“Isiah, just tell me.”
Taking a deep breath, I leaned back to meet his eyes and whispered, “Ember’s pregnant.”
He sucked in a breath. “What?”
Cringing, I took his hand and kissed his cold knuckles. “She and Obie are having a baby… a little girl.” May as well get it all out there.
Raph went still. Stiller than what would be considered natural. And then he ground his teeth together. “What. The. Fuck.”
“Raph—”
“How dare she call and tell you this on Thanksgiving. She knew… she knows what it would do to us, she knows we celebrate the holidays. Fuck, she knows we found Alaric, unless they’ve been hiding under a rock. He’s been the talk of the Conclave.”
“She knows.” I nodded.
“Why is she so selfish? Why would she do this today? Of all days? Why would she think today was a good idea?”
“Maybe she was remembering, too. Maybe she was thinking—”
“Don’t.” He cut me off. “Don’t you dare stick up for her when I’ve had to hold you for the last hour. Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Raph—”
“No, Isiah. You’ve always had a soft spot for her, and I get it, I do. But she uses your feelings for her, and for me, against you every single time we talk to her.”
I swallowed thickly. “She’s not manipulating me, Raphael.”
“Yes, she is.”
“Raph—”
“Stop. It.”
My eyes filled with tears, and I shoved at his chest. “This is why she calls me instead of you. You take your pain and you turn it to anger, then use it against anyone that happens to get in your way.” I shoved him again. “I’m not your enemy, Raph. I’m on your side, I always have been. I don’t deserve to be treated cruelly just because you can’t handle your emotions, and Ember doesn’t deserve it, either. You loved her once.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“It doesn’t disappear. It might change, it might dim, but it doesn’t disappear.” I got on my knees and cupped his face. “It’s okay to be pissed—hell, I’m pissed—it’s okay to be upset and hurt—”
“I’m not… okay, yes, I’m hurt. And I’m pissed.” He grabbed my wrists. “But not with you, never with you, my Isiah Keanu Shadowend, my beautiful soul-pledged.”
I smiled a shaky and watery smile, then rested my forehead against his.
“We’ll get through this,” he whispered. “We’ll get through this.”
“We will.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
After a minute, he said, “Your tiny ass is freezing. Let’s get inside.”
“Gods, what are we going to tell them.”
He hesitated. “I’m not ready to talk about Ember a-and Faye. I can’t tell them—”
“Shh. I know. Me either.”
He nodded. “Let’s go inside.”
I untangled myself from him and stood, and we headed in together. Laz, Alaric, and Grady were sitting in the living room; Grady and Alaric curled up in an armchair together, and Laz on the couch. We headed for the couch, and when I realized I was about to sit in the middle, I stopped and tried to get Raph to switch with me, but my soul-pledged pushed me into the seat.
The second our asses hit the cushion, Alaric asked, “Is everything okay?”
I took a breath and answered, “Everything’s fine. Just a blast from the past.”
He looked like he didn’t believe me, but Raph added, “We’re okay, little brother. I promise.”
Alaric relaxed a little. “You’ll tell me if you need something, right?”
Raph and I both said, “Right.” And we shared a tiny, sad smile.
As the two of them, plus Grady, began talking, Raph put his arm over the couch and cupped the back of Laz’s neck, rubbing the muscles there, but his arm was sort of hovering behind my shoulders. I really wished Raph would’ve switched with me. Although, having him at my side was giving me the courage to stay here with them rather than hide in my room, under the blanket, where I could give in to my grief. I supposed that was why he’d kept me here. He began playing with Laz’s hair, and Raph’s arm slipped off the back of the couch to rest on my shoulders.
I turned to Laz, and asked, “Do you want to switch?”
He shook his head. “You need your soul-pledged close.”
I almost denied it, but that would be dumb, so I simply sighed and nodded. It was a little surprising that Laz not only noticed how badly I needed the contact, but also that he didn’t seem to mind. “Sorry,” I muttered.
“That’s okay. I’m good right here.”
Raph stopped his conversation to lean forward and ask Laz, “Are you sure? We can move.”
Laz sent him a sweet smile. “I’m good.”
Raph nodded and went back to speaking with Alaric and Grady.
Laz leaned in and quietly asked, “Are you okay?”
I opened my mouth to say yes, but what came out was, “Not really, but I will be.” I blinked, surprised by my honesty.
Laz offered a sad smile and patted my knee. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Thanks, Lazarus.”
“Anytime.”
Raph leaned forward, grabbed Laz’s hand with his free one, and kissed his knuckles. Right over my lap. It was weird. Except not really.
Laz lifted a brow at him, then his cheeks flushed when his eyes met mine, so I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, even though being in between them was making me… uncomfortable. But only in my pants. Gods, what is happening to me? I’m an emotional disaster right now, and my cock decides to show some interest? For fuck’s sake.
When Raph kissed my cheek, my eyes went wide. What the hell was he doing? His boyfriend was right there.
But Laz did the same thing as me. He shrugged.
For some reason that made me snort, and then a strangled laugh came out of my mouth. Laz chuckled, and before I knew it, we were both laughing—cracking up.
Raph looked at us like we were crazy and asked, “What?”
But that only made us laugh harder.
It wasn’t until hours later that I realized laughing like that had made me forget all of my woes. Laughing had made me come back to myself and enjoy the company of our family.
And it was because of the sweet human that had come into our lives, and it was wonderful.
Chapter 10
Lazarus
Sleeping on Grady’s couch wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was something I’d done numerous times over the years when I’d been too lazy to climb the stairs to the guestroom. Spending the night on Thanksgiving had become a tradition of sorts since we liked to go shopping for the Black Friday deals. We didn’t typically buy a ton of presents for a ton of people, but we both enjoyed fighting the crowds, hanging out, and then crashing when we got home and pigging out on leftovers.
This year, Isiah was going with us, and I had to admit I was a little excited about it.
Since most people wanted to get the newest electronic or whatever on Black Friday, I didn’t bother opening my shop, so I had the entire day off.