Chapter 20
Wyatt
Rafe and Zephyr prowled back and forth across the café like a couple of panthers.
Skye was shivering while Aiden held her.
I was left to stand guard at the door. The water from the storm had already begun to recede.
The streets weren’t littered with agents like before first term, though, so maybe this storm hadn’t been detected.
After Skye had explained her weird encounter with the Crusader, Aiden had hugged her while Zephyr ranted. He’d grabbed a barstool and lifted it above his head for two seconds before huffing and putting it back down.
Rafe decided that was the perfect time to reveal to me that Levi Aria was alive and in the siblings’ basement, and all hell had almost broke loose. Zephyr wanted me to scramble my own brain as well as Rafe’s, and Skye had to step in and tell everyone to shut the fuck up.
“Tell me again, what exactly happened?” Rafe said, looking to me. “Tell me exactly what you saw.”
“I can just show you,” I said, exasperated. Rafe had never held back from my mind before, so this was pissing me off.
“No, you can’t,” Rafe said, shaking his head. “Aiden can’t see if we do that.”
“Come on–”
Rafe cut me off with a growl. “No. There is no you getting into his head, whether via me or otherwise.”
I sighed deeply. This was bullshit, but I supposed it was deserved. I hadn’t even apologized to either Aiden or Skye, yet.
The two were having a silent mind conversation, and then Aiden grinned with his dimples and kissed her nose.
“Oh, my God. Do you two mind?” Zephyr said with disgust. “We just found out there’s a couple of terrorists on the island and y’all are kissing?”
“He only kissed my nose,” Skye said dryly.
My lips twitched but I managed not to smile. “I knew it was her,” I said, turning back to Rafe.
“And she walked right past you?” Rafe shook his head. “That doesn’t track, Wy. She cursed your whole bloodline. I don’t think she’d just pass you by without a second thought.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Zephyr looked like he wanted to laugh.
“Yeah, I have an idea. Let’s start sharing everything we know,” Aiden said. “Something’s going on here, and we need all the details.”
I scrubbed a hand down his face, glanced at Zephyr, then looked right at Skye before I spoke. “My father defended Regina Wilson during the terror trial. He was her lawyer.”
Skye froze.
She began to shake her head, looking to Aiden for his reaction, then froze again when she saw he didn’t look surprised. She looked to Zephyr next, then blinked several times, her mind seemingly paralyzed.
“Y’all knew?” she asked softly.
I suddenly felt like such an ass.
I’d figured the others would’ve told her about our kitchen conversation from a few days ago, but apparently I’d been wrong. Rafe had been looking for reasons to get back on Skye’s good side, and Aiden was on her good side. So why didn’t anyone tell her?
“I recognized him,” Zephyr said immediately. “He looks just like his dumbfuck dad.”
“It’s true,” I said, not even wanting to argue. “We discussed it the other day. Actually, it was the day I saw her. When you were visiting your parents.”
“We weren’t keeping it from you, love.” Rafe said as Skye opened her mouth. “It just wasn’t relevant yet.”
Skye looked to Aiden, who spoke to her through their minds.
I tried not to be offended.
Skye looked to me again, and I began to babble, saying anything I could to keep her attention on me.
“When my father lost the trial, and Wilson went to prison, she freaked the fuck out. The Palace’s strongest Shield could barely hold her. It was raining in the court room as they dragged her out. She cursed my father, and anyone he holds dear.”
Skye’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
Wilson was incredibly powerful. Palace Shields were not weak by any means.
“Wasn’t it right after that when Lauren–”
I cut Rafe off with a sharp glare. What the fuck was he thinking mentioning Willow’s mother here?
Skye looked between us, a confused expression on her face.
“Anyway, Wyatt’s jumpy on account of this curse. I wouldn’t believe it was really her if this storm hadn’t happened. I don’t believe in coincidences where she’s concerned,” Rafe deflected smoothly.
“She walked right past me,” I muttered. “She looked at me, then looked away like I was nobody.”
“And the Crusader?” Rafe asked sharply. “He implied to me that he knew about you.”
I narrowed his eyes at the Prince. He hadn’t told me that. “Knew about me how?”
Rafe grinned, looking a little…sheepish? He cleared his throat. “He told me he knew about my boyfriend.”
Aiden and Skye stifled a laugh.
“That would have been good information to have like a week ago, Rafe.” I growled.
Rafe shrugged, opening his mouth to speak, but then he paused just before there was a knock at the café door.
Darkness exploded, Rafe sending the shadows into every corner of the room to hide us.
