Chapter 16

I stood by the counter, drinking my morning tea, basking in the sunshine streaming through the window, and tried to come to terms with Alessandro in my kitchen. He wore beat-up jeans and an old T-shirt, which he had gotten out of his car. His hair was tousled. Stubble traced his jaw. He looked terribly . . . casual? Domestic? I wasn’t sure there was even a word for it.

Alessandro poured black coffee into his mug, tried it, and made a face. Next to him on the floor Shadow looked terribly disappointed. She’d glued herself to Alessandro the moment he stepped into the kitchen. Apparently my dog was convinced that if she stared at him long enough, he would drop something yummy.

“Weak?”

“Bitter. Where did you get this?”

My phone chimed. A text from Patricia. Albert Ravenscroft is here.

Why? Why, why, why?

Do you want me to let him in?

Yes. I’ll talk to him outside.

“I’ll be right back,” I told Alessandro.

He nodded.

I went to the front door, Shadow at my heels. Outside the sunshine poured from the sky, bringing heat with it. It would be another sweltering day.

Albert was walking toward the house. He saw me and sped up.

“How can I help you, Prime Ravenscroft?”

Behind me the door swung open. Alessandro sauntered out with the coffee still in his hand, looking unconcerned. On the left, Connor walked out of his HQ. A mug of coffee floated next to him.

How considerate of my boyfriend and my brother-in-law to invite themselves into this conversation.

“Look,” Albert said. “I thought about it. Nothing’s changed.”

He had this grim, determined look on his face.

Connor leaned on the wall by the door, looking at something on his phone, plucked the mug from the air, took a sip, and put it back, just in case Albert forgot that he was the Scourge of Mexico.

“Albert,” I said gently. “What are you doing here?”

“We have something, Catalina. Something special. Black wings or no, I don’t want to lose that.”

“Black wings?” Alessandro muttered and looked at Connor.

Connor didn’t look up. “Long story.”

“Albert, this isn’t going to happen. You know why.”

He shook his head. “My father hates you, but it doesn’t matter. This time next month I’ll be the Head of my House. My parents have made arrangements to retire to the coast. Patrick is away studying at Florida State. It would be just me and you. I really want to make this work.”

“I understand, but I’m not in love with you. I don’t think about you in that way.”

He clenched his jaw. This would have been so much easier without an audience.

“Is there someone else?” Albert asked.

“Yes.”

“Is it him?” Albert looked at Alessandro.

“Yes.”

Albert’s expression hardened. He seemed to come to a decision. “I don’t know who you are and I don’t care. You should leave.”

Alessandro’s voice remained pleasant. “Or?”

Albert seemed to be caught off guard. “Leave. This is your only warning.”

Connor Rogan smiled.

I put some snap into my voice. “Albert, your welcome is withdrawn.”

His gaze bore into Alessandro. “No, I’ll fix this, and then we’ll talk.”

“Anytime,” Alessandro said.

“Fine. I tried to warn you.”

A focused torrent of power shot out of Albert. It wasn’t aimed at me, but I felt traces of it. Fear. Deep, mind-numbing, all-consuming fear.

Even if I’d had any feelings for him, this would have killed it.

The awful mental deluge smashed into Alessandro. He took a sip of his coffee. “I’m still waiting.”

Albert stared, shocked. A normal person would’ve collapsed in blind panic.

Magic swirled around Albert, icy and potent. He unleashed a barrage, hammering against Alessandro’s mind. Panic, pain, despair melted together into an irresistible compulsion to flee. It was a staggering salvo.

Finally, the attack ebbed.

Sweat drenched Albert’s hairline. “Antistasi.” He spat the word out like it was rotten.

“Yes,” Alessandro confirmed.

Albert’s eyebrows came together. “No matter. I’ll just have to do it with my hands.”

“Please do.” Alessandro held his coffee out to me. “Would you mind holding this for a second?”

I held out my hand. “Albert, what you’re doing is grounds for a feud. I don’t love you, but I don’t want you to get hurt. Respect my wishes and leave, because he’s going to break you, and I don’t want to send you home in an ambulance.”

