Ash whistled. It felt good to be riding along with Gus again. For now he just allowed himself to enjoy it and pushed aside the rest. He knew coming here would change something inside him, and leaving wouldn’t be easy, even after two days.
“Exactly. Samantha realized I was her cousin and took me home to James. The rest is history.”
Ash watched him throw a nauseatingly sweet look at his wife. “You need to stop doing that, it’s making me feel ill.”
Gus’s head whipped around so fast, his neck creaked.
“What?” Ash asked.
“That sounded like the old Ash.”
He had felt like the old Ash saying it.
“I will never be who I was, Gus.”
“I know. As I know you have business to finish before you can rest. But I hope when that time comes, you find me again. What I also hope is that you let me help you finish that business.”
“No.”
“I am your brother, and you suffered at the hands of Radcliff because you did not tell me why you were at his mercy.”
“I was never at his mercy,” Ash found himself growling. But he had been. Chained and beaten like an animal. Left without food unless Baron could slip him some.
“Asking for help does not make you weak, brother. It makes you stronger.”
He didn’t answer that. They rode in silence for a while, and the tension between them was back.
Asking for help does not make you weak, brother. It makes you stronger.
Since Gus had left, he’d relied on no one but Baron, and then rarely.
His eyes went to Dorrie. Her back was straight, and she was chatting with her sister. The woman was a tiger, like the others in this family. They would protect those they loved without hesitation.
Warwick rode between his big brothers, and behind them were Dorrie, James, and Eden. Behind them Gus, Ash, and Somer. Lastly were Nicholas, Harry, and Wolf.
Even now they were watching out for each other, the biggest at the front and rear. What would it have been like to have this support in his life when he’d needed it most? Gus now had it, as would his children.
Nieces and nephews. The thought made him want to smile. Would he meet them? He let the thoughts come and go as they climbed Raven Mountain.
Children burst out the doors and ran to their parents as they arrived in the castle courtyard. Adults too, and Warwick was once again lauded as a hero.
“Hello, Ash.” Fleur and Daisy approached him.
“Hello, how was your day?”
“Baron taught us to build a better slingshot from wood on the beach.”
“Did he now?” He looked for his friend and found him approaching.
“I am quite a good shot, actually,” Daisy said. “Baron set up a large target that made a noise when I managed to hit it.”
“That’s good then.” Looking at the two little girls, Ash realized he would miss more than his brother and the green-eyed Dorset Sinclair, when he left.
They wandered off, and Baron arrived.
“I heard you’ve been corrupting children.”
“I merely taught them the correct way to use a slingshot so they do not hurt themselves and others.”
