"There is nothing soothing about trying to peel glue off your mate's eyelids," Aiden grumbled.
Amelia chuckled at the image of Meryn with one eye closed. "I think you encountered an extreme case."
"I enjoy watching Beth brush her hair at night. I agree, it is very calming," Gavriel admitted.
Aiden glanced down at Meryn's pixie and sighed. He looked around the table. "I got a phone call from my father. The council is returning the original necklace from our gooey corpse and the necklace from Penny's father to us. They want us to go over them again."
The men groaned. "Why? What in the hell do they think we'll find? We've been over those things a thousand times," Colton complained.
"I happen to agree with you; however, at the moment, they are our only lead regarding our rogue ferals. So we'll go over them again." Aiden sat back looking as frustrated as the rest of his unit.
Amelia frowned.
Rogue ferals?
She spoke up. "I'm sorry, but what do you mean by rogue ferals?"
Aiden exchanged surprised looks with Gavriel and Colton. "Your brothers didn't tell you?" he asked.
She shook her head. "They tend not to tell me the grittier stuff. Caiden did mention a lot of kidnappings going on in this area, which is why he wanted me to come home right away."
"When was the last time you were home?" Gavriel asked.
"Last year. I moved back to Storm Keep after having lived in Atlanta for a few years, but I couldn't sit still. So I packed a bag and my makeup case and decided to visit each of the other pillar cities. I traveled around the country for a while, this was my first city to visit."
"Fate hard at work again," Beth said.
Amelia turned to her. "What do you mean?"
Beth smiled. "The same thing happened to Meryn and me."
Meryn laughed. "In my case, I threw a dart at a map."
"So I was brought here?" She stared up at Darian who didn't say anything.
"We're all being brought here. The spell was cast, so the warriors get mates. I, for one, am grateful." Beth looked over at Gavriel. He raised their joined hands and kissed her knuckles.
Amelia wanted more information on the ferals. She reached beside her and tugged on Darian's shirt. He looked down at her, surprised. She could tell he hadn't expected her to touch him.
"What is going on with the ferals?" She couldn't keep the tremor from her voice. Growing up, she had had nightmares about the vacant-eyed monsters her brothers fought.
His reaction to her fear was immediate and without thought. He reached to his side, pulled her hand away from his shirt, and clasped it in his. "You fear them?"
She nodded. "More than most, I think. All I had growing up were my brothers, and all three of them are unit warriors. If there was anything that could take them away from me, it was ferals. I hated and feared them as a child."
Darian looked over at Aiden who nodded. "She needs to know, now more than ever, especially since she's your mate. She could end up a target like Beth or Rheia."
"Target?" she squeaked.
Darian took a deep breath. "Last year, we noticed that ferals started behaving strangely. They were attacking in groups with visible leaders, taking orders, and had higher brain functions than normal. Some wore necklaces that we now know allows them to somehow retain the abilities they should have lost when they turned feral; it gives them abilities they should never have, like becoming invisible. When Meryn arrived, she started compiling information and saw patterns that we had missed. She discovered that shifter couples were suddenly going missing, especially couples expecting babies. When she widened the search, we saw that the disappearances weren't limited to just the counties around Lycaonia but were occurring all around the country.
"Thanks to Rheia, we were recently able to figure out that the necklace not only gave them new abilities but also halted the decay of their bodies. They no longer smelled like a feral and could for pass as a normal paranormal."
Amelia felt herself begin to shake. "How come our people don't know this? They have a right to know."
Darian squeezed her hand. "Because they would panic, and because there's nowhere safe they can go."
"Darian," Aiden chastised.
Darian shook his head. "It's true, and you know it. The women have been attacked here twice, Rheia at the clinic twice. With those necklaces, they can come and go undetected. I'll say what we've all been thinking for months: We are strictly on the defensive, and not doing a good job at that either. We have to wait for them to strike because we cannot take the fight to them." Darian dropped her hand and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
Amelia looked around, incredulous. "Why haven't you created a detection spell?"
Keelan shook his head. "Elder Airgead has tried and says that it is impossible. What would the spell detect? Blood from a blood spell? We all have blood in us."
