My walk with Vali really did help me cool the hell down. My temper had me flying off the handle while just trying to watch a movie with the guys. But I still maintained that it was a stupid damn movie that would have pushed anyone to the brink of throwing fireballs.

“You okay from here?” Vali asked as the elevator dinged on our floor.

“For sure,” I promised him. “Thank you. That... that was needed. Try not to get caught, okay?”

He grinned and brushed a light kiss across my lips, sending electric bolts shooting through me at the contact. “I won’t, Regina mea. I’ll be quick too, but Austin is still in the room and Caleb surely won’t be too much longer.”

Nodding, I stepped from the elevator and let the doors close behind me. Vali was heading up to the roof to stretch his wings. He’d promised me he wouldn’t try flying anywhere, seeing as we were in the middle of a damn city so a dragon taking off from the Four Seasons rooftop would bound to be noticed. He just said he needed to shift and shake them out a bit.

Not that I’d understand, given that I hadn’t shifted at all yet. The best I had managed was some scales on my skin. That was it.

“I’m back!” I called out, as I let myself into the suite and closed the door behind me.

“Hey,” Caleb popped up from freaking nowhere and almost made me scream with fright.

“Dude,” I snapped.”You almost gave me a heart attack! What gives? And how come you’re back so early?”

Caleb shifted awkwardly, and I took note of his hands clenching and unclenching by his sides. “Uh, I think I’m done with lessons.”

This made me pause as I was moving past him and into the sitting area.

“Seriously?” I spun to face him with a grin on my face. He nodded, and I threw my arms around his neck in excitement. “Caleb, that’s fantastic! I am so proud of you!”

“Um, yeah,” he replied, not looking anywhere near as elated as I thought he would have. “So, I had a couple of things I wanted to talk to you about.”

He nodded to me to take a seat on the couch where Austin was already reclining with his tiger familiar. Sitting on the other end of the couch, I leaned over and scratched Tyson behind the ears where I knew he liked it.

“Hey Princess,” Austin snarked. “Got that temper under wraps or do I need to break out the fire extinguisher again?”

Flipping him off, I also shot a small, harmless little flame at him, singeing his arm hairs and making him glare at me. Good. Asshole was making fun of my temper tantrum earlier, so he’d be lucky if I didn’t singe more than just his arm hair.

“Kit, my mentor gave me something for you,” Caleb started, perching on the edge of the coffee table facing us and running a gold chain between his fingers.

“Cool, but why?” I glanced between the twins, feeling like I was missing something. Austin was relaxed, but Caleb was strung tighter than a harp string.

Caleb held the gold chain up to show me the little fox charm hanging from it. “It’s an amulet. A spell. Supposed to help bring you clarity to help with all the chaos of the bonded magic.”

“That sounds... kind of amazing. Why do we all look worried? Do we think it’s a trap?” I glanced from Caleb to Austin again, but he just shrugged.

“Cal, obviously, can’t say much on the topic. But I get the sense he doesn’t totally trust his mentor’s motives, so we have been running a diagnostic spell on the amulet to check that it is what it’s claimed to be.” Austin yawned heavily and stretched his arms over his head. He was shirtless, and as he moved, his muscles rippled and danced under his ink. Maybe he might let me tattoo him again some time... It was kind of a turn on to know my ink was still on his skin.

“Okay...” I forced my horny brain back to the discussion at hand. “And what have you found?”

“It’s impossible to ascertain the exact spell compound, but we were able to eliminate what it’s not,” Caleb explained, continuing to run the chain between his fingers. “So far, it’s not anything that would kill, track, maim, harm, or enslave you. We figured those were the important ones to check for first.”

A shocked sort of laugh bubbled out of me, and I choked on it. “Uh, okay. Yep, those are important,” I agreed, coughing a bit to clear my throat. “Anything more than that?”

“We narrowed it down to the general subcategory,” Austin informed me. “And as far as we can tell it is designed to help you control your magic. But... that’s about as much as we know.”

“So... Caleb’s mentor was probably telling the truth then?” I translated from the information they were hitting me with. It was too late and my brain was too tired to solve puzzles.

Both twins sort of shrugged. “Probably?” Caleb agreed. “But we would feel more comfortable not giving it to you unless it’s a last resort... if you’re cool with that? It’s your choice, of course, but... that’s where we’re at on it.”

“What do you think, Princess?” Austin asked quietly. “Are you happy to hold off and work it out like you’ve been doing? Or do you just want it straight up? If it is what it’s meant to be, it’d be a huge help to you. We just worry about the possibility that it’s... something else.”

Sucking in a deep breath, I considered this. What they said made a world of sense, and surely, I was wise enough now to think before I acted?

“You’re right. I’m okay for now, so just... hold onto it until I need it. Worst case scenario, if it starts going screwy I can just take it off again, right?” I decided, and they both nodded their agreement. Caleb pocketed the chain, then smiled at me with tension obvious in his eyes.

