My Savior (15 page)

"Breakfast is served," Ryuu announced as he wheeled the cart in. One by one, everyone picked what they wanted. Amelia was stuck. She wanted a bagel but also wanted something sweet.

Darian leaned in. "Get both."

She kissed his cheek and did as he advised. She selected an asiago cheese bagel and a raspberry and cream cheese danish.

"Look who is all kissy-face this morning," Meryn teased.

Amelia looked up and Meryn winked. She grinned back and gave Meryn a thumbs up. The men chuckled.

Darian turned to her. "Speaking of last night, you said you had three brothers and three half-brothers. As far as I know Caiden, Kyran and Tristan are the only Ironwoods I know."

"Well, technically, Caiden, Kyran, and Tristan are my half-brothers. Thane, Justice, and Law aren't related to me at all; they are Caiden, Kyran, and Tristan's half-brothers. But growing up, we never made the distinctions, and they all looked after me."

She heard a fork drop and looked over at Colton who was staring at her.

"What?"

"You can't mean Thane, Justice, and Law Ashleigh?" he choked out.

"Yeah, why?" she looked around in confusion; even Darian looked impressed.

"Because they are like ghosts. They work completely outside the system and don't report to anyone. Frankly, they are fucking badass." Colton's voice was full of reverence.

Meryn glared at Aiden. "More people you forgot to mention?"

Aiden shook his head. "Baby, no one tells them what to do. Even the council can't order them to do anything; they live by their own code. Every fifty years or so, I extend the offer for them to join a unit, but they always decline."

"So how are they related to your brothers?" Gavriel asked.

Amelia spread cream cheese on her bagel. "The Ironwood brothers and the Ashleigh brothers have the same mother. The Ashleigh brothers were born about fifteen hundred years before Caiden, but unlike the Ironwood brothers, the Ashleigh brothers are triplets."

"Rumors are true then," Gavriel said, rubbing his chin.

"It explains their strength," Aiden added.

"How is that special?" Meryn asked. Rheia was the only other one who looked confused.

Amelia realized that they didn't know because they were human. "Meryn, multiple births are really rare amongst paranormals. The essence of what we are tends to demand all of the mother's resources in the womb. Shifters have their animal, vampires their strength, fae their light and witches their magic. Usually, in instances of multiple births, one baby becomes dominant and tragically kills their sibling by taking all the nutrients. Twins are rare and triplets are considered divine gifts."

"We have a set of twins serving in the units don't we?" Meryn asked.

Aiden nodded. "Yes, Nigel and Neil Morninglory, they are twin witches from Storm Keep."

"What was it like growing up with legends for older brothers?" Colton asked, his face alight with hero worship.

Amelia laughed out loud. "Difficult. I used to call Thane all the time to complain that Caiden hated me and didn't want me to have any fun. Thane would let me cry and vent then explain how much Caiden loved me because he wouldn't let me jump from the castle battlements like the boys did. Even though we're not related by blood, they spoiled me terribly."

"Do you think they'll like me?" Meryn asked in an unusually quiet voice.

Amelia stared and then she remembered Meryn was now family. She had forgotten such an important fact after being with Darian. "They are going to freaking love you! Especially Thane. He's like you and Kendrick; they don't like people either."

Aiden choked on his danish. "Oh Gods! She is related to them now."

"Ha ha! Wait until I tell them you locked me in your trunk." Meryn grinned.
 

Aiden turned milk-white. "Now, baby..."

Amelia heard a roaring in her ears, and it felt like ice covered her heart. "You did what?" she asked through clenched teeth. It felt like the floor had shifted under their feet.

One moment she was glaring at Aiden, the next, Darian turned her and took full possession of her lips. His tongue teased hers, and she felt her anger drain away. When he pulled back, the concern on his face was clear to see. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thank you for the help." Amelia couldn't believe what she had almost done.

"What just happened?" Beth asked, gripping the table.

Embarrassed, Amelia covered her face. She had almost lost control of her magic like an untrained child. "I'm so sorry! I haven't lost control like that in a while. I normally don't get angry like that. It's just the idea of poor Meryn locked away..."

