It felt strange hating a dead woman. Fiona O’Clery probably had no idea how badly she would hurt her descendants. Had she thought of them at all? Had she cared? How the hell had she set so many things in motion?
I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were still missing some piece of the puzzle. Hopefully I figured it out before we all died.
What a fucking mess.
Logan’s anxiety had my hackles up. The longer we were apart, the worse it got, and not just because I was physically too far away from a new bondmate. Whatever she was learning felt like we weren’t going to like it.
The nest hadn’t imploded in our absence, though I suspected that had a lot to do with the fact that all of the children had gone to safety and the remaining adults had carried on with theorgy until they’d collapsed, too exhausted and satisfied to worry about much for a while. I listened with half an ear while Shakti updated Yelena, Seth perched on my shoulders in his smallest form. Fuck knew where Velda and Kendrick were, but they seemed chill in the bond, besides the undercurrent of panic and anguish flooding down from Logan.
How bad do you think it is?I asked Seth.
If I were a morbid person I’d say we should start taking bets on how many people are going to die to take this thing out.
I twitched, struggling with Logan’s pain. The witch felt more deeply than I was used to; Seth did too, but I liked having this window into them. Even inside her own head Yelena had control of herself, though it was easy to pick out the subtle ways in which she reacted to Logan from how well I knew her.
We need a Protectors meeting as soon as you’re ready, Logan said, voice ringing through my head.Plus pack members.
A shiver of nerves flooded down the bond.
At least we wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out what horrors she had learned. I had already done a quick round with Seth, checking on the whole of the nest to make sure nothing had managed to fall apart while we were busy.
I paced a circle around Yelena. Shakti could finish updating her at the meeting.
“All right, we’ll go upstairs,” Yelena assured me, dropping a hand to my forehead. “Should we meet in Calliope’s suite?”
Shakti’s eyes lost focus for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah, she wants to be included in this, and Estrella is starting a cart for us.”
Another ripple of panic washed over us.
What’s wrong?I sent back to Logan.
Too many things. I don’t know what all to talk about.
Estrella appeared with a cart laden with water, coffee, and cookies. It appeared our stock was running low since it was a farcry from the platters of fresh fruit and pastries we usually got for meetings.
We took it up ourselves, everyone convening in Calliope’s suite. She was seated in her living area, rather than at the dining table, her feet up in a recliner. Her face brightened when we arrived. “Thank the gods. I’ve been bored as fuck.”
Yelena kissed her cheek. “I’m sure that will be corrected shortly.”
Logan swept in, dressed in one of Yelena’s shorter gowns, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes haunted.
Caden looked no better.
Kendrick was already getting Logan a cookie and a cup of coffee, nudging her to sit. She inhaled the sweet treat, sipping more slowly on the drink, and thankfully the sugar seemed to help settle her, if only a little. I sat by her side, laying my head in her lap, her hands moving automatically to stroke my fur.
“Precious, what did Anya say?”
Seth climbed into Logan’s arms, headbutting beneath her chin. She whimpered softly, clutching Seth as she sorted through the chaos tumbling around in her head.
Caden settled next to Logan with a cup of water. He scratched Seth behind the ears, a bolt of anguish bursting out of my lover.
What?
Caden just told me about something they found out about him and me.
Before I could ask more about it, Logan drew in a sharp breath. “I don’t know how to start, so I’m just going to say I’m sorry. If I had known, I swear I wouldn’t have bonded anyone.”
Hackles went up around the room.
