Lora’s eyes lit up a little with recognition. “Oh yes, I remember now.”
Maddy’s teeth clamped down and the muscles in her jaw ticked.
There was a story there, but now was not the time for it.
Lora groaned. “Well, we can’t have Novus gobbling them up. We’ll stash them here. It’s only a month.”
Relief rushed through me and Maddy relaxed beside me.
Lora pulled another portal egg from her hand and I steeled myself. It crashed at our feet and a green blinding light sucked us inside.
I’d barely landed in the dungeon basement when I was tackle-hugged by Castiel.
“Averly!” He’d grabbed me and enveloped me, pulling me to his chest.
Whoa.
I stiffened and he released me, stepping back.
“Maddy!” Blake and Natalie screamed at the same time as they crashed into her. We had landed in the kitchen of their home-like prison, and now all of the brothers and sisters were rushing forward to greet us.
“Mads!” Castiel cried, as Axel and then Gabe stomped through the room to pull their half-sister into a group hug.
The collective sound of multiple sobs tightened my chest, and I couldn’t help the tears that overflowed. They hadn’t seen their sister in over a century.
Axel reached out with his giant arm and yanked me into the dogpile, crushing us all. Their bodies pushed into me almost painfully, and yet it felt so good to be held I didn’t care. Emotion clogged my throat as we all clung together in the giant group hug.
“We missed you,” Blake sobbed to her sister-in-law.
Maddy’s laugh-sob came from somewhere in the dogpile.
Eventually we pulled away from each other one by one and everyone looked at us expectantly.
Natalie whispered: “What’s going on? Why did they let you both down here?”
Castiel gasped, and then reached out and touched my wrist as if noticing for the first time that I was wearing the bracelets. “Wren?” He moved lightning-quick, taking me into his arms, but I pulled back, causing hurt to flash across his face. He thought because Lora had given me bracelets that I was Wren and was back to be imprisoned with him.
He was hot as hell, so sweet and yet… he wasn’t Brayden. I realized then that even if I was Wren, I’d already given Brayden my whole heart and there was no going back.
I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Can we talk?” I looked at Castiel.
Maddy slipped her hand in Natalie’s. “I’ll tell you guys everything. Let’s go in the other room.”
She ushered everyone out pretty quickly, and then it was Castiel and I standing in front of the kitchen stove, on top of which a fragrant pot of stew was simmering. Castiel looked at me like I’d just killed his puppy.
“Do you want to sit down?” I gestured to the eight-person dining table and he looked at it with a scowl.
“Will I need to? What’s going on, Wren? You’ve got the bracelets on. They captured you, bound your magic, and now what? You’re rejecting me?” He acted like I’d slapped him and I hated myself for it.
I opened my mouth to speak and he started to pace. “If it’s the lack of memories, I’m okay with that. We can build new memories, I’ll take it slow. I’m sorry I got excited. I—”
“Castiel.” I stepped in front of him and he stopped, peering me right in eyes with so much vulnerability I almost chickened out. He looked so much like Brayden, it tore at my heart.
Reaching out, I grasped the sides of his face. “The truth is… I fell in love with Brayden before I even met you and now I can’t make those feelings stop. So whether I’m Wren or Lena… I choose him.”
He broke out into a huge grin then, shocking me.
Okay, not the reaction I expected after telling him I loved his brother.
