6. Chapter 6 #2
“That—” The god pushed to his feet and smoothed a hand down the front of his white top. “—is not my problem.”
Then he vanished, disappearing as though he had never existed.
“You have weird friends.” Shaking his head, Keegan pushed away from the table and stood. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah, okay.” While he didn’t have all the answers, he had gotten the information he’d come for. “Let’s go.”
Outside, they turned onto the cobblestone street, following the familiar route through town that led to the castle.
“I just wish I knew what to do about her.” Noah shoved his hands into his pockets and rounded his shoulders against the biting cold.
After centuries in the Underworld, he should have been used to it, but it never really got easier.
“I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of eternity, you know? ”
“Have you thought about crossing the river?”
Keegan’s tone lacked its usual bravado, and the words held a gravity that made even the air around them feel heavy. This hadn’t been a random thought conjured in the moment. He had given this serious consideration.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Finn—”
“Only stayed because he wanted to find out how he died,” Keegan interrupted. “Now, he knows. You waited for me, but I’m here now, and I’m going to be okay.”
“I don’t know.” Everything his twin said made sense, but he’d lived in the village for so long, he didn’t know how to exist any other way.
It also wasn’t a decision to be made lightly. He’d have to leave everything behind, including the people he loved, and once he crossed, there would be no coming back.
“I know it’s a lot, but if you stay here, Karleigh will never leave you two alone. And if you’re staying for me…don’t. We’ll see each other again.” Keegan swayed sideways, bumping their shoulders together as they walked. “Think about it.”
They walked in silence for a while, the village lanterns flickering over the path ahead of them. At the edge of town, the distinct glow of the river at the bottom of the hill drew his attention, its waters whispering to him in both invitation and warning.
Would crossing really mean freedom? Or just a different kind of exile?
“Maybe,” he allowed.
“Or you could break things off with Finn.”
“No,” he shot back, his voice sharper than he intended. “I mean, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“I’m just saying, seems like a lot of effort for a guy.”
“He’s my mate.” Of all people, Keegan should understand what that meant.
“Yeah, but there’s no rule saying you have to choose him just because fate threw you together.”
“Keegan,” he said, his voice dipping low with warning.
“It’s not like you haven’t done it before.”
“This is different.”
Keegan glanced sideways at him. “How?”
“Because I love him!” he snapped. The past week had only confirmed what he’d already known for months. “I want to fight for him.” It took about two seconds and a shit-eating grin from his brother to realize he’d walked right into that one. “Damn you, Kee.”
Keegan’s laughter echoed down the road as he threw an arm around his neck and dragged him into an aggressive embrace. “That’s what big brothers are for.”
Born a whole four minutes before him, Keegan never missed an opportunity to lord that over him.
“You do know I spent centuries here before you arrived. Technically, that makes me older.”
“Nah, doesn’t count. You’ll always be my baby brother.”
“Asshole.” Laughing, he shoved him playfully and ducked out of his reach. “That’s not—”
His words ended in a strangled gasp when long fingers curled around his throat. Before his brain could comprehend what was happening, he felt himself lifted from the ground, and the world around him dissolved into a blur shapes and shadows.
One minute, he had been laughing with Keegan on the street. The next, he was fifty yards away, being pinned against the side of the apothecary, the air forced from his lungs with the weight of the impact.
“Finn is mine!” Karleigh snarled, her face so close to his he could feel her breath against his lips. “You don’t love him. You don’t even deserve him.”
His toes scuffed across the ground, scrabbling for purchase as he clawed at the hand around his throat. He might as well have been trying to bend iron for all the good it did.
“You’re just confusing him,” she continued, her long fingernails digging into his skin. “Stay away from him!”
Noah didn’t know what the hell came over him. He knew better than to provoke a wild animal, but as anger and possessiveness swelled inside him, he couldn’t hold back the words.
“Fuck. You.”
Venom sparked from her eyes, and a mask of undiluted rage settled over her face, making her nearly unrecognizable. Her canines elongated, the tips gleaming with saliva, and she snarled again before lowering her head to his neck.
Noah squeezed his eyes closed, bracing for the pain, but it never came.
“Let him go,” Finn commanded, his voice deeper and colder than Noah had ever heard it. “Now.”
Holding a fistful of her hair, he shook her roughly. Rather than fear or remorse, however, Karleigh looked positively delighted to have his attention.
“Finn!”
“Let him go!” Finn repeated, a growl punctuating the words this time.
“Okay.”
The hand around his throat vanished, and he slumped against the wall, choking and gasping while Karleigh made goo-goo eyes at his mate.
“I’ve missed you so much,” she pouted. “You never come to see me, and I don’t know anyone else here.”
“Shut up,” Finn warned.
“I know you’re upset right now, but if you just think about it, you’ll see that we’re meant to be together. This human —” She spat the word. “—doesn’t know you like I do. He can’t give you—”
Her head twisted around on her neck with a sickening crunch, her long hair flying in a graceful arch from the momentum. Then she crumpled to the ground, her head resting on her arm as if she had simply fallen asleep there.
“Noah.” Stepping over her prone body, Finn rushed to his side, gathering him up in his arms and stroking the hair back from his face. “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”
“I’m okay.” Clinging to his mate, soaking in his warmth, he glanced down at the female. “She’s going to be pissed when she wakes up.”
“I don’t care,” Finn growled. “If she puts her hands on you again, next time, she won’t wake up.”
He probably shouldn’t have found the threat as hot as he did, but whatever. “I’d really like to go home now.”
In response, Finn lifted him from the ground, cradling him against his broad chest as he started striding back down the street. Effective, but not exactly what he’d meant.
“I can walk.”
“Quiet.”
Oh, his mate was growly. “Okay.”
Grinning, he wrapped his arms around Finn’s neck and rested his head on the vampire’s shoulder, content in the knowledge he was right where he belonged.