Bound to Blackwood (50 page)

He just about managed to thank her, before his sister turned her attention to Lena. The instant his
Amocinta
was under scrutiny, Thorn could feel how desperately uncomfortable she was. His sister could be over exuberant sometimes, but her sentiment was genuine. The moment he thought it, Lena's iron-clad grip on his hand relaxed a little, and she shot him a grateful glance.
 

Of course, all that reassurance went out the window when Soraya grabbed Lena in a bear hug. His tiny sister actually picked Lena up and spun her around. Thorn snorted as he failed to contain his laugh.

"Congratulations, sister-mine," Soraya said as she put Lena down.

Lena's blue eyes widened and Thorn felt her confusion. Soraya took Lena's hand. "We are family now. I have always wanted a sister," she shot Thorn an amused look. "Brothers can be such a bore."

Lena gave a weak smile, overwhelmed as she was by Soraya's openness. "Guess Thorn better watch out then," she said in a whisper.

Thorn rolled his eyes and pulled Lena back towards him. "Lena is enough trouble on her own, Soraya. She hardly needs your help."

Kaden barked an exaggerated cough, and the mood changed instantly. Lena inhaled deeply and squeezed Thorn’s hand so hard, she threatened to break every bone in it.

Thorn looked at the Keeper of the Watch, the guy’s ice-blue eyes glowing as he scowled back. His muscled arms crossed his chest and he held his head high. Flanked on both sides by his Guardians, Thorn’s best friend looked far from happy.

Thorn ran a hand through his hair.
This should be interesting!
“So, I got a few things I need to fill you in on.”
 

Kaden raised a white-blond eyebrow. “Really, My Lord?” Kaden replied, switching his gaze to Lena and then back again. “And what might that be?”

Kaden swallowed down his anger as best he could. Unless Thorn had resorted to drugging Lena, he had to admit she looked perfectly well. The Steward of the Watch kept a tight hold on her emotions, but even a fool could see the joy in her as she held Thorn’s hand.

Kaden switched his attention to Thorn. The King raked his huge hand through his dark curls whilst Kaden waited for the guy’s oh-so-brilliant explanation.

“Why don’t we all sit down?” Thorn finally said.

Kaden laughed, and moved away from his brethren. He swept his hand out to gesture at the rest of the room. The boys took helpful side-steps so the scene of destruction became clear beyond each of their massive frames. “And what would you suggest we sit on?” Kaden asked.

The place was a complete mess. The huge leather sofa had apparently burst apart at the seams, leaving just a pile of tattered hide, stuffing, and wood in its place. The bar had crumbled, taking all the glass, crystal, and best vintage liquor with it. The pool table had buckled at one end, and the dart board lay embedded in the floor. The leather poufs by the splintered coffee table looked like they had fared better, but even from here, Kaden could see shards of what used to be a solid-oak coffee table jutting out from the soft, brown leather.

Lena dropped Thorn’s hand as she stepped forward to look at the pool table more closely. Her head whipped around, blue eyes wide. “What in the name of Fae happened in here?”

“How the fuck do we know?” Mercury jumped in. “One minute, we’re sittin' here, mindin' our own business, the next some sort of fucked-up earthquake rips through the place!”

“An earthquake?” Lena asked, her brow knitted in confusion.

Kaden crossed his arms. He knew damned well this wasn’t an earthquake, but he still waited for an explanation from Thorn. He wanted to know for sure. “Forget about that for a minute. Why don’t you tell us what’s really going on, Thorn.”

The King shot a glance over to Lena, who nodded in reply to some silent question. Thorn pushed out an explosive sigh. “Right.”

Kaden waited. He saw Mercury and Sky shooting questioning looks at each other from the corner of his eye, each shrugging their shoulders at the other.

It seemed Thorn was attempting to communicate silently too. He struggled, his mouth opening, then closing whilst a deep frown pulled at his broad forehead. Kaden refused to cut him any slack and just stood there, waiting.

Lena made her way back over to the King and slipped her hand in his. She patted his bicep with her free hand. “Why don’t we start at the beginning?” she whispered.

Kaden watched on amazed as Thorn turned to her and his frown disappeared, a wide, goofy grin spreading across the guy’s face instead.

Mercury crept up behind Kaden. “Holy Fuck! You see that, Boss?” he whispered.

Kaden nodded his reply. Maybe Thorn had drugged her, because this was not the Lena he knew.

Another rake of his hand through his hair and Thorn got down to business, Lena still petting him. “Lena and I went to see the Squire, Lucine.”

Okaaay.
This was not the “beginning” Kaden expected.
 

“Please, God, she had somethin' to say, 'cause she wouldn’t tell us shit,” Mercury said.

Thorn looked at Lena again before continuing, ignoring Mercury’s interruption. “Lucine had the answers we’ve all been looking for.”

Keeper of the Watch hat sitting firmly on his head, Kaden ignored love’s young dream for the time being. “For the sake of our honour, I hope she led you to Eden.”