“Okay, so there was something else I wanted to ask you, Kitty Kat,” he started with a nervous quiver in his voice. “I wanted to ask if, now that I’m finished with my lessons, you’d be okay with bonding me?”

He asked so tentatively that I just wanted to hug him, the adorable dork. A grin spread over my face as I took in the flush to his cheeks and the tightly clenched hands in his lap. Of all the guys, I hadn’t expected Cal to be nervous asking me to bond.

“Of course, silly. I said to tell me whenever you were ready, didn’t I?” I wrinkled my nose as I looked at him, not totally sure where all this nervousness was coming from. “When did you want to do it?”

“Um.” He dodged my eyes and looked toward the carpet. “Now? Maybe? I have something important I really need to tell you but can’t because—” His words cut off, and he hissed sharply, clutching at his head.

“Got it,” I confirmed, understanding that whatever he needed to say was directly related to the confidentiality clause. A clause that he was confident would break when he bonded to me.

“Like right now?” I asked, seeking clarity, and he nodded. “Uh, yeah. Sure. I don’t see why not.”

“I do,” Austin contributed from his seat along the couch from me. “Maybe the fact that you’re barely holding it together with three bonded guardians, and now you’re going to add a fourth to the mix? With a fucking volatile magic too.”

He was right. Of course, he was right. I was worried about the same thing myself, but I also knew how much this meant to Caleb, and how crushed he’d be if I said no. At the end of the day, I was confident I could handle the magic, in time. So keeping my promise to Caleb meant more.

“Let’s do it,” I announced and ignored Austin’s muttered curse. “I already have the spell memorized thanks to this guy.” I waved my wrist tattoo, which was still working. “If you know it too?”

Caleb’s shoulders sagged with viable relief, and he jumped up to move the coffee table out of the way to give us space. “I do. Okay, amazing. Kitty Kat, thank you.”

“Save thanking me until after you need to teach me your ways, sensei,” I joked, waving my hand at him and shuffling on my knees to the center of the floor. “All right. Shall we?”

“Stupid, fucking stubborn woman,” Austin was muttering, but I ignored him as Caleb joined me on the floor and flicked open his fancy switchblade.

Excitement battled with my nerves as Caleb met my eyes and recited his part of the spell in a voice that sounded like he was reciting his wedding vows. Hell, he pretty much was. This spell bound us for eternity. Screw the wedding with the big poofy dress, this was much more permanent.

With my stomach in knots, I recited my own verse from memory, then watched with my heart in my throat as Caleb stabbed a small cut into his thumb. Time seemed to slow as he held his injured finger over my ring. The blood welled up into a droplet, then descended the short gap and hit the surface of my bloodstone with a noticeable jolt like I’d just stuck my finger in a live socket.

The runes burst into life around us, but I barely noticed them as Caleb’s magic slammed into me with all the force of a Mack truck, quite literally knocking me flat on my back.

My joints all seized up, and I was powerless to move while Caleb’s wild, coppery magic rushed through me, touching every corner of my mind and lashing out at the other three magics already residing alongside my own.

Wesley had commented, last time, that it seemed to be worse each time, and right in the moment when Caleb’s magic reached such a crescendo that I thought my skin would split apart, it felt like a massive understatement.

Caleb’s cool lips met mine like an ice pack to a sprained ankle, soothing the magic and taking back the excess from me that was causing me so much pain. Just like the other guys, when he kissed me, the pain faded, but unlike them, it didn’t disappear altogether.

“Kitty Kat?” Caleb murmured, pulling back and frowning at me in concern. “What’s happening?”

My whole body was being racked with waves of trembles, and as I tried to speak, my teeth began chattering. The pain was less, for sure, and I could tell that the correct amount of magic was left in me after the rest had returned to its owner... but I still felt like I was being electrocuted... or stretched on some medieval torture device or something.

“God damn, stupid, stubborn woman,” Austin snapped, also crouching to look at me when I lay on the carpet and shook.

“C-c-can I t-t-try...” I started to say, but my chattering teeth made me stutter almost uncontrollably. Giving up, I dropped my wall between Austin and I and let him have a whack at sensing what I was trying to get across. Obviously he couldn’t read my mind, but I hoped that a solid mixture of my emotions plus common sense plus those few words would lead him in the right direction.

“The amulet.” Austin held his hand out to Caleb. “She wants to try the spelled amulet.”

“Yeah, of course.” Caleb fumbled in his pockets and handed the gold chain to his brother, “Are you sure?” This question was directed at me, but I was so far beyond being able to nod. Hell, I was barely keeping conscious, let alone sane and coherent.

“She’s sure,” Austin translated for me and deftly clipped the chain around my wrist. “Worst case, she can take it off when her mind is a bit clearer. Right?”

“Right,” Caleb agreed and watched me with concerned, guilt-filled eyes.

Almost instantly after Austin closed the latch on the bracelet, my trembling stopped. The pain and conflict within my body drained out like someone had just pulled the plug on a bath, and I sighed with relief.