"Not even Elder Airgead could find a way?" she asked, feeling shaken.
"No. The witches in the units here in Lycaonia have been casting everything we know at those damn necklaces to get them to reveal their secrets to us so we can figure out how they are made, a clue, anything!" Keelan banged a fist on the table.
Amelia turned to Darian. "How can you fight them? How can we possibly win?"
"I'll tell you how," Meryn declared, jumping to her feet. "We find out where these murdering bastards are and then we launch a nuke straight up their--"
"Dinner is ready." Ryuu interrupted from the kitchen doorway. He looked over at Meryn who had a fist raised in the air. "Denka, you know it is not good for the baby for you to get so excited before a meal."
"Uh, Meryn, you keep talking about explosives. They're just figures of speech, right baby?" Aiden asked.
Ignoring him, Meryn pouted and sat down, crossing her arms over her chest. "You ruined my moment, Ryuu."
"How will I ever live with myself? Mashed potatoes?" he asked blandly, holding a spoon over his cart.
Meryn brightened. "Yes, please and lots of them. Oh! Can you also mix the peas in with mine?"
"Baby?" Aiden prodded.
"Give up, Commander, lost cause," Colton advised.
Aiden reached for his wine glass.
"Of course." Ryuu dished out a large portion of potatoes and mixed in a spoonful of peas. Without asking, he added two large slices of meatloaf.
"Might as well add a third." Meryn said, watching his every move.
Ryuu's eyes widened. "Your food consumption cannot be normal." He turned to Rheia. "Please check her for a tapeworm."
"Hey! I do have a parasite, but it's a half human, half bear shifter and future Time Lord, thank you very much. So please Ryuu, Meryn two-point-oh would like another slice of meatloaf and some tuna."
Ryuu's eyes widened. "Tuna and meat loaf?"
Amelia's fear over the terrifying feral development evaporated as she watched Meryn bicker with her squire. Meryn was completely unfazed by the alarming changes in the ferals because, having only been here for a few short months, that was all she had ever known.
Around the table, everyone was smiling at the tiny human, and Amelia realized that maybe the mates truly had been brought here for a reason. Meryn's attitude and fresh perspective were needed to keep them from becoming too overwhelmed. It gave her hope because there was no way Fate would bring her all this way after giving her dreams of her mate for over thirty years just to take him away.
"Tuna sounds good to me, too," Amelia agreed feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"Actually, me too, Ryuu. Sorry." Rheia blushed.
Ryuu pinched the bridge of his nose. "Anyone else?" Everyone else shook their heads. Ryuu frowned at Rheia then at Meryn, but when his gaze turned to her, he looked confused. "I know why the two of them have odd cravings, but you're not with child."
Amelia shrugged. "I'll try anything once. I live in the moment. Life is too short not to eat meatloaf with tuna."
Ryuu shook his head. "Two, th
ere's two."
Beth nodded her head. "I know Ryuu, it'll be okay," she said in a soothing manner.
Ryuu straightened his back. "Ladies if you will but give me a moment to serve the rest of the table, I will return with your additional side dish."
Meryn grinned evilly. "But it's not going on the side; I'm putting it on top."
Ryuu sighed and continued to serve the table. "Yes denka, of course."
Gavriel leaned back in his chair. "Amelia, may I ask, how old are you?"
"Thirty-six, why?"
"Just curious. Ryuu and Beth are right, you and Meryn both have a very optimistic and simple view of the world," Gavriel explained.
"Dammit! You're older than me. Except for Penny, I'm still the youngest. Even Jaxon and Noah are older." Meryn growled.
Aiden kissed his mate's neck causing her to laugh. "Meryn, you know, as a human you are treated according to how humans age, not paranormals."
"Exactly," Amelia agreed. "To a paranormal, age is just a number, unless you have brothers."
"Amen," Rheia said.
"Or fathers," Beth agreed.
"Yeah, unless you have testosterone-driven male relatives, ages don't really mean anything, just like expiration dates on food," Amelia added.
