The Seahorse Who Loved the Wrong Lynx (10 page)

lynxes.

As quickly and painlessly as he could, Layton explained what

he’d discovered, as well as Alexis’s suspicion. Byron seemed pissed

that the incubus hadn’t mentioned it to them, but Morgan immediately jumped to his mate’s defense.

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“It wasn’t Alexis’s secret to tell, Father,” he said, his calm voice hiding the anger Layton could feel coming from him. “Don’t you dare

blame him.”

It was not the first time the two sharks fought over Alexis, but

now, Layton’s father backed down, conceding the point. “All right.

So then, this spell…How do you find out who cast it?”

“We’re supposed to talk to Alexis’s brother,” Layton replied.

“And perhaps you’d allow me to see my mate and my son while

we’re at it, too,” Morgan said sarcastically.

As if on a cue, a knock sounded at the door. Layton hadn’t really

been paying attention to his environment, but now that he was, he

sensed the two incubi outside.

“Come in,” Byron said, obviously knowing this as well.

The door opened and Alexis stepped inside, carrying his tiny son.

Immediately, everyone’s focus was on little Elian. After sharing a kiss with Alexis, Morgan took the child in his arms. Preston and Corbin

had not met the adorable child before, and Layton himself had missed the baby boy more than he wanted to admit. The proud grandparents

didn’t miss their chance at fussing over Elian. It was quite chaotic, but Elian just absorbed the attention like a sponge, looking happy and

carefree. He was an amazing baby. In fact, Layton had never once

seen him cry. According to Morgan, it was because Elian’s incubus

abilities allowed him to feel other people’s emotions and soak up their affection.

Of course, they could not delay the unavoidable conversation

forever. Morgan handed his son back to Alexis and directed his

attention to Rhys. The older incubus had also come in with Alexis and had been waiting silently while the regular ritual of fussing over Elian took place.

“So, Alexis said you could shed some light over this situation?”

Rhys nodded. “I might. Judging by what he told me, it does sound

like a spell, but I’ll know more once I take a look at it.”

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69

Layton’s eyes widened. “A look at it?” he repeated. “What are

you talking about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing very fancy.” Rhys waved off his concern. “I just

have to take your hand and focus on tracing anything strange.”

“Do you need us to leave?” Skylar inquired.

“It doesn’t matter,” Rhys replied. “Your emotions won’t interfere

with what I’m going to do if that’s what you’re worried about.” His

black eyes focused on Layton. “So, are you ready?”

No, Layton didn’t feel ready, but he doubted that any delay would

help. In fact, he was pretty sure it might make him more

apprehensive. “Sure,” he replied. “Let’s get this over with.”

Rhys gestured Layton to one of the couches. “You, too,” he told

Preston. Preston wordlessly obeyed while the rest of the group

scattered around the room to wait.

Rhys sat next to Layton and took his hand. Layton closed his eyes,

reaching out to his bond with Preston without consciously intending

to.

“It’s okay,”
Preston told him.
“He’ll stop whenever you say so.”

Intellectually, Layton knew that, but it still made him

uncomfortable. The last time an incubus had touched him, he’d been

seduced into betraying his own twin. It hadn’t been his best moment, and he hated remembering it.

He didn’t know what he’d expected, but it certainly

wasn’t…nothing. One moment, he was talking with Preston, bracing

himself for the worst, and the next, Rhys released his hand gently.

“There,” Rhys said. “All done.”

“That’s it?” Layton asked, unable to keep the disbelief in his

voice.

“What did you expect?” Rhys’s voice held a touch of amusement.

“Fire and brimstone?”

“Layton has reasons to be wary of incubi,” Alexis said tensely.

Layton looked up at his brother-in-law, feeling an odd kinship

with the man. The same guilt that lingered in Alexis remained within
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Layton. Layton’s crime had been more severe, though. Whether he’d

been under the influence of a spell or not, he had hurt his mate

greatly. In fact, if Alexis hadn’t done what he had, Layton might have never figured out his mistake.

“No, I don’t,” he said. “At least not incubi who are family.”

“Well put.” Rhys squeezed his shoulder. His expression sobered.

“And now, regarding the reason why you asked my help. There

definitely was a spell on you. There’s only a hint of it left now, barely traceable, which was why I couldn’t sense it when we first met.”

“What exactly is it?” Layton prodded. “Was I hypnotized or

what?”

“I’m not sure if hypnotized is the right word. This sort of spell is very difficult because the mate bond between shifters is just as strong and complex. First of all, there was more than one person involved.

One of them is an incubus.”

Layton stared slack-jawed at Rhys. “But I thought you said

incubus powers can’t affect mate bonds.”

“Not on their own,” Rhys amended. “You see, if you were to

dissect a mate bond, you would find that it is a connection of the

mind, body, and heart. Incubus powers would be able to control the

body, but not the other two.”

That made sense, even if the thought of “dissecting the mate

bond” was weird to say the least. “So who can do the rest?”

“For the mind…I’ll put my money on a siren or vamp,” Rhys

replied thoughtfully. “For the heart, I would say, a Sidhe. A Sidhe

would also be able to control shifters because of their affinity with nature, but I’d say that whoever cast the spell didn’t take any chances.

There must have been a warlock of sorts to put the spell together and keep it so discreet. Even so, I don’t think it worked one hundred percent, did it?”

He was looking at Layton as he spoke, and Layton began to

remember things. Like how he’d always felt so close to Preston, even
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71

if his mind was telling him Corbin was his mate. The times he’d

wished Corbin was like Preston or even that Preston were his mate.

He nodded wordlessly, and Rhys smiled. “No one can control the

heart, not even the most powerful Sidhe. You thought Corbin was

your mate, but you never loved him because your heart belonged to

Preston. Deep inside, you knew it. That strained the balance of the

spell, and in the end, Alexis’s powers shattered it.”

