Page 21 of Unwanted
A bright smile lit Tam’s face. “You didn’t.” In a flash, too quick for the eye to see, Tam was a tiny white fox. He bounced from wall to wall and furniture to furniture like a fox on crack. He was back to human every bit as quickly. The odd part was, Fen knew damn well this was no Werefox. Weres couldn’t shift while wearing clothes and still have clothes at the end. He was so much stronger than any creature Fen had ever met … and dangerous. Tam practically crackled with untapped power.
He sat on the floor and hugged his doll the way a child would do. Fen recognized the act for what it was. Tam knew he was the most powerful being in the room, but he seemed to want them to understand they weren’t in danger. Tam’s focus locked on Frost. “You didn’t fail. You’re just sad and worried about Gemini. It’sbleeding into everything else. Trust me, I do that all the time too. The mind doesn’t care about the truth or how badly you want to be normal like everyone else. But you’re not failing Gemini or at being a healer. He didn’t lose anything by being paired with you. He gained everything. When I met Risk, I refused to accept that he could love me, since I was just this broken thing that crawled from Hell. I didn’t want to taint him.” Tam stared at nothing for a moment. “Still don’t, actually.” He shook his head, as if shaking off a trance. “But those thoughts aren’t real. They’re make believe.”
Fen tried his ass off to keep his mind blank, but there was a lot of information in that lecture that only led to more questions. Apparently, Tam had crawled from Hell and had a mate named Risk. Fen gathered that much.
Tam kept talking, ignoring any thoughts Fen might have let slip through. “You need to face the truth. You keep thinking you’re this human who got tossed into a position you can’t achieve. The reality is—you’ve never been human. You’ve always been part of our world. Someone hid you behind a human glamour. Maybe it was the right thing to do at the time. There’s no way I can know. But there was never any chance you could escape your true identity. There was no way to ignore the fact that you can’t die and magic and power runs through your blood. You would have eventually found us, no matter what else happened in your life. There’s no escaping fate.” Tam went from serious to chipper so fast, it nearly made Fen’s head spin. “Plus, you’re my cousin or something like that and I would’ve come for you and dragged you to Wulfe so you could find your mate. I really need to sit down and think about this family tree business.” He seemed to turn inward. Tam used his fingers as if counting. “I’m Michael’sson and Michael is Celeste’s grandson. So, I’m Celeste’s great-grandson. Lucifer is Celeste’s twin and you’re his son. So, you’re my cousin, right?” He looked Fen’s way with his brow furrowed. “It is cousin, right?”
Thankfully, the total shock hadn’t rendered Fen totally mute. “Yeah. That sounds right.”
Tam brightened as he focused on Frost again. “See. You can’t escape us.”
Frost looked as if his soul took a hike. There was no one home. He stared at nothing and had zero reaction. It was like his body was in suspended animation.
Tam stood, seemingly oblivious to the bomb he dropped. “Anyhow. Stop thinking all of this is some big mistake or dream. Gemini loves you. He doesn’t think he got screwed out of some normal life with kids and a less dangerous spouse. You’re exactly what he wants and you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. In fact, you’re a pretty kick-ass healer. Don’t blame yourself for not knowing Monnie held Kyrie’s soul hostage. No one could’ve known that. Even Granny Celeste was in the dark. I mean, Monnie is a pretty crafty god in his own right. Plus, the gods don’t spend their days in each other’s business or anything like that. Just ask your dad. They just do their thing.”
Frost cleared his throat. His voice came out sounding gruff. “Yeah. I’ll ask.”
With a smile and a wave, Tam trounced away, singing something at the top of his lungs about bashing mice on the head.
Fen looked Frost’s way.
Frost stared at nothing again.
“Are you okay?”
Frost cleared his throat. “Yeah. Just making a mental list of all the people who’ve lied to me and used me.”
Before Fen could respond, a visibly enraged Gemini strode through the door, looking more badass than Fen had ever seen him. Gemini had always struck him as more of a lover than a fighter. Fen saw the strength Celeste obviously counted on now. His eyes were terrifying. He didn’t acknowledge Fen. His angry steps carried him to Frost. “I’ve had enough.” He snatched Frost from the bed and tossed him over his shoulder, leaving Fen behind.
That was fine. Fen had some rage to deal with too—like how dare Monnie fuck with his mate? That soul belonged to Fen. Mating mark or not, Kyrie was his other half. Fuck the gods and their bullshit. Just as Gemini appeared to be done with their shit, Fen was too. Kyrie was his. How fucking dare anyone claim otherwise? Fen stood. It was time to find his man.
Chapter Eleven
Thepuddlebeneathhimrippled as Kyrie patted it with his paw. He didn’t want to think. He wanted to wolf. Just wolf. His sanity demanded he cling to his animal side and do the simple animal things. No drama or heartache. Just play in nature and pretend his shattered heart wouldn’t kill him. He could chase bugs and eat rabbits. A shudder ran through Kyrie. Maybe he could lead the way into wolf vegetarianism. He felt sick at just the idea of a tiny life burning out in his mouth. In the human world, he could pretend all his meat came from the Acme factory as it was cooked to a safe temperature. Kyrie had never been a very good wild animal. He had never been very good at anything.
The grass rustled next to him. Kyrie didn’t even bother to look. Nothing could happen to him that hadn’t been done before. He was too tired to care. The hairy legs of a bear appeared beside him before turning into the hairy legs of a man. Strong fingers ran through his fur. Kyrie closed his eyes and fought not to cry.He was wrong. One thing hadn’t been done to him. He hadn’t been comforted. Kyrie wasn’t sure he didn’t prefer the torture.
“My pack rejected me when I fell in love with Leif.”
Kyrie didn’t open his eyes, but he shuffled a little closer.
Aspen kept petting him. His voice sounded like his mind was far away. “I don’t think he ever truly grasped how much I sacrificed for him. Vampires don’t feel the same sense of community as Weres. Maybe they form their own pack or team, but it’s not the same. They don’t lean on each other the way animal packs do. Not that any of this matters now. Nothing has for a long time. I don’t really know what I’m getting at. Do you want to run away with me? I don’t really have anyone or anything holding me anywhere anymore.”
The first tear fell. Kyrie honestly couldn’t recall the last time he cried without shame tainting every tear, and—oddly—the tears weren’t for him. They were for the shattered heart and spirit behind each word Aspen spoke.
Kyrie tilted his head so he could see Aspen’s face.He’s a fool.
A small smile played on Aspen’s lips. “Why am I not the least bit surprised you can do that? You practically glow with power.”
Kyrie no longer cared what happened to him. It didn’t matter if the whole world knew him.I’m not special. It’s a curse to hear everyone.
Aspen nodded. “I imagine it is. As much as I’ve prayed and begged the gods for Leif to be my true mate, I’m a little grateful I can’t hear him. It’s bad enough to know he hates me. If I had to hear how deeply that loathing runs, who knows what I might do?”
You’d lie here and smack puddles the way I am because the knowing fucking breaks you.
Aspen took an audibly deep breath.
Kyrie didn’t force Aspen to come up with some bullshit placations.Where should we go?
