“Alexander George, am I correct?” dad asks.
“Yes,” Alex answers him after a pause.
“And you are Mason Olesen and Liam Mogensen?” he asks, and they both nod once. “Be sure that I knew the suffering of the empire, but to step in is a big risk for my people here. Not everything is as it seems.”
I nudge Mason to the side, stepping in the middle of them. “Your friend, a god, protected me and sent me here. He is dead, and he was sure you would help me. I believe he might have been wrong.”
For a moment, I see the shock in the pits of his eyes. “He was not.”
“We will see. The empire is burning because of Bethany and how she is—that is on your shoulders. You corrupted her, and I won’t let you do that to me and Phoebe,” I tell them both. “Keep me here if you want, fine. But if anyone else I love dies because of you two, parents or not, I’m going to find a way to kill you for good.”
I shove past them, ignoring the shocked look on their faces and knowing my guys are at my back.
That’s what family does. We protect each other.
And we don’t leave.
“I have to admit, this place is wicked.” Mason’s statement is followed by a low whistle as we walk into the cabin and see the sheer beauty of it. It’s super modern, with a kitchen that looks as if it’s out of a magazine, and a living room with two grey sofas facing a fake glass fireplace that currently has blue flames flickering over wood logs. The wall facing the ocean is pure glass, and with nothing else between us and the ocean, it feels like you could just step through the glass into the water.
The cabin is huge, more than enough room for our familiars to be in here later. I open some of the doors, finding two bathrooms that are the same as each other, a single room with bunk beds, and a laundry room. The last room is a bedroom, and I head in, admiring the white sheets on a large wooden frame and the glass windows behind it that somehow overlook the sea. There are large white cushions in front of the windows, and I walk over, sitting on one and looking out. Every so often in the distance, I’m sure I see the waves of the sea crash against something invisible. There is a faint blue glow that maybe most wouldn’t notice, but I see it, and I know it’s the barrier my dad spoke of.
We really are trapped here for the time being.
And that means everyone back home is sitting ducks.
“We will get out,” Liam states, and I turn to see him sit on the edge of the bed. His eyes search mine, and I pat the space on the cushion next to me. He smiles, kicking off his shoes before coming to sit next to me. I curl up into his side, still watching the sea as if a ship might come and magically save us somehow.
“I think we should send Shadow and Silver to search for a way out. Maybe they can smell where the magic is. Hex could look from the sky, and Ki-Ki from the ground,” I suggest, and Liam kisses my forehead.
“Good idea, love,” he tells me. “Why don’t you rest now? Alex is cooking. You look tired, and it’s been a shocking day.”
“Sure that is safe? Alex cooking, I mean,” I chuckle.
“Mason is helping, don’t worry,” he laughs back with me. I smile as I rest my head on Liam’s chest, his heartbeat lulling me to sleep in seconds.
Chapter 3
Anastasia
Sea air and pretty boys.
“Good boy.” I stroke Shadow’s head, and he huffs at me. I pick some of the leaves from his fur as the sea brushes freezing cold water against my feet and over Shadow’s. He doesn’t react, and I try not to flinch at the cold as I look over the sea. I wonder if I could make Shadow a dolphin and let him drag me through the sea until we escape. As silly as the thought is, I’m getting desperate and restless. It’s been four days since we got here, and we haven’t been “allowed” to leave the gated area they left us in. The guys all agree that fighting our way out is the last option, and fighting is not something I really want to be doing in my condition. Like Shadow can read my thoughts, he nudges his nose against my stomach. “I know I should tell them. How do I tell them this?”
“Tell us what, exactly?” Alex asks, and I jump. He chuckles, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing the side of my head. “What secrets are you keeping from me, Anastasia Noble?”
“Too many,” I reply with a low chuckle of my own. Alex turns me around, and Shadow runs off down the beach as I wrap my arms around his shoulders.
“Why are you out here at five in the morning?” he softly asks me. “In fact, you sneak out here every morning, and you hardly sleep. Talk to me.”
For a second, I want to tell him everything. I want to explain that I’m pregnant and I come out here for fresh air as I feel sick every morning. I want to explain that I’m scared of sleeping in case I see any dreams of my future, which at this point, is so complicated and scary that I don’t want to see anything.
How can I tell him everything that is going on in my head? How could he possibly understand how messed up I am feeling?
Would Mason and Liam ever forgive me if I told Alex