Silence fell for a few moments as they all processed the

implications of what Rhys had revealed. Byron was the one to recover first. “So, is there any way to track this?”

“Normally, I would say no. But the spell is old. Very old. I’d say

it was cast when you were only a child.”

Layton remembered his first foolish attempts to gain Corbin’s

attention and sabotage the lynx’s love life. He’d been maybe ten, a

foolish boy who didn’t understand his own need to push away his

rivals. Later, he’d decided it must have been because of their mate

bond, but what if something more sinister had been involved? What if the spell had skewed his perspective on life as a whole?

“
Calm down, lovely,”
Preston told him through their bond.
“Even
if that had happened, which is not the case, you heard Rhys. It’s
broken now.”

But Layton was still shaken.
“I can’t exactly get over the fact that
I was under mind control for half my life so easily,”
he replied, noticing his own growing hysteria and not being able to do anything

about it.

Preston pulled Layton close and just held him without saying

anything else. He smoothed his hand over Layton’s hair, his touch

calming and soothing. Soon, Layton began to regain his focus. The

spell might have influenced his view of his mate, but it hadn’t broken into every aspect of his life. He hadn’t been some zombie, unable to take decisions on his own. His love for his twin, his parents, and his friends was genuine.

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Layton broke away from Preston and faced Rhys again. He was

ashamed of losing it, especially in front of his family, but more so in front of Rhys. Alexis’s brother he might be, but the incubus was still a stranger. “You were saying?”

The incubus didn’t comment on Layton’s little fit, which almost

made Layton feel worse. He tried to focus on Rhys’s words. He could

fall apart later, in private.

“Well, because of the age of the spell, the magical signature of the person who cast it was imprinted on it. Now, magical signatures are

as unique and diverse as people are, and the chances of finding

someone just by using that are slim to none. However, in all this

mess, we are in luck. I know the person who did this. I’d recognize

his magical signature anywhere.”

Layton shot to his feet. “Who is it? Who is the bastard who did

this to me?”

Rhys actually winced. “My dad.”

Out of all the possible things Rhys could have said, that one was

the absolute last Layton expected. Layton had met Rhys’s father, and the man didn’t strike him as the type to randomly cast spells of this nature. Besides, had he done so, surely he’d have had more qualms in allowing his son to mate into this family.

It seemed Alexis felt the same. “You can’t be serious, Rhys,” he

protested. “Father would never do something like this.”

“Not him,” Rhys explained. “My other dad.”

Layton recalled that Rhys and Alexis were only half brothers, on

their father’s side. Layton had never met Rhys’s other parent, and the topic had never come up. Apparently, they were estranged, and as

curious as the complicated family entanglements of the Whitakers

made Layton, he was discreet enough to know when he needed to

mind his own business and not ask questions. It seemed that today

was his lucky day because the spell certainly made Rhys’s parentage

Layton’s business.

“Do you know where he is?” he inquired.

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73

Rhys nodded. “We still talk to each other, even if only rarely.” He

paused. “I’m going to contact him on your behalf, but I’d like to ask for one favor first. I don’t want him harmed.”

Anger coursed through Layton. “Pardon me? Do you have any

concept of what he’s done? He essentially raped my mind and my

soul.”

Rhys winced. “I understand your pain. But he’s my father. I can’t

forget that.”

Layton looked toward his own parents sitting together, holding

hands. They still loved each other the same way Layton loved

Preston. Rhys’s parents didn’t have that. Rhys hadn’t been as lucky as Layton insofar as family was concerned. And as fucked up as Layton

had been because of this spell, he couldn’t bring himself to separate anyone from his family. Besides, Rhys had trusted him and he’d been

very helpful. The least Layton could do was to offer trust in return.

“I can promise he won’t be harmed as long as he doesn’t attempt

to hurt me or mine again,” he told the incubus.

Rhys breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. You won’t regret it.”

The barely audible “I hope” that Rhys added almost absently

didn’t comfort Layton much. Preston squeezed his hand and kissed

his cheek.

“You made the right choice, lovely,”
he murmured.
“Don’t worry.

I’ll be there for you, and I won’t allow anything to happen.”

For Rhys, and for himself and everyone else, Layton prayed his

mate was right.

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Chapter Five

As a rule, shape-shifters and magical creatures of all types lived a long time. Many of them accumulated great wealth throughout their

lifetime. For that reason, their accommodations, wherever Preston had gone, were quite luxurious.

In a way, Romaine Arceneau confirmed the rule. The beautiful

farmhouse in the Rhône-Alpes where Rhys took them must have cost

a fortune. However, compared to other places Preston had seen, the

space was actually quite discreet, peaceful, and quiet. Preston liked it.

Perhaps one day, he could buy something like this for himself and

Layton.

Layton gave him a weak smile, and Preston guessed his mate must

have overheard his thought. That twist of lips held no amusement,

though, and Preston wished Layton had agreed to stay behind and

allow Preston and their family to deal with this.

Rhys led them up to the farmhouse, and none of them made any

effort to cloak their approach. According to Rhys, his dad had long

ago ceased his spell-casting days and was now a family man. Of

course, in spite of Rhys’s words, both the Cunninghams and Preston’s parents had immediately enlisted themselves to go along for the visit.

Preston’s dads, Garth and Nicolas, had taken the news regarding

Preston’s mating a bit better than Byron. Apparently, they had always suspected Layton was not Corbin’s mate because, as many people

kept saying, Corbin would have realized it himself by now. The spell thing had made them furious, though, and only finding out about

Preston’s impending fatherhood had kept Nicolas from taking Rhys