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“She’s on her way,” he told Ari.
“Good. Let’s head that way, pick up Brie and gear up,” Ari pointed toward the villa.
Gage jogged with the men, but when the others dispersed to their rooms to get their things, he waited downstairs with Yuki. They sat in silence on the bench in the foyer.
“If I were not here, you would not be worried,” Yuki said in a quiet voice.
Gage sat him on his lap, facing him. “I would be worried regardless. These missions are dangerous.” He heard the front door open but focused on his son.
“You don’t distract me, Yuki. You, your brother, and yourhahauegive me a reason to fight and come home. Now, I’ll need you to watch over your grandmother for me. Can you do that?”
Yuki clutched at his arms. “What if you don’t come home?”
Gage felt like he had been punched in the gut. In all the missions he had partaken in before, he had never felt pain and fear like this, not for himself but for this small child who relied on him.
“Welcome to parenthood,” a female voice observed.
He looked up. “Mother.”
There were thousands of things he wanted to say; he wanted to share how he understood her fears now, but they didn’t have time.
She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know. Trust me, Gage, I know.” She lifted Yuki off his lap. “Is this my grandson?”
Yuki blinked, then nodded.
“I feel so much better knowing you will be looking after me,” she said in soothing tones. “Now. You do not have to worry about your father. He has dozens of muscle heads around him that will help keep him safe,” she said dryly.
Yuki smiled faintly.
She pointed to Gage. “Young man, your father is the third-ranked warrior in all of Éire Danu. Ferals would be hard-pressed to make him break a sweat, much less hurt him,” she said, though Gage could see the worry in her eyes even as she reassured his son.
“Well said, Tierla,” Ari said approvingly. “We’ll come home soon Yuki. While we’re gone, you’re the man of the house. Take care of your grandmother, and your mother and brother when they return. Okay?”
Yuki straightened with purpose and nodded. “I will.”
Ari turned to him. “Gear up,” he ordered.
Gage fought the urge to hesitate, but he knew if he did, it would only get harder each time he would go out on missions. He had to trust his unit leader, his mother, and his son. It was the only way he’d make it back alive. Otherwise, the worry would get him killed faster than any feral.
*****
After Kendrick explained the basic mechanics, she and Kincaid stood on either side of the spell center. She looked around and found that Kendrick had somehow pulled sidewalk chalk from his little bag, and her son was happily defacing public property.
“Concentrate,” Kendrick barked.
She looked over at Kincaid, and they rolled their eyes in unison.
“I saw that,” Kendrick observed.
Taking a deep breath, she sent her magic forward. Moments later, Kincaid’s magic met hers, and when she started the mental image of a braid, his efforts morphed them into cables. Feeling secure, she pushed forward to look for the Appleblossom signature.
At one point, she felt Kincaid’s magic jerk, but she kept going. Finally, she found the spell. With meticulous effort, she examined each rune and symbol to ensure it was intact. Like the previous one, this spell center was fine.
Slowly she pulled her magic back and followed the cable back to Kincaid. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised at how good she felt. Spreading the load between two witches had helped enormously.
When she looked up at Kincaid, her smile dropped. “What?”
Anxiety was pouring off him in waves. “The guys got called out less than an hour ago. They’re hitting another warehouse,” he said tersely.
