Page 33 of My Haven
Hunter looked around. “Was this a storage room?”
Mikel reached up to place a hand on the wall to steady himself. “This was Zoe’s room.”
Caiden looked around and a cold rage settled in his chest. He knew that Mikel had spoiled Zoe no less than he had Amelia. There was nothing in this room that showed anyone lived there, much less the youngest daughter of the house.
“Did she already move her things?” Mikel asked, his voice dark.
Aiden placed a comforting hand on Mikel’s shoulder. “She arrived in Éire Danu with a single suitcase and has not been back since.”
The wall under Mikel’s hand was soon scorched.
Aiden kept his hand on Mikel’s shoulder. “She has been spoiled by her mate, the unit warriors, her mate’s mother, herathair, Meryn, the queen and her sons. She has left her painful memories behind her,” Aiden said, in even tones.
Mikel took a deep breath and turned to face them. “I bought her furniture for her eighty-fifth birthday. It was custom order. She looked forward to it for months. She had a rug that belonged to our fae great-grandmother, she would lay on it and read,” his voice broke, and he took another deep breath.
“Mikel…” Aiden began.
Mikel shook his head. “You don’t understand! Our parents never let her leave the temple grounds. They feared her powers. All she had was this room! I tried to make it a sanctuary, they turned it into a true prison. This was her entire world.”
Zev inhaled, Konstantine looked around as the weight of Mikel’s words sunk in.
Mikel turned to him, his eyes bright with unshed tears. “They imprisoned her, fed her garbage and worked her from morning ‘til night. How can I get those years back? How can I make this right?”
Caiden could not imagine coming home and hearing that Amelia had been abused in his absence. In truth he marveled atMikel restraint. “You let your brothers help you rip justice from those bastards, one body part at a time.”
Mikel had barely gotten his breathing evened out when they heard pounding on the gate. He looked up at Aiden. “My getting appointed as Elder and then being sent to Tribunal for murder in less than a week, could set records.”
“You only face a Tribunal if you leave people alive to protest,” Aiden pointed out.
Bryok laughed and pointed. “Aiden McKenzie, those were Meryn’s words coming out of your mouth.”
Aiden smiled softly. “I’ve said it before and will say it until I die, she is the best part of me.”
The pounding grew louder as they walked toward the gate.
Mikel took a deep breath and opened the gates wide. On the other side Karl Brugmansia, a trembling Andrei and uniformed men stood on the other side.
Karl inclined his head to Aiden and Caiden. When he saw Mikel, he paused. “Mikel, I didn’t know you had returned to Storm Keep. Are you moving back?”
“Where are my family’s assets?” Mikel asked, ignoring the question.
Karl’s eyebrows rose. “What family assets?”
Mikel pointed to the main building. “Every heirloom, painting, and stick of furniture has been stripped from my home.”
Karl shrugged. “I’m sure they were moved to a more secure location in the event Zoe had a mishap. She was alone you realize.”
“You have until sundown to return every item along with the money taken from the estate accounts,” Mikel demanded.
Karl sighed. “That may take some time.”
“Why is that?”
“We were looking out for Zoe and invested most of the money, to help maintain the funds to operate the temple,” he explained.
“There should have been more than enough to run the temple,” Mikel said, grinding out each word.
“I fear your parents took quite a bit out of the accounts when they left,” Karl said, his eyes sympathetic.
