Chapter 21
CALDER
Unsurprisingly, Thorne didn’t flinch under her brothers’ murderous glares. Instead, she tilted her head, which put her fresh bite mark on full, unapologetic display—classic Thorne move—and let out a long, exhausted sigh. A sigh I felt to the very depths of my bones.
“Let’s just get this over with. Yes, we slept together. Yes, he bit me. No, you cannot kill him.”
Ricky lifted an index finger and opened his mouth.
“No, you cannot maim him,” she quickly added, her eyes narrowing on her eldest brother.
Before anyone could argue, she reached out, grabbed Ricky by the lapels of his leather jacket, and forcefully hauled his massive frame over the threshold.
Pure shock wiped the lethal hostility right off his face.
He stumbled into the entryway, his heavy boots scuffing the hardwood, and barely caught his balance before obliterating the small table holding her keys.
“You two get in here as well,” she snapped at Felix and Cassian. “Miss Hannigan is literally right there, taking her Venus flytraps for a walk, and honestly, I don’t need them overhearing any of this.”
I glanced through the front window. Sure enough, Miss Hannigan strolled down the sidewalk, casually gripping three heavy leather leashes.
At the end of the tethers, three man-sized Venus flytraps scrambled over the concrete on a chaotic tangle of animated roots.
They lunged at a passing squirrel, snapping their massive, spiked jaws and straining against their collars hard enough to drag the woman right into the street.
The sight dragged a laugh out of me. It was these kinds of things one missed the most when travelling the globe. Nowhere else on Earth had walking, gossip-mongering, squirrel-eating carnivorous plants.
“Ricky, have a seat in the armchair by the fireplace, please,” Thorne said politely, though her tone brooked no room for argument.
“Cassian, you will sit on the couch furthest from me. Felix, here on the loveseat, thank you. Everyone will sit with their hands on their knees”—she lifted a hand when Cassian opened his mouth to argue—”and no one will speak until I give them permission to do so, understood? ”
“Thorne, this is ridiculous—” Cassian bit out.
“What don’t you understand about not speaking?” Thorne growled, her wolf flaring to life in her eyes. “If you refuse to listen to me, then you can just get the hell out. Because don’t think I’ve forgiven you for last night, Cassian Eliott Wolfe.”
I whistled under my breath. She’d middle-named her brother. Never a good sign. Which Cassian apparently understood, since he immediately snapped his mouth shut and sat with his hands on his thighs, obeying her instructions to the letter.
Thankfully, she didn’t give me any instructions. Hopefully, that meant she trusted me to behave myself. And so long as Cassian—who was currently shooting daggers at me with his eyes—did, I would as well.
Her gaze leapt through all three brothers before she glanced once at me and nodded.
“Good.” She strode to the middle of the living room, where all eyes could watch her.
“Now, keep quiet and listen. Because I am only explaining this once. And I swear to the gods, if any of you interrupt me or start a fight or pull any of that bullshit like last night, I will personally feed you to one of Miss H’s plants.
Happily, I might add. I know at least one of them that has a taste of misbehaved werewolves. ”
If I wasn’t mistaken, Felix turned a shade of green before pantomiming zipping his lips.
Thorne folded her arms over her chest, the mismatched socks on her feet doing absolutely nothing to diminish her commanding authority. I moved to the edge of the living room, closer to Ricky, and leaned against the wall, letting my mate take full control of the room.
“Last night took an unpleasant turn. But I’d like to pick up where we left off.” Her eyes flicked to me. “I think we need to tell them everything. No holding back any details.”
I nodded. I was following her lead here. She knew her brothers best.
Relief smoothed her face, and she straightened her shoulders. “Five years ago, a human named Evander backed Calder into a corner,” she started, her tone now purely business. “Contrary to what the four of us believed, Calder didn’t run away. Or rather, he ran away for a reason.”
She took a deep breath. “Like I said last night, Calder left to keep the government off our backs. What I didn’t get a chance to mention was that a human named Evander is the reason behind this.