“Thank fucking magic,” I groaned, lifting my heavy hands and running them through my hair before sitting up with the twins’ help. “So, I’m pretty sure this amulet is exactly what your mentor said it was.”

“Yeah?” Caleb gusted out a heavy breath that he’d been holding. “You’re... okay?”

Closing my eyes briefly, I took a moment to assess my magic... It was all still there, but this time the four additional flavors were sitting quietly and not fighting one another. It was a shock, for sure, but a good one.

“I’m good,” I confirmed. “Really good. I promise. The second anything starts to feel weird, I will take it straight off, but I have to be honest, it was a damn good thing she gave it to you. That bonding was rough.”

“Fuck, Kitty Kat, I am so so sorry,” Caleb apologized. “I never should have pushed for it so soon; I knew you were having a rough time. I should have waited.”

“It’s fine, Cal. I’m fine. But did it work? Did the NDA break?” I let Austin lift me from the ground and settle me on the couch, even though I really did feel totally fine.

“Let’s see.” Caleb took a deep breath, clearly preparing to say something in direct violation of his confidentiality agreement.

Before any words could come out of his mouth though, there was a sharp knock at the suite door before it burst open, and a huge, cloaked man strode into the room while throwing back his hood.

“Vic?” I exclaimed, seeing the huge, scarred man standing there and glaring death straight at... Caleb? What the hell am I missing here?

“Christina,” he nodded to me. “Came to tell you not to bond with that one.” He stabbed a finger in Caleb’s direction, and I saw my newest bonded guardian drain of color.

“Ah, you’re a bit late to the party, old man,” I scoffed a bit sarcastically. “But maybe you want to explain what in the fuck you’re doing here? Last I saw of you was in Alaska when you shooed me off with your little spell, not even admitting that you’re probably my biological father. Guess you must have just forgotten that part, huh?”

Vic’s jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed on me. “Explanations can wait. Your chosen guardian has been meeting with your Ma, Bride, in secret for weeks.”

I’d always considered the saying “knock me over with a feather” to be stupid, but right then, in that very moment when Vic’s words filtered through to my brain... well, quite simply, if I had been standing, I could have been knocked over with a damn feather.

“What?” I finally exclaimed to a room silent enough to hear a pin drop, “No, that’s... insane. Right?” I turned to the twins, noticing first Austin’s stunned expression and then Caleb’s pale, sick-looking face. “No, surely not. You can’t have been.”

Suddenly all the pieces clicked into place in my brain like some sort of crazy elaborate, mechanical puzzle. The magical NDA, the fact that Caleb’s mentor was stronger than the ruling Mages, the fact that she’d known exactly what to spell the fucking amulet with to help me in a very specific Ban Dia problem.

Holy fucking shit. How dumb can I seriously be?

“Caleb?” I squeaked, desperately praying that he’d tell me it wasn’t true. That he hadn’t been meeting my fucking mother behind my back for going on a month now.

“Kitty Kat,” he started, but the thick layer of guilt in his voice told me everything I needed to know. I sucked in a sharp breath, swallowing past the shock and betrayal.

“I need some air,” I mumbled, pushing myself up from the couch and stumbling toward the door.

“Kitty Kat,” Caleb yelled from behind me, “stay and let me explain! This is what I wanted to tell you myself; this is why I needed to break the clause!”

“Christina,” Austin barked. “Where are you going?”

“Out,” I replied to Aus and totally ignored his brother. “I need air. Space. Just... don’t follow me.”

Grabbing my leather jacket from near the door, I rushed out of the suite and slammed the door behind me. I was no idiot; of course one of them would follow me, but I just hoped they’d be smart enough to stay out of sight until I calmed down. If I ever calmed down.

Bile rose in my throat as I paced the small box of the elevator, waiting for it to descend and deposit me onto the ground floor. Where I was going, I had no idea. I just needed... space.

Jesus Kit, you sound like the most stupid blonde in every horror movie ever. Throwing a tantrum and leaving all safety behind...

My conscious rattled away at me, but I was turning numb. Fuck it. Who cared if this was a stupid fucking move? I was quickly becoming the most badass bitch on this planet; surely I could handle myself. I was sick to damn death of needing to be rescued by my guardians. My powers far outweighed theirs; I just needed to learn how to control them on my own. But how was I ever going to do that if they kept saving me? If I kept letting them save me?

“Where to, miss?” the taxi driver asked as I opened the door and climbed into the back seat. It hadn’t taken me long to flag him down outside the hotel, but it was more than long enough to have me anxious to be gone from there. I was still being hunted, so standing on the side of the road hailing a taxi wasn’t my smartest decision.

“I have no idea,” I admitted, meeting his weathered eyes in the mirror. “Can you take me to a bar? Any bar, I don’t care.”

The driver gave me a look like he was questioning if I was likely to stiff him. But he must have decided I was good for it, as he pulled out from the curb and into the traffic.

