Page 15 of Mage Massacres

She angled her body so that she could look back at me, but didn’t entirely turn. Seeing her lips pulled down in such a severe frown was torture. There was nothing I could do to fix the damage.

I closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around her. She pressed her face into my chest, breathing deeply to center herself, and I studied the picture she was lost in.

Amelia King stared back at me, her happiness palpable even through the still image. Her mates surrounded her, but a fourth man stood behind her. His forehead rested on her shoulder, hiding his face from view. The grainy image bore no colors, though his hair was bright against the black of Amelia’s wardrobe.

Sam had his arm draped over the unknown male’s shoulder, an infectious smile stretched over his lips. Nate’s eyes were on the two men, one brow raised as if he’d been chastising them. And Charlie appeared as though he was caught mid-laugh.

This wasn’t a well-posed portrait; it was a memory.

As I glanced around the office, I noticed that all of Amelia’s pictures were like that. Unplanned. No one was looking in the same direction. Nate was exasperated in almost all of them, and the unknown male never showed his face.

“Do you know who he is?” I questioned quietly, knowing she wouldn’t need a reference about who I was referring to.

“I have no idea. I’ve seen a handful of pictures of my mother. Maybe a dozen different ones. A single wall in this room holds more photos than I’ve seen of her in my lifetime.”

I wished that I could see her face, but I wouldn’t pull her away until she was ready to let go. Seeing Sloane in such a severe state of vulnerability was crushing me.

“I just can’t understand why they’d keep this from me. I mean, I’ve been in this house before, but I was young—maybe four or five—when I was here last. I’ve never seen these images, though. I feel like I’m meeting my parents for the first time. Does that make sense?”

She peeked at me, looking for assurance, so I nodded.

It made perfect sense.

She felt like they’d been hiding who they really were.

“I get it, but I can’t understand it either. They seem so…”

“Happy? In love?” she cut in.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t even know those people, York. Now, they’re more like shells of who they used to be, of the people we’re looking at.”

She huffed. “I can understand that, though. After what happened with Palmer, I see why they wouldn’t be as exuberant. I just can’t comprehend why they wouldn’t show me these pictures. This seems like the kind of thing you’d want your child to see.”

I closed my eyes, grimacing as I said, “Maybe... Maybe they lost a—”

“You think he was their mate?” she asked, leaning back to meet my eyes as I opened them.

“It’s a possibility.”

She bounced her head right and left. “I suppose, but why wouldn’t they mention him?”

“Sweetheart,” I whispered. “I think you’re looking too deep for an explanation. There are surface answers that make more sense than I care to bring up.”

“You’re right.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know how I would have handled losing you or Palmer, and I can’t begin to understand how it would have affected any of you guys. I haven’t even known them that long, not in comparison to the... almost two centuries that my parents were together before I came along.”

I pulled her closer, resting my forehead against hers. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Seeing you break down, feeling your turbulent emotions... It makes me regret closing our bond. I can’t imagine what you must have felt or how it affected you. And when we came outside, it all hit me from a different angle. I didn’t have intentions of being selfish, but I can see how it was easy for you to think that.

“I don’t want to rehash old issues. I just wanted to say that you were right. I didn’t think through my decisions. That was my first thought when I saw you earlier; that I had also caused you the same amount of pain, and I couldn’t not say something. I wasn’t here when you were hurting, but I am now, and I’m worried about you. I need to know that you’re okay. I know that you’re not.”

“I’m fine,” she murmured, her sweet, earthy scent wrapping around me as she sniffled.

“We both know that’s a lie, Sweetheart, but I’ll let you hide for another hour. Just not forever. You can’t push those emotions down.”