A part of me wants to tell Thea everything. Wants to describe my childhood with a single mom who worked herself to the bone and three younger siblings. My mom died just over one hundred years ago, but my siblings are still alive. Most of them have kids of their own.
I keep watch over them from time to time. Protect them when necessary. Hurt anyone who dares to harm them.
But I’ve never shown my face—not once.
Would my younger siblings even recognize their brother after all these years? They have wrinkles adorning their skin and gray in their hair. I’m still…young. And I’ll remain as such until something kills me.
I always thought I would be the first of my team to go. Everett calls me reckless, unhinged, psychotic. Maybe that’s all true, but before Thea, I didn’t have a reason to care about my lifeor the lives of others. I simply went through the motions, half-heartedly attempting to survive.
Now…
Now I have a reason to fight. To live. To wake up in the morning. And that reason is a five-foot woman with golden hair, a beatific smile, and a laugh that makes the ice around my heart thaw.
Thea is mine.
I think I knew it from the first moment I saw her—when she materialized out of thin air with a battle cry that reverberated through my bones. And I was absolutely certain of that truth when I watched her fall apart in the shower, two of her tiny fingers deep in her pussy.
I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I didn’t even think it was possible for me to feel this deeply for someone.
I would be the first to admit I don’t entirely understand emotions. Sympathy, empathy… What’s the difference? I learned how to mimic what others were doing, hoping no one would glance at me too closely and notice anything’s amiss. Then, I gave up on pretending. Why did I care what people thought about me?
That isn’t to say I’ve never cared about anyone before. I love my family, in my own way, and my teammates.
But Thea…
The girl is so fucking cute. I loved her triumphant smile when she “tricked” the statues into revealing the truth. She seems to have forgotten that I have the ability to detect when someone is lying or not.
But I let her have her moment.
I would let her have anything, if she asked.
What is it about her? How can I have fallen so quickly for someone I barely know? Is it fate? Something else? I don’t believe in love at first sight, but how else can I explain the almostdesperate need I possess to look after her? To own her? To care for her, the way I’ve never cared for anyone before?
My pulse quickens the second we step into a chamber at the end of the passageway. The air is thick with something—something wrong.
I whip my head around just in time to see Zaid position Thea protectively behind him.
“Hello, my friends,” a voice croaks from in front of us. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
A woman steps forward, her frail hands resting on a cane. Her hair is as white as freshly fallen snow, and her skin resembles cracked porcelain. She’s blind—I can tell from her milky-white eyes—but there’s something in the way she holds herself, an awareness that goes beyond sight.
We stop a few paces away from her, and my gaze flickers to the golden plaque above her head. My throat tightens as I read the words carved in the stone:The wise speak when they know and listen when they don’t.
What the fuck?
What vague bullshit is this?
I glance at Zaid, but he’s staring at the woman with a furrowed brow, confusion evident on his face.
Thea attempts to take a step forward, but Zaid pulls her back. She tries again, and when it’s apparent there’s no escaping Zaid’s iron-like grip, she huffs out a breath and smiles at the woman instead.
“Hello! You don’t look too scary, do you? My name is?—”
“You’re Thea,” the woman says simply, removing one hand from the top of the cane in a sweeping gesture. “And the four dashing men with you are Rafael, Everett, Krystian, and Zaid.”
Everett growls and takes a threatening step towards her. “How the fuck do you know that?”
“Because I know everything, young shifter.” A toothy grin curves up her lips. “I am the Oracle of Delphi, and I can answer any questions your heart may desire.”
