“I love you too. We had that out the other night.”
“But not with both forms. You like to hear it, to feel it as much as he does, don’t you?”
“We’re not separate people.” She sounded a little snippy, but I looked past that to her eyes, which softened moments later. “But yes, I do. I feel it differently. Not more or less, just…” She shrugged.
“Does it feel good in both forms?”
She snorted, knowing I was fishing, but she put her arms around my neck and pulled me in anyway.
“You know it does.” She kissed me. “Everything does with you.”
I rested my head against her chest until I heard the footsteps coming in through the door, feeling like I’d done that more today than any other day.
“So are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she asked finally.
“We’re going to find a way to make things better.”
“Pissing off the Rutherglen?” Liam said. “We’re in.”
“Everyone needs to speak for themselves,” I said, surveying the crowd sitting on the ground.
I’d laid it all out—the problems, what the Rutherglen had planned and done, the map, the Sisterhood. I put my issues before those I cared about, those who cared about me, and those I wasn’t sure what to do with, and waited. I’d tossed up excluding Liam, but this was us now. He was connected to us through his bond with The Changelings, with Mark, Aen, and Marlow connected to them through me. My eyes trailed over them, an embarrassment of riches, a tempting carpet of masculinity for me to throw myself onto, now that Aen had reverted back to his male form, and realised something I found hard to accept—that they were a strength.
Vervain had seen through it all. Our relationships were all at different stages and states. Lucas still wore that defensive, closed down expression, while Johnno was all wide eyed and hopeful, and Mark? He just smiled, that tiny little twist, which was about all I’d get from him.
I understand now, what you meant about being brave, I told Lilith. I can accept this bond, but there’s no guarantees.
There never is. I wish I could give you that, but all you have is my strength. For this, Kira. I can’t tell you much more, but this is what we were put here for. This is good work, our work, if we can make it happen.
“So?” I asked, sitting down, not wanting to be standing and drawing attention to myself anymore. “What do you think? Apart from Liam,” I said when he went to speak again.
“You know I’m in,” Johnno replied, looking around the group. “I’m not saying I don’t want to play music again. What happened in Billy’s room the other day, and at the bonfire…” He shook his head. “That took me back to the way things were, when we first got out from under the Rutherglen. When we played just for us, did what we wanted, and weren’t corralled into whatever image Dave wanted to push this time. Nothing contained to three minutes, forty-one seconds. But touring, making albums? That’s lost its gloss for me.”
“For all of us,” Jake muttered.
“We could be part of something, something good,” Johnno said.
“Trust you to get all Pollyanna about it,” Liam said, reaching over and tousling his brother’s hair, only to get shoved off him.
“I’m in.” Billy stared at me over the arms resting on his knees. “Wherever you go, whatever you’re doing, I’m with you. You know that. Wouldn’t have shown you what was happening if I wasn’t.”
“Jake?”
“You don’t need to ask.” He gave me that lazy cat smile of his. “Thanks though, but I’m yours, Kira. Whatever I’ve got is yours. But to help kids…” He stilled, his eyes going unfocussed. I didn’t know what he saw and probably didn’t want to. “I’d like that. If I’ve got a choice, it’s to get the fucking sex slaves out from under Dave. Doesn’t seem like much, I know.” His eyes darted across the crowd. “But he uses them a lot to keep his men sweet. It’s a valuable coin to take from him.”
“Marlow?”
“This is the goddess’ work, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I need more training to be useful. I’ve started with Ashanti and Aen though.”
“Mark?”
He rubbed at his chin, and I could hear the scrape of the bristles, those cool eyes taking in the group.
“This doesn’t have the hallmarks of success. A lot of untrained but powerful fae? Another with a massive power base, and by your reports, supplemented by the power of the sky father himself?” He shook his head slowly, my heart creeping up into my throat. He left me hanging for a moment as he studied the rest of us, his lips pursing. “But I’ve knocked rawer recruits with a lot less power together into functional units.” His eyes sparkled when they met mine, then the bloody bastard winked at me. “Give me a free hand. I can get your crew working together and keep them safe.”
That got some mumbling and complaining, but I just grinned and nodded. “Granted. Just no five am starts for me, please.”
“I make no promises in that respect.”
“Aen?”
He looked curiously at peace, like I’d done something to please him inordinately, which after the last time, when I got well acquainted with the back of his hand, was an oddly welcome experience.
“You needn’t ask, my love.”
Which left Luc.
I didn’t want everyone to turn and look at him, but they did. I didn’t want him to have to bear the weight of their collective gaze, but he did. I wanted to talk to him, work through whatever had happened after Billy got hurt like a normal, rational adult, but I didn’t get that chance. He was up and off the sand and out the door without a reply. The Changelings got up to pursue him, but I shook my head. It was hard to leave them, which was something that surprised me, but I strode out.
Where the fuck did he go?
I came out of the training room, expecting to see the hallway in Ashanti’s place, but no, I was in Aragide. I frowned as I looked at the mosaic floor, the high ceilings. “No, I’m looking for Luc.”
A door swung open, the interior dark and murky.
“Not creepy at all.” I slunk closer, seeing the fairy lights and the stormy sky. “Just so we’re clear, palace, I do not wish to be murdered in some facsimile of a horror movie.” I didn’t get a reply. Of course I didn’t, so I stepped inside, feeling the grass beneath my Converse, and walked deeper.
He was sitting on the big flat rock, overlooking the town below. Was it an actual town? Was the door a portal to somewhere else, or were we looking down on some kind of copy of Luc’s memory? I didn’t get a chance to think about that, finding him with his elbows on his knees, looking out at the sky.
“Hey…”
My voice faltered. What had I been thinking? I was no good at this kind of shit, and the others had volunteered. I swallowed hard. I could go back, get one of the guys. Shit, even Liam—
My eyes jerked up when I heard the rumble of thunder above us. Wherever we were, a storm was coming, and I needed to work out what I was going to do about that. Would I run for cover, or would I face it down? I forced my feet to move, one step after the other until I dropped down beside him, sitting on the rock.