“Me, either,” Brady muttered.
“Before I can help you, I have to get some answers so I know what to do to protect you two,” Mystia replied. “I’ll be right back.”
Before Brady could ask her to remove the spell on his property, his friend had disappeared. Sighing, he led his mate over to a stand of trees bordering his property. There they could wait, hidden from view, until Mystia returned.
“Will she come back?” asked Lucius, sitting down on a moss covered boulder.
“Yes…she will,” Brady murmured, deciding to remain standing in order to have a clearer view of the road. He just hoped Mystia would be able to give him the information he desperately needed.
~/~/~/~/~
“Nothing ever goes smoothly in this pack,” Jackson muttered, getting up from his chair. After receiving Dylon’s message regarding Brady’s and Lucius’ abrupt departure, he was just as perplexed as everyone else. Running through different options for finding them, he came to the conclusion there was only one person who could help sort out the mess. Not more than a few seconds after sending Mystia a message, she appeared. Grinning at her, he said, “Wow…that was fast.”
“Hello Jackson,” Mystia said softly. “That’s because I was on my way to see you.”
Walking over, Jackson hugged her. “So happy you’re here. Don’t mean to be short with you but Brady and Lucius…”
“They’re safe,” Mystia said.
“You saw them?” asked Jackson.
“Yes, and I know what happened that caused Lucius to flee,” Mystia said. “But what is a mystery to me…and them…is why Zane would want to kill Lucius.”
“Zane? Kill Lucius? No, no, no…is that why they left? Because if it is…they got it all wrong.”
“They don’t agree,” Mystia said. “And until I can assure Brady his mate isn’t in danger, he won’t return to help Remy and Carson. So, let’s start with what happened in Scotland…and why did Zane kill Valerian?”
“The best person to answer that is Zane,” Jackson said, sending a quick message to his brother. After reading Zane’s reply, he ushered her over to the love seat in his study and sat down beside her. “But I give you my word as Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, Zane has no intention of harming Brady or Lucius. There’s been a big misunderstanding.”
“I’m counting on it,” Mystia murmured, looking up as Zane entered the room.
“Oh…hey, Mystia. Jackson said you wanted to talk to me?” Taking a seat in the chair facing her, Zane continued. “Is it about Brady and Lucius? Cause I didn’t mean to scare them…not that I know why Carson said I did, because all that happened was me introducing myself.”
“Lucius thinks you’re going to kill him,” Jackson replied.
“What?” Zane squeaked. Shaking his head violently, he continued, “I honestly don’t know where he got that idea from because, I swear, all I did was tell him who I was.”
“He was there…in Scotland…when you killed the vampires and fled before you could kill him,” Mystia explained.
Zane’s eyes widened in surprised. “Lucius wasn’t with Valerian in Scotland. I know, because there were only three vampires and all of them are dead.”
“He was on the second floor, watching you through a window. After seeing his master and the other vampires killed, he translocated to France,” Mystia said.
“I didn’t know that,” Zane replied softly. “But still, that doesn’t explain why he thinks I’m going to kill him now.”
“No it doesn’t, so there has to be more to the story,” Mystia said. “Tell me, Zane,whydid you kill Valerian?”
After explaining what led up to it, Zane concluded by saying, “Even after warning him not to attack my mate, he came at him, so I had no choice but to kill him. I didn’t do anything wrong. As David’s mate it was what I had to do.”
“You certainly were within your rights to do so,” Mystia agreed.
“The other vampires were killed because they were involved in kidnapping Reif…Brian’s mate,” Zane said.
“Yes…yes…he did,” Mystia murmured, her mind suddenly preoccupied with another thought.
“It sounds like Lucius doesn’t understand the basics of paranormal rights regarding a mate,” Jackson said. “That’s the only explanation I can think of.”
“Carson did say Valerian really messed him up,” Zane offered.