“You got it, miss,” he agreed, then thankfully seemed happy not to make small talk for the rest of the short ride. He pulled over in front of an unassuming-looking bar with saloon style doors, then turned in his seat to look at me sternly.

“It ain’t the fanciest club in town, but the music is good and the bartenders will keep an eye out to make sure your drink ain’t spiked. That’ll be eight dollars.” His serious expression didn’t shift as I handed over the money and thanked him.

Luckily my wallet had been in the pocket of my jacket, or I really would have been screwed. It was nice of him to bring me somewhere that I was less likely to get drugged, though.

After showing my very fake ID to the security guard at the door, I pushed through the saloon doors and into the bar. My ID was fake not for my age, as I was twenty-one now, but for my name. After all, we were on the run from fuck knew how many different organizations.

Uh, right. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all.

The idea of going back to the hotel, facing Caleb and Vic and the secrets... Nope. I’d rather take my chances in the bottom of a margarita glass. Mature decision, I was aware. But sometimes I just needed to do stupid shit to let off steam.

“What’ll it be?” the enthusiastic bartender chick asked me as I approached the busy bar, and I frowned at her curiously. She could have been Lucy, at a glance, except a much darker, tanned version of Lucy with turquoise-green dreadlocks.

“Ah... I don’t know. Whatever you recommend, I guess?” I shrugged helpfully, and the girl raised her pierced eyebrows at me.

“You here alone?” She squinted at me, with a slight frown.

“Sure am,” I sighed, not even attempting a fake smile. “So something strong, if possible, please?”

The bartender looked a bit worried but nodded to me and started making me a drink. While I waited, I slumped against the bar with my elbows the only things really holding me up. It felt like I’d been put through a clothes washer, I was so strung out on emotions.

First the bonding with Caleb, then the pain, Vic showing up, the news that Caleb—my Caleb—had been meeting my mom in secret... What I wouldn’t do for a memory erase spell of this whole evening. Alcohol would need to do instead.

“Here.” The green-haired bartender dropped a tall glass down in front of me. “Long island iced tea. Guaranteed to fuck you up but not taste like shit in the process.”

This, I cracked a smile at. “Doubtful. Iced tea?” Call me crazy, but I despised iced tea.

The girl laughed. “It’s not actually tea, dummy. It’s a mix of tequila, gin, rum, vodka, and Cointreau, then lime juice, sugar, and a splash of Coke. Trust me, you’ll love it by the time you finish that one.”

“Sounds perfect,” I sighed, fishing out my wallet. “How much?”

The girl threw me a wink. “It’s on me. You look like you’re having a rough night.”

I snickered a humorless laugh. “Yeah, you could say that.” I picked up my enormous drink and gave her a nod. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it; just try and have a better night from here on out, yeah?” The girl gave me a grin, then turned away to serve another customer.

Her random act of kindness had cut through the negativity and sting of betrayal that I’d been wallowing in, and my shoulders were just a fraction less heavy as I made my way through the crowd to find a place to sit.

It was late on a Saturday night, so the bar was packed with people. But it didn’t take long for me to locate a small table available, tucked away in the back and away from both the dance floor and the mechanical bull that a drunken girl wearing no bra was thrashing around on.

As I sat, I felt my pocket vibrate. Dammit, my phone must have been in this jacket too.

Placing my drink down on the table, I fished the little device out and ignored the call. As with the next one, and the next one. Right as I was about to lose my shit and turn the damn thing off, a text message came through from River.

Sent Vali after you but told him to keep his distance when he gets there. Understand your need for space, and we are here for you when you’re ready to come home.

Running my thumb over the screen, I reread the message a couple of times before powering off my phone to end another call from Caleb that had started ringing through.

Home. When I’m ready to come home. Seemed like such a strange concept to consider the hotel suite home, but I knew that wasn’t what River meant. Home was wherever my guys were, regardless of if that was a hotel suite in Los Angeles or a mountain cabin in Washington.

Tucking the phone back into my pocket, I yawned and took a sip of my long island iced tea. The first mouthful was a shock, sour and acidic and very strong. But a few more sips had me loving it. That bartender really knew her shit.

“Hey, sweet thing.” A greasy-looking guy sauntered up to my table with a smarmy look on his face. “You here all alone? Maybe I should keep you company?” He punctuated this suggestion with a lewd cupping of his genitals through his pants. Just in case I missed the implication.

My eyes narrowed at him. “Maybe you should back the hell off, buddy. I’m not looking to score, so trot on back to your friends. This one is a strikeout.”

The man’s expression twisted into something nasty, and he sneered at me. “You look like a frigid bitch anyway; I was just trying to do you a favor. Loosen up that stick in your ass.”

I heaved a sigh. “I’ll tell you one more time. Fuck. Right. Off. Clear?”

