He cut me with a glare that made my insides turn. “You’re my kin, and your mother isn’t here to keep an eye on you, so I’ll protect you until you’ve wed.”
I couldn’t help the groan that escaped me.
This was going to suck.
I wondered if he’d allow a quick Vegas wedding? Doubtful.
I pulled the blanket over my head and fell asleep.
NINE
No one spoke much the next morning. It was a somber moment. Brayden had told the others that in a mere few hours we’d be losing our past life memories and the heaviness of that had permeated the entire barn. The Amarok had been in and out, dealing with a lot of things still, but today he was present at breakfast. His alpha power rested over all of us like a heavy blanket, and I think he knew that and was making himself scarce as much as he could. Whatever power the Fae Lords had given him was un-freaking comfortable to be around.
“Brayden, we need to talk.” The Amarok indicated they step outside, and Brayden nodded to me before grabbing his blueberry muffin and exiting the front doors.
I wondered what they were talking about…
Leah and I both reached for the salt and our hands touched, pulling me into a memory.
“Sister!” Wren ran behind me and I spun, smiling at her. I was Lena in this memory, something that I just knew instinctively.
Wren’s hair was trailing behind her as she trotted through the palace grounds. She’d pinned a white flower in her hair, something she’d always loved to do. She was grinning ear to ear and it caused me to smile.
“What is it that has you so happy?” I asked.
Skidding to a stop before me, she thrust her left hand into my face. On her ring finger was a delicate gold band and I gasped with excitement.
“Castiel proposed?”
She didn’t even answer. She squealed and then threw herself into my arms. I hugged her and spun her around. We both laughed, her joy and my joy mixing into a palpable power that felt like it saturated the entire field. Nothing made me more happy than seeing those I loved in their happiness.
The memory faded away, and I was then looking into Leah’s teary eyes. We were both on the verge of full-on ugly crying.
“Sister,” Leah said, and I knew she’d just had the same memory. Leaning forward, I pulled her into a hug and she sobbed into my shoulder.
Our whole lives we’d wanted to be sisters. We’d talked about it constantly and now we really were, but after today that memory would be gone.
“It’s okay,” I told her. “It will be okay.”
Wasn’t that what big sisters were supposed to do? Assure their little sisters everything was going to be alright?
I decided right then to just believe I was Lena, even though we would never have the proof. Leah had adopted the thought that she was Wren and so this felt right. None of it would matter after today anyway.
After wiping each other’s eyes, Castiel gave Leah a hug and my bagel with cream cheese sank like a stone in my gut. Messing with someone’s memories was a horrifying thing. What if Erwin took too much and I didn’t even remember who Brayden was?
No. I couldn’t think like that, it had to be done or Leah and I would both have amnesia in five years, like he’d said.
Brayden came back, sans the Amarok, and we all looked up at him. He cleared his throat. “Novus was spotted in Sandpoint. He’s looking for Averly.”
His gaze flew to mine. Instead of the fear and trepidation I expected to feel, I was blanketed in rage.
“I can’t wait to kill him,” I growled.
“We need to restore Brayden’s power first.” Leah pulled the stone from her pocket, the one Wren had gotten from the former Elder Fae. We assumed we’d need it to heal Brayden, so it was smart of her to bring it.
“And I need at least four more training sessions with her,” Artemis added.
“Well, you may have to get them all in today. I’m not sitting on full power while my brothers and sisters-in-law could be getting tortured by Lora,” Brayden told him.