Albert started toward Alessandro.

Alessandro brushed my cheek with a kiss, winked at me, gave me his mug, and met Albert halfway. Albert launched a devastating kick. It whistled past Alessandro. He sidestepped Albert with fluid grace and kicked his supporting leg out from under him. Albert landed on the pavement, rolled to his feet, and charged at Alessandro.

I turned to Connor. “Are you just going to stand there and watch this?”

He raised his eyebrows at me. “Your boyfriend is being very careful with him. Look, he just had a chance to break his ribs and didn’t take it.”

Ugh.

Albert hammered a punch, aiming for Alessandro’s jaw. He’d turned into it, twisting his wrist at the last second to add more power, and if the punch had landed, it might have dropped Alessandro. Alessandro shied out of the way, locked his left hand on the wrist of Albert’s extended right arm, pushing it aside, stepped in, and turned right, driving his elbow into Albert’s jaw. The blow knocked Albert’s head to the side. Before he could recover, Alessandro reversed his swing, spinning left, and caught him with his elbow again. Albert staggered back, his mouth bloody.

“I fought a male telekinetic in the Pit,” I told Connor.

My brother-in-law came to life, like a shark sensing a drop of blood in the water. “Was he any good?”

“Yes. Powerful, but not very precise. I don’t think he has a lot of experience, because he freaked out when I grabbed his mind. He threw spikes.”

“What kind of spikes?”

“About two feet long, metal, with a ring on the dull end.”

Connor’s face snapped into a flat mask. He raised his hand. Something crunched inside the motor pool of his HQ. A bright spark streaked out of the open bay doors. A metal spike landed in his hand.

“Yes,” I said. “Exactly like that.”

“Was the inside of the ring smooth or did it have ridges?”

“I didn’t look that closely. I was running away.” I thought back to the spike protruding from the guard’s neck. “No, wait, it was ridged. Why is that important?”

“Most telekinetics throw spikes that look like giant nails or crossbow bolts. This is a modified marlin spike. I’ve never known anyone to use it outside of our family.”

Connor only had one family member on the American side, his mother, Arrosa. On the Spanish side, he had a whole boatload of relatives, but none of them were powerful enough, with the exception of Mia Rosa, who was eight years old.

“He was a Prime, Connor. I’m sure of it.”

I could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t like it.

Alessandro drove his fist into Albert’s solar plexus. Albert stumbled back and fell clumsily, landing on his ass. Blood dripped from his mouth. His eyes teared, his face swollen and bloody. Alessandro crouched by him. He was unmarked. His hair wasn’t even messed up.

“This isn’t a fair fight,” Alessandro said. “Go home.”

Albert tried to rise, his eyes full of rage.

Alessandro hammered a quick punch to his chin. Albert’s eyes rolled back in his head. He collapsed.

“You could have done that in the beginning,” I told him.

“Yes, but then he would think I sucker punched him and that he’d have a chance if he tried again. Now he knows.”

Nevada walked out of the bay doors. She was carrying a green bag with tiny dinosaurs on it. She didn’t give Albert a second glance.

“Hey, honey,” she said. Her voice sounded clipped.

“Hey,” Connor said, moving toward her.

“I need you to cancel your plans for today and find someone else to handle whatever this is,” she said. “My water just broke.”

Oh God. Oh God. What do we do? We needed a car. We needed to get Nevada to the hospital.

“Stay right here!” Connor ordered in his officer voice. “Don’t move.”

He sprinted to the bay.

Nevada looked after him and very deliberately took two steps forward.

My phone rang. A moment later Alessandro’s phone went off as well. I answered without looking. “Yes?”

“It took Marat into the Pit,” Stephen barked. “They’re fighting it now and losing. Tatyana’s on her way. Can you get there?”

I stared, mute, torn between two vital things.

Nevada waved at me. “Go to the Pit. I’ll be fine. Get to the hospital when you can.”

“On my way.” I spun around, ran into the house, and found Arabella in her bathroom, putting on lipstick.

“Nevada’s in labor.”