Page 179 of Commanding Flame and Shield
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Emerging into the hallway,a familiar scent and energy rammed into me before I saw them. Even Ansel, leaning his weight on Lana, smiled in greeting as our little coven came in from the back door. Alec, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, made straight for me. His hug was between an embrace and a tackle. I laughed and returned his firm pat on the back.
“Miss me already?”
He mirrored the playful smile I shot him. “Always, brother.” Alec narrowed those light brown eyes. “Your energy is…different.”
Fae, smiling coyly as she appeared at his side, sung out, “He’s a mated man now. Or can’t you tell?”
Alec’s grin spread from ear to ear, and he clasped my shoulder, squeezing it almost painfully in congratulations. “About damn time, you two. Sweet Jesus, it took you long enough.”
“Only in this life, by the looks of it.”
He snorted. “I’ll admit, I don’t understand how I didn’t place her as Anna. That bit confuses the hell out of me. Alvara and I have read each other’s souls to the depths until we scraped bottom. Or thought we did.”
“It seems there’s a lot of confusion going on for a coven of omniscient beings.”
“Only in our egos, mate. We’ve never truly achieved such a thing.”
“Evidently not.”
His grin turned teasing, and he raised his brows. “Worth the wait, I assume.”
Fae smacked his arm in scolding, but her eyes locked on mine curiously. My answering smile was all he needed to know.
A gust of icy air slammed into us, and I lifted my eyes as Alec turned. Aren had come in through the back door to the hallway, a soft smile on his face. The door clapped shut behind him. He cleared his throat, and amusement replaced some of the shadow in his eyes.
“So, congratulations are in order then.”
I gave him a gentle smile. “Thanks for keeping her safe for me all these years.”
He nodded. “You damn well better do the same over the next ones.”
“Of course, Commander.”
He grinned and crossed the hall to wrap me in a crushing bear hug, his shirt like ice, and smelling of pine and snow.
“You two lovebirds get any more answers about The Great Commander?” He pulled away, but left his hand on my shoulder.
“Weird snippets. We talked about everything over breakfast, and Alvara says we’ll need a much deeper reading to go back so far.”
Aren nodded knowingly and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “A man can hope, I guess.”
“She’ll get there, she always does.” Ansel’s voice was low, but stronger than it had been when we left him last. I turned to him, and gratitude swelled in my chest. Gratitude that needed to be spoken.
“Alvara told me what you did last night. Sharing your blood so she could see Freya for what she was. Opening yourself up, after all these years, so she could ready herself. Thank you.”
“She readied all of us, knowing August had an ally close enough to do something. You saved our lives Ansel,” Aren added. “Showing Alvara what needed to be done, allowing her to become the distraction, and draw out Adrastos—it changed the tide.”
Ansel’s lips pressed tight, and he lowered his head in a tentative nod of acknowledgement. Freya stalked into the too-crowded hallway, but wove around us with inhuman speed, her stealthy movements purely, powerfully feline. She wrapped her arm around Ansel, taking some of his weight on her little shoulders. Ansel’s eyes lined in silver, and he kissed her temple. She and Lana led him out of the hall and into the living room. I nudged Aren gently in the ribs.
“How does she remember? So much, I mean? My memories came trickling back through triggers, but it seems like Freya remembers everything.”
“Some souls do. It’s not an exact science. She has died in both mortal and ascended past lives defending you, or Alvara. It would make sense that she would remember what her task had been when she awoke to you in mortal peril again. That was her trigger. And soul parents that breed an ascended soul—that’s a hard connection to lose.”
The explanation didn’t stop the strangeness of it all, but I nodded, nonetheless.
“You and Alvara have not ascended together?” I shrugged. Aren frowned as he spoke. “Odd. Those memories are generally first to return.”
