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“And we love you,” Nolan replies, squeezing my shoulder.
I sniffle and then extract my hand from Nolan’s to wipe the tears from my face. “Thank you. I needed this.”
“We will always be here for you, mi reina,” Connor declares, his smile lighting up the darkness that usually swims within the depths of his eyes. “For whatever you need.”
“Always,” Kaleb echoes, his expression filled with a promise that makes my heart ache with love. No matter what our future holds, we won’t lose what we have.
Donovan slaps his hands together and then rubs them with devilish delight. “Can I be the one who throws everyone out?”
Kaleb pinches the bridge of his nose. “We’re not throwing anyone out. At least not the way you mean. We are politely informing them that the party is ending prematurely due to illness.”
“You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” Felix adds cheekily, which earns an exasperated look from Kaleb.
Nolan lets go of my shoulder to run his hand down my hair. “How about you and I stay up here” —he flashes Donovan an exaggerated annoyed expression— “since I shouldn’t waste my energy going down stairs? The others can tell everyone you’re sick.”
“Isn’t it cowardly not to do it myself?” I ask, chewing on my bottom lip.
“Nope,” Felix chimes in, giving my back a final, reassuring pat. “Just sells the story that you’re too sick to come down.”
“Okay,” I murmur, tension slowly starting to drain from my body with the knowledge that I won’t have to perform anymore. My eyes travel to each of the guys. “Thank you for this. Really.”
Felix kisses the top of my head. “No problem. You rest, and we’ll be right back.”
However, before the others can go to break the news, there’s a screech of tires followed by the sound of flying gravel coming from the front of the house. Though muted, I hear shouting from an unfamiliar woman. “Where’s my granddaughter? Where have you hidden her?”
This is followed by running footsteps, and then a loud, snarling roar that definitely didn’t come from any of the wolf shifters. Donovan hoists Nolan over his shoulder, tells Felix to stay put unless he wants to see something that gets his memories wiped, and then strides out the door. All thoughts of my past are forgotten as I race after him to find out what the hell is going on. Connor and Kaleb are hot on my heels, all of us barreling down the stairs. As soon as I reach the front door, I rip it open and freeze, stunned by what I find.
A dark-haired woman, who appears to be in her mid-forties, is being backed against the hood of a beautiful, classic car by a huge black panther, which snarls and stalks back and forth in front of her.
“Mildred, call off your beast, or I swear to the goddess, I will roast it alive!” the woman shrieks, holding up a hand where a swirling ball of fire appears.
“Stop! Stop!” I shout, running out of the house, waving my hands. My heart hammers in my chest when I meet the woman’s gaze. Her gray eyes are the same as the ones that haunt my nightmares—the same color as the ones I see in the mirror. “I’m right here.”
The panther gives one final snarl to the woman before trotting over to me. I stand perfectly still as the creature rubs his scent on me and then plops down in front of me, his tail flicking aggressively. At least whoever—or whatever—this panther is, they appear to be on my side.
Mildred appears around the corner, her hand to her chest, with a slew of wolves grouped around her. Her assessing gaze goes from me to the panther to the woman, and her expression immediately turns to annoyance. “Oh, it’s you.”
“It’s me?” The woman closes her fist, the fire disappearing from her hand, and steps away from the car. “You stole my granddaughter, hid her in the middle of nowhere knowing full well I’m the one who was to bring her home today, and your first words to me are ‘oh, it’s you?’” She brushes her hands down her very chic, teal pantsuit. “Don’t get me started about naming her your next in line before she has the chance to compete to be the next Lyncas matriarch.”
“I’m what now?” I yell, my eyes bulging as I look over at Mildred.
“I did it to protect you,” my nan explains, approaching with her hands held up in an apologetic gesture. “Because I named you the next matriarch of the Volkov Coven, there would be immense backlash from our community if anything were to happen to you. It was to make the council think twice before they attempted to harm you in any way.”
The woman rolls her eyes. “Again with your conspiracies.” Her Spanish accented voice gentles, though it still holds the edge of something that has been said multiple times. “What happened with Helina was tragic, but the council had nothing to do with it. I know none of us want to believe she chose to die with her nephilim lover rather than live for her child and husband, but that’s what happened.”
“No,” Mildred shouts with fury, her hands balling into white-knuckled fists. “She’d never abandon Callie. Not ever. You just don’t want to admit that the council is corrupt, because that would mean your monster of a son lied to you. Well, I’ve got news for you, he was a bastard then, and he’s a bastard now.”
“How dare you?” she shouts, marching toward my nan until the panther at my feet leaps in front of her and releases another snarling roar. She glares down at the creature. “Oh, shoo, before I turn you into a carpet to lie prettily in front of my fireplace.”
The panther doesn’t budge, and a twilight black mist begins to encapsulate the creature. At first, I think it’s the woman’s doing, until she staggers back, a hand pressed to her full lips as utter shock overtakes her features. I startle when Connor sneezes behind me, not realizing the guys had formed a semi-circle behind me as my two grandmothers went head-to-head. The other wolves make coughing noises—the canine equivalent of a sneeze—as they spread out, creating a deadly circle around us.
It feels like time is standing still, but it’s only a few seconds before the mist dissipates and the panther is replaced with an otherworldly sized, all black male lion. The creature roars, unsheathing its claws into the gravel driveway. The muscles in his back flex and ripple as he appears ready to pounce.
Nolan’s parents push their son behind them, appearing in the blink of an eye. Pearlescent, white wings spring from Kaleb’s parents’ backs, and they shoot into the sky, landing in front of us with daggers in their hands that came from goddess knows where. Mei, her parents, and the other witches fan out, their hands loose at their sides.
The woman that all signs point to as being my paternal grandmother doesn’t notice any of this, her gaze riveted to the magical creature before her. “You… You have one of the fae living in your home?”
Mildred’s expression shifts from fury to bemusement as she looks at the massive beast who stands protectively before her. “Apparently.” Her gaze shifts to me. “Callie, darling, meet Mr. Mischief, though I doubt that’s his actual name.”
