Kyle and I cleaned up, putting away all the rubbish and washing the plates.
When we walked back into the living room, Michael was lying on the couch with his head in Monique’s lap.
I froze, annoyed. It was like Kyle and I had walked into some sort of intimate moment, but then I realized Monique was waving her hand over his head and whispering something that sounded like an incantation.
The color finally began to come back into his face. I heard his relieved sigh from where I stood. It was obvious she was doing some kind of healing magic, so I just sat down in a chair and waited for her to finish.
“I think that’s all I can do at the moment,” Monique said, lifting her gaze and smiling when she saw me.
“Thank you.” Michael sat up. “I actually feel a lot better.”
Monique stared at me and then Kyle. “Time to talk?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
Kyle turned on a couple of lamps. While we were eating, the sun had set—not that we’d seen much sun with all the rain. The downpour continued, and the atmosphere outside the windows seemed dark and heavy.
In here, with the fire dancing in the grate and the lamps lit, it was completely the opposite: cozy and warm.
“Can your father find us here?” I asked, looking at Michael.
He shook his head. “When I set up these wards, I made them undetectable, especially to my father.”
I snorted. “You wanted a hiding place from him, even before his latest craziness.”
“Yep.” Michael didn’t elaborate, but maybe he didn’t need to. I couldn’t imagine growing up with parents like his.
Monique bit her lip and stared at me, obviously waiting for me to start.
Where the hell was I supposed to begin?
“It was my idea,” Michael said. “To get married.”
I glared at him. “No shit, Sherlock.”
“It was the only way to save you,” Monique added. “We had to get Michael’s parents out of their house, and as you can imagine having met her, the high witch doesn’t leave the house for anything. Except, it seems, for her only child’s wedding.”
My teeth slowly unclenched. At least what she said made sense.
“Go on.”
They explained their plan, and at the end of it, I was less angry than I’d expected to be.
I glanced over at my Beta, who sat with one knee bent and his other ankle crossed over the knee. He looked casual and relaxed, but I wasn’t sure. He’d been pretty hurt by the news of the marriage too.
“What do you think, Kyle?”
He shrugged.
“I don’t like it, but it’s not like they consummated the marriage or anything.” As if thinking better of what he’d said, he turned to the married couple. “Wait, did you?”
“Of course not,” Monique snapped.
“We came for you as soon as we’d cloned ourselves, and sent the other two off to poison my father and give us the opportunity to break through the wards.” Michael glanced at Monique. “There were a lot of things that had to fall into place for the plan to work. I hoped we’d succeed, of course, but to be honest I didn’t really think we had a chance.”
A band of unease wrapped tight around my chest. We’d been trapped and hopeless down there, powerless to stop what was happening to us. And powerless to protect Monique from danger.
Michael had done that, for us. That realization didn’t sit well with my Alpha side.