AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And they care about each other. Raven makes us all sandwiches, and he doesn’t even have to ask North and Cain what they prefer. He just knows already. North and Cain smile at him as Raven sets the food down and pats them on their shoulders. They’re very tactile with each other—Cain ruffles Raven and North’s hair even though the two playfully scowl at him. North constantly nudges the others, like a dog bumping up against its owners’ legs.
Such casual, easy affection. I’ve never had that before. Watching them do it is… it fills me with yearning, actually. Jason was never like this with me. Partly because I kept him at arm’s length.
The men aren’t touching me like that, but that’s probably more because I’m keeping myself at a distance. Would they touch me like this if I let them? Would they let me touch them in return, really make me a part of their family?
I could be a part of this. Theoretically. But… should I? Can I really? What if I take it and then it’s ripped away from me, the same as my parents were? What if they just want me to be some pretty prize, their fragile mate to protect and not really a proper part of the family?
You’re being paranoid,I tell myself.Calm the fuck down.
Raven sets my own sandwich down in front of me. “Thanks,” I tell him.
Raven smiles, pleased. He’s so quiet, but his devotion is the most obvious. I don’t know what to do with it. Should I… talk to him about it? Reach out and touch him?
“I think I’ve found where we need to go,” Cain says. He turns his laptop screen to show us. “This is the building that we saw. It’s in Nevada.”
“Nevada?” I lean in. That doesn’t look like a building so much as a ruin. An old abandoned fort from the days of the Wild West.
“Found it on a history site,” Cain explains. “Apparently it’s the remains of some old supernatural settlement from when we were taming the west or whatever. Humans don’t really know about it. I couldn’t find a whole lot of information, but I bet you it’s haunted.”
“Things aren’t haunted.” North rolls his eyes.
“You’re half shifter and half fae, and you refuse to believe in ghosts?”
This sounds like an old argument between them.
“You show me proof of ghosts—”
“I shouldn’t have to show you proof—”
“And I’ll believe it, we have documented cases of other supernaturals, I can run into a vampire or a werewolf or a troll in the street any day. And you expect me to believe in a ghost when in all my years I’ve never seen—”
“They don’twantyou to see them that’s the wholepoint—”
“Guys.” I snap my fingers. “Building. Nevada. Why would the Aurora Gem be in this rundown pit of all places?”
Cain’s eyes go white again for a couple minutes as he uses his Sight. When he comes out of it, Raven passes him a glass of water, the same as he did with me. Raven doesn’t talk much, so I’m guessing that this is how he shows his affection for people—through physical acts of service and caring.
“There’s a huge network of caves beneath it,” Cain says. “The gem must be hidden in there somewhere.”
Aurora Gems are extremely powerful, so those that own them tend to hide them away so that they don’t get into the wrong hands. Of course, whose hands are the wrong hands are up for debate, and I don’t really care too much about adding to that debate. Highest bidder is all that works for me.
“Do we have any idea who owns it?” I ask. “Who put it there?”
“No idea.” Cain shakes his head.
“We don’t want to piss off someone else,” North points out.
“This place looks like it hasn’t been disturbed in years,” Cain replies. “I think that whoever put it there originally forgot about it. Or they died.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to have something vulnerable hidden away and then died and never got to use it,” I point out.
“Fair,” North accepts. “But we know a thing or two about sticking something valuable out in the middle of nowhere. Doesn’t mean that there isn’t some kind of alert if we try to break in.”
That makes me curious. Do they have something valuable hidden in the middle of nowhere with protections on it and an alert that they’ll hear if someone tries to go in? The thief in me is fascinated by the possibility and wants to know more, but I keep my thoughts to myself.
“I think that’s a chance we’ll have to take,” I admit. “Someone could be keeping an eye on this gem but they also could’ve died. It happens a lot. It’s a question of are we willing to risk the odds?”
“I am,” Cain says.
