee shop across the street, I watched as she carried Val’s granddaughter into her office every day. Then in the afternoon, she carried her out. I followed as they went to the parks, the museums, and the zoo.
Until one day she rushed out of her office and never went back. We had been on the road for almost two weeks when she made her way into Vegas.
Slyce, Magyk, and Syrena met me at the small diner outside of the city. I needed to make contact and find out why she’d run. Once she ordered, I made my way to her table.
My looks and happy demeanor meant I was the best option for making contact. People saw me as cute, unassuming. If only they knew what was constantly running through my head.
“Good morning. What a beautiful little girl.”
Dr. Jefferson looked up at me. Her eyes were cautious but friendly.
“Thank you.”
“I’m Kytten.” I held out my hand, leaving her obligated to take it. Once she let go, I sat down and waited.
“Mama.”
Ignoring the question in my eyes, she pulled the little girl into her lap. I knew she wasn’t her mother, but I also knew it was safer to maintain the ruse if they were hiding.
Val wasn’t my mother, but she’d been the closest thing I had since mine disappeared. I watched as a tear slid down the doctor’s cheek and I reached out.
“I can help.”
She looked at the little girl and hesitated. I thought for sure she would open up until she didn’t.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Whatever you’re running from. I can help. It’s what we do.” I looked back at the others.
“I’m not running,” she insisted, shaking her head to emphasize the lie.
I nodded. There was nothing else I could say. I couldn’t reveal who I was or how I knew she was running. That would only scare her further.
“Here,” I said, sliding a card across the table. “If you need help, call. We’ll come. Anywhere you are.”
Walking back to where the others sat, I pretended to eat while I watched to see what she would do. She didn’t leave right away like I expected. She finished her breakfast with the little girl.
Once I knew they were done, I quickly went outside, letting the others settle the bill. I didn’t want the doctor to see me leave after she did. Getting on my bike, I pulled out of the lot to a spot on the main road. With my helmet covering my face, I let the bike idle while I waited.
When the others came outside, they quickly got on their bikes, heading in three different directions from me. Since we all knew these roads well, someone would spot her destination, allowing me to follow her without her realizing it.
Over the past two weeks, while I had been following them, I hadn’t needed these precautions. Making contact today was a risk, but I needed to assess her demeanor.
She was scared. That much was clear. What she was afraid of, I wasn’t sure. Aside from me, I had seen no one following her. So, if there was someone, they were damn good.