Apparently, this Evander has compiled a massive dossier on our family.
” She turned and paced a slow line across the floor.
“According to Calder, he has ledgers from the blood dens. Photographic evidence of the fighting pits. Evidence of the casino heist.”
All three brothers winced at that one.
“But even worse, he has evidence of what we are and he used all that to blackmail Calder into working for him to find artifacts. If Calder refused, Evander would turn everything he had on us over to the feds.”
“I don’t understand,” Cassian said. Thorne immediately whirled on her heel with a glare, but Cassian just rolled his eyes at his sister.
“Like I pointed out last night, most of the time we’re here in Eternity Falls.
Humans can’t enter our town. They don’t even know it exists.
So how did a human of all people get all this information on us? ”
“He has a witch on his payroll,” Thorne said. “Wren Ravenspell.”
That name practically sucked the oxygen straight out of the room. Felix and Ricky both flinched, while Cassian’s eyes flared with gold.
“Wren,” Ricky growled. “She sold us out? To a human?”
“Evander bought her loyalty,” I added. “She was all too happy to provide him with whatever information he needed to drag my ass into this mess. Of course, it didn’t help that most of your family’s indiscretions took place outside Eternity Falls, which made collecting evidence that much simpler. Maybe keep it in town next time.”
Thorne just rolled her eyes.
“So, you left to protect us. To keep Evander from turning these files over to the government,” Ricky clarified.
“Excuse me. Did we all forget the rules? What happened to no speaking without permission?” Thorne demanded.
Ricky chuckled, but he settled back in his armchair and waved his sister on.
She stuck her tongue out, then continued, “Yes, Calder left to protect us. But he also left to protect Eternity Falls. Wren knows every single ward her family uses to protect the town. And apparently, she’s of the opinion that she can tear them down just as easily.
If Calder didn’t go, Evander threatened to unleash the witch and let her strip our town of all its defenses, which would put everyone in danger. ”
“So, you’ve just been off hunting down artifacts for this lunatic?” Felix asked.
“Lunatic is too gentle a word,” I said, ignoring Thorne’s huffy glare.
“I’ve never met a human like Evander. He’s vile and lacks all conscience.
He steals without guilt and kills without remorse.
He believes these artifacts are owed to him.
And he’ll keep taking until he gets whatever it is he thinks he’s entitled to.
I’m just not clear on what exactly that is yet. ”
“Sounds like a fun guy,” Felix muttered.
“Fine, you left to protect us,” Cassian said. “Why are you back now?”
With an exasperated sigh, Thorne stomped over to the loveseat and dramatically plopped onto the cushion next to Felix. Her brother snickered, then slung an arm around her neck and dragged her in for a hug, which made her smile.
“I came back because this is my chance to finally put an end to all of this,” I said. “Evander wants The Star of Avelon, and once I give it to him, he destroys everything he has on your family and calls off Wren. Then this whole nightmare finally comes to an end.”
The three brothers exchanged blank looks. “The Star of Avelon?”
“The artifact he wants,” I said.
“And it’s here? In the Ravenspell estate?” Ricky finished.
I nodded. Thorne had helpfully announced its location in front of half the town last night at the Hex Mex.
“Why not just buy it from them?” Cassian asked. “Surely our wealth is more than sufficient—well, except for Felix. Or how about we just ask the Ravenspells for it? Why steal it? If this Evander guy is so dangerous, why not just tell the Ravenspells what’s at stake?”
“Because they won’t give it to him, nor would they sell it,” I said.
Ricky scowled and tipped up his chin to meet my gaze. “Everything has a price, Calder.”
“Not this. Wren explicitly warned Evander about it. She said her sisters will never part with the Star voluntarily. No matter how much money you offer, or what kind of threat you leverage, they will not hand it over.”
Felix frowned. “Why? What does it do?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Evander hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with that information. And since he knows I’m not his ally, not like Wren is, he keeps his information close to the chest. All I know is the Ravenspells have it under heavy lock and key. Wards, spells, you name it.”
