You better have your shit under control when Ransom gets here, Ash. He's pissed that you threatened Kiema, I said down our twin pathway.I did no such thing. Why the fuck did you throw me under the bus like that? He said.I rocked back in my chair. He's fucking with me, surely. Are you fucking high right now? You said if something happened to the girl, that you were coming for Kiema.The fuck you say. I would never do something like that to Ki-Ki. I could hear the anger and offense ringing in his voice. Could he be this far gone over this chick? He didn't even know that he'd gotten in Kiema's face. I switched to a different keyboard and screen. Hitting keys faster than lighting strikes, I pulled up and copied the cam feed outside the conference room on the first floor. I winced when I saw my twin loom over the woman we considered our baby sister. Ransom was going to throw a shit storm of epic proportions. I backed up the feed. Saint was a hair's breadth away from ripp

I hoped to Gaia that Scarlet didn't feel the overwhelming rush of emotions all day, every day. I wanted to rip my head off and throw it in the ocean, I had so much information running around in my head. And most of it wasn't even mine. I reached out, patted her hand. I could feel her fear battering at me. She was terrified that Asher was actually crazy. That she'd begun falling for a man who couldn't be trusted. That she'd linked herself to a group of psychopaths and crazies. "I healed Scarlet today. And when I did, my rune showed back up. Atlas has pictures if anyone is interested in seeing what it actually looks like. I think my power partially turned her. Which resulted in the injury she received. I also think my ascension might have amped up everyone else."I swallowed the nervous giggle that wanted to escape my throat. I wasn't even nervous, but Scarlet sure was. She was about to push up from her chair and run as far and as fast as she possibly could. Only my hand on her k

"Everybody good?" I asked. Nods all around. I looked at the tiny woman sitting next to my angel. My Kiema wasn't a big woman, but she looked massive compared to the small one beside her. "Scarlet. I'm Ransom Kolefni. Welcome to Carbon Pack, Inc. It seems your first day was a bit of a wild ride. I apologize that you got wrapped up in the awkwardness that is our current daily life. I also apologize for thrusting you in the middle of what is essentially a family squabble. But, if you decide to take us on, we're going to be your family, too. So...welcome to the family, sweetheart."I could feel myself rambling but didn't have a way to gracefully exit. I just hoped I hadn't scared the poor thing. Being around her made me feel like I was a giant in a room full of small animals. My animals batted at her scent inside me. They were both repulsed and intrigued by her. "What is her animal?" I asked Kiema.Scarlet's eyes flashed before settling back down. Ah. She does have fire.

"Just over here," Scarlet said in one of the softest voices I'd ever heard in my life. She wasn't being shy or coy. Her voice was just that quiet. I'd had to strain to hear anything she said at the dinner table. I could tell it bothered her, too. Her face would go varying shades of pink or red when someone asked her to repeat herself. A blush would slide over those pink cheeks, a pinch at the corners of those green eyes, and those rosy red lips would pull down at the corners with a grimace. "Sure thing, sweetness." I wanted to punch myself. I'd never had a hard time treating women with the respect they deserved. Or showing that respect. But these two women in my life now, everything in me just wanted to tell and show - hell, I wanted them to feel - how loved they were. After my mother died early from hard work and exhaustion, I never underestimated the power of a woman. Nor had I ever bothered to coddle them. Women were strong in ways men just weren't. I feared Kiema's wrath a

I lay on the cold cement floor of the CPI labs. Everything inside me sizzled and fizzled like water dancing on a hot skillet. Anda had vanished back inside me with the magic bomb I'd somehow managed to set off. "You have excellent instincts, Kiema. Remember that," she said from inside me somewhere. "Then I'd really appreciate those training lessons you said you'd give me. If I don't even know when Asta shows up, how am I supposed to save and protect my family?" I retorted. "The answers will come to you, little sister. Do not fear. Your time is coming soon." With that, she once again disappeared. I rolled to my side, my head and body aching with each breath. "Thanks a lot for nothing.""Well, that's a little rude, luv," Lukas said as he helped me to my knees. "I was doing the best I could, considering I was smashed face first into the floor."I chuckled. "I was talking to Anda. Not you. Thank you, Lukas, for helping me up." He glanced over me quickly before turning to At