“She did indeed,” Thorn replied.

“Well, thank the Gods for small mercies,” Kaden said as he felt a small weight lift from his shoulders. “Where can we find her?”

Kaden watched Thorn and Lena exchange some sort of secret look again and his internal fury resurfaced. “Look, this,” he gestured to the hand holding, “is all very nice and everything, but finding Eden is our number one priority. Now tell me. Where the fuck is she?”

Lena stepped forward. Kaden couldn’t decipher the look on her face. She showed so many emotions at once that he had no idea what was going on. It took him a few seconds to realise that he didn’t want to throw up as she approached. His brow furrowed as she looked up at him.

She swallowed hard before she said, “You’ve already found her, Kaden.”

Yep. She was definitely on drugs
. “What?” he riled. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
 

Lena reached for his hand and gave him a small smile. “You rescued Eden nearly two-hundred years ago, Kaden. You’ve watched over her all her life”.

Kaden growled, despite Lena’s tenderness with him. “This isn’t funny, Lena.” He pushed her hand away with a hefty shove.

A different, altogether more menacing growl echoed around the room and Kaden saw Thorn start forward. The King brought himself up short when Lena held up her hand. “It’s alright, Thorn,” she said.

Confusion reigned as Kaden stared at Lena. “Stop with all the fucking riddles, Lena. Where is Eden?”

Her midnight-blue eyes shone as she looked up at him. “You’re looking at her.”

Lena held her breath as Kaden stared at her. His cool, blue eyes searched her face and she knew he was looking for the truth, not just in her words, but in her mind, in her spirit. She knew she spoke the truth, but Kaden had to feel it for himself; he was never going to just take her word for it.

She dropped her shields just long enough for the absolute truth in her soul to shine through. Her shields snapped shut when Kaden’s eyes widened and he took a stumbling step backwards.

“How can this be?” he whispered.

Thorn stepped forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t we all go and get a beer in the lounge, and we’ll fill you in?”

Kaden nodded. “Drink sounds good,” he replied, his voice hoarse.

Chapter 36

Ryver trailed behind the rest of the group as they picked their way through the debris and left for the lounge. He’d watched the scene unfold as Thorn and Lena walked in, but it hadn’t felt like he was really there. He’d known the whole story before they even arrived.

Fireworks of white-hot energy had fired the neurons in his brain and he was still reeling from it. His telepathic power had gone into over-drive and he desperately tried to get a handle on it as he stumbled after his brethren. He could hear everything. Literally everything.

He knew Lena and Thorn had mated the moment their frenzied passion ricocheted through his mind. The surge in power left him rooted to the spot as their psychic voices were joined by his brethren and Soraya. Seven voices screamed in his mind and it took Ryver a long time to block them out. Even now, he could hear all of them, but he had managed to turn it down to a dull roar so that the noise sat on the edge of his consciousness rather than slap-bang in the middle of it.

He could still hear them all chuntering away though. Well, everyone except Kaden, who, sharp as ever, had just redoubled his mental arithmetic efforts. Essentially, everyone was thinking their own version of “what the fuck.” Apart, of course, from Soraya, who would probably rather die than actually swear out loud, but it sounded like she didn’t need to.

Soraya knew exactly what was going on and she couldn’t be happier about it. Ever calming, Ryver tried to isolate her voice in the cacophony, but everyone was so damned loud, He could only catch glimpses of the Princess’s thoughts.

Ryver got that Lena and Thorn had to get their acts together, for all their sakes, but he never could work out how it was possible. Even if Lena wasn’t such an unyielding cow, there was the law. Kaden riled against Thorn’s refusal to even think about changing it, but Ryver understood Thorn’s reasoning, even if Kaden couldn’t see it. It would be dishonourable to change laws just to suit one’s own ends, and even Kaden would eventually realise that that was unacceptable.

When Lena walked in with Thorn, Ryver heard the change in her immediately. Her voice sounded different somehow, but with Thorn occupying so many of her thoughts, Ryver hadn’t been able to find the cause of the change.

Now he understood. As he picked out her voice amongst the others, he could hear her true voice. She may be Lena now, but he could hear the child she’d once been.

Kaden grabbed a beer from the tray Phoenix had fetched from the kitchen. He couldn’t wait for the guys to pass around the bottle opener. He cracked his bottle open on the antique, marble mantle above the unlit fireplace instead. He caught the rush of bubbles with his lips and proceeded to down the lot.

He maintained his position by the fireplace as everyone else looked awkwardly at their feet and drank their beers in silence. Kaden did his best to keep his emotions in check, though he clenched his jaw so tight anyone close enough would no doubt hear his teeth screaming in protest. He knew Lena spoke the truth…or at least she believed she spoke the truth. Yet, Kaden didn’t understand how it could possibly be true.

How could the youngling he collected from House Meadows and Eden of House Greenshire be the same girl?
Damn it all to hell.
 

Soraya sidled up to him. “Why do you look so troubled, Keeper?”

He shot her a sideways glance. “Why do you think?”