“Nothing. Right,” he said. “Just do me a favor and take this.” He pressed the tip of his bat to my shoulder. “It hasn’t tasted blood in so long. It’s getting restless.” His green eyes were a copy of mine, and they sparkled with excitement. With a little bit of crazy, too.
“The batis getting restless—or you?”
His answer was a broad grin full of mischief.
Maybe I’d had a hard time learning to control my beast by myself, but Derek had lost his beast completely. Whatever those high fae had done to him when they came to our house, it had somehow pushed his beast back, and he still hadn’t come forth, like he had simply disappeared into thin air. That’s why Derek’s eyes never changed color like mine did. Like all werewolf eyes did when the beast stirred in them. And that’s why he was always so full of energy—his body produced enough for two beings, but he was stuck as one. It had messed with his head through the years. It had fucked him up worse than I could have imagined.
I grabbed the bat from his hand and tested the handle in mine. A bit heavy, but practical. I swung it in the air, and it felt pretty good. I was used to relying on guns and my claws when facing an opponent, but this thing wasn’t bad at all.
“It’ll do,” I mumbled and placed it under my leather jacket. Those spikes were sticking to my chest uncomfortably, but nothing I couldn’t handle. “How’re the kids?” I asked my brother.
“Good, good,” he said, bobbing his head way too fast. “Emilie is asking for a coloring book, though.”
I nodded. “I’ll get it for her.”
“She wants one with Anna—not Elsa. It’s important that it’s with Anna.”
“Got it,” I said, a smile tugging at my lips. That girl was only eight, but she was a force to be reckoned with. If she didn’t get the coloring book she wanted, there’d be hell to pay. “Anything else?”
Derek shrugged, scratching the back of his head. “Not really. They keep fighting, but it’s all under control.”
I raised a brow. “Are you letting them hit each other?”
“No! No, no, no—no,” my brother said with a guilty smile. “Just teaching them—that’s all. They need to know how to protect themselves. All I do is teach them.”
“Well, stop teaching them without me,” I warned. “They count on us to keep them safe.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, cool,” my brother mumbled. “Cool. So, where you going?”
“I’m going to make this right,” I said and walked to the door on the other side of the deck. “Stay close. I’m going to need you soon.”
“Sure thing, Dom. Sure thing,” he said as he came behind me. I could hear the grin in his voice perfectly. But even though Derek’s mind sometimes played tricks on him, he was still the only person in the world I’d trust with my life.
The only person in the world I’d trust with her life, too. As much as I hated it, I was going to have to drag him with me this time because it was too big to handle myself. My ego insisted that I could, but I’d been doing this for six years now. Experience had taught me a lot—especially how not to let my pride get in the way of doing what’s right.
Because if she was going to be on this mission no matter what I said to Chief Randall, then so would I.
God help me, so would I.