Page 95 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“She knows her limits.”
“She limits herself,” he countered. “If you can’t feel the power locked up in her, you’re blind, brother.” He raised his eyebrows. “That kind of power…I don’t envy her. The weight of it. The responsibility. Perhaps that’s why she keeps it buried in there. Can’t you feel it?”
All the memories of the summer ran through my mind. The way she fought, prayed, meditated, her power just an extension of herself. A phantom limb, always reaching. Stretching. The way she clung to Alec and me to silence the world. Knowing settled in my core, his words resonating completely.
My eyes met Marcus’ and he grinned as I took a drink of water.
“You’re her mate.” It wasn’t a question. Nearly choking, I gulped down the swig, and cleared my throat.
“Excuse me?”
A deep chuckle. “You and Alvara. You’re her mate.”
I shook my head. “We haven’t—”
“It doesn’t have to be consummated to be true. Your souls are intertwined. Deeply. Don’t bother denying it.” He jerked his chin at the men on the mat. “Jason has a gift beyond shifting—he sees souls…Auras. The two of you are braided together. His pride’s a little more intact, seeing the two of you together. Eases the sting of centuries being rejected by the one girl he wanted and couldn’t have.”
We both stared at Alec and Jason sparring on the floor. Their movements fluid, each dodging and striking blows about equally. For a long stretch, we were silent, and my mind drifted away. The blur of the fight fading to memories of her. Of us. Of the compulsive draw she had held for me since I’d seen her in those damn nightmares that weren’t nightmares at all.
Marcus’ lips turned up in a knowing smile. “She calls to you. Like wind calls a bird to fly. My mate…she wasmagnetic. I would have been anything she needed me to be. Friend. Mentor. Protector. The fact that she accepted me as a lover. Husband. Was…more than I could have dreamed of.” A beat of silence as he stared at the fight with unseeing eyes. “She hasn’t read you yet.” Still not a question. I shook my head.
“You’re as much a clairvoyant as Alvara is?”
He smirked, and his eyes flicked to me as he crossed his huge arms. “Not quite…But close.” Marcus ran a hand across his jaw. “I don’t get to unravel threads of future like she does. Just deep dive into the minds around me like her. You didn’t bother to shield yourself today.”
“Didn’t want anyone to think we had anything to hide.”
“I appreciate the open book. Newcomers are...always a little unnerving. Until they prove themselves.”
“Aren is the same way.”
“I learned it somewhere.”
I laughed, and then my companion’s mental chatter caught my attention upstairs. Alvara opened her eyes, saw her gown, and then her conscious shields snapped up. My stomach twisted, praying she loved it as much as I did. Mind filling with memories of her vision, and that stirring clenched my gut again. Marcus grinned at me, and wordlessly, we went into the kitchen to brew coffee for the girls.
Alec finally pinned Jason, and then they rose, cackling like a couple of hyenas.
“Son of a bitch! How often do you train?” Jason lamented. Alec flashed him a cocky grin. “Best out of five! Come on!”
“Don’t be a sore loser,” Damien smirked as he pushed off the wall he’d been watching from. “I’m up next.”
Jason ran a hand over his hair and shook his head. “Aren’s army, I swear to God. You’re all machines.”
Marcus rolled his eyes and pressed the start button on the coffee pot.
“Grayshell has always been known for their warriors. Not exactly a shocking realization,” Marcus said under his breath, shaking his head as he moved to the fridge. He pulled out toast, eggs, yogurt, and a basket of fresh fruit, and set them on the island. An open offering. “I don’t know why they’re still surprised their half-assed training doesn’t hold up.”
“Who is our Goddamned Commander?” Jason threw an orange at his brother, and Marcus caught it absentmindedly.
“Who won’t listen to acommandto save his life?” Marcus muttered. Jason swore under his breath and sat down at the bar counter with a huff. He snatched a second orange and peeled it in one ongoing spiral. The things you bothered to learn when you were immortal, I supposed.
“You all have a Middle Realm home, too, don’t you?” My question brought two sets of vibrant blue eyes to my face.
Marcus curved a wry smile. “Yes, Rookie, we have a Middle Realm too.”
“Does it have a name? Aren only refers to your hierarchy by your surname.”
“Westerlund is now the name of our home. It bears the title of its Commander, and changes as the leadership does. Although with the three of us being the senior ranks, it might well be Westerlund for quite a while yet.”
