Page 68 of Of Flame and Fate

“Do you have a problem with us trying to keep your sister alive?” Aric fires back.

“Easy,Aric,” Gemini says, meeting him with equal force.

“Actually, I do have a problem. Want to hear it?” I stand and point to Aric, not waiting for a reply. “You’re all about black and white, rules that can’t be bent or broken. Tye won’t risk harming Celia, and if you could reason past your anger and your insane need to protect her, you would see it.”

“It may be black and white to you, but it’s not to us,” Aric answers, his voice sharp. “It’s what’s helped us keep the world safe since the dawn of time.”

“You know, all that dawn of time crap is getting really old,” I add. “Seriously, enough already. The last thing we need right now is forwereto be pitted againstwere.” I lift my arm. “You saw how well that worked out for us last time.”

“Tye, isn’t going to hurt me, Aric.” Celia’s voice is so soft, I don’t quite hear it, and it’s so distant, I just want to hug her and bring her back. “He’s upset, and rightfully distraught. His mate is dying, that means he doesn’t have much time either.”

She’s right. Whenwereslose their mates, most die from the grief by the rise of the next full moon.

“Let him be, and give them space,” Celia asks gently. “Please, Aric, allow them to live whatever time they have left in peace.”

Aric cups her face. “It’s not that I can’t sympathize with his anger or his sadness,” he tells her. “Believe me, I can. That doesn’t mean I can just let it go and hope he’ll do the right thing. We don’t know what his grief will do to him or how he’ll respond because of it.” His focus returns to Gemini. “How many are watching him?”

“Enough,” Gemini answers. “He’s with Destiny now, and my guess is that at least for the moment, that’s where he’ll stay.”

“And where is she?” I ask. Gemini and Aric exchange glances, as if debating whether or not to tell me. “I’d like to see her, she’s our friend, too.”

“At the house,” Gemini answers. “It’s the only stronghold we know is still safe.”

I play with the edge of my shirt. A quick shower and change in to jeans and a T-shirt were all I had time for. “Good. It’s a nice place for her.” I blow out a breath and walk toward the kitchen. “It’s home.”

“Can I see her?” Celia asks. “I want to make sure she’s as comfortable as possible.”

Seeing that she’s dying and no one can help her.

Aric’s hand strokes her side. “Soon. I want to make sure nothing happens over the next few days with Johnny here at the Den. Ines and Genevieve have returned to Europe. We won’t be able to get you off the mountain safely without them.”

I straighten. “The queen bees are back in Europe? Already?” I ask. “Never mind,” I add, motioning like I’m waving a wand. “I get it.”

Aric’s attention skips briefly my way. “They’ll return if Icallthem. But that will only happen if Celia needs to be immediately transported from the Den.” He looks at Gemini. “Or if Destiny’s and Johnny’s power clashes again.”

“If I have to be transported, will it be to the lake house?” Celia asks.

My chest clenches. It’s the place the Omega secured and where Celia is to give birth.

“No, sweetness,” Aric replies. “Being a new stronghold, we can’t be sure it hasn’t been compromised.”

Celia’s face falls into her hands, the weight of everything that’s happened over these past few months appearing to hit her at once. “So for now, we stay here?”

Aric pulls her against him, kissing her head. “For now.”

“You’ll stay with me, right?” she asks. “You’re not going to leave me to fight whatever is out there?”

It takes him a moment to answer. “I’m not going anywhere,” he replies.

“Yet,” is what he means. I know Aric, it won’t be long until his wolf compels him to find what hunts his mate.

Gemini and I leave them. They need a moment and perhaps we do, too.

We walk into the kitchen. Their quarters are nice. A large apartment better suited for a successful couple living in New York than a supernatural couple hiding away in a mountain fortress. What I’d give for them to be that human couple far away from here, and for their biggest concern to revolve around what trendy restaurant they’d visit that night.

I reach for a bottle of water in the refrigerator and pass it to Gemini. My head is pounding from lack of sleep and stress, and my eyes are so dry they burn. But nothing I feel compares to what Celia is going through. I only wish I could help.

Gemini comes up behind me when all I do is stare at the plastic bottles lining the top shelf, the coldness from the fridge barely perceptible against my beaten down senses.