Eduard didn’t seem inclined to agree. But somehow, Sawyerknew. And it was weird.
“Sawyer…”
“I know. You’re freaking out, and we can definitely walk quickly. But you don’t have to drag me along. I promise, she’ll understand.”
Eduard reached out his hand again, and Sawyer took it. They moved into the final ward and Sawyer felt a weight lift off his chest. The wards hadn’t meant much before. His… the other guy was able to break through them. But he felt safer inside them nonetheless.
As they reached the house, several vampire guards stood by nervously. “She’s in back. By the pool.”
“Excellent,” Sawyer said. He hurried around the house and found his sister standing at the edge of the yard, staring out into the woods. “Mitra!”
She turned and smiled. The human form she’d taken cloaked her true form, and it was drawing a lot of energy from her. He ran forward and flung himself against her.
She patted him on the back and stepped away to look him over. “Sawyer…”
“I know. I look like shit. Let’s go into the woods a bit and you can stop wasting energy on this form. You can, uh, keep me safe from, you know,him, right?”
She arched a brow.
“I know, I know. Just, you know. Almost died. Still a little freaked out.”
“I will keep you safe.”
Sawyer grinned and turned to wave at the myriad of guards and mates standing and staring slack-jawed at them. “We’ll be back in a few.”
Sawyer led her into the woods, until he found the little clearing where he’d sat with Draco earlier in the day talking to Yellow Eyes. The blanket and basket had disappeared, but there was still something peaceful and tranquil about the setting.
“Hold on a sec before you do your thing,” Sawyer said. “Um, Yellow Eyes? I kinda need for you to go away for a bit. Seriously, don’t look, okay? This is my sister, and if you know as much as I think you do, you know what that means. So you’re probably going to want to—”
He heard a chuffing cough and then the merest hint of a tree branch rustling.
“To whom are you speaking?” His sister looked around briefly before revealing her true form.
“My new guardian, I guess. I mean, I know he’s my new guardian, but we haven’t met. But he saved me from... you know who.”
“I demand that you speak his name, Sawyer. You have never cowered before, and I will not see you do it now.”
Sawyer drew in a shaky breath. “Palinouros.”
“Yes. Our brother.”
“He’s not my brother,” Sawyer said stubbornly. “I refuse to even think of him that way. After everything he’s done—”
“Sawyer, enough. You continue down the same foolish path you did before. You were supposed to grow wiser through this crazy choice of yours, but you have not.”
Sawyer huffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means figure it out, baby brother. Use that incredible mind of yours.”
“How? I don’t know anything. And nothing is written down. Cecil said I had all the records stripped of my existence before I—” Sawyer waved his hand around his body and then threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.”
She grinned at him, and it was one of those annoying big sister knows all grins.
Sawyer groaned.
“You need to figure it out, Sawyer. Having the answers defeats the purpose. You then travel down the same path as before.”
“Ugh!”