The guy curled his lip at me in disgust but, thankfully, retreated back to his table of friends who were howling with laughter across the room. Getting hit on by creepy dudes who reeked of bourbon from ten feet away was not my idea of a good night out, even if I had been here for a “good time.”

“Excuse me, miss?” Another male voice intruded on my thoughts, and a finger tapped on my shoulder. Groaning, I turned in my seat to tell this guy where to shove his propositions, but the words froze in my throat.

“Mr. Gregoric?” I squeaked in surprise. “What—”

“Nicholai,” he corrected me with a smile. “Do you mind if I sit?”

“Ah, sure.” I blinked at him in confusion but waited while he dragged a chair from another table and sat opposite me.

“‘Mr. Gregoric’ never really sat right with me, you know? I doubt I’ll ever try my hand at teaching again. High school students are psychotic; don’t you agree?” He smiled at me like we had actually arranged to meet for a drink and small talk. “Then again, it’s been a great many years since I myself was a teenager, so perhaps I have just forgotten.”

“What,” I tried again, “the fuck are you doing here, Nicholai? The last time we saw you was in Harrow after Gray and his men tried to kidnap all the shifter babies.”

He grimaced and took a sip of his own drink that he’d brought to the table with him. “Nasty business, that. I understand Richard has since been dealt with, though?”

Richard. I bit my tongue to suppress a shiver of revulsion and fear. Richard Liath was Gray’s real name, and just the mention of him made me want to empty my stomach onto the table. His face still haunted my dreams, so Wesley had been helping me by giving me other dreams instead. Safe, boring dreams with butterflies and puppies—the kind of sugar-coated, candy normality my real life had never possessed. I loved them.

Until recently, that was. His issues with the other dream-walker had really thrown a wrench into the works with that plan. Now I was finding myself waking in a cold sweat, feeling the phantom pain of my toenails being torn from my flesh or the crack of my ribs under Gray’s heavy fists.

“He’s been dealt with, yes,” I choked out, taking a long sip of my drink to try and clear the sour taste from my mouth. Denial and avoidance were my friends, and so long as I could avoid the subject of my abuser, I was good.

“Well, that’s good to hear. Granny Winter will be pleased.” Nicholai smiled at me again, and I frowned in return. What the hell was going on?

“Are you going to answer my question?” I prompted him. “What the fuck are you doing here? How did you even find me in this random bar in the middle of LA?”

He pursed his lips and stared back at me for a long moment. He was a good-looking guy, no doubt about that, but there was something... shady about him. Like he was constantly playing both sides to the point where he himself had no idea where his allegiance lay.

“I have someone who wants to meet you,” he announced finally, and my eyebrows shot up. That wasn’t quite what I’d expected. I didn’t know what I’d expected.

“Oh? And you decided to track me down... here... to tell me this? I’m sure you can appreciate, Nicholai, something smells like shit.” I gave him a shrewd glare. “So out with it. I have had e-fucking-nough of riddles and half-truths to last me a lifetime.”

Snatching my drink from the table, I leaned back in my seat and took a long sip on my straw. Disappointingly, my glass was almost empty already, and I frowned at the naked ice cubes.

“I already ordered you another.” The sketchy fox-shifter grinned, just as a waitress appeared, placing a full long island iced tea on the table in front of me.

I pursed my lips and eyed the drink skeptically, but when I glanced over to the bar, my friendly, green dreadlocked bartender gave me a nod of assurance.

“Thanks,” I said slowly, still suspicious as all hell. “So who is this person who wants to meet me? And why are you here instead?”

“I thought perhaps a familiar face might be more comforting for an introduction.” The reply came not from shady Nicholai Gregoric, but from a woman with a soft Irish accent who was, not even kidding, wearing my face. “Hello, daughter.”

There she stood beside Nicholai’s chair, looking for all purposes like a carbon copy of me and having the goddamn nerve to call me her daughter. My chair legs scraped loudly on the wooden bar floor as I rose to my feet, my eyes glued to the mother who had left me to be tortured and abused in a foster home for years of my childhood.

“Darling,” she smiled at me like some sort of fucking red-haired angel. She didn’t manage to get any more words out before my fist launched itself, almost totally of its own accord, straight into her perfect fucking nose.

Cartilage crunched under my knuckles and blood burst from Bridget’s face as my fist connected, and she screamed. Good, I hoped it hurt like a bitch.

Around us, a few people gasped and stared in shock, but I paid them no attention, jabbing an accusatory finger in Bridget’s face as she clutched her nose and moaned.

“How fucking dare you?” I hissed at her, my fury so palpable that I could taste it. “How dare you show up here and call me daughter like all would be forgiven. For what? Because you forced my guardian into a binding spell which ensured he would betray me and meet with you in secret. You have a lot of fucking nerve, Bridget. A lot of fucking nerve.”

Movement alerted me to the security guards making their way over to us from their stations near the door, but I decided to save them the bother of throwing us out.