It was too late, obviously. Whoever it was would’ve already seen us through the door window, but it was still a nice gesture.
“Fucking hell,” Zephyr groaned. “It’s our friend from the first storm, Skye.”
“Seward?”
I almost snorted as I remembered the lady agent from the original storm. She’d been way too chatty with me even though she was old enough to be my mom.
“Seward?” Aiden repeated in a mutter. “Talk about water affinity.”
“That’s exactly what I thought!” Skye said brightly. Aiden grinned, kissing her nose again before nuzzling against her.
“Oh, my God, I’m going to die. Skye, it’s fucking Stevens. The one who searched the apartment.” Zephyr snapped, sounding exasperated.
Skye gasped.
The officer, Stevens, stared down at Skye’s new ID, his lips twisting.
Rafe loomed behind her like a sentry, his arms crossed while Skye fought the urge to lean back against him.
“You’re the guy that made her get this new ID. What’s the issue?” Zephyr asked, his voice a little edgy.
To his credit, Stevens didn’t cower. Having three large men and the Prince all staring him down with murder in their gaze hadn’t rattled him at all. He wasn’t powerful –I only sensed a weaker water affinity with a very weak earth affinity from him– but he still didn’t show any fear.
“I didn’t even use my affinity this time,” Skye said, her voice taking on a slightly bitchy tone that made my dick throb. “Why the hell are you checking my ID again?”
“Seen your neighbors lately?” he asked.
“The fuck does that mean?” Aiden muttered.
Stevens gestured outside, and my focus finally caught on a crime scene van parked up on the sidewalk.
Skye’s jaw dropped, but she took a step back as Zephyr stormed toward the windows.
“What happened?” he demanded when no one spoke. “Are they okay?”
“You don’t know?” Stevens asked, and Rafe stiffened up at his tone.
So did I.
I moved closer to Skye, and although Aiden glared at me initially, he took in how Rafe and I were reacting, and he moved. I sidled up to Skye’s left side while Rafe took the right.
“Why would I–” Zephyr started to snark, then turned and saw how we were all hovering around Skye, and his gaze darkened. “What are you implying?”
Stevens shrugged, though his gaze was stuck on Skye, which I knew was pissing Rafe off.
Skye shifted her weight from one foot to the other, putting her arm closer to mine. I could feel the nerves coming off her in waves even though we knew she hadn’t done whatever he was implying. I resisted every urge to bump my arm against hers.
“They’re gone,” Stevens said. “Signs of a struggle all over. Man, woman, and their young son. You’re telling me you don’t know anything about that?”
Skye and Zephyr looked at each other, both with varying levels of shock. Skye shifted her weight again, and her dampened hair brushed against my forearm, sending a hot shockwave through me, because I was pathetic.
“It would have been loud,” Stevens said. “Looks like there was one hell of an affinity fight.”
“During the storm?” Zephyr spoke finally. “You’re implying we were supposed to hear something during a practical hurricane?”
“Mr. Aria, when’s the last time you spoke with your neighbors?” Stevens asked, straightening up in a way that made my stomach sink.
Rafe, I said desperately.
It’s fine, he insisted, not looking at me. I’ll think of something.
That wasn’t reassuring at all, but neither was Zephyr’s attitude. As the son of a lawyer, I wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up and stop talking even though he hadn’t revealed anything incriminating.
“I don’t speak to the neighbors,” Zephyr answered. “Not unless absolutely necessary.”
“So, it’s safe to say you haven’t spoken to them since, maybe July of last year?” Stevens said.
Skye took another almost imperceptible step back, and I shifted my weight to stay in line with her.
She was a runner. We couldn’t let her run right now, not while she and Zephyr were about to be accused of something horrible. Whatever it was, Skye seemed to have figured it out before her brother.
“I guess?” Zephyr said, sounding irritated.
“So your last conversation would’ve been the last time you tried negotiating in purchasing their apartment and shop space?” Stevens asked.
Zephyr seemed to understand where this was going just as Stevens spoke, and his gaze hardened as Skye’s chest began to rise and fall faster. At this point, I couldn’t tell if she was nervous from Stevens’ words or Zephyr’s impending reaction.
“I guess,” Zephyr repeated. “Go ahead and come right out and say it, Stevens.”
“I’m not implying anything,” Stevens said with a shrug.
“It’s just interesting that weeks after you had a public, verbal altercation with your neighbors, there was an unnatural storm that affected the entire island minus your shop.
And now there’s been a second unnatural storm, and the neighbors are missing. ”