Chapter 10 #2
"So tired." He moved his head into my lap, and I smoothed back his disheveled hair. "I was worried about you… but I see you’re fine. You smell like sex."
His nose scrunched, and it was the cutest expression I'd ever seen cross his face. A giggle bubbled out of me. Maybe I still needed some sleep because there was nothing to giggle about when he was practically passed out in my lap.
"Does that bother you? Me smelling like them?" I cupped his cheek, letting my thumb brush over his bottom lip.
"No." His eyes shut, and he groaned as he adjusted his position. "I'm getting too old to pull all-nighters."
"You're not old." I put my other hand in the center of his chest. "I'm going to help you."
He was going to have questions—which I wasn't ready to answer—but I couldn't let him suffer. It was partially my fault we were in this situation in the first place. If I had stayed away like he told me to, none of this would have happened.
I took a calming breath, and my hand began to glow faintly as I let healing energy slowly filter into him. He wasn't injured, so it wouldn't take too much of my energy to get him back to normal.
He covered my hand with his, his eyes cracking open to look at my hand and then at me. "How?"
"My mom was a fox shifter and my dad… is not." I wanted to tell him everything, but the gods didn't go around making themselves known for obvious reasons.
For as long as I could remember, I'd known who my father was and what that meant for me. If anyone knew—even shifters—they'd see me as a threat, or worse, and want to use what few abilities I had.
Apollo only told a select few, and those who did know were bound by a contract that would lead to their immediate death if they shared the information. I wasn't under those same stipulations, but I also had a lot to lose by word getting around that I was a demi-goddess.
"What is he? A unicorn? They heal, don't they?" Kingston chuckled. "Something about their blood... or is it their horn? Are unicorns real?"
"I don't think they are, but you never know." If they were, they were in hiding like dragons and other rare creatures. "He's magical… of ancient origin."
"Ancient origin. That's not much of an explanation. What are we doing, Wren?" He looked up at me, his eyes more open and awake now.
"What do you mean?" I smoothed my thumb back and forth over his chest. Maybe that would distract him from the conversation.
He sat up, keeping my hand captive against his chest. "I don't let people in easily and I've let you in. How can we trust you if you don't share yourself with us?"
Tears came to my eyes, and I put my head back against the tree trunk. "It's not easy for me to open up. My whole life I've…" I choked on my words and shook my head, hoping that would clear the tears.
"Your whole life you've had one purpose." He scooted next to me and pulled me against his chest. "You can do anything you want, Wren. But your job? It's sucked the life out of you."
He was right, and that was why I'd quit.
At least, I thought I had. Agents didn't quit the coalition.
Even though I was set on quitting, my brain was still stuck in work mode.
I felt the need to see this whole investigation through.
That meant I'd need to work with the coalition one last time.
They had the resources to stop Marcos before it was too late.
"We have to fix this. Marcos and anyone else involved have to be stopped." I wiped my cheeks and pulled back to look at him. "If he has more wolves or is planning on revealing that wolf shifters exist…"
Kingston sighed and leaned forward, kissing me gently. He had such a sweet and tender side hidden under his tough guy persona. "I know… but I'm going to help. I started this whole mess in the first place."
"What else could you have done? You were protecting your sister." I stood and held out my hand. "Let's go get Sully and Zayn."
"What about his sister?" He took my hand and stood.
"She's back with her parents. She said she was captured and taken to a vet where her blood was taken. We need to look into all vets in the valley."
We started walking toward the cabin hand in hand, and Kingston didn't take his eyes off me. "Are you going to tell me how you gave me an energy boost?"
I stopped in my tracks. "I told you... my dad's an ancient magic user. He's also the creator of the coalition… the one that recruits all the agents and holds them to secrecy. There aren't many who know who or what he truly is. It's not my place to reveal his secrets."
"But it's a part of who you are too." He sounded so sad. "I want to trust you."
"But you don't." I couldn't blame him. I wouldn't trust me either after I’d lied to them.
"Do you trust us?" I shrugged because I hadn't given it much thought since I never opened up to anyone about myself. "Trust is a two-way street."
"I trust you enough to give you an intimate part of myself." I looked over at him as we started walking again. "Trust takes time. It's not like I can flip a switch and be a different person."
"I'm not asking you to be a different person, Wren. I want to know who I'm falling for." He looked straight ahead, his jaw ticking as he clenched it. "Now I sound like Zayn."
My heart thudded in my chest like we were running instead of walking. "How can you fall for someone you barely know?"
"I don't know." He grabbed the back of his neck and looked over at me sheepishly. "It's this feeling I get in my chest every time I look at you or think about you."
I nearly stumbled over my own feet at his words. He reached out and grabbed my arm, steadying me. "Are you sure it's not indigestion? You said yourself you're getting old."
He threw his head back and laughed, the joyous sound bouncing off the trees. We laughed together for a few moments before we fell silent.
Kingston cleared his throat. "Are you planning on staying? Will the coalition even allow that?"
"I don't know." As much as I wanted to stay, I didn't know what was going to happen with the coalition or my dad. I was a grown woman but living completely by other people's rules. If they forced me to stay at headquarters, I might not have a choice.
"That's not fair to us." He sped up, leaving me looking at his muscular back.
"Kingston… it's complicated."
He wheeled around, his facial features scrunched as if he was in pain. "It's not complicated, Wren! You either want to stay or you don’t!"
"What's wrong?" Zayn came from the darkness, rubbing his eyes. "I don't think I like the tone you're using with my girlfriend." He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me against his side.
Kingston rolled his eyes and turned back the way he'd come. "Let's go. We need to interrogate Mateo and then get the fuck out of here."
"What about the bodies?" Sullivan joined us, his eyes traveling to where Zayn's fingers were splayed on my stomach. "What's going on?"
"Kingston was being a dick." Zayn squealed and backed up, letting me go as Kingston got in his face.
"Do you know who was being a dick? You! I spent all night cleaning up a mess you made!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to bury two dead, fully grown men and clean up blood on a slick surface?
" He poked at Zayn's chest. "Then when Wren and Sullivan didn't show up with you and your sister in tow, I worried you'd killed everyone! "
Zayn batted Kingston's hand away. "You know I would never hurt Wren."
"Do I?" Kingston clenched his fists at his sides. "I'm starting to realize I don't know you as well as I thought."
Zayn's face looked like he'd been punched in the gut as Kingston turned his back on him and shifted.
"Zayn-" Before I could reassure him it was going to be okay and that Kingston was stressed out, he shifted and ran after him.