Page 82 of Ignited Spirits
Cain walks over to her and wraps her in a hug. “We’ll keep you safe here until you’re ready to go, angel.”
She melts into his embrace and stares up at him with a love that’s so obvious it makes me ache.
I know my little raven cares for me as much as she cares for her other mates, but I can’t help my envy that some of them have the bond with her that I crave. Not that I will ever tell her that, because my jealousy isn’t her problem to manage.
“Thanks, quiet boy. I’ll keep you safe, too.”
He chuckles but doesn’t say anything as we wait in relative silence for the two mages to return. Luca walks up behind her and places his hands on her waist, caging her in between the two of them.
She glances over at me, and I give her a small smile, not wanting her to feel bad about receiving comfort from her other mates.
Besides, I don’t really feel like I’ve earned holding her or touching her or any show of affection. I had the power to stop what was happening to her a year before I finally did, but I didn’t. And I don’t know how the fuck to live with myself knowing that. I don’t know how Izzy doesn’t hate me, because she really should.
Just like I should’ve had the power to stop LuaMater—now and when Hades and I were younger. My older brother did everything he could to protect me from her wrath, and all I did was cower.
The door swings open behind me, breaking me out of my self-loathing thoughts. I shake off any lingering feelings because I need to be alert and ready to protect Izzy, not preoccupied with my own problems.
A grim-faced Rhys and Bishop walk through the door.
Izzy turns to them with raised brows. “Find anything?”
“More of the same that we found with Moore. They were all in pieces and their offices a mess. It looks like someone tossed their offices and took anything important. However, they all had journals that were intact, so we nabbed those.” He holds up multiple bloody, leather-bound books to show Izzy.
She sighs at the news.
“It’s safe to say that the rest of the council won’t be bothering you or Dad anymore,” Rhys adds helpfully, trying to cheer her up.
Izzy snorts. “Always looking on the bright side, Rhys. I wonder what wild story they’re going to try to cook up to explain this. No one knows we were here, so hopefully they leave us out of it.”
Her brother’s mouth twitches up into a small smile until she looks away. Then he lets the worry and exhaustion flit across his face for a moment before shuttering it. The ability to pretend everything is fine when it really isn’t clearly runs in the family.
“So, we ready to go?” Izzy’s tapping a hand against her thigh anxiously, her eyes continuing to dart to the door, like she expects something awful to barge through at any moment.
“Yeah, we can go now, little raven. Unless there’s anything else you need here.”
“Nope. Let’s get out of here,” she says a little too quickly. Izzy waves her hand for all of us to go in front of her. When no one budges, she sighs. “You guys have to go in front of me. I can’t leave the portal open for someone to go through it.”
Bishop crosses his arms over his chest and narrows his eyes on Izzy. “I’d rather someone manage to get through the rift than leave you here alone, sweetheart. We can stand here arguing all day. Or you can accept that you need to go first. It’s your choice.”
Glaring at him, Izzy opens her mouth like she wants to say something but snaps it closed. Instead, she just shakes her head. “I’m too tired to fight with you about this right now, St. James.”
Without another word, Izzy goes through the rift, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
I hate seeing my little raven so down, and I wish I could fix any of it for her. But I can’t. All I can do is be at her side to offer a shoulder to lean on when everything feels too heavy, a hand to help her up when life knocks her down, and an ear to listen without judgment. As long as she’ll have me, that is.
I’m not the only one who hates seeing Izzy like that. Rhys glares at Bishop before hissing, “Fix it.”
Bishop scrubs a hand over his face. “I will.” With that, he walks through the rift after our mate.
The remaining wolves follow him, eager to get back to our mate. Rhys looks around the office critically, scanning foranything we might’ve missed. When he doesn’t find anything, he marches through the rift without a backward glance.
I bring up the rear. When I walk through, I’m unsurprised to see Seph, Zeus, and Poseidon gone. I turn to Legion. “Did Seph and her mates take Giles?”
He inclines his head. “They did.”
I nod before dropping into my seat and letting my head fall back. Izzy is surrounded by her family, being hugged by her mom and her middle brother at the same time. Her dad is watching it all with a smile on his face.
She’s laughing at their antics, and it feels good to see her like that. She deserves all the love and laughter and happiness in the world because she’s everything good and right in the universe. She’s my entire heart, and I’d do anything and give everything to protect her.
