Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Justice
“She awake yet?” Corbin asks after I flop down in the chair across from where he’s sitting with Karsyn, Asher curled against his chest. The kid was growing fast, was a little over a year old, and loved being with Corbin whenever possible. Mostly, it was to sleep on his pop’s it seems.
“No, she’s still out. Think she had to be mentally drained.” It’s what I thought. She’d been deathly pale when I left my room. The beast in me didn’t want to leave her. I didn’t want to leave her. Regardless, I needed to. I had to talk to Corbin and report in.
When I’d gone to the psych shop to talk to Sibley earlier, it was to get some intel she might have been able to see in a vision. She reached out the night before to tell me to find her when I had time.
We hadn’t been able to discuss much before Annahi showed up at the shop, and I’ve got a feeling that was the reason for Sibley wanting me there and not for intel she might have.
“Her body needs time to heal, she’ll wake soon enough, though,” Karsyn remarks, looking from me to Corbin, then back to me. “You need to take care of her. The goddesses demand it.”
The goddesses demand it?
What the actual fuck?
“They can demand, doesn’t mean I’m going to be anything but me. I don’t know this woman. She was raised by a blood witch for fuck’s sake.”
“She’s special, Justice. They say the fates gave her to you because you are who you are, but you’ll also be able to take care of her how she needs you to.” Karsyn looks to Corbin again, who nods. Sighing, she reaches across the table. “Take my hand. I want to show you something.”
I look to Corbin with a cocked brow. She’s never done this before. No one touches Karsyn, not even Dane especially not without Corbin’s permission.
Corbin nods, and I let out a heavy breath, take Karsyn’s hand for her to show me whatever it is she wants to show me.
Immediately upon taking her hand, the vision fills my head.
It’s the sight of Karsyn speaking with not just the Moon Goddess but the Earth Goddess.
They’re talking to her, telling her the fates wanted Annahi for me.
That I would see how special she was. That I would know what she needs.
The voices will destroy the light inside her without me.
The vision shifts, and she shows me something darker. Something from the past. Something personal. But it’s what she heard, and it was about Annahi. Corbin already shared about this, however, seeing it firsthand is like a punch to the gut.
Finally, when it’s over, she lets my hand go and shifts closer to Corbin, who wraps his arm around her.
“You need to understand, she’s not the enemy. Talk to her. You’ll see this to be true. Your mate is meant for so much more than you realize and needs to be protected from the evil that wants to use her.”
The front door slams open, and I jerk out of my seat along with Corbin, who hands Asher’s sleeping form to his mate.
“Where is she?” Zaid demands, face red. Anger visible on his face. Clara was next to him, eyes wide and filled with worry.
Zaid scans the space, eyes locking on me.
“Where the fuck is Anna?”
“She’s still sleeping,” I inform him, my hackles rising. The beast inside me didn’t like being questioned regarding his mate. Our mate.
Fuck me.
I get she’s my mate, but I’m not fully ready to acknowledge it. Still, I know I need to take into account what Karsyn shared with me. I need to know what makes her so damn special. The voices she hears . . .
Oh hell . . .
I think I get why she’s special.
A memory from years ago pops in my head. I couldn’t have been more than twelve at the time.
My mother is talking to a hooded figure. A blood witch. I smelled it. I’d seen it for myself. They were bartering. Something my mother was known to do. They were discussing a girl—a future mate. The blood witch had plans. Plans with Death.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Does this mean they were talking about Annahi? Annahi and me?
It could make sense with them showing up here and now. Me finding her. Her being in Redwich. They could be here for her, which would mean she’s in danger of them taking her for whatever they have schemed.
“I want to see her,” Clara murmurs, eyes looking upward to Zaid.
“We want to see her,” Zaid demands, nodding and giving Clara a squeeze.
“When she wakes up,” I tell them both. “I’m not waking her up to appease you or anyone.”
What the fuck is up with me?
I shouldn’t fucking care about her being woken up, but here I am, refusing to let anyone wake her.
“We’re her family, Justice, and want to see her.”
“And she’s sleeping right now after nearly killing herself, so no one is seeing her until after she wakes up on her own.”
Zaid wasn’t about to guilt me or anything to get to Annahi. I don’t give a shit whether they claim her as part of their own or not. She’s my mate, and I make the decisions regarding her. Right now, that means no one sees her until I say.
“Zaid,” Corbin speaks up, coming forward. “Get you want to see her, both of you, but I saw her myself, she needs the rest. When she wakes, Justice will let you. Until then, you need to respect what my VP here says.”
I could see neither of them liked what Corbin had to say, but they both nodded.
Good.
I didn’t want to fight them over this, but I would.
Which is something that’s fucking with my head more than anything.
Turning back to Corbin, I give him a chin lift and tell him, “You need me, let me know. I’m heading back to my room to check on her.”
Corbin jerks his chin and moves back to Karsyn. “We’re gonna go get Sage from Big Daddy, then head home for the night. Tomorrow, we have to meet with Orpheus.”
“I’ll be ready.” Leaving them, I head back to my room.
Just outside the door, I hear the whimpering cry just on the other side. Annahi was awake, and she was scared. I felt it in my damn gut, and that’s not something I really want to be feeling, but fuck me, I can’t help it.
The visions Karsyn shared with me filter through my head, forcing my hand. I’m going to have to do this. Claim my mate whether I like it or not.