Colton laughed. She removed her hands and glared at him. He held up his hands in surrender. "You didn't get the full story. Aiden put her in his trunk after she knocked him out with the back of his toilet and used his head as a kickboxing bag. She ended up denting the shit out of his trunk."

Amelia blinked and slowly began to smile. "Ryuu did mention that bear shifters were susceptible to toilet decks."

Aiden growled. "Anyone would be. Those things are heavy!"

"Again!" Penny yelled, her face glowing with excitement.

Rheia shook her head. "No pumpkin dumpling, the ground shaking isn't good for the house." Penny frowned looking disappointed.

Aiden winked at the small child. "How about we give your grandmother a couple hours off this afternoon, and you can help me train the men again?"

Penny brightened and rewarded Aiden with a smile. " 'Kay!"

Aiden looked like he would swagger in his chair if he could. He was that proud of himself for making the small child smile.

Amelia felt Penny's excitement and could relate. The days she got to 'play' with her brother's units were some of her best memories growing up. She'd have to give Penny pointers before they left.

Meryn clapped her hands together. "Okay, if we don't have any more revelations or earthquakes about to happen, let's head over to Adelaide's. If we time this right, we can get a second breakfast from Marius."
 

Ryuu stared at his charge. "You can't be hungry."

Amelia giggled. "I don't think he knows about second breakfast," she said in an exaggerated accent causing Meryn to laugh.

Ryuu turned to Rheia. "Are you sure she doesn't have a tapeworm?"

Rheia shook her head. "Afraid not." She turned and kissed Penny on her forehead. "Let's get you settled in the front room before I head to the clinic."

"You're not coming with us?" Beth asked.

Rheia shook her head. "I wish. We're getting one of the two necklaces back from the council. We'll be running tests on live cultures to see what happens. Fun times."

Colton looked over at Aiden, and Aiden nodded. "I've already assigned Delta and Zeta to guard the clinic. Epsilon and Beta have patrol, and Gamma will be joining us for training. I've sent the trainees back to Adair for the rest of the week to help him get the newer cadets trained up. They will be assisting in drills." Colton looked relieved.

Meryn grinned evilly. "Gamma is coming over?"

Aiden nodded. "They should be here any moment."

Meryn stood. "Let's go."

Everyone walked toward the front door. Ryuu handed coats to Beth, Meryn, Rheia, and her.
 

Darian grabbed her hand and let the others pass them in the hallway. He cupped her face.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

She turned her face and kissed the center of his palm. "Yes, I'm fine. Have fun with the boys."

"Thanks to you, I will. I haven't enjoyed the company of my friends in so long, thank you."

"No charge," she quipped.

Hand-in-hand, they entered the foyer. Colton was saying goodbye to Rheia and Penny. When he walked to the door, she let go of Darian's hand, approached the little girl, and knelt in front of her. "Hey, Penny."
 

"Hello," Penny replied in an adorably sweet voice.

"I was raised by my brothers, and they used to have me help train, too. Want some tips?"

Penny nodded enthusiastically.

Amelia leaned in close making sure none of the men were listening. "They are used to being the tallest people around; if you need to go around them, go vertically. They hardly ever look up." Penny nodded. "Also, if it's a matter of speed and it looks like they're about to get the upper hand, make it look like you're about to fall. They will instinctively slow down and try to catch you." Amelia winked at the small child. Penny gave her a thumbs up and raised her hand. Amelia slapped her a high five.

Rheia watched her as she stood. "Should I be concerned?"

Amelia shook her head. "Nah, if I lived through it, so can she. Shifters are sturdier than witches."

"Fair enough." Rheia turned to her daughter. "Be a good girl."

" 'Kay!"

Darian walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Be a good girl," he whispered in her ear. She shivered and turned in his arms. "Only for you."
 

"Okay break it up you two, virgin eyes over here!"

Amelia and Darian turned to see Sascha leaning against the doorway. Amelia was about to tell him what he could do when Meryn walked passed her toward the door. Without pausing, she extended her sonic screwdriver and stunned the unit leader. He dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

Meryn jumped, throwing her fist in the air. "Yes! This shit is awesome!"

Aiden sighed, but the grin tugging at his mouth showed that he really wasn't too mad. "Meryn, no stunning the men. We need them able to protect you," he chided gently.

