"Explain. Now," Kiema said as she stood over me. She crossed her arms, glared down at me as I sat on the couch. I haven't felt this taken to task since I was in my teens. She was tiny compared to us, but damn, was she scary. "Just like I said on the roof. I have to let you in through my magical...booby traps, for lack of a better word.""Why do you need healing?" Ransom asked as he sat on the end of the couch in Saint's home. I still wasn't sure why we always came back to this floor when Ransom had a floor of his own. Judging by the glare on my mate's face, I don't think I would be getting an answer to that question today. "I don't. Not actual physical healing. My magic is..." I trailed off, trying to find the best analogy for what was wrong with me. I selected and rapidly discarded a ton of options. None of them were completely right, while some weren't completely wrong.Kiema growled. "Shattered is going to be the closest term. But even that's not really correct," I said

"So what're everyone's names?" I asked as we pulled another mattress from Scarlet's old hideout. Most of them were still in the plastic wrappers. I wouldn't have minded if Alok's hadn't been. The female closest to me grabbed the seams of the mattress and chucked it through the air to the next person down the line. She made it look like she was throwing a piece of bread across the table, it looked so effortless. "I'm Araxalim.""Nice to meet you, Araxalim. I'm Taryk." I scooted another mattress down the line.She bowed her head low. "That is my sister, Ninleyn." She pointed with her delicate chin at the woman who was catching the mattresses."You look nothing alike. Are you close in age?" Scarlet asked from the sidelines. Even the single mattresses were bigger than my mate. Araxalim shook her head, a smile tugged at her mouth. "We are Warden sisters. Not sisters of the blood.""Oh. I got you. These boys all consider themselves brothers when really only Asher and Xander are

"And you let her go on her fucking own?!" I yelled at Taryk through the implant. "I won't be a jailer for her, Ash. Neither will you. I trust her. Get your head out of your pants and on straight, and you'll be able to see that she's a better covert operative than any of us could ever hope to be. She trained on the streets for twenty-two years. She'll be fine.""Reminding me about the sheer shittiness of her life is not helping your case right now, T," I said as he pushed me into the room we'd helped Cherry clear out not even a week ago."And your bullheadedness is proving mine. Look at her, Asher. Really see her. Not the version of her you carry in your head in the spot you've named ‘mate.' See her. Otherwise, you're going to lose her." Taryk got up in my face, his expression more serious than anything I'd ever seen cross it before. I felt the deepest parts of my heart clench at the idea of her out there alone while we idiots cowered and crouched in her old hole. But the clea

I caught her before she tumbled to the floor in a dead faint. Xander disrupted his unit's embrace, almost shoving Scarlet to the side to get to Kiema. His face showed his horror. Saint grabbed Xander before he could hurt his own mate. "She's just exhausted, Xander. She's fine. I swear," Saint said. Xander looked up at me. I nodded. "She told us as soon as you both came out of the Gateway. Apparently, she used a lot of power and it drained her. She's going to be fine, I promise you." His dark brown eyes were flickering with the white, blue, and purple colors of his elemental tiger. "You swear on your life?"I dipped my head. "On my life."He fell back, scooped Scarlet back into his arms. Buried his head against her shoulders and began sobbing. "What the fuck do you think happened in there?" Saint asked me quietly as we moved out of the small room. I gave a low whistle as I looked at the carnage on the warehouse's former showroom floor. Pieces and parts of the Wa

Xander was the last to slide into a seat at the huge dining table on Asher's level. The man himself was trying to play it cool by staying in the kitchen. But I could see the starkness in the gaze that had yet to leave his brother. He saw me looking at him. I nodded at him. He returned the gesture before going back to keep a close eye on his twin. "Anytime there, Kord," Ransom said from the far end of the table. The head of the table. I smiled at the unspoken hierarchy. I cleared my throat. "Right." Shit, now that the time was here, where did I freaking start? I rubbed my hands down my pants, trying to dry the suddenly damp palms. I wasn't quite sure where I fit in the hierarchy yet, but I knew I fucking wanted to. Damn, did they make family look appealing. I glanced at Kiema, she gave me a soft, if slightly unfocused smile. Fuck, she was a bright light in a world full of shitty darkness. And suddenly, I knew where to start. "Okay, so there are a total of four proph