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“As I was slumbering in my dragon form, it was at the forefront of my mind.”
She patted his chest, and it took all her willpower not to take a more detailed look at his body. “You should put some clothes on.”
He took her hand as clothes formed over him. “I like you looking at me, regardless of what form I am in.”
The cabin looked the same, but she could see Mara and Legion’s in the distance and was glad they were meeting in the original one. “That’s because your dragon is an exhibitionist.”
He laughed as he opened the door and she laughed with him until she stepped through and met her sister’s gaze. Mara forced a smile, but her eyes held the disappointment of a sister who had been repeatedly ignored. What could she say? The reasons didn’t matter. She hadn’t trusted Mara with the truth, and once she became the seer, it was too late. As far as cluster-fucks went, she had hit the jackpot.
The memory replayed in her mind. The day she found out Mara was the seer and her magic had emerged. She had searched for over two years for the thing that had been hers all along. The woman she tossed aside for a greater purpose was the catalyst for the temple’s return. The irony was only overshadowed by her stupidity. She had walked away from the sister she swore to protect. Mara, being the seer, shouldn’t have mattered. That mistake was all hers.
Mara nodded to her. “Alana, thank you for coming.” The strain and uncertainty in Mara’s voice cut worse than a sword in the belly.
“There is nowhere I would rather be,” she said, though her sister frowned. She had a mission to complete, and it started with the truth. If she failed, they would all die and judging by how her stomach felt like it was in a shredder, her failure was monumental.
CHAPTER6
Alana followed Kell to the kitchen. Legion placed a plate of cookies on the table before grabbing the teapot. The smell reminded her of her childhood when their mother would make those same oatmeal raisin cookies and tell the sisters not to tell their father that she was feeding them sweets for breakfast. They would giggle and pretend, but Alana was sure her dad was in on the game.
Alana had every advantage growing up. Not money, though they always had a cozy home and more than enough food, but they had love and amazing parents. How disappointed would her mother be in her now? While Mom had known the truth, she expected her to protect her sister, not abandon her.
The kitchen table was long, and she was surprised that only Mara and Legion were there. “Where are the others?”
Mara smiled at her mate when he placed a steaming mug in front of her. “Natalie is at the store. Rhadan is helping her and Cole. Everyone else has gone home. The women are ill, including Tempest.”
Alana took one of the cookies, hoping it would quell the rumble in her stomach. “I love this recipe. Remember the time we tried to make these for Mom on Mother’s Day? I think I was six. As usual, I didn’t listen to you and the salt content was triple what it should have been. I can’t believe Mom ate that mess.”
Mara chuckled. “Me either. I drank two glasses of milk to get through one cookie. They mysteriously disappeared that night and Dad said he ate them.”
“He tossed them, but Mom made chocolate chunk the next day and we were happily distracted.”
Mara’s eyes narrowed on her sister. “I am surprised you remember that?”
Alana chewed the perfectly sweet cookie. “I never forget anything; I have an eidetic memory. Curse of the seeker, I guess.”
“Why would you consider that a curse? I wish I didn’t have to double-check my bank statements three times,” she said wistfully.
Alana glanced at Legion. “I assumed that your money troubles were behind you.”
Mara blew on the steaming mug of tea. “They are. I have to check the account several times because the zeroes keep increasing.”
Alana swallowed the cookie. “I didn’t realize the store was doing so well.”
“Business is coming back, but Legion has my name on all his accounts. Rule Industries is a gold mine... pun intended.”
The strained look in Mara’s eyes hurt more than any knife. Her sister was trying to include her. To put the past behind them if there was a chance Alana would stay. Mara deserved so much better than her. Still, was it worse than her learning the truth? It was a question she struggled with daily.
Kell moved in her mind.Alana, you are sad. Tell me what is going on? I feel your need to run.
He wasn’t wrong. The reflex to bolt from the cabin was strong, but the memory rolled through her mind before she could stop it.
She was sitting in the kitchen of their loft above the shop. Her mother sat across from her, serving her Red Velvet cake. The one thing she had requested for graduation. She knew what was coming, but prayed her mother had a change of heart.
“Alana, I am sorry. I wish there were another way. You have a destiny unlike any before you. Our family has waited for this day for thousands of years. You don’t understand the gravity of the situation, but I hope you will forgive me someday.”
“I don’t want to leave, Mom. I will find a way to block him,” Alana said.
“You can’t, sweetie. You won’t come into your power for several years and you can’t tell Mara about any of this. She has no markers for druid magic. You can call her and email her, but you need to stay away from your sister to protect her. She will never have a way to defend herself.”
