Chapter 62
Skye
“She okay?” Wyatt murmured.
I nodded with a sigh, dropping to sit on Rafe’s bed beside Aiden.
Wyatt leaned forward, placing his hand on my throat.
I swallowed as he healed the slight bruising there from when the butler had attacked me.
I found it a little ironic that this was now the second time Wyatt was healing a mark on my neck.
I felt like I’d lived a thousand lives since I’d woken up this morning.
After Willow saw Mia in the Craig’s garden, Rafe immediately brought the two of them back to the Palace with Zephyr while the rest of us gathered up Lauren.
Willow, Mia, and Zephyr were now in Rafe’s stupidly large shower. Rafe and Raaz were right outside the bedroom door, speaking in hushed tones along with Isaiah, who kept anxiously peeking into the room.
“You look tired, baby.” Aiden whispered.
“I’m so tired,” I whispered back. I felt Rafe enter the room, then breathed out when his warmth met my side. “I’m sorry I went without telling you.”
Wyatt’s hand landed on my thigh, squeezing gently. “It’s okay, sweetheart. We’re not upset.”
“Never,” Rafe said, his hand kneading the back of my neck. I stifled a moan. “I could never be angry with you for any reason, but definitely not for going and rescuing your friend’s mother. I mean…Jesus, Wyatt.”
“She didn’t look like that when I saw her last,” Wyatt insisted for the millionth time. The guilt was eating him alive.
I placed my hand over his on my thigh. “It’s okay.”
The four of us relaxed slowly, taking in strength from one another. It actually felt…nice.
“We need to talk about River.”
Fucking Wyatt.
I cringed, pulling away from his hold and leaning back into Rafe.
“He freed Mia,” I said weakly.
Mia was in shock. All she could tell us was that River had freed her from the cell she’d been locked in, but hadn’t offered any details. She could barely meet Aiden’s eye while he’d nicely questioned her, since Zephyr didn’t want Rafe or Wyatt upsetting her.
“Yeah, but he’s a liability,” Rafe said with a sigh. “He can’t be trusted while his mind is compromised.”
“I’ll protect him,” I said defensively.
Rafe’s hand suddenly moved from the back of my neck to the front, then he cupped my chin, tilting my head back so that I stared up at him.
“If you’re protecting him, and me, and Wyatt, and Aiden, and Zephyr, and Willow, and Mia…who’s going to protect you?”
I swallowed thickly.
“Me,” Isaiah said from the doorway.
All three of my Links snapped their heads toward him.
“I’m going to protect her,” Isaiah said, moving into the room freely. “That’s what I’m here for, right?”
“No,” I said at the same time each of my Links made a different sound of disgust or disapproval.
“You’re a Telepath?” Rafe asked, narrowing his eyes.
“It’s not the best,” Isaiah said. “But I do have some telepathy. I never practiced it.”
“You’ll start practicing immediately,” Rafe said. “As soon as…whatever this is settles down.”
Isaiah nodded, looking to me. “I owe you, Skye.”
“I’m not sleeping in that bed with everyone,” Wyatt said.
“Okay, well I’m not sleeping away from my sister while this shit is going on, and Willow and Mia want to be with her,” Zephyr said calmly. “So either you and me are in that bed together, or you can get on the floor.”
“No one’s sleeping on the floor,” I said, exasperated.
“See? So we’re all in the bed.” Zephyr said, his voice still eerily calm.
Wyatt was being ridiculous. Rafe’s giant bed was bigger than the Chain bed at the dormitory, easily able to fit six or seven grown men.
It was stupidly large considering it was only for one man, unless he’d planned to have his Chain in his room with him someday.
Or…or if he was planning on having…orgies.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
Rafe furrowed his brow, hunching his shoulders in confusion.
How many people have you had in this bed at once?
Rafe’s eyebrows hit his hairline, then his expression morphed into a smirk.
Wow. Jealous again, darling?
I narrowed my eyes even further so that my eyelashes obscured my vision.
Rafe chuckled, pulling me into a hug even while I half-heartedly tried struggling away from his grip. He kissed the top of my head.
Wyatt’s the only person to ever be in this bed with me, he said. For sleeping or otherwise.
I cleared my throat, feeling a little silly. “We do not all have to be in the bed.”
I pointedly looked to the several large couches and lounges on the other side of the room, wondering why Rafe hadn’t offered to bring in another random mattress for them.
Wyatt and Zephyr continued their stare-off.
“Come on, Wyatt, stop being so annoying,” I groaned.
“No, this is stupid.” Wyatt said. “We are not putting seven people on this bed.”
“Eight.”
Everyone froze, then turned toward Isaiah standing at the door.
“Eight?” Rafe repeated, his tone a little scary.
Isaiah’s ears turned red.
“Yep, eight.” Zephyr confirmed. “Any questions?”
“Uh, yeah. Why eight?” Aiden said, waving a hand.
