CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
MARCUS
The air was chilly.Austin was far enough south that we rarely had cold weather, but every now and then, a cold snap would come through. Today was one of those days.
I watched as Callum and Macgrath clashed together, punching and grappling. I knew that Macgrath had dragged Callum out here to provide our brother an outlet. Since the kidnapping, Callum was wound tighter than I'd seen him in centuries. Not since Macgrath helped Lisandra vanish.
Callum had loved Lisandra to a distraction over a century ago. She managed to convince him she was helpless. Delicate. She'd looked the part. Her body was slender and fine-boned and her face formed in clean, fragile lines. Even as a human, there was something compelling about her brown eyes. They were almost black when she gazed at you and it seemed she could see right through you. Her dark brown hair was always styled in a loose topknot and a few curls inevitably floated freely.
She'd played her role to perfection. Until she met Rhiannon.
Rhiannon had immediately seen through the facade to the duplicitous creature beneath. And she liked what she saw. Especially when she realized that Lisandra had power. It was small, but Lisandra's personality was malleable and she was willing to do things she shouldn't.
Macgrath had seen what was happening and feared that Rhiannon would use Lisandra against Callum. So, he'd given Lisandra money, more money that she could spend in a lifetime, and taken her far away. Callum's woman had been more than willing, particularly after Macgrath named the amount he was willing to pay. She had even haggled for more money to leave the man she loved.
Callum hadn't believed it at first. Not until we ran into Lisandra thirty years later. She was still young and beautiful, but there was a coldness to her that hadn't been there before. She was remote, her eyes flat and empty, even as she preened and flirted with Callum.
And he saw it then. When he asked her about the past, she admitted that Macgrath had given her money to leave. That she'd gone willingly.
It had irrevocably changed something within the vampire I considered my brother. Even after two thousand years, there had still been a part of him that had remained naive. And that innocence had been destroyed and he'd become stoic for a long while. It eventually gave way to his usual affability, but it had taken a while.
Callum had that same grimness today and he needed a way to release it.
Macgrath, in his usual astuteness, sensed this and provided the outlet.
After two hours of sparring, we were all shirtless and sweaty despite the crisp fall air. Steam rose off Callum's body as he attacked ferociously.
Harrison came up next to me with my shirt in his hand.
"Thanks," I said as I took it from him and slipped it over my head.
"Is Callum going to be okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah. He's just...shaken."
Harrison gave me a sidelong look and I shrugged.
"It may be more than that," I said. "But he hasn't spoken to me about it."
As Harrison and I watched. Macgrath threw Callum, who grabbed him on the way to the ground and brought him down, too. They were grappling, moving so quickly that the human eye probably couldn't see each movement, and grunting.
A slight sound caught my attention and I watched as Arien appeared out of the trees at the rear of the property and walked toward us. Her hair was loose and tangled, wild as though she hadn't brushed it. Her shirt was buttoned incorrectly and her eyes were a little wild as well.
She'd gone for a run in animal form. Unlike Harrison, who was a wolf shifter, Arien was a shapeshifting witch. She used magic to change forms. For several years, she'd taken the form of a cat and lived with Savannah so she could keep an eye on Ava, who lived nearby. She had revealed herself last year when Macgrath and Ava found each other again.
Though she usually stayed in human form, she did occasionally like to change and run through the woods as a cat or fox or even a wolf. Much to Harrison's irritation.
Harrison growled low in his throat and I bit back a sigh.
"Stop antagonizing her," I muttered.
"She antagonizes me with her existence."
Abruptly, I'd had enough. "Just stop," I said, turning toward him. "I know you have strong feelings about Arien and that they're mixed, but we no longer have the luxury of being at odds with each other."
"I'm not at odds with her," he argued. "She...disturbs me."
"I know, but you can't keep treating her the way you have."
