“Way to throw your blood under the bus, bro.”
Cole barks, “Knock it off, fuckwits. Take that bickering bullshit somewhere else.”
I flinch forward, egging my twin on just as Cole’s big hand shoots out and punches my shoulder.
“Fuck,” I mutter. “What did I do?”
Cole just glares at me.
“Well, of course Liv isn’t here anymore,” Reggie says quietly, bringing us back to my very astute observation. What? I know big words too. Her eyes are glued to the table. “She probably died years ago.”
“Then why here?” Cole glances around the table. “Why would Fate’s spirit be tied to this place. What the fuck are we missing?”
“Can you tell us any more about what happened the night Fate vanished?” Knox asks.
We wait in eager silence, but Reggie just sighs.
“I don’t know much more than any of you, I’m afraid. You guys called me that night, as soon as you couldn’t locate Fate with your marks. I called in the sisters, and we all did what we could to find her. Karma and Destiny sent out their most trusted commanders and associates, while I spent hours checking every single one of her favorite spots, coming up empty each time. At one point, Mack headed back to the cave to see if he could find any other clues as to what happened, and he discovered some sort of magical signature surrounding the entire location, the same one that was found in the heavily laced drinks you had all been consuming.”
“So, someone knew where we would be, what we would be doing, and took measures to set these events into motion,” Levi says thoughtfully. “That’s gotta narrow the suspect pool, doesn’t it?”
“It has to be someone in our circle that knew us well enough to anticipate our every move,” I add, getting more pissed off by the second. “Possibly even Fate’s reaction. If Liv and Fate were so close, are we sure it wasn’t her?”
“It couldn’t have been Liv.” Reggie shakes her head adamantly, her brow furrowed. “She adored Fate.”
“None of that answers the question as to why Fate showed up here. There has to be something we’re missing,” Knox interjects.
“Reggie, did Fate and Liv always meet here at the house?” Cole asks.
“Well, no, actually. Nick was kind of a prick after their parents died, I mean, understandably so since real life kind of bit him in the ass. I popped in a couple of times, looking for Fate, only to find Nick throwing an adult-sized tantrum.” She pauses for a moment as if something just occurred to her. “Fate would always get Liv out of the house when Nick was in a mood. One of their favorite places to go was out toward the back corner of the property. They’d grab a picnic basket and blanket and sit out there talking-”
My hands hit the table a little harder than I intended, startling the ghost beside me. A mess of emotions swamps me as I remember the night we thought we lost Fate. “No fucking way that’s a coincidence.”
“What?” she asks.
“That’s where the willow tree was.”
“There was no willow tree out there then, but willows are Fate’s favorite tree.”
“My woman has a favorite tree?”
“She has a favorite...everything.”
“Of course she does.” Wait...if the woman has a favorite everything, that means I can work my magic and become her favorite twin. I put a pin in that for later. A slow smile tilts my lips up. Fucking woman and her crazy ass.
Something that feels a whole lot like mushy sweetness rolls through me. I know what it is, and I’m choosing to ignore it. At least for now. Emotions are something I usually tend to avoid, like laundry or Mack when he’s in research mode, but Fate pulls them to the surface with no effort at all, and it still terrifies the shit out of me. I mean, it makes sense, considering what we once were to each other, but until this point, my feelings have been locked up tight. My twin is the only other person that even comes close to making me feel. Yeah, I’m definitely not comfortable with all of this quite yet.
“Reggie, did one of us check here that night?”
“Of course. It was one of the first places we stopped, but there was a big party going on. Liv was making the rounds on the patio with the guests, so we assumed Fate wasn’t here, or if she had been, that she didn’t stay long.”
Cole rubs his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I think you and I need to go check out the spot where the willow was. See if we can find anything else that might give us a clue as to what happened a hundred years ago. There’s a reason the willow popped up in that specific location.” Cole stands, and Reggie joins him at the back door. “Knox, you come with us. Maybe you can pick up on something we can’t.”
“You got it,” he says, throwing away our plates and closing up the chips.
I turn to Cole. “What about us?”
“I think we need to talk with Destiny. Maybe she can fill in some of the gaps. Why don’t you two-”
“We’ll go check on Fate and Mack,” Levi offers, cutting Cole off. He stands and makes his way over to the door.
I glance at Cole, whose eyes are narrowed on Levi.
Don’t say a fucking word, cumwipe, my twin says through our connection.
But...
Thad, so help me, God. I will murder you in your sleep. Shut the hell up for once and let me handle this.
“Don’t wake her if she’s still sleeping. We’ll hold off a bit longer. But if they’re up, then get them and meet us in the study.” Cole and the others head out the back door.
I push my chair out and get to my feet. “What the fuck is up with you, and what’s with that look on your face?” I ask, walking up to Levi. “Do you have to take a shit or something?”
“Think she’s up and they’re...you know...bumping uglies?” He smirks as we head upstairs.
“Bumping uglies? Who?”
My twin eyes me a moment, like he’s trying to gauge if it’s worth the effort to explain shit to me.
“Mack and Fate, dipshit.”
“Maybe? How would I know, and why the fuck would I care? All that’s going to do is piss my dick off.”
“Knox knew more than he was letting on. I’m guessing he was trying to give them some time alone. Maybe we can convince them to let us join in.”
“Bro, don’t get my dick’s hopes up.”
“Think Mack’s a missionary kinda guy? We can make that work, right?”
My twin and I turn down the hall at the top of the stairs and head toward Mack’s room. We pause outside the door, both of us leaning in to listen.
“I hear voices,” I whisper.
“Me too,” he says softly. “Should we knock?”
I don’t have the patience for this shit. “Hell no! I’m going in.”
Sneaking kisses along Mack’s neck earns me a warning growl that is beyond sexy.
“Fate…”
“But you’ve been working for awhile, and I need you, sexy nerd.” I pull back and watch his pupils dilate. I’ve got him now.
“You had me less than an hour ago.” He raises a brow as I push my lower lip out, earning a sigh. “You’re killing me, echo.”