Page 67 of Of Flame and Fate
“Don’t do it,” I plead. “Don’t hurt Celia!”
“He won’t,” Gemini answers. He snatches Tye by the throat, his vicious stare drilling into him. “You ever threaten Celia or her children’s safety, I’ll kill you myself.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Destiny is Tye’s mate, isn’t she?”
I’m so quiet, I barely hear myself. But Gemini, Celia, and Aric’s hearing being what it is, I could probably whisper the words in the bedroom behind us and they’d still hear me.
“Yes,” Gemini answers, his eyes on Celia and Aric where they sit across from us.
“I thought they were friends,” I add when no one else speaks. “Close friends for sure, but not more than that.” I turn to Gemini, my heart so heavy, it’s hard to keep talking. “How come his lion never recognized her as his before? They’ve been friends since before they could walk. They could have been together. Why did it take all this for them to see it?”
By “this”, I mean Destiny dying. It’s hard to think the words and even harder to say them, and I’m not alone.
“Sometimes, it takes a tragic event forweresto recognize their mates,” Gemini answers his comment as heavy as his tone.
My butt sinks into the soft cushion of the couch as I cross my legs. The furniture is almost the exact match to the set we have in our living room in Dollar Point. Aric wanted Celia to feel more at home in the Den and had their suite decorated accordingly. He wants her happy. But this isn’t home and given what’s happened, we’re all a long way from happy.
Gemini keeps his arm around me, stroking my arm lightly. I freaked out when I learned Celia and Aric were among those in the caravan of SUVs barreling down the mountain. I should have known he would try to get her to safety. But between Destiny’s wretched screams and all of nature threatening to split the world in two, you can say I was a little distracted. Distraction, though, can be a gift. No way could I have pulled off what I did had I known she was in danger.
It didn’t take them long to return once they knew the storm had passed and the threat was over. What did take long was settling Tye. Watching the Pack drag him away was tough, but seeing my sister, who just wants to have her baby in peace is harder.
Aric cradles her protectively. His hold is gentle, it always is when it comes to Celia, but the ire darkening his features is too much. I look away, disturbed by the anger and fear it carries, and weepy over the love it holds, too. Like Celia, he wants that chance to hold their child.
Gemini meets his gaze, as second in command, and as his friend. “We’re watching Tye closely,” he assures him.
Aric clenches his jaw, speaking slowly and carefully. “It may not be enough.”
Celia takes in a breath, her hand sliding over his thigh. “You can’t kill him, love,” she tells him.
“I can if he risks your safety,” he tells her.
Like Tye, Aric is thinking more with his beast than with his head. “Aric,” I say, cautious not to look at him directly. “You count on the North American Were Council to protect Celia and as an ally. You can’t go around threatening the president’s son.”
“Actually, he can,” Gemini responds, doing nothing to ease the tension making me its bitch.
“You’re not helping,” I sing.
“I’m only stating what’s true,” Gemini counters. He leans back, extending his arms across the back of the couch. “As one of the lead Guardians to the Earth, and as our president, Omar has an obligation to the greater good first and foremost. In challenging Johnny, Tye risks Celia’s life and that of her children, and by extension the world’s future. This leaves Omar with a choice to make: Step down and protect his son, or remain where he is and allow us to do whatever it takes to ensure Celia’s safety.”
“What if he’s lying?” We all look at Celia. She’s been silent, and sad, and too many things I don’t want her to be. But she isn’t staying silent now. “Johnny was desperate, he could have lied about my life ending with his. For all we know, that’s one of his strengths.”
“Did you sniff a lie?” Aric asks.
“No,” Gemini replies. “And I’ve been careful to take in everything he says.”
“But we don’t know if masking lies is among his abilities,” Celia stresses.
“Even if it is, I don’t care,” Aric tells her. “I’m not taking any chances when it comes to you.”
“Neither will we,” Gemini assures him. “If it comes down to it, the lion goes.”
“The lion?” I repeat, fuming when Gemini and Aric regard me without a trace of doubt or regret. “His name is Tye. He’s our friend, or have you forgotten everything he’s done for us?”
“A friend wouldn’t risk my mate’s safety,” Aric grinds out. “And regardless of his past deeds, they don’t absolve him from any threat against her.”
I shake my head. “Youweresand your laws.”