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"Damn it all to hell, Kendrick! Why do you always make sense? If I had known that you would need me in my Elder hat, I would have told Father to stay home," Caiden complained.

Surprised, Kendrick asked, "You saw Marshall recently?" He hadn't heard that the Ironwood elder had returned.

"For all of about an hour before Amelia called. Evidently, Mother and Amelia are directly related to Commander McKenzie's mate. Once Mother heard that, she marched Father out the door to head to Lycaonia. They should be there soon." Caiden's voice held a smile.

"Godsdammit!" Kendrick swore.

Caiden laughed over the phone. "I know you get along with them so well."

Kendrick pulled the phone away from his ear and glared at it. Wait. Amelia was related to the commander's mate? He put the phone back to his ear.

"The commander's mate wouldn't be a short, deranged little human, would she?"

Caiden's laughter answered his question.

Wonderful.

"You mean to tell me my brother is lying here in a coma, every witch is in danger, my best friend and godsdaughter are at the top of the enemy's hit list, and I have two versions of Amelia to watch over, plus your flaky mother?" Kendrick bit off every word.

Caiden couldn't catch his breath, he was laughing so hard. "Serves you right. That's what you get for being a hermit for centuries."

"Bollocks!" Kendrick swore and hung up the phone.

Lily Camden, Amelia Ironwood and Meryn McKenzie in the same house at once. He looked over to his peaceful looking brother and shook his head.

"Lucky bastard." He sat back and reached down to the side of the recliner and pushed the seat back, took his brother's hand, and fell asleep.

CHAPTER TWO

Kendrick woke up and blinked. He heard the repetitive beeps of a machine and looked around. That's right; he was at the Alpha estate with Keelan. He stood and quickly looked over Keelan's body.

"He's the same as he was yesterday," a female said from across the room.

He turned and recognized Rheia. "I would say that no decline in health is actually an improvement." He was surprised he was able to string more than two words together before coffee.

She blinked and smiled. "I can agree to that. How did you sleep? Did I wake you?"

Kendrick rubbed his neck before he turned it sharply to the right, cracking it loudly. "I've actually slept on much worse."

Rheia walked over and took Keelan's hand. "Keelan always described you as some sort of powerful superman who slept in a cave of books like a dragon hoarding his gold."

Kendrick felt a small smile on his lips. "Well, he got the cave and books part right. I think that all older brothers seem powerful to younger brothers."

Rheia laughed. "I have five older brothers, and I always thought they could do anything."

"How did you explain moving to a town they could never visit?"

She shook her head. "My brothers are sort of adopted brothers. They are the Vanguard squadron that protects Jefferson."

Kendrick half closed his eyes and pulled out his mental file on Jefferson. "Radek Carson, bear, Marco Rodriguez, jaguar. Dax Vi'Eaereson, fae, Athan Durant, vampire and Levi Sorrel, witch."

Rheia's eyes widened. "You just did what Meryn does."

Kendrick didn't even try to hide his surprise. "What do you mean, exactly?" He had to be sure she meant what he thought she did.

Rheia pointed to his head. "You just pulled up some sort of mental file and read from it didn't you? Meryn can do that. She has what Aiden calls 'Meryn Moments' where she has to stop and allow things to process so she can store it correctly. If I hadn't done the physical on her myself, I would swear she was half computer."

Kendrick felt a spurt of hope flare. In all the centuries he had been alive, he'd never met anyone who thought like he did. That tiny, strange human could think like him? "She seemed a bit..." He didn't know how to describe her without being rude.

Rheia laughed. "Quirky, strange, immature, odd, manic? Take your pick. But the thing is, she's all that and brilliant. She sees things so much differently than we do that, honestly, it can be hard to keep up. We just let her do her own thing though; it would be a shame to force her to act normal, when she's so much more."

Her words triggered a memory of his mother. 'Kendrick why are you trying so hard to be ordinary when you are clearly extraordinary?' The society in which he was raised didn't tolerate deviations from the norm, so he had left home to learn on his own. Yet here, in this house, they not only accepted Meryn as she was, they encouraged and nurtured her differences.

"I can't wait to get to know her better."

Rheia hesitated, took a deep breath, and met his eyes. "She hasn't had it easy, so please be patient with her. I don't think she has accepted what has happened to Keelan; it's why she was going to try to reach him with the Ouija board and why she calls you Keelan-From-the-Future. She has only recently experienced what it feels like to have a family, she hasn't learned how to process losing someone."

Kendrick felt a rare moment of shame. He had judged Meryn in the same fashion others had judged him in the past. "I promise to be both kind and patient with her."

Rheia's relief was written across her face. "Thank you." She looked down at her watch. "I'll let you get ready for breakfast." She turned and walked out of the room.


Tags: Alanea Alder Bewitched and Bewildered Romance