10. Tardy to the Party
CHAPTER TEN
TARDY TO THE PARTY
DEKE
I slammed down the axe , using more force than was necessary to split the logs I had no use for. I could go the rest of winter and not put a dent in what I already had stockpiled.
But I had to get out of the house. I had to put my pent-up need toward something.
I had to get away from Aurora before I planted her ass on my counter and took her with the desperation I felt down to my bones.
Because when I’d looked down into her eyes, half a second away from finally kissing her full, fuckable lips, my instincts had flared brighter than before. Screaming that something was wrong.
Off .
The last time I’d ignored them, Marissa happened.
Aurora was different in every damn way. The bond we shared made it even more obvious that the one I’d thought I had with Marissa was nothing but fabricated bullshit woven together by a lying bitch. Even during the best moments, it hadn’t felt close to what I already had with Aurora in only a week.
In that week, though, she’d barely mentioned her life. The few times I’d tried to ask about her home or her plans, she’d changed the subject. I’d told myself that she was likely still confused by the bond. Or that it was good she hadn’t mentioned returning home because I knew I wouldn’t let her—even temporarily. I’d been shocked yet fucking thrilled my mate had effortlessly settled into life with me, happily spending time in the cabin or at Black Horse. But as the days passed and her evasiveness grew, I couldn’t keep my head buried in the sand.
Or jammed up my own ass.
Aurora wasn’t simply the world’s most easygoing person.
She was hiding something.
I contemplated what that could be as I took my frustration out on the lumber when I became aware that I was no longer alone. Not that someone had approached while I’d been in my head. I still would’ve heard—like how I knew a family of deer grazed across the yard, gray foxes slept in the bushes right under the bedroom window, or hawks lingered just inside the tree line. It was instantaneous, as in materializing from one second to the next.
Staying alert, I kept hold of my axe as I turned to take in whoever it was behind me.
The woman looked around Aurora’s age, not that appearances meant shit since I looked in my thirties and was… a fuckuva lot older than that. Not to mention, the strongest magicks could easily morph every detail of a person until they were unrecognizable.
Shocked eyes stared back at me before darting around us.
Joy.
Fear.
Confusion.
Relief.
And a touch of grief.
It filled her chest. Wafted from her.
And that wasn’t the only thing I picked up.
“Whose are you?” My low voice may have sounded calm, bordering on bored, but a rarely felt emotion rocketed through me. It stole my breath, filling my chest with something far more vital than oxygen.
Hope.
I worked to extinguish the fuse that powered it, not allowing myself to believe it.
How long had I searched? How long had I waited? How long since I’d given up?
How long had it been since I could feel the connection to my siblings?
Not since the night we were cursed.
But there it was. Their presence surrounded her and tugged at my memories like a scent I vaguely remembered.
“What?” The mystery woman’s gaze lowered to the axe I still held before her body shifted subtly. It wasn’t defensive. It wasn’t offensive. It was somewhere in between, like she was ready to be attacked or do the attacking, whichever the situation called for.
Surprising.
Smart.
I dropped the axe to the ground, letting it land with a careless thud so she wouldn’t flee before giving me answers. The lack of screaming terror showed she had at least a passing knowledge of the magicks at play, but I still chose my words carefully. “Your mate.”
“Oh.” She smiled at just the mention. “Lennon.”
Lenuson.
“Who are—” she started.
“Did you do this or him?”
“This?”
I gestured around. “Who got you here?”
“Oh. Right. I, uh, walked from over there,” she tried, gesturing to the depth of the woods, “but you must not have heard me coming. See?—”
“Who teleported you here?” I knew I was being rude, but I also didn’t give a damn. There was no time for pleasantries, and I didn’t need or want explanations. If she wasn’t the one responsible for her surprise appearance, her disappearance could come just as suddenly. I could lose the first lead I’d had since waking up cursed. And since she was human, I was willing to bet it was someone else’s magicks in play—meaning time was damn sure of the essence before whoever decided to whisk her back away.
It was a bet I would’ve instantly lost when she answered, “I did. You know about teleportation?”
“Were you just with your mate?” I asked instead of answering.
“Yes, but?—”
“Can you take us both back there?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I still do better with my camera, but I can try.”
I had no clue what the hell that meant, and I wasn’t wasting time asking. “Do it.” I found enough manners to tack on, “Please.”
She didn’t look exactly thrilled to do it, and I hated to have anyone but Aurora’s hand on me, but she took my arm and closed her eyes.
