Page 80 of Of Flame and Fate

He looks at me as Emme turns to fill a glass of iced tea. “You know what I mean,” I mouth.

He straightens to his full height. “You’re wrong,” he replies.

“What?” Emme asks, glancing up.

She lowers the pitcher of iced tea back on the counter when all Bren and I do is glare at each other. The Lord is testing me because I’m ready to knock this wolf out. Except now isn’t the time to zap some sense into him.

Bren marches ahead of us, his stance as rigid as the strain surging between Emme and him.

I should say something, again, now is not the time to rip into him. So I take in my surroundings, allowing the familiarity of my home to settle me.

It hasn’t been that long since I was last here, but already it’s too long. God, how I wish things would get back to normal, at least normal for us. I miss the days where my sisters and I would sit at the table and have tea. It’s something we all used to enjoy. We’d talk about everything or nothing at all, laugh at something goofy Shayna said, something raunchy Bren did, or the plans we had with our wolves.

I took it for granted, and didn’t realize how much I look forward to it.Life’s like that. The simple things are often the ones we most want back.

The heels of my hot pink shoes barely make a sound against the dark hardwood floors as I cross the kitchen, despite how each step feels more leaden than the last.

“I wish Destiny would stay in my room,” I say quietly.

Emme pauses behind Bren as he reaches for the door leading to the basement. “I told her you’d offered,” she explains. “But she said she didn’t want to die in your room and have you think it was haunted. Especially if you and Gemini were having ‘relations.’” Her face reddens. “Those are her words, not mine.”

I laugh a little, and so does Emme, no matter that anything surrounding “relations” always cause her cheeks to redden. It’s such a Destiny thing to say, and am I ever going to miss her saying them.

Bren opens the door and hops down the steps, the ease and speed in which he moves (even with his hands full!) a great deal more graceful than what I manage in my shoes. He stops halfway down, his spine stiffening. “You want me to help you or something?”

I grip the railing, thinking he’s talking to me. “I’m all right,” I say. “I just need to go slow.”

“I meant Emme,” he says, turning back. “But I can help you, too, I guess.”

Emme is in flats and a soft pink maxi dress. If she wanted to, she could probably swing from a vine in the clothes she’s wearing as opposed to the ensemble I chose to strut around in. So, yeah, what in thehellis up with him? He’s not just some horny wolf like Gemini and Aric claim. It’s more like theloneand the man in him are fighting fang and claw not to see what’s in front of him. Or should I say,who’sin front of him.

“I’m fine, Bren,” Emme says, her voice mimicking the confusion I’m feeling.

“I’m just saying, I don’t mind carrying you or some shit,” he says.

He stomps ahead. I do, too, catching Emme’s arm. “Did you kiss him again?” I mouth, not wanting Bren’s super-hearing to pick up on what I’m asking. I do a double-take at the sight of Emme’s blush.

“No.” She glances in the direction he disappeared. “I think he’s trying to be a gentleman.”

I’m not sure if she’s trying to mean what she says or if she actually believes it. All I know is that there’s more here than either are saying, and likely more they’re doing.

I release her arm slowly when I hear Bren address Tye.

“Taran’s here,” he says. “And Emme has food for Destiny.”

I know Tye is upset, and too many other horrible emotions to name, and because of it, I’ve tried to prepare myself for how I’d find them. But I’m still not ready.

I step down. To our right is our game room with a pool table, large sectional, and a flat screen fixed to the wall. To our left is the bar area. In front of the bar, a full-sized bed has been placed, the electronic kind used in hospitals to elevate the foot and head of the bed.

Destiny’s upper body is positioned sitting up, with pillows propped behind her head and under her arms to keep her supported. Strands of her long dark hair fall free from her lopsided bun, making her appear haggard while the white of her zebra print pajamas further highlights her pallor.

Tye waits beside her, the small cushioned chair he’s sitting in barely enough to hold his large body. He’s hunched over with his head bowed and his hands clasped together. I think he’s praying. It’s not until I get a close look at the way his hands tremble that I realize he’s only barely containing his rage.

Destiny blinks her eyes partially open, her lids heavy with apparent weakness and exhaustion.

“Hi, Taran,” she says, her voice so frail I barely hear it.

I swallow the building lump in my throat and smile. “Hey, Des. How’s it going, girl?”

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