Throwing Nicholai a disgusted look, I shoved past him and through the gaping bystanders to exit the bar. A strong hand gripped onto the back of my arm as I cleared the swinging saloon doors, and that goddamn fox shifter yanked me around the side of the building to where the valet parking lot was located.

“Christina,” he snapped, giving me a stern look like I was a two-year-old throwing a tantrum in the supermarket or something. “Use your damn brain. Bridget is your only form of contact with your kind right now. Are you honestly going to let your hurt feelings get in the way of learning who you are? Who you could be?”

What he was saying made sense in the perfectly logical, unemotional world. But who was he fucking kidding? That was my biological mother! The woman who’d abandoned me on the streets with my memories wiped, and never looked back once.

“Take your damn hand off me, Nicholai,” I warned him in a low voice. “Or I swear I will do more than just break your nose as well.”

He sighed but did as instructed, removing his hand from my arm and placing his hands on his hips. “Look, I understand we don’t know each other well—” My snort cut him off and he glared at me to shut me up. “But you’re acting like a child right now. You are supposed to be the salvation of supernatural kind? Right now, all I see is a little girl who is angry at the world and lashing out. You don’t know the reasons why Bridget left you, do you?”

Lips tight, I jerked my head to acknowledge that I did not.

“Right. Well, then there is every possibility she had good reasons, isn’t there?” He raised his brows at me in a way that said he knew full well he was making sense. It was just up to my stubborn ass to accept the logic in his words.

Grinding my teeth, I held his steady gaze for a long moment. Sure, I still wanted to beat the ever-loving crap out of my egg-donor who looked so much like me it was scary... but I also badly wanted to understand what I was. The opportunity to speak with another Ban Dia, to ask questions and to learn... Nicholai was right that I’d be an idiot to pass that up in favor of my temper.

All of a sudden, my fury deflated like a popped balloon, and I sagged against the wall. “What do you even want? From what I’ve heard, Bridget has been meeting with one of my dianoch in secret for a month. Surely she could have asked him anything she needed to know?”

“I’ll let her explain. If you’ll just give her a few minutes?” he coaxed, holding his hands up defensively. “Just a few minutes and then I swear we will leave. Sound fair?”

I chewed my lip while I thought about it. What harm would a few minutes of my time do? As far as I could tell, they weren’t planning on kidnapping or killing me, and even if they were I had no doubts in my mind that I could take them. Just in case though, I reached into my pocket and held down the button that would ping my location to Wesley.

“Sure. A few minutes. But when I’m done, I’m done. I walk away, and you leave me the fuck alone. Understood?” I narrowed my eyes at him threateningly, and he nodded.

“Understood. I’ll tell her to come out.” He didn’t move from the spot where he stood in front of me. Instead, he just cocked his head to the side, and his eyes unfocused from mine for the briefest second before refocusing. “She’s on her way.”

“Uh.” Curiosity made me pause. “Did you just like... mind-speak or something?”

Nicholai frowned at me. “You can’t do that? With your bonded guardians, I mean.”

“No...” I shook my head and considered it. “I mean, I didn’t even know it was possible, so we have never tried.”

The sly shifter just smiled at me and shrugged. “Seems to me you have already benefited from giving us a few minutes. Don’t you think?”

Pursing my lips, I said nothing in response. Smug bastard. He had a point though. What else could I or my guardians do that we just had no idea was even a possibility?

The sound of high heels scraping on concrete alerted me to Bridget’s arrival moments before she rounded the corner to where Nicholai and I waited. Neither of us spoke, but instead just stared at one another.

She clearly possessed the ability to heal herself, as her nose looked totally back to normal. Hell, even her makeup was perfect once more, which suggested she’d been doing a touch up while Nicholai had been detaining me and begging me to give her a chance.

“Christina,” she greeted me eventually and took two steps closer to me. Under a slightly less emotional light, I could see the subtle differences that made us not so identical, after all.

She was shorter than me by a good few inches and much slimmer through the breasts and hips. Had it not been for the ugly-as-sin, tweed skirt suit she wore, along with pantyhose and boring pumps, I’d have said she looked like a teenager. But no self-respecting girl would be caught dead in that granny getup.

Then again, she was over three hundred years old... I dreaded to think how fashions might change for me in three hundred years’ time.

“Bridget,” I replied, trying not to spit her name like it was a curse, but that was how it ended up coming out anyway. Oh well. “You’ve got like... two minutes. So get on with it.”

Propping my foot against the wall behind me, I leaned casually and folded my arms. She needed to understand that I was under no obligation to so much as piss on her if she were on fire, let alone hear her out.

Bridget’s mouth puckered in what seemed to be anger, but she quickly recovered from it and smoothed her features into a gentle smile instead.

“Of course. Did you want to go back inside where we can sit?” she offered, and I scowled at her.

“No.” I felt like her question didn’t really need any more of a response than that.