The green garden dotted with falling snow swirled around us until the white flakes spun and spun, a dizzying vortex that blurred together. When the world righted, we stood in the entryway to a nice kitchen.
Or it would’ve been nice had it not been for the rotted, soulless remainder of what was once a corpse and now resembled a pile of filth.
Panic and devastation filled the air until I could choke on it. There was a rush of voices talking over each other, but I couldn’t process what was being said.
Because it was them saying it.
My siblings.
They were alive.
They were together.
They were empty with heartbreak and wrath.
With death and panic.
They were full with gratitude and love.
With belonging and fate.
“Find who?” the woman next to me asked.
One of the men didn’t hesitate. Not for a millisecond.
At her question, he moved before he’d even looked over, closing the distance between them to gather her in his arms. Desperation dripped from his expression, touch, and voice. It bled from him like she’d been gone for years. “My love. My soul. My everything. I thought I lost you.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” she shot back with a forced lightness that didn’t land.
Tearing his focus from her, he belatedly noticed me. His brows rose as he blinked hard, like he expected me to fade away. “Dubhloach.”
One word.
A name I hadn’t heard in ages.
I almost didn’t recognize it as my own. I’d been through countless others since then, all of them starting with a D. A nod to my real self. A connection to the past.
But at the emotion that filled me at hearing the name after all that time, it was obvious they’d been no substitute at all.
I swallowed it down and dragged my focus from Lenuson—or Lennon, as his mate called him—to sweep it across the others.
Thanatos clutched a short woman with hair so light, it was nearly white. She clutched him right back, but not because they were happy to be together. Or not only that. She seemed to need help staying upright as she swayed. Guilt, gratitude, and relief were clear on her expressive face.
Another short woman took a tentative step forward, a somber man at her back. Even though her flaming hair was replaced by pink and blue strands, I recognized my sister. She gestured around. “Yeah, we can explain this whole thing. It’ll come as a shock, but you need to trust us. You need to know who you?—”
“I know who I am.”
There was so much I wanted to say and ask, but I’d already been gone too long. The ache in my chest that’d decreased since finding Aurora grew painfully strong at my distance from her.
There’ll be time soon. My siblings and my mate.
I’ve finally found them both.
I paused long enough to take them in again. My siblings and their mates, all who were noticeably familiar with each other.
I’m late to the party in every way.
The toxic void at the side of the room poisoned what would’ve been a damn beautiful moment. I tilted my head as I studied the dark rot of particles that I’d only encountered once before. “Who killed an angel?”
I didn’t wait around for an answer. I couldn’t. Pain seared through me as my heart shattered.
My mate needs me.
Out of practice, I worried I would land somewhere in the Sahara. Or that I’d be sent to the wrong Aurora and end up in Norway, standing under the aurora borealis.
But with a single blink, I was back beside the firewood like I’d never left. I scanned the yard and the windows, wondering if she’d seen me.
Explaining how I’d appeared was one way to start the overdue conversation, but it sure as hell wouldn’t be the way I’d choose.
I didn’t see her, and the devastation sitting heavily on my chest remained despite my return. Unsure what to expect, I grabbed the axe and ran toward the house, throwing the door open. “Aurora!”
Silence—other than Victoria’s yippy barks.
I paused long enough to see that Aurora must’ve turned off the stove—saving my house from torching—before I continued my quick pace to check each room of the cabin.
Empty.
Where is she?
Who has her?
And why does it feel like my heart has been pulverized until it resembles the dusty remains of that angel?
I closed my eyes and tried to transport to her—shock factor be damned—but I couldn’t.
What the hell?
I knew my magicks were rusty, but I didn’t think they would deplete from one transport. I didn’t think they could deplete period . They never had before.
A pit settled in my gut, growing by the second. It wasn’t about my magicks—though that wasn’t a promising sign when that same gut was telling me shit was about to hit the fan in a damn big way. It was about Aurora. If she’d seen me with Lenuson’s mate and got the wrong idea, she might’ve taken off.
She could be in danger, and thanks to said drained magicks, I was literally powerless.
Fuck, I hope I’m wrong.
I started for the back door to search the woods when Victoria bit the leg of my pants. Gently shaking it to try to dislodge her, I distractedly said, “Feed you in a minute.”
She kept hold of the dirty jeans and shook her head with a low growl, tugging me forward.
Not about to look a gift dog in the barking mouth, I was desperate enough to follow where she guided me. Once she saw I was with her, she released me and bolted for the front door before backtracking. Over and over again.
