My Brother's Keeper (11 page)

She blinked and looked around the table. "I feel much better." Before anyone could tell her not to, she snatched up the mocha and began to down it's contents. When she was done, she exhaled loudly and set the cup back on the table. "That was fucking awesome!"

Kendrick watched Meryn, a bemused expression on his face. Beside him, Ryuu sighed. Kendrick clapped him on the back. "She deserved a little pick-me-up."

Meryn wiggled until Aiden set her back in her chair. "I think that coffee made me hungry." She turned and looked up at Ryuu. "Do we have any pancakes? And bacon? And hash browns?"

Ryuu's smile was indulgent. "That's what you requested for breakfast yesterday."

Meryn smiled. "Does that mean I can't have it again today?"

Ryuu shook his head. "You can have whatever you want. It's a good thing I froze the leftover pancakes yesterday." He bowed to Kendrick and headed into the kitchen.

Kendrick patted Meryn on the head as if she were a puppy and walked back to his chair.

"Wait a damn minute. What happened there?" Aiden demanded.

Kendrick sipped his coffee. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is what was wrong with my mate?" Aiden growled.

"I'm not quite sure, but I have an idea."

"An idea? Care to share?"

"No."

"No! What do you mean, no?" Aiden glared at Kendrick from across the table.

Anne had had enough. Kendrick didn't deserve any of this. She stood and slammed both hands down on the table. "That's enough!"

Aiden sat back his eyes wide. "I didn't mean to upset you, but I have to know what happened to my mate."

"Then you should ask politely like a normal person!" She crossed her arms over her chest. "I've known Kendrick just as long as the rest of you. Magic abilities not withstanding, I know that he isn't the type of person who would withhold information to hurt someone. If he says he doesn't know, that means he needs to look into it further before he makes a diagnosis. If he announces it's one thing and it turns out to be another you'd blame him for that, too.

"I know I'm the new kid around here, but the unwarranted hostility you have shown him is obvious. For Keelan's sake, I'll only say this once: Stow your shit!" Anne was breathing heavily, and her emotions were spiraling out of control. She hated it that, every time she got upset about something, she cried. People always assumed it was because she was weak when, in truth, she was trying really hard not to kill people.

Rheia stood. "She's absolutely right. I was going to let Kendrick's actions dictate my own, but you all are upsetting Anne, and she has enough to deal with right now. I see this type of behavior all the time as a doctor. People expect us to have all the answers; sometimes, we don't. Sometimes, it's better not to say anything at all without having all the facts. I know you men miss Keelan; I do, too. Nevertheless, that is no excuse to treat his brother so poorly."

Elizabeth rose to her feet elegantly. "We are a family, every single one of us in the house. Look at Anne and Amelia." The men looked at Anne who was still fighting back tears and to Amelia whose face buried in Darian's chest. "We have enough challenges from those outside this house attacking us; we don't need conflict in the house as well."

Meryn reached for a roll. "He's not Keelan," she declared. "He looks like Keelan, but he isn't him. I know that each one of you feel like shit because you think you should have been able to save Keelan, but don't take that out on Kendrick. He hasn't blamed us once, and he has every right to."

Anne looked around the table and met the eyes of the other women. She'd never had close friends before, and their support and gentle smiles were her undoing. She covered her face with her hands and started to ball like a baby.

She felt Kendrick move beside her, and before she knew it, she was safe in his arms. "Shush now. Us poor men have our marching orders; cut us some slack okay?" He rubbed her back.

She sniffed and opened her eyes. "I'm sorry!"

Aiden stood, a concerned look on his face. "You have no reason to be sorry, Anne. I'm the one who should apologize. Thank you for having the courage to stand up for Kendrick." Aiden turned to the rest of the men. "They're right, all of our ladies. I do feel guilty. I think I kept expecting Kendrick to lash out, so I was always on the defensive." He looked straight at Kendrick. "I am sorry."

Kendrick shook his head. "I'm pretty thick skinned, Aiden. It will take more than your baby bear growls to shake me."

Aiden looked down at the table. "No. I'm sorry I couldn't save him. He was my responsibility, and I failed him."

