“Yeah. Alone.” A warning was there. Vespar rolled his shoulders back and held his chin up, slightly higher than Gus’. It was obvious who the alpha was of the two. “But there’s two of us and one of you. You don’t stand a chance, messenger.” The last word was spoken with such disdain, my own messenger stirred inside. She didn’t like that, not one bit, and my eyes cooled.

“Watch it, brother.” I used the same disdain he had. “You’re forgetting he’s not the only messenger around.”

I’d just declared war, or at least threatened it when Kellan swept into the room. I felt him coming, like a dark cloud that slowly filled the room. His presence was felt long before he appeared from the stairs where I had come from a few minutes earlier. Without breaking stride, he went past Gus and Vespar, placing a hand on both of their shoulders and physically sitting them both back down. Then, he was around the island and he tugged me with him, pulling me away from Damien before he let me go and he went to the patio doors. He pulled the shades and ordered, “Messenger, close the rest of the windows.”

It was an insult and command all rolled into one.

Damien seemed ready to protest, but his shoulders lowered, and he went off to do as Kellan said. One by one, all the windows were closed, and all the shades were pulled. I didn’t know the reason, but I waited until Damien was done. Kellan was leaning against the counter next to me. His arm brushed against mine, and I knew the contact was on purpose.

Damien saw it, too, gritting his teeth, before he stopped at the other side of the kitchen.

“Aumae?” I asked.

“Here.” She sailed in, coming from down a first floor hallway. A long white dress billowed behind her, and her eyes were dancing. She smiled at me, her face almost glowing. “You look so well rested, Shay. That’s wonderful. A good night’s sleep must’ve done the trick, hmmm.” She cast a sideways look to Kellan at the last part, with the sides of her mouth turning inward like she was trying to hold back a grin.

“Matt.” I chose to ignore whatever innuendo my aunt said. “We brought him with us. Where is he?”

“Tied up in the shed outside.”

Giuseppa added to Vespar’s statement, “Along with the owner of this place.”

“Who put them there?”

“I did.” Kellan answered him, his eyes hard on me, almost daring me to say something against him.

I frowned at that. “Okay.”

“Did you charm that place, too?” Vespar asked Kellan.

He nodded. “They won’t be able to find us, for now. We have a few days to come up with a plan before Shay’s father finds us again.”

“And speaking of my dad,” I told them about my encounter with him.

“Huh?” That was all Gus said.

Vespar seemed confused.

Damien was quiet, his face unreadable and closed off.

Kellan didn’t say anything either, out loud. He said to me in my head, “He said you didn’t have enough power?”

The backs of our fingers were resting against each other. I moved mine, just barely, to brush against his. “He was disappointed. I don’t know why he fought for me. Before that, it felt like he was going to send me back to you. He wanted us to bond.” I kept the part where Damien suggested the same sentiment to me. Things were tense enough. Kellan could use that as an excuse to kill Damien and for some reason, I didn’t want him to do that. I snuck a look across the kitchen to the male messenger. His eyebrows were bunched together, lost in thought. A nervous feeling trickled through me, but I wasn’t sure where it came from. I had no reason to distrust Damien. If anyone, it should’ve been Vespar. He actually planned to kill me, but for some reason, that same feeling wasn’t there for my pseudo half-demon sibling. I knew where they stood, he and Gus. Both were too scared of Kellan to go against him. One would think they’d be loyal because we saved them both, but I snorted at that thought. I wasn’t going to hold my breath for that kind of loyalty from them.

“What’s so funny?” Gus asked.

“What?”

She told me, “You just laughed at something.” She looked at Kellan with suspicion. “Are you two doing the thought thing?”

“What thought thing?” Damien asked.

“They can hear each other’s thoughts.” She glared. “It’s annoying.”

“You can’t?” Damien surprised her.

“What?”

“You can’t hear your brother’s thoughts? You two are connected through blood. You should be able to hear each other’s thoughts.”

Gus and Vespar shared a look, both shifted in their seats. Then, Gus burst out, pointing at us, “She and Kellan aren’t connected by blood. What the hell?”

I felt everyone’s attention turn to us, and I straightened against the counter. I didn’t want the attention, at least that attention. Everyone knew we were close, but the less they pried, the more comfortable I would be.

Kellan said, “Even more reason to learn your place.” He stood up and glowered down at Gus, using his body to intimidate her. “We’re both powerful, more than you.”

And it was working. Gus sat back down, her shoulders lowering, and she seemed almost submissive. “I wasn’t challenging you. I was just wondering how you guys can do that. That’s all.”

Vespar’s jaw clenched, shooting his sister a sideways look.