“Medics,” Pierce said, the door between the kitchen and living room swinging open a second before he stepped through followed by two giant dragon shifters wearing the dark blue uniforms of the Moonscale Emergency Medical Squad. The taller one stayed by Pierce as the slightly shorter one with blonde hair went toward Preston. A drop of blood dripped from my brother’s cheek where glass still pierced his skin. I bit my lipand looked away. I should’ve insisted on helping him clean up. I could’ve started removing the glass myself but ---
“Mori, stop it! You’re giving me a headache! Can I get some privacy?” Preston grunted. “Maybe someone can go pick up some fries or something. Some place has to be open all night, right? Since the kitchen is now glass flavored and all.”
“Preston, I will get you fries but you have to tell me what’s going on,”I said switching over to our twin link. I didn’t want to argue in front of the medics. I didn’t want Medwin to pick our argument up and call our parents. We weren’t kids to herd anymore but our parents never received that memo.
“I’m fine. I don’t know why someone tried to pelt me with a dead bird, okay?”
“Dead bird?”
“Let’s give him some privacy,” the taller medic said, and I bit my lip. I could argue with him. I could keep my butt planted on the sofa and refuse to move. I could swoon and have to stay where I was because I was so exhausted from whatever magic Dern put in that damn tea. The last one might’ve actually happened if I didn’t get some sleep soon.
“Do you need some help, Mori?” Pierce asked and I frowned.
Yeah. I needed help. A truth serum but I accepted Pierce’s hand and let him help me out of the living room. I should’ve gone back to bed. It would’ve served Preston right but when it came to my twin right and wrong didn’t matter. Whoever tried to hurt him would soon be dead meat. As much as I hated the thought of my goddaughter coming to Moonscale London after the two attacks tonight it was time to call Teddy and Ni. I might just need the muscle and Teddy had no qualms with showing assholes what karma was.
Twenty minutes later, Ni promised me over the phone that Teddy would be on his way as soon as he finished eating. He andZinnia would stay in Dern’s old house – our current home – so that the baby wasn’t in the line of the next explosion.
Chapter Thirteen
Crilus
If my sire had his way, we’d have packed up and taken everyone back home with us before the medics were even finished picking glass splinters out of Preston’s ass. Only, I stood my ground. I wasn’t running again. Not without a plan. I wasn’t taking this glass shattering stalker around my carrier, my younger siblings, and my pack mates. I hadn’t fled from them. I fled to a city where I was free to practice the magic I wanted and could have a sex life without everyone telling my parents what I was up to.
Eventually, I was able to convince him to go bunk with Mori. They both needed sleep and while I wouldn’t admit it out loud, I wasn’t ready to be out of arm’s reach of Pierce. I hated it. I hated myself for giving in to the tug of the true-mate response magic. I didn’t need anyone. I had a whole pack behind me. I had good friends. I did not need this alpha vampire who stared into my soul and wanted to keep me locked in a bedroom all the time. No, I didn’t need him but oh my ancestors of trees, did I want him to do those things. Lock me in a room where I didn’t have to worry about assholes smashing up my stuff or trying to film my friends having sex. Reve was dead now but the image of his corpse was still burnt into my eyes. He deserved to die for all his sex-related crimes and Odell’s murder dog, Guardie, had ensured he did. I didn’t need a murder dog. The trauma that bore into my cells wasn’t my own. It didn’t bore through my skin to get inside. No, I was born with it inside me. All of my siblings had it in them for better or worse. Some had less than me. A few maybe had more. No, my trauma was inside my cells begging to be let loose. Each and every time I hexed an assholeand sent out a bit of justice into the world, I healed that trauma passed around for generations a bit. I only hoped Pierce would understand that. If he didn’t, we had no future. I refused to lay awake at night for the rest of my life stewing over how unfair the world was when it was within my grasp to even the scales – if only by a little.
My mind reeled in circles as Pierce stared two holes into my soul. I bit my lip then finally snapped.
“What are you staring at?”
“Who am I staring at would be a better question,” he said, leaning against the wall while I stood like a fool in the middle of the hallway. “You’re thinking so hard that I want to crawl under your skin and calm you down.”
“You need blood,” I said because I needed not to think or talk about all the directions my mind was darting in.
“Why? Because I smelled Preston’s blood? Believe it or not, he doesn’t smell like food. Though, now that I think about it, I might know why. Bear blood isn’t a delicacy but it’s not inedible either.”
“Why doesn’t he smell like food?” I asked, satisfied with any distraction from what I’d been obsessing about when Pierce’s staring had interrupted me.
“That’s not really my business and I don’t gossip about omegas.”
“You only gossip about alphas then?” I cocked up an eyebrow.
“I do my best not to wade into the pool of rumors or speculation,” he said.
“But you’re going to tell me, right?”
“And why would I do that?” he asked, a grin pulling at the ends of his kissable lips. “And if you say because you’re my mate I’ll be forced to remind you that you’ve made it clear that I have that role in name only.”
“So, you won’t tell me unless I sleep with you?” I shot back at him.
“I didn’t say that. To believe that romping is the be-all end-all of being mates is immature. Do I want to bury myself inside you and stay there until we’re both a bit brainless? Yeah. I wouldn’t pass up the chance, but I don’t just want to fuck you. I want you – all of you. I’ve always been the all or nothing sort of guy. Though, to be fair to you, I wouldn’t tell you even if you let me blow your mind.”
“I—” I started but stopped as a scorching blush spread across my face and over the tips of my pointed ears. “Did you just call me immature?”
“No, I said to think that would be immature,” Pierce said. “The question is do you think that?”
“You are infuriating!” I said and sat down on the floor.
“Is this an elven thing?” Pierce asked, crouching down next to me.