Colton and Gavriel stood quickly. "It was not your fault. We are the ones who had to drag you out of that building; we are the ones who abandoned him." Gavriel's face was a mask of pain.

Darian turned his head away from Kendrick to stare at the floor. "I was the one who walked away. He was right in front of me, and I left him there."

Under her hands, Anne could feel the effect the men's words were having on Kendrick. His entire body tensed and his breathing became more rapid in what seemed to be an effort to stay in control. She did the only thing she could in that moment. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

Kendrick drew a shuddering breath. "Thank you." Everyone turned and stared at him. Anne looked up and was shocked to see a steady stream of tears coursing down his cheeks. "Thank you," he repeated. He looked up and the men flinched at the stark grief on his face. "Thank you for loving my brother as if he were your own flesh and blood. If I had any doubts about your loyalties, they have been washed away by your confessions. If anyone is to blame, it is I. I knew over two hundred years ago he would die as a member of the Alpha Unit. 

"I could have done so many things to turn him from the path he chose, but to do so would have crushed Keelan's kindness. I would have turned him into something he would have hated. So, I let him live his own life knowing what would happen. I was so confident in my own power, I was sure I could see any impending doom and swoop in and save the day." He gave a hollow laugh. "I guess I wasn't as all-seeing and powerful as I thought I was, and my brother paid the price."

Anne shook her head. "I don't know what happened to him, but I like to think I know Keelan pretty well." She looked around the table. "His face would light up when he spoke of you all. He called you his brothers, and I don't think he could have been more proud to call you family. If he made the decision to protect you, then that is exactly what he wanted, because if any of you had been hurt--or worse, killed--and he lived knowing he could have saved you, it would have destroyed him." She turned to look at Kendrick. "The way he described you, I was half expecting you to have a cape. There was no one he looked up to more."

Beside them, Amelia wiped her face. "It's true,
Athair
. He told me that he fully intended to call you and my brothers if things got too dangerous. I think everything happened so fast, there wasn't time."

Gavriel wrapped an arm around his mate, and she slumped against him. "So what do we do now?"

She felt Kendrick straighten. "We're going to listen to a very wise little girl and be happy."

Anne watched as slow smiles began to appear around the table. Everyone sat down and kept smiling. Anne reached under the table and took Kendrick's hand. He didn't change expression or give any outward indication that he noticed her gesture, yet his long, warm fingers squeezed her hand and didn't let go.

Anne took a deep breath and looked around. She realized everyone needed this to begin moving past their own guilt.

As she was looking around, she caught Meryn's eye and Meryn winked. "You're officially family now; you've cussed at the breakfast table."

Anne made a face and Meryn laughed in response. 

"Then you were officially family in the first thirty seconds after you sat at the breakfast table for the first time. I distinctly remember you threatening to castrate Colton." Gavriel teased.

Colton groaned. "Don't remind me."

Anne kept her left hand wrapped around Kendrick's and picked up her coffee with her right. For the first time in a very long time, she felt like she had a family again, cussing, jokes, and all.

CHAPTER SEVEN

After breakfast, everyone lingered over coffee. Anne suspected that no one wanted to leave each other's company just yet.

Meryn was tackling her second stack of pancakes when she turned to Kendrick. "By the way, Keelan-From-the-Future, you keep showing up wearing different clothes, but you didn't have any luggage. You've set up a lab, but didn't have anything delivered, how did you get all your stuff?"

Kendrick smiled and detached a small pouch from his belt. He held it up swinging from his fingers. "It's bigger on the inside."

Meryn dropped her fork and stared. "Can I see?"

Kendrick nodded, and Meryn ran around the table. He set the pouch in her hands and watched as she opened it. 

A look a disappointment bloomed on her face. "It's empty."

Kendrick winked and cupped his hands around hers and whispered a word. 

Meryn's eyes widened. "Holy shit balls! It's like a whole castle in here. Wait! Go back! Was that a library?"

Kendrick nodded. "It's called the Bag of Wishes. I can place anything I want inside, regardless of shape, size, or weight."

Meryn looked at his clothes. "So you have a closet in here too?"