I pushed off the wall and strode deeper into the living room. “We have one chance to steal this thing. If we fail, they’ll double their security or move it somewhere it can’t be tracked. We have to make sure we do this right the first time.”
“Okay, let me get this straight,” Ricky said, his voice dropping to a deep rumble.
“We’re planning to break into the most heavily warded mansion in town, steal some fae thingamajigger we don’t understand, and hand it over to a human blackmailer who’s been collecting powerful artifacts for reasons he won’t share. ”
“That about sums it up, yeah,” Thorne said.
“Guess his mommy never taught him that sharing is caring,” Felix grumbled. “And we have to do this tonight?”
“Correct,” I confirmed.
Ricky let out another long sigh. He slapped his hands against his denim-clad knees and pushed his massive frame out of the armchair. “Alright. If we’re committing a felony against the local witches tonight, I need a beer. Who else wants one?”
“It’s ten in the morning!” Thorne announced.
“So?”
Thorne just chuckled then followed Ricky and Felix into the kitchen, leaving me and Cassian behind.
He sat on the far end of the sofa, his hands flat on his denim-clad thighs. Once his siblings’ voices faded into the kitchen, he lifted his head and locked eyes with me.
“I crossed a line last night,” Cassian said. “I haven’t apologized to Thorne yet, but I will.”
I didn’t say a word. We both knew what he’d done. And we both knew it wasn’t my place to forgive him since I wasn’t the one he’d hurt last night.
He dragged a hand over the back of his neck, his fingers digging into the short hair there.
“I lost my head. For so long, I’ve watched her silently spiral and there was nothing I could do but stand back and watch.
Seeing her in so much pain broke me. So, I wanted to break you.
But using what that vampire did to her just to score a hit on you wasn’t cool. She had every right to kick me out.”
I still didn’t say anything.
He dropped his hand and let out a heavy breath.
“And for what it’s worth, I get it. The blackmail.
Evander. If I had to choose between letting the government dissect my family or disappearing to keep them safe, I would have made the exact same call.
That doesn’t mean I like it. I still think you should have come to us. We could have helped—”
“You would have gone after Evander and tried to kill him.”
“I mean, yeah—”
“And then Wren would have destroyed the town.”
Cassian winced. “Yeah.”
“Sometimes, there aren’t any good options. I did the best I could with the information I had.”
He sighed. “Yeah. But don’t mistake understanding for forgiveness, Calder. I’m not quite there yet. I spent half a decade watching my sister fall apart. I watched her build walls made of sarcasm just to get through the day because she thought you threw her away.”
I took the hit.
“I’m all for helping you—because it helps her. But know this.” He bared his fangs. “If you ever hurt her again, I won’t just kill you. I will personally castrate you and force-feed you your own balls. And I will sleep like a baby afterward.”
I stared at him for a long minute. Then a grim smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Cassian, if I ever hurt her like that again, I’ll hand you the knife myself.”
Cassian studied my face, searching for a lie. He found nothing but absolute conviction. He gave a single, stiff nod. Maybe one day we’d be friends again. But for today, this was progress.
“Good,” he muttered.
He headed for the kitchen. I turned to follow him.
Standing in the kitchen doorway were Thorne, Ricky, and Felix. Ricky held a can of beer in one hand, while the other wiped a nonexistent tear from the corner of his eye.
Felix leaned against the doorframe, a hand pressed flat over his heart. He let out a loud, theatrical sniffle. “It’s just so beautiful. The healing. The growth.”
“I think I’m going to cry,” Ricky choked out, taking a massive swig of his beer. “Bring it in, boys. Group hug.”
Thorne stood between them, a bottle of water instead of a beer in her hand. She shook her head, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips, but a genuine smile fought its way onto her face.
“You are all absolute nightmares,” she told her brothers.
“Yes, but we’re your nightmares,” Felix corrected, tossing a bottle cap at Cassian. “Now, come on. These two need a drink, and we need to figure out how the hell we’re getting past the Ravenspell wards without losing any limbs.”