Everyone stared at her except Meryn who just nodded and ate a huge bite of her peas and mashed potatoes.
"What?" Amelia asked, looking around.
Keelan sat forward. "Do you mean that ages and expiration dates are the same because they are both numbers?"
"No, I meant that they are both pointless numbers. Ages are a pointless unit of measure for races that can live thousands of years and expiration dates are pointless because they are just for show."
Meryn nodded again. "True."
Aiden turned to her, looking horrified. "No, baby, they are not just for show."
Meryn scrunched up her face and turned to Amelia. "Really?" Amelia shrugged.
Aiden nodded vigorously. "Yes!"
Meryn thought about it for a moment. "What about pickles? Pickles don't expire, do they, Ryuu?"
"Not the ones packaged by NASA for deep space exploration, denka. Did you want the tuna plain or mixed with mayonnaise as if it were going on a sandwich?" he asked as he finished serving Aiden before refilling his wine glass. Keelan snickered.
Meryn looked at her and Rheia. "With mayonnaise?" Amelia and Rheia nodded.
Ryuu gave a half bow. "I will be back in a moment with your tuna."
Meryn turned to Rheia. "What about medicines? Do they really go bad?"
Rheia nodded. "Yes, sometimes they lose potency, and sometimes they develop dangerous side effects."
"Ryuu!" Aiden bellowed.
"I'll check everything," Ryuu replied from the kitchen.
Aiden picked up his wine glass again.
The rest of dinner went by at a leisurely pace as everyone discussed the events of their day. When the meal was over, Meryn stretched. "Come along, Pond, it's time for movie night."
"Why did you call her Pond?" Colton asked.
Rheia patted his arm. "It's a Doctor Who thing."
"I haven't caught up to Penny yet."
Rheia laughed. "You will. You're her favorite Doctor Who watching partner after Meryn."
Keelan quickly agreed to movie night. "Great idea, Meryn. I think we should watch something fun, uplifting, and lighthearted." He winked at Amelia. She felt her heart melt a bit. Keelan was trying so hard to help his friend.
"Cool, how about Bedazzled?" Meryn suggested.
"I've never heard of that one; what's it about?" Keelan leaned forward.
"A guy sells his soul to the devil for seven wishes," Meryn replied.
Keelan stared at her his eyes wide. "How is that happy and uplifting?"
"It's funny," she protested.
Amelia tried hard to keep a straight face. "I'll have to pass. I'm turning in early so I can have breakfast with you all tomorrow."
Meryn clapped her hands. "Good! We're going to visit Adelaide tomorrow. I can introduce you."
"Who's Adelaide?"
"She's Aiden's mom. Her squire, Marius, makes the best cake I have ever eaten." Meryn patted her belly.
Gavriel sat forward. "You're driving?"
Beth shook her head. "We were going to walk."
He paled. "But, it is a thirty-minute walk. There are animals and branches, and exposed roots." Gavriel's eyes looked a bit wild.
Beth placed a comforting hand on his arm. "I'll be fine."
"Yeah, if they get into trouble, Meryn can always come back here to tell us Beth has fallen down the well," Colton joked.
"What the fuck am I? Lassie? You're the dog," Meryn shot back.
"I'm not a dog!" Colton protested.
Gavriel turned to Aiden. "Are there wells?"
Laughing, Beth shook her head. "Fine, we'll drive."
Meryn shrugged. "Whatever works." She stood. "Okay, let's go watch a movie."
Amelia watched as Beth shared a look with Ryuu. Both looked at Meryn and then at her. "Meryn, before we go, I'd like to check on something," Beth said, pointing to Meryn's chair.
Meryn frowned and sat down. "If this is about the chocolate cupcakes, I didn't know they were yours," she said nervously.
Beth shook her head. "No, this isn't about cupcakes." She waited until Ryuu was standing behind Meryn. Now Amelia was starting to get nervous.
Beth took a deep breath. "It's just that I couldn't help noticing the similarities between you and Amelia, so I approached Ryuu to see if he had any suspicions. When he agreed with my hypothesis, I started to do some digging."