He shook his head. "No, these" he plucked at his blazer, "are the Gentlemen's Garments. I received them as a present from the queen of the fae."

She smiled. "Like my dress."

Kendrick tilted his head. "You're the new owner of the Gown of Éire Danu?"

She bopped her head yes and kept tilting the pouch side to side.

"Interesting," he murmured.

Elizabeth snorted. "You have no idea."

Meryn placed the bag in his hands and turned to Aiden. "I want one."

Aiden's mouth dropped. "Baby, I can't just go out and buy you one. Enchanted fae items are extremely rare."

Meryn walked back to her chair and sat down. "I need it in my life."

Aiden turned to Darian who was chuckling. Darian nodded at Aiden. "I'll see what I can do."

Meryn smiled brightly at Darian. "Thank you big brother-cousin."

Darian looked around the table. "We never really stood a chance, did we?"

The men all shook their heads. Kendrick laughed. "Never has a truer statement been spoken. Women always have the upper hand, always."

Meryn pumped her fist in the air. "Because we kick ass!"

Kendrick smiled slyly. "It's because you have the magic bean."

Meryn frowned as Aiden choked on his coffee. "What magic bean?"

Elizabeth blushed. "Oh, dear."

Anne had to suppress a giggle.

"I only know of two magic beans: the cocoa bean and the coffee bean," Meryn insisted.

Kendrick clucked his tongue. "Commander, you have been remiss in your duties."

Around the table, the other men were trying not to laugh and failing horribly.

Finally, Gavriel took pity on the confused Meryn and leaned in to whisper what the third magic bean was. Meryn's reaction caught Anne by surprise when she erupted into giggles.

"Ha, ha, ha, magic bean! Hey baby, want to swallow my magic bean later?" Meryn leered up at her mate.

Aiden smirked and shook his head before leaning down to nip Meryn on the neck. "Only if you're very, very good," he promised.

Meryn reached over her head and traced a halo before folding her hands in front of her as if in prayer. "I'm always good."

Colton chuckled. "Hey Meryn, did you have to get a custom-made halo to fit between those devil horns?" he teased.

Anne lifted her hand and tapped her lips. "What do you think Meryn? We could sew his lips shut in his sleep."

Meryn's eyes brightened, and she turned to Rheia. "You don't need to kiss him for a while do you?"

Rheia shrugged. "I could go without."

Colton's mouth dropped as he cuddled his mate. "Darlin', you wouldn't let them do that to me, would you?"

Rheia just winked at Meryn and Anne.

Meryn leaned back in her chair. "Face it gentlemen, you're no longer the baddest motherfuckers in the room anymore."

Aiden kissed the side of Meryn's head. "Don't let the other warriors find out."

Anne smiled. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with us," she promised, and the other women laughed. Anne finally felt like she belonged in this house with these people. 

Kendrick cleared his throat. "Not to put a damper on things but..."

Colton smiled ruefully. "But we still have some pretty serious allegations against us."

Kendrick set his empty cup down. "Thanks to Anne's suggestion, I may have a plan for that. But that wasn't what I was talking about. I was talking about the perimeter."

Aiden blinked. "But the perimeter is the one good thing that came from this whole mess. The ferals haven't been able to breach it since it went up; we're safe."

Kendrick twisted the cup in his hands. "Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but when something looks too good to be true, it usually is."

Amelia turned to him. "How can the perimeter be a bad thing?"

Kendrick stopped turning the cup. "What if the perimeter wasn't designed to keep you safe by keeping the ferals out. What if it was designed to keep the ferals out to keep
them
safe?"

Aiden frowned. "I don't like where this is going."

Kendrick looked at the men. "Over the centuries, I've seen many different types of magic, but I've never seen anything like this perimeter. No one in the city is stepping forward to lay claim to it, and if any of the warriors had done it, they would have told you right away. So, if no one in the city cast the spell, who did?"

Colton swallowed, looking ill. "The enemy."

Kendrick nodded. "What if the perimeter is keeping the ferals out because when the perimeter goes down it will shrink into the center of the city, stripping people's souls as the magic collapses? If ferals are in the city when that happens, their precious necklaces could be destroyed."