That day, when I rounded the corner to the torture room in the basement, I wasn't prepared for what I saw. He had never gone this far before. Andrei, my poor little brother, was unconscious and covered head to toe in blood while my Father stood over him clutching a bloody hunting knife. Our mother was on her knees, tears streaming from her bruised face, and I knew she must have tried to intervene and been hit for it.
As I stood there, frozen in shock, my father raised his blade again and swung it down hard towards Andrei's chest. My horrified scream pulled his attention at the last second, making him hesitate. In that moment, my mother dove over her young son's lifeless body, and the momentum of Father's swing drove the long blade straight through her.
She was killed instantly, and in his rage, Father pushed her off and stabbed at Andrei again, pinning him to the floor as the tip of the blade stuck in a crack. I finally found my voice, screaming for the guards we always had around the house, and they dragged father away, leaving me alone with his mess.
Andrei hadn't died that day, but the knife had pierced his chest only an inch from his heart, going all the way through and out the other side. When he’d finally recovered enough from the injuries, he took off. We had barely spoken to one another since then, but our paths still crossed now and then.
Reliving that memory, in such detail, was driving my fury to all new heights, and I dimly noticed the shirt I was holding burst into flames. Why is it so hot in here?
I staggered across my bedroom to the window, throwing it open to get some cool air through my room. My vision was hazing, like I was looking at everything through a sheen of gas, and I could feel the sweat running rivers down my naked skin. Glancing behind me, I could see small fires burning on the carpet where I had just taken steps.
What the fuck is happening to me?
Pain rippled through my body, making me cry out. My muscles bunched and contracted as though I was being electrocuted or torn apart; the pain was indescribable. Staggering over to my mirror, I sucked in a shocked gasp when I saw my reflection. My skin was an angry red color and rippling with what seemed to be scales, appearing and disappearing in patches all over me. The tattoo of a red and gold dragon, clawing its way over my shoulder, seemed to be grinning at me ferociously, but that had to have been my imagination. The tattoo matched one that Andrei had gotten to cover the horrific scars inflicted by our father.
Abruptly, like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head, my anger subsided, leaving me with the horrible, sickening feeling of fear. Something was wrong. Someone was in trouble.
Drag?.
Once again somehow, I knew for certain she was in danger, and I needed to help her.
My body exploded in a searing burst of excruciating pain, and I doubled over, convinced I was dying. My last thought before I blacked out was that I needed to reach Kit.
24
KIT
The diner that the boys had chosen was not too far from Jonathan's townhouse, so I directed Austin to park in one of our reserved spaces and we walked to it from there.
As I slid into the booth that they were sitting in, Caleb nodded at my wrist.
“What's that?” he asked, observant little bastard that he was. He captured my wrist between his long fingers and tugged it closer to him for inspection.
“It was a present from Lucy.” I grinned happily. I loved my present from Lucy. It was a rose gold bracelet of a fox biting her own tail. Two deep red bloodstones were inset as the fox’s eyes, and I knew she had chosen them specifically because that was my birthstone.
“Why was Lucy giving you a present?” Caleb asked, his fingers stroking the soft skin beneath the bracelet and making my stomach flutter. “Wait, when did you see Lucy? Isn't she in Connecticut?”
“No, she's here. Austin had her moved to a new facility and left a decoy in her place in case someone went after her again.” I shrugged uncomfortably, still not totally sure how to handle this new, thoughtful Austin King.
There was a loaded pause as the boys all turned to the twin in question, who shifted in his seat awkwardly.
“Did he, now?” River murmured, giving Austin a hard look. “I think we will be speaking later about these secrets you've been keeping.”
He jerked his head in acknowledgement. “Understood, Alpha.”
Huh, that’s weird that Austin is using my new nickname for River…
“Hold up, is that your code name?” I gasped, putting two and two together, and River's jaw clenched.
“Back to this beautiful bracelet from Lucy, love. Why was she giving you a gift?” He deflected like a champ, and the attention turned back to me.
“Apparently it was princess's birthday recently,” Austin answered for me, and I grimaced. Even without the whole kidnapping saga, I hadn't intended to tell them.
“When?” Cole demanded, frowning at me, and I suspected I was in trouble.
“Uh, New Year’s Eve. But it's probably not even my real birthday. Lucy and I just picked it as my fake birthday when we were kids because there were always fireworks on New Year’s, and we thought how cool it would be if you had fireworks on your birthday. It's stupid really…” I trailed off, embarrassed. The warmth in my cheeks told me I was blushing, so I picked up a menu to hide behind, clearing my throat.
“Kitty Kat,” Caleb grinned, yanking the menu out of my hands so I no longer had a screen between me and the five men all staring intently at me. “Why didn't you tell us? Even before the kidnapping? We would have thrown you a party!”
“Don't be silly,” I murmured. “Birthdays don't mean that much to me. Can we let it go now, please? Have you all already ordered?”
No one responded to me for a minute, and I could feel their heavy gazes drilling into the top of my head as I snatched the menu back from Caleb and studied it intensely.
“All good, love. We ordered for you when Austin said you were almost back,” River, the absolute angel, told me seconds before the waitress began bringing our food out to us.
A low groan slipped from my throat and my mouth began to water as the heavenly smell of melted cheese reached my nose. “Oh fuck, I think I love you.” Reaching for the massive burger which had been placed in front of me, I snorted a quick laugh at the shocked expressions on the guys’ faces.
“She means the burger,” River muttered. “She's pulled that line before.”
He winked at me as I grinned broadly before taking a huge bite of my food. I was pretty sure I was talking about the burger…
After we had all filled ourselves to the point of bursting, we began slowly walking back to the townhouse. The boys were joking and messing around as we walked, and I tucked my cold hands deep inside my coat pockets. It was a frosty day, and my breath was coming out in foggy steam as I laughed at the guys’ lighthearted banter.
“So, can I call dibs on your bed tonight, Kitty Kat?” Caleb asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and tugging me in close to his body while we walked.