The scent of burning plastic fills the air, and I glance down at the warped, useless hunk of junk in my hand. Whipping it across the room with a slew of curses, it smacks into the wall hard enough to leave a divot in the stone before exploding into dozens of pieces across the floor of my office. Elbows on the desk, I hang my head, massaging my temples.
I need to pull myself together, but everything’s falling apart faster than I can keep up with. Three godsdamned days, yet we're no better off than when we arrived. Every plan I've drawn up has been dead on arrival, and it's starting to sound really fucking tempting to switch my efforts into convincing my mate that staying in this fortress for a few decades wouldn't actually be so bad.
Failure isn't an option, not with so much on the line.
When Amara ran... I don’t think I’ve ever felt that level of terror since the day I found my parents murdered and my little sister missing.
That's it.
Rummaging around in the bottom drawer of my desk, I grab one of the many extra phones I keep on hand and power it up. Dialing from memory, I hold my breath until she answers.
"Carina's, where you get more bang for your buck; literally. How can I help you?"
Frustration aside, I can't help but smile. "When do you get off today?"
"Like I'd scar my poor brother for life by telling him the truth. Oh, you meant off work?" she teases. At my snort, she says, "Depends. Are you finally going to invite me over to meet my new sister, or do you want something?"
"Both, actually." I sigh. "I'd rather not explain over the phone. Any chance you can meet me in my office as soon as you're free?"
There's a rustle as she covers the mouthpiece of the phone before shouting, "Five minute warning! Get what you need to get fucked, and get the fuck out." To me, she happily chirps, "Lucky for you, I'm closing up shop early today. Try not to say anything stupid to that mate of yours and make shit worse before I get there."
***
“Yeesh. The little missusbusting your balls this bad already, brotatochip?” Barely clearing the five foot mark with bright pink hair in a pixie cut and the stature to match, Carina closes the door behind her, perusing my disheveled state with a grimace.
A warning rumble escapes me before I can bite it back, and her eyes widen in surprise. “It’s not because of her, it’s fuckingMason.” I scrub a hand over my stubbled jaw and scowl. “Which, I suppose, circles back to Amara. I only look like shit because I want to protect her, Carina. She’s so -” Sighing in defeat, I slump back in my seat. “She’s perfect. And I’m failing her already.”
Carina clucks her tongue. “Only way you can fail a mate is by not caring enough to put in the effort. Trust me, she’s lucky to have you, and I hope she appreciates the Fates gifting her someone as amazingly devoted as you are. So maybe you just need an outside perspective.” She sniffs and silently gags. “And a shower. You’re not going to impress her if you don’t take care of yourself, Raiden.”
Twenty minutes later, I’ve caught her up on nearly everything. By the time I’ve finished, her typically bright blue eyes are swirling with smoke, a matched set to mine. She’s like Kodi in that respect, her inner demon feeding off of her volatile emotions and making itself known when she’s upset. Even if it makes it easier for me to hide my reactions, I’m jealous of their connection to their other halves.
Mine’s always there; waiting, watching. Reminding me that my life isn’t my own.
Careful not to step on the broken glass, she circles the room, picking up all of my crumpled, discarded plans littering the floor. One by one, they end up in the trash can under my desk and she steals my notebook, leafing through my latest approach. Eventually, she tosses it back onto my desk with a huff. “Okay, what ifIkill him?”
“You’re my sister, backlash is inevitable. At that point, I may as well do it myself.”
“If no one close to you can kill him, we could hire someone.” Pulling out her phone, she begins scrolling through her contacts. “But the only ones I can think of that would be suicidal enough to take on a dragon as a mark without knowledge of his abilities are the Hawthornes; four wolves out in Shadow Ridge that don’t have much left to lose, anyway.”
“No, I don’t want to get anyone else killed if we can avoid it. We need more information on Mason -Malcolm-before we can form a successful plan of attack, I think. Until then, we’re on defense.”
She stiffens and pins me with an accusatory glare. “I hope you’re not planning on putting that mate of yours on house arrest. That’ll bite you in the ass faster than you can blink.”
“Why do you think I called you?” I growl. “I’m too close to the situation and need an outside perspective from someone I trust.”
Nodding to herself, she begins pacing the room, muttering under her breath as she searches for solutions I haven’t already dismissed. After ten minutes of wearing a path in the floor, she snaps her fingers, turning to me with a satisfied grin and a glint in her eyes that has me narrowing mine in return.
“Give her to me for the day,” she demands, rubbing her hands together with maniacal glee.
“Absolutely not.”
She sticks out her bottom lip, but I’m not buying it for a minute. I might have fallen for that trick when she was little, but I’ve spent five hundred years watching this waif of a girl leave a swath of devastation in her wake. That horrible night changed both of our lives forever, and Carina’s made it her life’s mission to never be at anyone’s mercy ever again.
“Think about it.” She taps the map mounted on my wall covered in an alarming amount of red X’s. “You’re in tactician mode, and you’re not going to be able to sleep until you make progress. And frankly, brother dear, you look like shit, so I’m hoping you have a breakthrough soon. During this time, your mate’s being woefully neglected of your attention. As your only living blood relative, it’s my duty to be your stand-in in the meantime so her other mates don’t boot you out of the equation.”
Before I can cut in, she starts ticking off on her fingers. “Secondly, you said that fuckwit rotting in my dungeon scared her off from Khalida. You need her to like it here enough to stay permanently; whether or not she’s waiting out a war inside these castle walls playing the beauty to you beasts, or considers it a home shewantsto return to.”
She lifts another finger. “And third, I can guaran-damn-tee she needs a break from the testosterone overload after spending so long alone, then being constantly surrounded by the three of you for over a month.”