She shrugged. "It was worth it." She stepped over Sascha's body and tilted her head back for a kiss. Aiden chuckled and gave her one.

Keelan stepped past Sascha's body, looking smug. "It worked better than I hoped."

Aiden turned to Colton. "Drag him to the training course."

Colton grabbed Sascha's ankle. "I'm not even going to complain about dragging his heavy ass. It was worth it to see him go down." He turned and was about to take his first step when Rheia's voice stopped him short. "Do
not
let his head bump with each step. I don't have time to tend to him this morning."

Colton sniffed. "You just ruined my morning."

Rheia gave him a sly smile. "I'll make it up to you later."

He immediately brightened and dropped Sascha's ankle and grabbed the Gamma unit member by the back of his jacket. "Come on, old man, time to train."

Darian leaned in close. "And you were upset about a tiny tremor. This is everyday life at the Alpha estate."

Amelia smiled. "I love it!"

Ryuu walked past them with the car keys. "Ladies, whenever you're ready." He bowed.

"Hey, Penny, Felix is staying with you today. Keep him warm," Meryn called. Amelia watched as the tiny sprite flew over to Penny and sat on her shoulder.

" 'Kay!" Penny said snuggling the sprite close.

Meryn turned to Amelia and Beth. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

Darian kissed her gently and accompanied her to the door.
 

She had a new baby sister-cousin and was closer to claiming her mate. Things were definitely looking up.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Amelia sat with Meryn in the back of the car, and Beth sat up front with Ryuu. Amelia pulled out her phone. "What's your name on Facebook? I'll send a friend request."

Meryn scrunched up her face. "I'm not on Facebook."

"What?" Amelia and Beth asked at the same time.

Meryn shrugged. "Besides y'all, I don't have any friends, and I live with y'all, so I never saw the point."

"But you're a computer genius, you've used Facebook in tracking down potential shifter couples," Beth said sounding shocked.

"I used Aiden's Facebook profile," Meryn explained.

Amelia turned to her. "You're not on social media at all?"

"Nope, never needed it. I email Adair and text Aiden and my minions, that's about it."

Amelia frowned. "Minions?"

Beth spoke up. "She means Noah and Jaxon."

"Where were they anyway? They weren't at breakfast." Amelia asked.

"They are working on their first solo project, building the database for Beth to use to keep track of census information. In fact, I should check on them." Meryn pulled out her phone. Her small fingers moved quickly as she sent her text. Seconds later, she began to giggle.

Beth turned in her seat with a suspicious look. "What?"

Meryn just grinned. When her phone buzzed again she looked down and started to crack up.

Amelia looked at Beth who shrugged.

"Spill it, Meryn," Beth ordered.

"I'm sexting Aiden." She continued to type.

Amelia frowned. "Why is that so funny?"

Beth groaned and sat back in her seat. "Leave Keelan alone. You know he's having a rough morning."

"Huh?" Amelia looked between Meryn and Beth.

Beth turned back to face her. "Aiden never reads his text messages. He always has Keelan do it because Aiden's fingers are too big to type."

Amelia turned to Meryn. "And you know this?"

Meryn grinned. "Yup. I always know it's Keelan because he downloaded an emoticon pack that has bears. He never says 'I love you' back, he just sends a bear and a heart. He's fun to play with."

"You're bad!" Amelia said laughing.

Meryn shrugged. "There's nothing else to do."

"You could be studying the history books I bought you," Beth reminded her.

Meryn looked up. "I finished those already, in fact I sent Noah to Mystic Tomes to buy more. I found something very interesting referenced in one of the articles. The potential for fun is limitless. Paranormal history is fascinating. I have decided to delete all memory of US history to make room for the paranormal volumes."

"What do you mean delete?" Beth asked.

Meryn tapped her temple. "In my brain. I got rid of all the useless information, like US history, statistics, and trigonometry."
 

"Meryn, US history is important," Beth countered.

Meryn shook her head. "No, it's not. It's all lies anyway. I've asked Gavriel to verify some of the stories I've read in the paranormal history books and he said they're right. I'll believe someone who was actually there rather than the stuff I learned as a kid."