“I figured,” Tristan said softly. “I think we should wake Amara and go. We don’t have much time.”
“No. We don’t. And it’s going to be harder than we thought.” And with that sentiment, he turned on his heel and walked naked to their room. He needed to get his mates out of there before another school approached. They needed to get to the siren realm and meet the queen. He didn’t know what they would do afterward, but if they didn’t do this, others would get hurt. They had to face this head-on, and he prayed that Amara would find the strength within her to stay by their sides. Because he knew she was strong enough. Only he didn’t think she did.
And that was dangerous. Could prove deadly.
Chapter Seven
Tristan did his best to not let his powers lash out, but it was damned hard when all he wanted to do was wrap his mates up in cotton wool and hide them from danger. Of course, that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon, and frankly, wouldn’t help much anyway.
“What do you mean you were attacked?” Amara gasped. She slid her hands down Seth’s now clothed body as if checking for injuries, then did the same to Tristan. “Why didn’t you tell me before we left Caly’s place? Instead, you just woke me up and tucked me to your side without more than a few words, saying we needed to hurry. You need to tell me things.” She looked at both of them. “I thought we already had the discussion of how I need to be kept in the loop. I might be the only girl in this relationship and the one who is newest to her powers, but I deserve to know everything.”
Tristan let out a breath. They were in the forest on the edge of the wolf den—Hunter’s den, actually—within the human realm. There wasn’t an easy way into the siren realm from the mer realm. If Amara had been born a siren, it would have been different, but as she hadn’t, they’d had to go through the only portal he knew of. And that was within the human realm. The humans, as they were diluted descendants of the paranormals, held all the portals to all the realms. They just didn’t know it. And most portals were such that one couldn’t just magically show up at the edge. The three of them needed to hike a bit to where he knew the portal had last been. He just hoped it hadn’t moved in the past century, or he’d have to call up Dante and the others and see if they knew where it was. He didn’t want to worry everyone more than they probably already were. Amara had called the girls to tell them what she was, but that was it. He was sure the old dragon and the others probably knew of the whispers and rumors, but they hadn’t contacted them about it. He knew if it came down to it, the others would come to their sides, but he didn’t want to risk them. Not yet.
“You deserve to know everything,” Tristan finally said. “But we needed to get out of there and to a place where we could talk.” He looked around at the trees around them. With Hunter’s den so close, they were relatively safe. This was as good a place to talk as any.
Amara folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. They’d taught her to hold her glamour so she looked like her human self, rather than the siren she was. Tristan also had a glamour on her, in case hers fell. She was still so new to all of this, and she’d readily agreed to his help.
“Don’t hold back, okay?” she said softly. “I know you guys want to protect me, and I get it, but I can’t protect myself if I don’t know everything.” Something passed over her eyes, and Tristan took a step toward her.
“What is it? What just went through your mind?” He reached out and cupped her chin. Seth stood on her other side, his hand on her hip.
“It’s nothing.”
He shook his head and pinched her chin so she was forced to look into his eyes. Her mouth parted and her eyes dilated. Interesting. He filed that information away for later and kept his mind on the task at hand.
“You can’t tell me it’s nothing after your little speech right there, little siren. We’re safe where we are for a bit.” He held up his hands, his powers reaching out to surround them in a protective ward. “What are you hiding, darling?”
She pressed her lips together. “Fine. The girls know, but that’s it. I don’t want to make a big deal about it, but if I don’t get it off my chest, you’ll just try to figure it out anyway.” She pulled away and wrapped her arms around her stomach. When he and Seth both moved to get closer, she shook her head. It burned, but he let it happen. If she needed to hold herself apart to get through what she needed to say, he’d let it happen. For now.
“Every time you talk about strength or protecting me, it just reminds me I didn’t have that before. I’ve never had it. My girls are my family. Why? Because the family I was born to meant nothing. I meant nothing. My mom killed herself when I was a little girl. Probably because she couldn’t take it anymore.”
Seth let out a breath beside him and moved closer. Amara held up her hand but their mate ignored it.