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“Thanks.”
The male, Carmon, continued,Adam’s working with the Mindolin.I gasped.Zhaine contacted me. He didn’t give me the details, but Adam wasn’t forced to do this.
Adam had asked my forgiveness. He’d turned his back on us? I couldn’t believe he’d been kidnapped and then betrayed his brothers.
Grace set her hand on my leg.Carmon, is there a reason Adam went to the Mindolin? A reason he went willingly?
Of course.Carmon acted like we should have figured that out ourselves, but he’d made it seem like Adam had chosen to go because he wanted to help the Mindolin succeed, like he’d turned traitor. Sylee rolled her eyes after snorting.Zhaine didn’t elaborate, said he couldn’t, but Adam was helping Onyx.
“She’s Zhaine’s mate and a Demon Lower Life Elemental. A seer,” Grace filled me in when Carmon hadn’t expounded. From Tessa’s nod, she hadn’t known either.
“Now, what’s the plan to help our guys?” Jazz’s face was focused, and the usual smile she wore was gone.
The door to the room opened, and Drew and Chris came around our couch with the three babies.
“Whatever happens, stay here,” Drew said, giving his mate a baby.
Chris gave the baby he held to Sophie. The other bundle Drew held was set into my arms. Shocked would not cover how I felt about the trust the really big man was putting in me. I glanced up at him.
Drew looked solemn. “Your mate protected my baby at the expense of his life. He’s always protected us. I trust him to have made a good decision when he married and then bonded with you. You’re family, Brynn. I trust you with my baby.”
Another tear fell down my cheek, and I nodded. Speaking wasn’t possible with my heart so full and my fear so high. Adam was with the Mindolin, a man who could crush Adam easily.
“What’s going on, Drew?” Sylee began to rise, but Drew held a hand up to stop her.
“I don’t know. Cal just said to give you ladies the babies and tell you to stay here no matter what.” Drew appeared frustrated as he ran his hands through his hair. Chris looked equally unsettled. “It’s the Life power he was given. I know he can’t share everything, or something like that, but he’s being cryptic. He doesn’t understand everything either.” His sigh was gusty. “I shouldn’t complain. He’s equally as frustrated as we are.”
“And weak,” Sylee put in. Everyone looked to her. “I know I’m not supposed to admit his weakness, but you should know this additional power is hard on him to carry. Harder than it appears. His mind is trying to handle it all, and it can’t. I don’t know how Life thought he was ready for this all at once.”
Chris scoffed. “It’s the Elementals. They don’t care about much outside of themselves. Wonder how the Mindolin was taught that trait.”
“Anyway,” Drew stood straight and Chris followed his lead, “under no circumstances are you to leave the room or this area. I don’t know what Cal knows or what he sees, but I need you to stay here with my kids. You ladies are their last defense.”
Boy, when he put it that way. I hugged the little bundle tighter.
“That’s Taylee,” Jazz introduced me to the baby I held when the guys left. “She’s Drew’s princess. The fact he gave her to you to hold her means he really does trust you to protect her and he accepts you as a member of his family. Drew doesn’t trust easily, but he trusts Adam. Plus, he saw how you reacted to Zhaine taking Adam.”
“I was a big baby and came to hide.” Yeah, that made me special.
Jazz shook her head. “No, he saw the same devastation written on your face as the rest of us saw. He knows being the last to join this Elemental band isn’t an easy thing. Plus, you’ve been loyal to Adam since you married. For all intents and purposes, you should have been the first of us.”
My shoulders drooped. “Adam said his brothers wouldn’t approve of our marriage. If we went to them and told them we’d married, he feared they’d make him divorce me. I didn’t understand then how anyone could make him do what he didn’t want. Now I kind of understand it better.”
“Carmon controls Water and Life,” Sylee said. “He outranks Adam’s Fire element. Had he wanted to, Carmon very well could have given an order Adam couldn’t disobey in regards to your marriage. While I’m not saying Adam was right to hide you, doing so probably saved your marriage.”
Sophie screwed up her nose. “I knew they were bad, but seriously?”
Sylee nodded. “You should have seen them when I met the guys. Carmon bonded with me without my knowledge or consent. He spent days after that insulting me. His plan was to drop me off at Mount Pickett and never see me again.” Her eyes misted. “I don’t know where along the way he started to change. Maybe when Bard kidnapped me. Maybe even before that, when he had to fight challenges for our bond.”
I couldn’t match her description of Carmon with the man I’d seen looking at her so tenderly when he’d finally been strong enough to open his eyes.
Jazz gave a humorless laugh. “Drew didn’t learn his lesson when Carmon did. He bonded with me to keep me safe, but he couldn’t stand me. So bossy and arrogant.” Her face heated, and I wondered what the story was behind that.
Sylee gave a knowing look. “I’m sure you hated it when he kissed you the first time.”
“And then dropped me on my butt. Yeah, that was fun.” Jazz tried to act upset, but we could all see through it. Maybe at the time she’d been angry, but not now.
A darkness settled over the room, taking my breath away. Even the air became chilled, and I cuddled the little bundle closer to me.