“I get it,” I assured her, but she didn’t stop.
Not until I was at the front door just in time for it to be thrown open with enough force to shake the windows.
Dodging to the side to get out of the way, my defenses raised.
My axe raised.
And when I felt Aurora on the other side of the open door, my dick raised, too.
A mix of emotions swirled through me. It took me a second to separate mine from hers.
Relief, lust, and possessive need belonged to me.
The anger and devastation were all her.
“What’s going…” I started, my words trailing off when she cleared the heavy wood obstruction, and I got a better look.
Her.
Mine.
Her.
My one.
My gaze roamed as I moved to stand in front of her, not sure where to look first. She was different.
Everything was different.
She didn’t have the same problem. She stared me dead in the eyes—and her expression said that wasn’t the thing she wanted dead. Her voice was soft and lined with a hint of a Southern accent when she spoke. “Deke.”
She spoke .
“Dubhloach,” I forced out instantly, needing to hear her call me by my real name in her beautiful voice.
“Dubhloach?” It came out a breathy question, but I didn’t care.
My lids closed as my brain seared the moment into my bones.
And then it was gone when something hit my chest and fell to the ground with a jingle.
Lids snapping open, I glanced down at the keys before my gaze returned to hers. To her eyes—which were no longer brown—and then down to her mouth. “You can talk.”
I waited for her to look as shocked and in awe as I was, but she didn’t seem thrown by the sudden ability. Because it clearly wasn’t sudden, and it wasn’t our bond or magicks at work.
Why didn’t she speak before? Not a single word in a week, even when she was frustrated with herself.
Before I could ask, the same venom in her expression filled her voice. “And you’re home.”
Even with the snapped attitude, it was still beautifully sultry.
And I was still sick because her unexplained anger didn’t lessen my hard-on. It made it jerk painfully against the confines of my jeans.
“Sooner than I expected,” she continued. A cruel smile slashed across her face. “A lot sooner. Hopefully, you told them you’re sorry.”
“Told who?”
“The brunette, blonde, and the one with the funky hair. I know they say it’s normal, and it happens to all men, but…”
So caught up in her eyes and voice, it took my brain far too long to catch up with her cutting words. My stomach churned at her insinuation, but my mind raced.
Did she hear me? See us? Feel what I felt?
Is our connection growing stronger already?
As badly as I wanted to know how she could talk—or why she hadn’t before—her distorted knowledge of where I’d been took precedence.
I took a step toward her, and she took one away. Another step, and another retreat. The pattern repeated until her back was to the open door. I came closer still, not stopping until my body was almost touching hers.
Close enough that I could feel the rise and fall of her rapid breaths.
Close enough that I could stare down into her mesmerizing eyes—one the prettiest sky blue and one the inkiest black of a night’s sky.
But far enough that she couldn’t feel the stretch of my hard cock.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“W-what?” she asked haltingly before the mocking steel came back into her words. “About your wild foursome partners?” Her eyes widened and then dropped to stare at my shoulder as she raised her own in a half-assed shrug. “Outside, I saw?—”
“You saw me with one woman. And it sure as fuck wasn’t in the way you think. How did you know about the others?”
She scowled. “It doesn’t matter. I just know.”
“And so you were going to what ?” I stabbed a finger toward my discarded keys. “Take my truck?” My voice might’ve sounded casual, but the pain and panic shooting through me sure as fuck wasn’t.
“Well, you weren’t in the woods, so I thought you left. But the truck was here, so maybe you were having… fun in it. But then… And it wasn’t the cabin I… So I was going…”
“Going to leave?”
Leave me?
She raised a stubborn chin. “I was going to find you. But now you’re back.” Her words were slow and emphasized. “ Very quickly.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Let it go the first time you said it, baby, but you want to keep making jokes”—I closed the last bit of distance so she could feel my hardness against her stomach for a different kind of emphasis—“I got no problem finally bringing you to my bed to show you exactly how long I can last.”
“Finally?” she whispered.
“Fucking finally .” I lowered my face toward to her upturned one, and fuck, I wanted to kiss her. “Bed. Table. Right here against the door. I’m game for any of it.”
“But the women?—”
“It wasn’t like that.” My stomach roiled at the thought of touching anyone other than her, but it revolted at the idea of being with Juno—or whatever name my sister went by. “ Never like that.”
She gave a scoff. “You don’t owe me any explanation. You definitely don’t owe me any lies. I’m just a random woman you found in the woods who’s staying with?—”
“The hell you are. You’re mine .”
