Page 23 of Cardinal House

A growl rumbles in my chest. I want to stop her. Kill this man. Kidnap this woman. Tuck her up inside of me and keep her. I would do anything. I already know it. If she told me to put a gun to my own head and pull the trigger, I wouldn’t even blink. But I’m letting her leave anyway.

“Goodbye, Wolf,” Luna whispers and that’s what it feels like.

When I turn and watch her back as she makes her way towards the exit, the man taking her not close enough to touch her, it doesn’t make me feel any better. Her shoulders are pulled back, spine straight, footsteps mechanical.

It looks like a death march.

Chapter 10

Wolf

The following night we’re expecting rain, but the air is warm, and I sit out on the back steps of the kitchen at Heron Mill regardless.

I couldn’t go home. Not yet. It just felt too strange to be by myself tonight. And it seems as though every one of my brothers are staying here right now anyway. Well, everyone except Raine. Who, apparently, is safe. I’m not sure anyone would tell me the real truth right now, but they respect me enough that if something really bad had happened to him, they’d tell me.

Plus, I think I’d feel it.

I think I’d know.

The six of us are tied together in ways no one would ever quite be able to understand. The love we have for each other, our family, far surpasses that of anything else I’ve ever felt.

The door is open at my back, letting in some of the warm summer breeze and probably an endless amount of moths as they follow the glow of the hall light beyond the dark kitchen. I peer out into the dense trees, seeing nothing, but hearing so much. The swooshing of the leaves in the breeze, the call of owls, the snuffles of hedgehogs.

“I can’t sleep either.” My stepsister turned sister-in-law’s voice sounds at my back, her footsteps silent as she makes her way closer.

Tyson and Duke, Grace and Hunter’s two Dobermans, bound down the steps beside me, rushing out into the dark trees. The light press of Grace’s fingertips against my shoulder comes next as her swollen, bare feet appear beside me on the step.

She’s slow to step down, my hand lifted in offering to guide her safely down. Once her bum meets the concrete beside me she breathes out a big sigh.

“The boys were easier than this,” she says quietly, staring up at me with mismatched eyes, a gentle smile. She drops her gaze, palming her big, round belly lightly, brushing her fingers over her nightdress covered bump, “I’m so uncomfortable.” She blows a long strand of blonde hair from her face, her eyes coming back to mine. “What’s keeping you up, Wolf?”

I huff a breath, shaking my head, “I’m restless.”

A small smile tips her lips, “So’s this baby.” Grace stares out at the forest beyond, one hand on her bump, the other still in mine. “Are you worried about Raine?” she asks softly, concern in her voice, she tightens her fingers over mine.

I sigh, looking down at her, her face pinched with worry, “Not really. I think he’ll be just fine.” Deep down, I believe it too. “You don’t need to worry about him, Grace, he’s a big boy, he’ll come back.” She tilts her face up, her eyes meeting mine, one a warm hazel, the other an icy-blue, it makes me think of Luna. “I wouldn’t lie to you,” I tell her with a smile.

“Blackwells don’t tell lies,” she recites easily, something that’s been etched into each of our brains since Mum left, before that too, but Dad really drilled it into us after she was gone, now Grace is passing it down to her boys.

“Blackwells don’t tell lies,” I agree, squeezing her hand softly.

“Are you staying here a while?” she asks after a few minutes of listening to the quiet.

“I don’t know.”

“Tell me what’s really on your mind,” she whispers it into the darkness, and I look down at her dainty hand in mine, the wedding bands bright even in the dark on her ring finger. “I may not tell lies, but I can keep a secret.” She chuckles a little at that, and I swear, even now, almost seven years after she first appeared in our lives, it’s still a shock to see her so emotive.

“You know about my nurse?” I ask her, peering down at the side of her face as she bumps her shoulder softly into mine.

“Of course, I know about your nurse,” she smiles wider, pulling in her bottom lip as she lifts her gaze back to mine.

“Hunter tells you everything, huh?” I grin at her.

“Sometimes,” she smiles back and it feels good, having her with us. I can’t remember not having a sister, and I’m glad that I can’t because this feels too good to miss out on. “What’s she like?”

It throws me. The question. Because truly, what is she like?

“Her name’s Luna.”