“Damn. I guess I better plan on us living on my trust fund, huh? Nick’ll burn through your resources in a month or two.”
Sawyer laughed and wrapped his hands around Draco’s arms. He breathed in, taking in Draco’s strength once more. “You know, the funny thing is, he won’t,” Sawyer said softly. “He’ll keep that beat up old truck of his, because it runs and it’s perfectly good for what he needs. He’ll make sure whatever vehicle the kids would be in is top of the line, but for him, nah. He doesn’t think he’s worth it.”
“Jedrek will take care of that for you.”
“Yeah.”
Sawyer liked his brother’s mate already, even if he didn’t know the hellhound well. Jedrek had a calm, steady presence. He was strong enough to put up with Nick’s demanding personality, but chill enough to know when to let Nick have his way. Nick looked at Jedrek the way Sawyer looked at his mates. The way Asher and Quillon looked at Mikey.
“Did you talk to your cousin?” Sawyer asked gently.
“I did. Asher’s doing okay. I think… I mean, he’s worried, don’t get me wrong. But it feels like we’re waiting for something. He doesn’t think he’s going to lose Mikey anymore. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s just waiting for him to wake up.”
“Yeah. I think… I think that’s the way I feel, too. In the beginning, before the coven helped, I didn’t think he was going to wake up. But now…it’s weird. I’m glad it’s not just me being overly optimistic and not facing reality. If his mates feel it, then it’s right.”
“Exactly. He’s probably going to have some wild tales to tell us when he wakes up.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. I can’t wait for him to find out about Nick.”
“That’s gonna be awesome. I wonder if he’ll give up the coffee shop and go help out.”
Draco shrugged.
“You guys ready?” Jedrek asked.
Draco nodded and led Sawyer to the edge of the yard where the others had already gathered. Before they stepped through the portal, Draco stopped him once more.
“Sawyer?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you, too.”
Sawyer grinned as his mate pulled him forward and into the flames of the portal. They emerged within a circle of stones and waited for one of the coven members to come let them in. Zaire had set up a complicated system of entry into her home. Sawyer could see Henry’s thoughts as he checked the magic around them, looking for ideas to improve the wards at their home.
Keziah, Zaire’s son and one of the coven members who were now part of Nick’s pack, hurried toward them with a beaming smile. “You brought your brother,” Keziah said.
“Yeah,” Nick replied. “He wanted to see.”
“Greetings, Chosen One. Welcome, Guardians.”
Nick snorted.
Sawyer chuckled and nodded his head formally, the way Eduard had taught him. Then he held out his hand. “Keziah, it’s good to see you again.”
A lot of what happened the night of the attack was a blur, but Sawyer remembered the coven trying to help Mikey. Everything had kind of been crazy that night, and he’d been whisked away pretty quickly after the big reveal. There had been a lot of “nothing to see here” moments going on, with the hellhounds doing their best to keep his secret intact.
Keziah opened the wards, and Sawyer couldn’t help but laugh as Nick hooked his arm around Keziah’s neck and held him in a headlock. At least now he knew exactly what he looked like when his brother did that to him.
“Everything okay?” Nick asked gruffly. The worrywart.
“Yep. No problems.”
Nick huffed and let Keziah go. He turned to Sawyer and gave him a look. “What are you standing there for? Come on, already.”
Draco grabbed Sawyer’s hand and they walked further into the compound, past another set of strong wards. Construction went on around them, several dozen crews hard at work in a large swath of land next door.