Breathtaking eyes widened briefly before immediately going into the most attitude filled eye roll I’d ever seen. “ Riiiight . Well, that bit of fiction aside, I don’t care what you do in your free time. But the least you could do is not lie to my face like I’m a naive idiot who doesn’t know how you men are. Especially one who looks like…” She raised a hand to gesture to me.
It would’ve soothed the deep stabs she’d made to my pride if it hadn’t been for the continued insults.
She finally speaks, and it’s to call me a lying one-pump chump who can’t keep it in my pants.
“How are us men?” I asked.
“You have biological needs. Wandering eyes. Base urges you can’t control, blah, blah, blah.”
“Who in the hell did you waste time with that filled your head with that bullshit?”
The angry front she put up waned, and loneliness filled her so completely, I had to put my palm to the door before it took me down with her.
“Christ, baby.”
She rallied like she had practice ignoring that ache. Too much practice. “It’s a known fact.”
“No, it’s a pile of lies that small-dicked assholes use to justify being small-dicked assholes.”
She let out a frustrated noise and started to bring her hands to her head before catching herself. “This conversation is giving me whiplash, and it’s all unnecessary. None of this is what matters.”
“You’re right.” Before the pain could settle on her lowered face, I gripped her chin and aimed it back at me to clarify. “It doesn’t matter because the story you’ve built up in your head is bullshit.”
“I know what I?—”
The back of my neck prickled at the abrupt way she cut herself off. “You what ?”
“Nothing. Can you give me some space?”
“No.” My focus flickered between her different colored irises. Each one had hints of different hues, and I wanted to spend hours finding them all, but right then wasn’t the time. I chose my words carefully so I didn’t scare her. “Your eyes are?—”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, my freakazoid eyes are weird and hideous. Thanks. Can we get back to you moving away?”
“First, no. Second, your eyes are incredible. And third, you know they changed?”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth for a second. “I, uh, saw. In the truck mirror.”
Lie.
“You know because they didn’t change. You were wearing contacts, weren’t you?” I rocked back at that revelation. At my relief . “The barrier I felt.”
Her face screwed up in horror. “Felt? You touched my eyeball?”
“What? No.”
“Then what’re you talking about?” Her wide, panicked eyes showed more of the bloodshot lines that dominated the whites. I’d assumed it was caused by her eyes changing, but since they hadn’t changed, it was a non-magicks injury.
“They’re pretty damn red, baby. Do they hurt?” I didn’t give her the chance to answer. “We need to get you to an eye doctor. Urgent care? Maybe the hospital? You could lose your vision.”
She muttered something that I didn’t catch as I tried to pull her from the door toward the porch. She dug her heels in. “I’m fine. It’s just from wearing the single use lenses all week. They already feel better.”
My voice came out a harsh shout. “You wore single—” I inhaled through my nose sharply, struggling to get my temper under control. “For the love of angels, don’t do something so dangerous again. If you need a refill or glasses, we’ll go get them now.”
“They’re not prescription,” she admitted before pressing her lips together like she regretted saying anything.
“Then why were you risking your health to wear them all week?”
She pointed a finger at her eyes and wagged it back and forth, nonverbally conveying a duh that I didn’t understand.
“And?”
“We went through this. They’re weird and hideous and?—”
“Beautiful,” I cut in.
She gave a joyless laugh and rolled those gorgeous eyes again. “No.”
“Are you always so argumentative?”
Her brows lowered, and she hesitantly shook her head. “No, actually.”
It says something that I get off on the fact that attitude is reserved for me.
A thought for later.
Preferably when my mouth is on her.
Once I convince her that I’m worthy to touch her, not a dickhead, and also her fated mate.
Or I could just beg.
Offer up a long lifetime of wealth, restaurants, a demanding dog, and a cabin.
Bargain my half a soul that’s already hers.
Whatever.
Aurora did a better job keeping her head focused on what was important—as opposed to me, who was doing all my thinking with a different head. Forcing her arms between us, she crossed them and demanded, “So who were those… I mean, who was that woman? And what were you saying about a barrier?”
“They’re… She’s… Shit, I don’t know where to start.”
“How about at the beginning?” she suggested, her walls going back up.
“Good idea. A thousand years ago?—”
“I meant the beginning of your story, ” she said with a snarky laugh and snarkier air quotes, “not the beginning of a fairy tale.”
“That is the beginning. Of me. Of us .”