“Another?” I repeat and she grins, a knowing one I have seen on Isabella from time to time. In fact it looks the same… “She’s yours,” I finish.
“She is. I inhabited the human to make sure she was born. I wish I could have stayed, but human bodies take their toll on me, however I am never far from you, my daughter.” She acts like Isabella can hear her and maybe she can. “Another, yes, she is needed. Only when you all work together and she completes her destiny will the world be safe. Do not worry about her, I have her under my watch, making sure everything goes as it must. Now, nightwalker. Go, protect my daughter, let her lead you and you might just find what you have been searching for all these years…”
She slumps, and I reach across and cup her face as her eyes blink open and she sucks in breath. “Whoa, that fucking sucked. Well, shit,” she mutters, and I laugh and kiss her. “What did that mean—”
“I don’t know, but we have to trust in her, something I hate as much as you. Come on, there must be a reason why she brought us here. Are you okay?” I inquire, and she nods a bit shakily, but then blows out a breath and a smile crosses her face.
“I have a mother, Ciar.”
“You do, my love, a very powerful one, so please don’t ever tell her when we fight, she might kill me,” I warn, but she laughs and kisses me before getting out of the car. I grumble and follow after her. My mate couldn’t have had human or even an angel mum, could she? No, it had to be an all controlling entity who can kill you without a thought.
Brilliant.
I get out and look around, a diner? She brought us to a roadside restaurant? Why? I meet Bella at the front of the car and take her hand as we lean back and wait. Surely there must be something or someone here she wants us to meet?
Find your family.
So I need to find my brothers and their mates? I’m overjoyed that they have them as well, I had hoped if I had one they would also. I wonder if it goes by age? If so, I will be second to last to get mine and Mishal would be next...unless it goes the other way?
My mind is whirling when I hear a gasp and a woman exclaims. I lift my head to see the brother in question standing before me. Mishal? I stare, he stares right back. It has been so long since we last saw each other, and as the two youngest we were always the closest. My heart skips a beat as he stares me down, those dark eyes locked on me in an unnerving fashion. He has grown into quite the dragon. I can feel his power, and next to him is a woman who’s holding his hand and looking at me.
“Mishal,” I whisper. “Nyre,” I greet, knowing he can hear me.
“Brother,” he murmurs, his eyes filling, and before I know it we are embracing before pulling away. “It has been too long! We were searching for you!” he explains, and pulls the girl around to meet me.
“This is Dabria, Ciar, she is my mate,” he whispers, his eyes wide and face covered in love and worship. I look at the little woman next to him and smile. I can feel she is one of mine and I grin in greeting.
“Hello, little vamp, let me know if he annoys you, okay? As the older brother, it’s my job to beat him up.”
“Like you could, you can’t even beat me,” Bella taunts behind me, and I grin as Mishal and Dabria look at her.
She moves from her spot against the car and drapes her arm around me, resting her chin on my shoulder. “I thought you said you were the good-looking brother?” she whispers loudly, making Dabria giggle, and I roll my eyes.
“Love, you know you can’t get enough of me,” I tease as Mishal laughs.
“I like her,” he booms, and she holds out her hand.
“I’m Isabella, remind me to tell you how I knocked your brother out with my shovel.”
Bella, I will spank you.
She grins wider but falters when Mishal pulls her into a bear hug. She isn’t used to it, after all.
It’s okay, Bella, we are a touchy family.
She settles into the hug then pulls away, clearing her throat, slightly caught off guard, but I feel her heart explode with love. She is part of a family. I hear the echoing thought.
You are, Bella, better get used to it. There are plenty more where he comes from and it looks like we have to hunt them down and get those idiots to fall in love and not mess it up.
“How strange that you are here.” Mishal grins.
“Not really, seems fate has a hand in it,” I reply, and he tilts his head, his eyes flashing with Nyre’s presence for a moment, so I explain and he nods.
“We feared something was wrong. We have been hunting you all down to try and break the blood oath we made all those years ago and to keep you all safe from whatever is happening in our world. I wanted to see if you all had mates and figure out why they are trying to capture us. Did one try to get you?” he questions.
“No.” I snort, like they could get me, please.
“Only because he was locked in a coffin,” Bella retorts, making Mishal laugh.
“Oh, like you did better getting captured? Wait until I tell the others,” I tease, and his eyes narrow as he snarls. Dabria lays a hand on his chest and he settles, looking down at her with mismatched eyes—Nyre is peeking out.
“Where do we find the others? I haven’t seen them in years.” Mishal sighs. “Seems we are on a time crunch and need to locate them fast.”
“If we find their last location, I might get a read on where they went or some other memories,” Bella offers, and I nod.
“Then let’s start with Calder, I saw him last,” I inform them and look at Bella. “He is a little older than me, can be a moody bastard, but he’s powerful and might be able to help us find the others.”
“Where will he be or where do we start?” she asks, with excitement for the hunt in her eyes. I pull her closer and kiss her cheek.
“We aren’t too far from the silver coast, we might find him there,” I muse, and Mishal nods, a grin coming to his face as he embraces me, his hand slapping my back.
“Let’s go get our brother and bring our family back together again.”
Let’s.
The sea crashes against the craggy rocks at the base of the cliff. Looking down into the stormy waters, I find my center, letting peace come over me, and the waves instantly quiet, the sea calming slightly as I do. The bodies of my attackers lie behind me where they had interrupted my nightly grounding with the sea. I don’t know who they are or what they wanted, but the ambushes have been coming more and more frequently. I did wonder at first how they found me, but now I am suspicious. Magic is at work here. But who, or what, wants me...and why?
Why now?
I look behind me and then toss their corpses over the cliff to the deep waters below, where they will be lost and forgotten forever. My home, the old castle, stands behind me, the gothic structure making me feel at ease—it was always my favourite era.
Even if I walked it alone, searching for something always out of reach.
The sea calls to me, tells me it can help, and it can. It’s where I feel the most at home, the most powerful, but I can often get lost in its waters, where time and space have no meaning. I did that for over five hundred years and only came back two years ago, then rejoined society.
Not that I felt I had joined it, mind you, I don’t understand this world anymore and I am tired. Tired of being alone, tired of the never-ending years that stretch on before me.