She heaved a sigh. “Very well. I wanted to come and meet you in person to, first of all, introduce myself. I am aware you have no memories of your life before age seven, so you wouldn’t remember all of the amazing times we had together. For that, my heart breaks because I cherish those memories dearly.” She paused and pressed a hand to her chest like she was remembering those fond memories, and I frowned in confusion.

Who is she fucking kidding right now?

Glancing at Nicholai, I found a similarly confused frown on his face, too, but Bridget was continuing with her story regardless.

“But I also wanted to take this chance to offer my help. I felt my spells on your Mage break, so doubtless he has already told you of my identity. This seemed like a time sensitive matter to make myself known and perhaps tell you my side of the events. I just can’t stand the thought that you’re out there somewhere fumbling blind through your powers and hating me for only trying to keep you safe.” She paused, looking at me with an intensity that made me almost uncomfortable. “Does that make sense, dear?”

“First of all”—I cleared my throat—“don’t call me ‘dear.’ I’m not your dear. Secondly, what do you mean spells? I thought there was just the one, the magical NDA, that needed to be broken?”

“Hmm?” She cocked her head at me with a vacant expression. “I apologize, slip of the tongue. Spell. Singular. The magic involved in a binding surpasses anything any one magic user can create, and if Caleb forced enough will into breaking that agreement, then it stood no chance.”

“Right,” I murmured. I didn’t believe her... she was clearly hiding a whole lot of something, but my logical brain had gained enough control that I was willing to see how this all panned out. She wanted something, that was clear enough. But what?

“So, you figured Caleb had outed his dirty little secret, and you wanted to get ahead and leave your spin on things?” I tried so hard not to curl my lip in disgust, but it was a huge effort.

“No!” she exclaimed. “Or, not in the way it sounds. Look, I figure if your temper is anything like mine, you probably stormed out of there without so much as letting him defend himself. Right?”

My eyes narrowed with anger. “Defend himself? There is no defending something like this. He has been meeting with you. My damn biological mother, the only other Ban Dia we have ever heard of, who could potentially help us, despite being an abhorrent sack of shit who left her seven-year-old for dead. No, Mom, there is no defense for that decision.”

Bridget sighed in the same way Nicholai had done moments before. Like I was being stupid. I hated that feeling.

“There is plenty to defend that decision, Christina. When Zelda first reached out to me saying the new Blood Mage had come to her seeking help with his magic and his cravings, I had no idea it was Caleb. I had no idea he was one of your dianoch, I swear to you.” She spread her hands helplessly. “It wasn’t until Zelda told me more about him that I was able to put two and two together from the information Nicky had provided on you. Clearly if I had just shown up, the first thing he would have done would be to tell you. You would have told him implicitly not to accept my help, and then you’d have had an out of control Blood Mage on your hands. Have you ever seen a power-mad Blood Mage before? No, of course you haven’t.” She shook her head dismissively and shuddered.

Glancing to Nicholai, he just shrugged. Clearly he, too, had never seen a power-mad Blood Mage.

“So, what? You tricked him into a confidentiality agreement for his own good?” I scoffed at this weak and frankly predictable line of reasoning, and Bridget’s dark blue eyes narrowed back at me. I was testing her patience, that much was clear. It made me curious to see who the real Bridget was when her control got snapped.

“Yes. I did.” She tipped her chin up defiantly. “It was for his own good. And yours. That boy needed all the help he could get, and I don’t regret the way I had to go about it.”

“Why you?” I demanded. “Why could you help where no one else could?”

She smiled faintly at me, and I saw a small spark of softness in her eyes as she replied, “One of my mother’s dianoch was a Blood Mage. Before that pathetic heap of shit, Jackson, who was Master Yoshi’s counterpart. I grew up around the Blood magics, so I understand it in a way that very few others can.”

“Okay,” I mused. That made sense, I supposed. “So that explains why you tricked Caleb into the NDA to start with, but not why he kept returning to meet with you. If it were just the confidentiality agreement, I could forgive him. But he made a conscious decision to keep seeing you behind my back. He should have just... I don’t know... found someone else.”

“Like who?” Bridget challenged me. “Jackson made it clear he would offer no assistance. Would you really have wanted Caleb to deal with his cravings alone? Especially with your blood constantly tempting him? Do you think that would have been fair to him?”

My jaw dropped in shock. Was she seriously calling me self-centered for feeling betrayed right now? He’d kept a huge fucking secret from me! One that directly affected me! How was I not allowed to be pissed right off?

“Besides,” Bridget continued, evading my eye contact, “I may have been slipping a little something into his tea to ensure he’d return each night.”

This time when I gasped, it was Nicholai that spoke.

“Bride,” he groaned. “You didn’t. That is low, even for you...”

His choice of words for a woman he was supposedly bonded to for eternity made me do a double take. Even for her?

“I had no choice, Nicky,” she hissed at him defensively. “If he didn’t learn to get control of his magic and not let it control him, then Christina could very well be dead now. And you damn well know it.”

