Lucan, saving her from the self-destructive path of the Forgotten.
His hands fell back to his sides. “Briana?”
“You’re right. You’re not the man I remember. The man I foolishly convinced myself you were. We should be competitors. It’ll be better that way.”
“Don’t do this. I can’t… Your family can’t lose you.”
Where her heart might have quickened at what Lucan might have almost said, she felt only a steely determination. “And they can’t help me either.” She turned away from him.
“You don’t know what you risk by staying.”
“And you don’t know what I risk by leaving.” Clinging to the belief that she’d made the right decision—the only decision—she walked away from him.
Only when she was inside and alone in the kitchen, the others’ voices coming from another room, did she grip the edge of the counter until her claws scratched the granite.
“You’d think he’d have more reason than anyone to compete.”
Still riled up, the cat growled at Vaughn’s presence, urging her to take action. She just didn’t know which instinct was driving her the hardest—the yearning to mark Lucan as hers, or the determination to protect herself from the one person capable of hurting her the most.
She was crazy to stay, she knew that. Even though Lucan had praised her sword and tracking skills— something that meant entirely too much to her under the circumstances—she knew she didn’t have the same deadly training as he or Nessa possessed, or the magic that Elena and the Fae could wield.
But leaving would mean accepting that she’d been denied her mate. She’d meant what she said to Lucan. Her family wouldn’t be able to help her. She’d eventually become hostile and aggressive until the cat took over entirely. Not even her brothers could prevent her from becoming one of the Forgotten.
“What’s the story with you two anyway?” Vaughn slid onto a stool, and she noticed he’d exchanged the towel Elena had provided for a black T-shirt and jeans.
“It’s…” She hitched a shoulder, knowing she was better off saying nothing. While she didn’t have Lucan’s innate mistrust of everyone, she also knew anyone who stayed would be playing to win.
“Complicated as fuck?”
Despite herself, she grinned and turned toward him. His arms were open before she made the conscious decision to move into them. Strong and warm, the embrace felt safe, predictable. Like family.
She pulled back and gave him a once over. “So what kind of trouble were you in before this?” She motioned to their surroundings.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” He grinned, but something dark flashed in his eyes. He gave her a hard squeeze, and crossed to the fridge to poked around inside.
“Anyone going to miss you if you stay and compete?”
He shot her a knowing look. “If you’re asking if I’ve hitched my rope to the mating post, then no.”
She smiled softly, the first genuine smile in what felt like forever. “Maybe I was asking about your sister.” Briana had missed both of them more than she realized. Their families had been nearly inseparable once upon a time.
Vaughn shuddered. “I pity the wolf that sets out to claim her. No one can flip a bitch switch faster than she can.”
“I’m going to tell her you said that,” she teased, knowing Vaughn would do anything to protect his sister, the same way Briana’s brothers would her.
“Sun is going down.”
She went along with the abrupt change in subject, following his gaze out the window where she caught a glimpse of Lucan across the courtyard.
Turning away, she wandered across the room, hearing the unmistakable sounds of someone fighting.
“Nessa and the witch.”
Briana cocked a brow at the term Elena would have taken issue with.
He shrugged unapologetically. “They’re sparring in the gym. It’s next to the weapons room,” he tacked on.
“And the others?”
“Haven’t seen the slave dealer for a while,” he said, referring to the Korrigan. “The Fae is meditating that way, and the enchantress and Kel are tolerating each other’s company in the dining room.” He motioned in the opposite direction. “She piled twice as much food on her plate as the dragon, and he could probably eat a small village.”
Movement from the corner of her eye snagged her attention, and she watched through the glass as Lucan approached the door on the opposite side of the room.
“Does he worry you?” Vaughn put a plate of cold chicken on the counter.
“He should worry everyone here.” Herself included.
Vaughn came to stand beside her. “I was talking about Kellagh the Black, but I can’t say your wraith friend doesn’t freak me the fuck out.”
“We’re not friends.” They weren’t anything anymore. It shouldn’t bother her to admit that, considering she and Lucan had barely seen each other in centuries until recently, but it did. Beneath her ribs she could feel the gnawing throb of the loss. “Lucan knows my brothers.”
Biting into a sandwich he’d pulled from the fridge, Vaughn cocked his head. “I’ve never crossed paths with a wraith until now.”
“Lucky for you that Morgana and Rhiannon aren’t BFFs, otherwise you might have been marked for assassination long ago.”
He grinned like it was a compliment he’d managed not to get himself killed serving the rebellion.
The door opened behind her and she kept her gaze trained on Vaughn. Her friend dove back into his sandwich without betraying how much the wraith intimidated him. He glanced over her shoulder to where Lucan stood.
The weight of the former knight’s stare bore into her. Though she didn’t acknowledge his presence, he lingered, his presence a bittersweet stroke across her fledgling resolve to forge a new fate for herself.
“The twisted bastards got the raw end of the deal with Rhiannon,” Vaughn murmured a few moments after Lucan had gone.
Briana didn’t comment. Focusing on the competition was the only hope she had of tempering the beast inside her. She forced herself to eat something with Vaughn, then followed him to the training room to watch Nessa and Elena for a while. He stretched out on the bench, looking much too at ease given the situation as he resisted both their attempts to get him to spar.
Watching the huntress dominate hand-to-hand combat left Briana a little nervous. She knew she could hold her own for a while, her brothers had guaranteed it, but she spent far more time working on her security systems these days than she did channeling her inner huntress.
“She’s trying to screw with our heads, you know.” Vaughn didn’t bother opening his eyes. “She wants us to be scared of her.”
“There will be much scarier things than Nessa to face.” Briana’s gaze landed on Kel, who stood just outside the training room. Things worse than even a dragon with a reputation for being a willing mercenary, unlike Lucan.
A gong sounded outside, and everyone stopped.
“Time’s up I guess.” Vaughn was the first on his feet and walking out of the room.
She was the last to leave the training room, mentally preparing herself for a competition two gods had decided to include her in, maybe solely for her connection to Lucan. If she hadn’t been in the parking lot that day, she might have escaped their notice.
Somehow she knew that would have been worse than being given the chance to change the path that fate and her mate bond had set her on.
By the time Briana joined the others, Kel and the enchantress were slipping outside to gather with everyone else. She kept her gaze from seeking out Lucan for as long as she could He stood watching Maeve and Aren, who lounged atop a snowy-white gazebo straight out of a bridal magazine photo op.
Below them, a black gong at least ten feet wide continued to vibrate in the center of the gazebo. The handle