Zephyr blinked at Isaiah. “You didn’t tell them?”
Isaiah’s cheeks flamed.
“I didn’t get a chance,” he started at the same moment Willow and Mia emerged from the bathroom.
“Didn’t get a chance for what?” Willow asked.
“What,” Rafe said with a glare at Zephyr. “What was he supposed to tell us?”
Isaiah rubbed the back of his neck as Zephyr turned to me.
“So,” Zephyr said, nonchalantly. “I uh…I did my Link-testing.”
“What?!” I lurched to my feet.
Isaiah rubbed his eyes with a groan. “You are ruining this.”
“Oh, God.” Mia murmured.
I froze, then turned to Willow and Mia.
“You knew?!” I hissed.
“Uh…” Willow blinked several times, then pulled Mia into her side. “Listen, I’m just happy Mia is back. Aren’t we happy Mia is back? Shouldn’t we be talking about how River is the one who freed her from the cult dungeon?”
No.
Actually, I never wanted to talk about River again.
“She has a point,” Aiden murmured.
I glared at him.
“Oh, my God.” Zephyr groaned. “Skye, I did my Link-testing when we weren’t speaking. I’m a Key.”
No one moved.
“You’re a Key,” I repeated in disbelief. That didn’t make any sense. Our mom was–
“Levi is a Key, remember?” Zephyr said gently. “I was doing some reading. Offspring between two Keys is a toss-up.”
“That tracks,” Rafe said, running a hand down his face.
“Yeah,” Zephyr went on, sounding a little pained. “So, I have two Links.”
Two.
“I’m one of them,” Isaiah blurted. “I wanted to tell you earlier, but then Willow showed up, and…”
“Wow, sure, just blame me.” Willow snarked.
“It was your fault,” Isaiah said dryly.
“Hold on,” Wyatt looked to Willow. “So…what does this mean for you?”
“We’re building one of those new Chains, Wy,” Willow said dryly. “Two Keys together with their Links.”
“And you’re all okay with this?” Wyatt looked to Mia and Isaiah.
“I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” Zephyr snapped.
“It sure as shit is,” Wyatt snapped back.
Rafe stared at me.
Are you alright? he asked.
I shrugged, because I had no idea how I was feeling right now. I’d just found out my brother was in a Chain with my bodyguard. The same bodyguard everyone thought I’d fall in love with.
Just as I opened my mouth to say something, there was a loud crash from the other side of the room.
We all jumped to our feet, different men jumping in front of me and my friends while we tried to see what’d happened.
“No way,” Aiden cried.
I leaned around his arm, then gasped.
River fucking Mac was here.
Everyone moved at once.
Willow and Mia dove out of the way as Wyatt and Zephyr lunged for River.
“Don’t hurt him!” I cried as Aiden grabbed me.
I teleported out of his hold, appearing closer to River, then gasped as shadows grabbed me.
I glared at Rafe’s back, but he was between me and River.
River who…was lying in a fetal position on the marble floor, writhing in pain. There were purple veins along his temples, peeking out from under his dark hair, visible even as he thrashed.
“Oh, fuck,” Zephyr choked out, stepping back and clutching his head. “Shit, that’s bad. Wyatt, help him.”
Wyatt was already on his knees, his hands on River’s face trying to fix whatever was wrong.
“River?” I breathed.
He seemed to calm for just a moment, long enough for his head to jerk around. His blue eyes landed on me, and he squeezed them shut before curling in on himself again. At the sound of another whimper, I batted at the shadows around my waist, surprised when they melted away.
I slid to the ground beside Wyatt, my hands hovering like there was anything I could do to help River.
“Skye–” Rafe started, cautioning me, but I ignored him. I’d forgiven him the first time he held me back, but now, I was pissed. River needed me. He needed help, and he came here. I had to help him.
“River,” I repeated. He whimpered again, clutching his head while trembling violently. The veins on his temples seemed to pulse, and all three of my Links jumped as I reached out and touched him.
“Skye,” Wyatt warned.
“Everyone shut up,” I hissed. Aiden pouted, because he hadn’t actually said anything, but my attention remained on the man in front of me.
River kept tapping at his head, his tortured gaze finding mine almost as if he were trying to tell me something. I thought back on everything we’d ever talked about. Everything he’d ever told me.
Understanding dawned, and I didn’t ask permission. I pushed into his mind, breathless at the pure malice that greeted me. A Telepath was attacking his mind, shutting him down bit by bit, not unlike what I thought I’d done to Landon.
Only this wasn’t kind. It was slow. Cruel. The part of his brain that housed his pain receptors was still on, allowing him to feel every bit of pain as the assault barreled through. River was fighting as hard as he could, but he wasn’t good with telepathy. He hated it.
I jumped as I bumped up against the other presence in his mind, but it didn’t notice me at all. It continued wreaking havoc as if I weren’t there.
I sucked in a ragged breath.