Meryn held up a hand. "Whoa, hold up, Bunny. Suspicions about what?" She looked behind her and glared up at her squire. "What did you agree with?"
"Meryn, what was your mother's maiden name?" Beth asked.
Everyone turned to stare at Meryn. "Camden, why?"
Amelia felt her stomach drop as she gasped. "That's impossible."
"What?" Meryn asked again.
Beth turned to Amelia. "I checked the birth records. In 1952, Lily Camden was born to Estelle and William Camden. Ten years later, in 1961, Violet Camden was born."
Amelia stood. "That's impossible! If my Aunt Violet had had a child, my mother would have told me I had a cousin!" she insisted.
"What the fuck is going on?" Meryn shouted, jumping out of her chair.
Ryuu placed a hand on the back of her neck, and instantly, Meryn's face became serene; she sat back down in her chair. "Easy denka, you need to stay calm."
Meryn shook her head back and forth slowly and leaned forward, effectively removing his hand from her neck. "Stop with the sneaky ninja shit."
Ryuu's eyes danced, though he didn't smile. "Of course, denka, I will keep my stealthy ninja skills to a minimum."
Amelia refused to believe what she was being told. Her mother might not be perfect, but she would have told her she had a cousin her own age. She pulled out her phone and called her brother. As usual, he answered on the first ring. She felt a warm hand on her lower back. When she looked down, she was surprised to see Darian supporting her gently, glaring around the table.
"Why are you upset?" Caiden asked immediately. He had always had the uncanny ability to know when she needed him.
"Do you know anything about my mother's family?"
"I know that you had an aunt who was about ten years younger than Mother, and that she and her husband died in the early eighties."
"Did they have any children?"
"No."
Amelia turned to the room to face Beth. "You must be wrong."
"Amelia, what's going on out there?" Caiden demanded.
"They're saying that Meryn's mother is my aunt," she explained.
"What!" Meryn exploded finally putting the pieces together.
"Hold on, it just so happens our parents are visiting right now, let me get Mother on the phone." They all heard loud footsteps on stone a muffled conversation, and then her mother, Lily, was on th
e phone.
"Amelia, are you there baby?"
"I'm here."
"What does Meryn look like?"
Amelia turned to Meryn and really looked at her. Why hadn't she noticed it before? She evaluated people's faces for a living! She and Meryn had the same bone structure, the same nose and lips. When she looked closely, she could easily see that they could be related. The only difference was the eyes and the hair. Meryn had bright green eyes, whereas Amelia had the same grey-silver eyes of her brothers and father.
"When your hair is long, what does it look like?" Amelia asked, barely getting the words out. Meryn couldn't answer. She just let her tears fall. Amelia knew then that they shared the same brown curls.
"She looks like me, only she has a short pixie cut and no curls, and bright green eyes like..."
"Like me," her mother said, sniffling. "Can Meryn hear me?" she asked.
"Yes, you're on speaker."
"Meryn, sweetheart, who raised you?"
"My grandmother. I hated her, just so you know." Meryn crossed her arms over her chest looking defensive.
Lily sobbed. "Oh Violet, I failed you."
"Lily, Lily, darling what's the matter? Who is this?" Amelia heard her father demand.
"Father, it's me."
"Amelia? What in the world is going on?"
"Give me the phone, Marshall." Seconds later, her mother was back. "Meryn, sweetheart, I am so sorry! If I had known, I would have moved heaven and Earth to bring you to Storm Keep. The last time I saw Violet was two years before she died. She hadn't been pregnant then. When I heard about her death, I called Mother, and she told me that I wasn't welcome to come home. The funeral was over, and she never wanted to see me again. She never once said anything about caring for Violet's child because, she knew if she had, I would have come and gotten you."
"Why?" Amelia asked.
"Because my mother wasn't a very nice person. She believed that I was one step up from the devil because I thought differently than she did. I practically raised Violet after she was born. She was only thing that kept me in that house. I refused to leave Violet alone.
"When Violet was thirteen, Mother and I had an argument. She disowned me and kicked me out of the house. I swore to Violet that I would come back when she was eighteen and take her out of there.