Page 30 of A Trial By Blood

Mom shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s what he wants, sweetheart. For whatever reason, he’s been staying away. And the way he lost control in here with you.” She chewed her lip again. “I think that maybe it’s best he doesn’t, for now at least.”

Lost control? The sound of his roars and growls as they’d dragged him away and the look on his face filled my head. He had. He’d completely lost control. “But Ronan doesn’t have emotions, how is that possible?”

“I don’t know.”

I needed to see Ronan. Somehow, I had to get to him. I had to.

Mom brushed my hair away from my face, staring up at me for several long seconds, then tears slipped over again, streaking down her cheeks. Then she grinned and pulled me in for a tight hug, her body shaking against me. “You’re going to be okay, Rose. Oh goddess, you’re really going to be okay.”

* * *

Two days had passed since I woke, and the house was currently full of people. My family, hellhounds, wolf shifters, most of our coven, and a couple knights as well.

Mom had insisted on a celebration, and you would think after all the years of missing out, of sitting on the sidelines, not being able to join in, I’d be loving every minute of this, but I couldn’t enjoy myself, not when I didn’t know how Ronan was. Where he was.

At least I’d worked out how to vanish my wings, thanks to Bram. Though his wings were completely different in every way to mine, he’d helped me identify the muscles that controlled the motion of folding them back in, and we’d learned that when I did that, my magic kicked in, and they vanished. Folding them in wasn’t easy, though, and they kept popping out and reappearing at inopportune moments. I’d taken to wearing tube tops under my shirts. My wings had sharp edges, and I’d shredded several T-shirts already. With my wings coming from high on my back the tube tops stayed intact at least and stopped me from flashing everyone.

Rocco and his mate, Kyler, stood across the room, talking to Willow and Warrick, and I made my way over to them. All of us sisters had different coloring, and Willow stood out in a crowd with her fiery red hair and bright green eyes. She immediately pulled me into her side, her face filled with happiness.

Warrick, my huge, close to seven-foot-tall brother-in-law, patted me on the shoulder with one of his giant mitts, his fingers adorned by several silver rings, most with skulls engraved into them, and grinned as well. “Fucking good to see you walking round.” That was as sappy as the male got with anyone that wasn’t my sister.

“Thanks, War, it feels pretty damn good too,” I said.

I turned to Rocco. “So, you need to tell me where Ronan is.”

He blinked down at me, and I could see the wheels turning, trying to think of what to say. The male wasn’t going to tell me.

Kyler gave him a nudge. “Tell her.”

I could have kissed her. I smiled at her instead. But then Roc shook his head, his navy-blue eyes leaving his mate and coming to me. “Disappointing my mate is my very least favorite thing to do. But it’s for Ronan to share, not me.”

Grrrr. “Why hasn’t he come to see me? He came every day for months, now he’s vanished. Something’s not right, Roc. Please, you have to tell me.”

He offered me an apologetic smile but shook his head again. “There’s a good reason he can’t be here, Roe, but I promise you, he wants to be here with you more than anything. Now that’s as much as I’ll say.”

I wasn’t sure what to believe. What to think. What had happened in my room a week ago after he’d fed me, and why had they dragged him away? No one seemed to know. My family didn’t understand, and I’d made Mags go over what happened that day with me at least twenty times.

I took in the massive warrior and scowled. It wasn’t like I could force him to tell me. The male took in my expression and grinned. I grumbled under my breath and turned back to Willow.

My sister was watching me, eyes wide and glossy, and her lips curled up on one side.

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, just…seeing you like this.” She swallowed thickly and pulled me into her side. “I never thought I would.”

I hooked my arm around her waist. “I guess there’s no getting out of my trial now, huh?” Mags and Iris joined our huddle.

Willow looked up at me, her gaze fierce. “I don’t give a fuck about that, about any of it right now, Roe. You’re going to be okay, and nothing else is more important than that.”

“You-know-who can go fuck herself,” Mags said and winked at me, obviously meaning the mother, but thankfully she had the good sense not to say it out loud. “We’re not thinking about that tonight. Tonight, we’re celebrating having you here with us and knowing we always will.”

Iris put her arm around Mags, and we moved together, wrapping our arms around each other in a group hug. “The four of us, standing here like this, I never thought it would happen,” Iris said. “But you’re here, Roe. You’re strong and healthy, and goddess, so incredibly beautiful. I feel as if—”

“As if we could take on the motherfucking world and kick its ass,” Mags finished.

“Yeah, as if we could take on the motherfucking world,” Iris said, chuckling.

Willow grinned as tears ran down her face, as tears ran down all our faces. “Look out world, Rose has arrived and she’s going to blow your motherfucking mind!”