“Ah,” I interrupted. “News flash, Mommy Dearest. I can’t die. Believe me, people have tried.”

Bridget’s glare was withering as she considered me. “Don’t be dense, girl. Everything can die if the right weapon is used. For us, it’s our dianoch. They’re the only things on this planet that can end our lives, just as we can extend theirs.”

Holy shit.

“Wait, so even though we weren’t bonded...” I trailed off, and Bridget rolled her eyes.

“Your heart had chosen him, so even without the bond, he would have had the power to kill you. If he’d gotten a whiff of your magic-soaked blood and not been able to control the magic, he’d have torn you into confetti then licked up the remains.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, but I could feel my face had drained of color.

Until then, I really hadn’t realized how much I was taking my immortality for granted. The idea that my Achilles’ heel had been by my side the entire time was eye-opening.

Not that any of my guys would try to kill me. Even Caleb. I had faith that he could well have learned control on his own, but... Bridget was probably right. Training with her made the whole process a hell of a lot faster and easier for him, and I really would have fucked it up for him had I known.

Shit, maybe I was being a selfish bitch.

“Okay...” I rubbed at my forehead, expecting a headache to hit me from all this truth bomb going on. Except, I couldn’t get headaches. “I think I need some time to process all of this so far.”

“But I’m not nearly finished,” Bridget protested before Nicholai placed a hand on her arm.

“What Bride means, Kit, is that is totally understandable. This has been a lot of new information. For all of us.” The look he shot his Ban Dia said that he wasn’t pleased by some of what he’d heard, either.

“Of course.” Bridget plastered on a fake-as-fuck smile and scrambled around in her purse. “This is where we are staying. I’d love if you might call me when you’ve had time to think this all through. I really want to help you with your magic. When I first bonded my guardians...” She shuddered dramatically. “It’s a rough transition. Isn’t it?”

She glanced at my wrist as I held out my hand to take the card from her, and she made a small sound of surprise.

“Oh, you’re wearing my amulet!” She stared at the little gold chain, and I pulled my hand back to squint at it.

“Uh, yeah.” Frowning, I inspected the bracelet I’d totally forgotten I was wearing, It was certainly helping, which I guessed was its purpose. My magic hadn’t gone screwy once since putting it on, and I’d certainly been worked up enough for it.

Bridget smiled, tucking her bag back over her arm. “I’m glad. I hope it’s helping.” She glanced between Nicholai and I, but when neither of us made any move to leave, she gave another tight smile. “I’ll just... call a cab, shall I?”

“That’d be great.” Her guardian nodded, then watched her walk away before he turned back to me with a stern look on his face.

“Jesus, what fucking now?” I groaned. My head was spinning, and I just wanted to go back inside for another drink before heading back and facing the guys. I’d judged Caleb too harshly, and I knew he deserved an apology. But... later.

“Look,” he sighed, scratching at his chin and staring after Bridget, who was waiting at the taxi rank further down the street. “Some of the stuff she said was a shock to me, and some of it didn’t quite ring true.” My brows shot up, but he was quick to reassure me. “Not about Caleb; I truly believe she was magic doping him to keep him compliant. That’s one of the things that has me most concerned. It’s a huge violation of magic to do that without someone’s knowledge...”

When he trailed off, thinking, I prodded him in the arm. “So, what’s your point here?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “But just watch yourself. Don’t trust anyone outside your dianoch. Not even me.”

“But trust my dianoch? Despite everything with Caleb...?” I was exhausted. The idea that my newest bonded guardian was untrustworthy had felt like a hot poker right through my stomach.

“All of them. Including Caleb. He’d never, ever have kept this from you if magic weren’t at play. Believe that.” Nicholai patted me on the shoulder in a decidedly parental way, and I wrinkled my nose. “Stay alert; keep your eyes and ears open. Got it?”

“Got it.” I nodded slowly, then watched as he jogged to catch up to Bridget as a taxi pulled in to the rank where she waited. The two of them got in, and I stared after the retreating vehicle for a long time before sliding down the wall and resting my head on my knees.

I’d just taken on a whole insane amount of information, and it felt a bit like my head was about to explode. Everything with a grain of salt, of course, but one thing remained clear no matter which way I looked at it.

Caleb. He hadn’t betrayed me. He’d made a stupid mistake by accepting the confidentiality spell in the first place, and it had just snowballed from there. Sure, I could be mad at that first action, but he’d been driven there out of desperation and out of love for me. He wanted so badly not to be a danger to me that he’d blindly accepted the help, no matter where it had come from.

Those weren’t the actions of a betrayal. If anything... it was the opposite. He’d taken a huge risk, first in accepting a mentor he knew nothing about, then in risking my ire when I found out. But he wasn’t doing it for selfish or nefarious reasons. He was doing it to protect me and the guys.

Yep. I officially jumped the gun on storming out earlier.

Groaning, I hugged my knees and tucked my face down low. I probably looked like a drunk or a bum, but I just needed a few moments to gather myself.