By the Embers Dies the Fire

  They did, however, attend Brighton’s housewarming on Saturday, and Elain had been surprised to see it was a very nice place, even if she felt a little…off.

  Ellie being in Elain’s arms meant she was forced to give Brighton a one-armed hug upon their arrival so she didn’t raise Brighton’s suspicion. She was more than relieved to sense that the jumbled chaos she felt in him didn’t seem dark. Just…confused and bombastic, maybe more than a little self-important, but certainly not evil or demented like she’d felt in Rodolfo Abernathy.

  Not even a fraction as dark as she’d sensed in the three shifters she’d eliminated.

  Trust my instincts.

  That meant she didn’t have a reason to try to read him more deeply, she hoped.

  Because she really didn’t want to.

  Brighton also announced during the cookout that he needed to go visit some friends, now that he was settled. Since Elain’s guys wanted him at the recognition celebration for their children, she opted to make sure she extended the invitation personally to Brighton.

  “Thank you, my dear. I appreciate that. I will be there, but I have other friends to see before then. I’ll meet you all up there.”

  Add to that, Elain didn’t have a good reason to tell her men why not to have Brighton there. Not without revealing more about him and her suspicions that now didn’t seem to have much of a foundation. The guy wasn’t under their roof any longer, so it wasn’t like she had to worry about him when she had far more pressing issues on her plate. Explaining everything to her men when she had little to go on could possibly upset her guys for no good reason.

  Better to keep that information back for now, unless or until she knew more or had solid evidence about any misdeeds on Brighton’s part. Being a paranoid goober with poor social skills and planting surveillance devices in his siblings’ home didn’t mean he had evil intentions toward them.

  Her guys had told her about his decades of conspiracy theories. She could totally see him thinking he was doing the right thing.

  She was a Seer. If Brighton had truly dark designs for her or her family, it would have been obvious when she hugged him, right?

  * * * *

  Upon their return to the ranch, Brody and Cail had to go out and check on a couple of recently born calves.

  Sensing her Prime needed a little alone time with her, and with both babies soundly sleeping in the nursery, Elain straddled her husband in their bed and leaned in to kiss him.

  “Hiya.”

  Ain offered her a smile, one that reached to the depths of his handsome grey eyes. “Hiya.”

  “Would you like me to take advantage of you, Prime?”

  His smile faded.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “It’s not you.”

  Dammit.

  He reached up and pulled her down against him, tucked in the crook of his arm.

  “Then tell me.”

  “It’s weird, and stupid, and nothing I can put my finger on.”

  “It’s obviously not stupid or nothing if it’s bothering you.”

  “What about weird?” he asked.

  “I reserve judgment on weird until I hear it.”

  “That’s the problem. I’m not sure I know how to verbalize it.”

  She snuggled against him and traced random patterns across his chest even as she tried to read his energy. “I am a Seer. Want me to poke around?”

  She suspected had Brodey been there, he would have seized upon the pun immediately.

  Instead, Ain let out a sigh. “I don’t feel very…successful.”

  “I disagree with that self-assessment. I love my kinder, gentler Prime. You’re a great dad and mate and husband and brother.”

  “Except to Brighton.”

  She didn’t like his tone of voice. It felt…wary.

  Dark.

  “Brighton isn’t your problem. He’s older than you, and he’s nuts.”

  “Why did you shift your opinion of him?”

  “I finally saw what you guys meant about him.”

  “Mom asked us to take care of him.”

  “He’s here in Arcadia. That’s good enough. Right?”

  “I guess.”

  She sat up. “What brought this on?”

  “I don’t know. On the way home I realized I felt like this. Like I’d failed him. Why didn’t I push harder to get through to him years ago, or even now?”

  “Because he’s an adult and you’re an adult and adults are expected to adult, even if they can shift into something else.”

  “He acted weird a few weeks ago, asking me about our sisters’ deaths. About when I chased down the cockatrice and then tracked back to its nest and killed its mate.”

  She hoped