Twist Of Fate

Chapter 24 Darius

It was a sweet start to the morning, seeing Eve sleeping cuddled up with Luka. More so, when we saw she had removed the charm hiding his base vampire scent and had her nose tucked into the crook of his neck.
This was massive progress and showed she was finally becoming comfortable with him and exercising her demons. Come to think of it, she hadn't had a night terror for a while either. We all slowly migrated out of bed to the kitchen and caffeinated, talking over our plans for the day.

"Actually, I was wondering if once Eve is up and off at training if we could all have a chat." Reece pipes up.
I look at him and tug our bond, trying to get a read on what's up, but he is shielding tighter than a mother fucker. I frown at him and nod along with the others. Now I'm curious.
I sense Eve stirring awake and hold tight to the link, ready to shoot upstairs if she freaks out finding herself so close to Luka. But I only feel contentment. So, I relax and notice the others doing the same as they start prepping their next coffees.

"Shouldn't be too much longer till he joins the club properly." Dev comments. "I'm glad for him. That man has the patience of a saint."

"How did the date go?" Mikyda asks Ly.

"Really good. She's a fascinating woman. I feel like I really got to know her better. Lots of laughs and lots of talking. She's a good listener too." Ly says, his eyes sparkling with happiness.

"So is he," Eve says climbing into his lap, kissing his cheek, and accepting the coffee cup from me.

As always, Eve sniffs her coffee first, before taking a sip and snuggling up. I love it when it's my lap she picks in the morning. Sleepy, cuddly Eve is super cute. Judging by the adoration in Ly's eyes as he looks at her, he agrees.

"What are your plans for today Angel?" Garret asks.

"War room to go over new intel, training at twelve, gym at four if all goes to plan, and then drinks with my girls at six. I'm all yours after that." Eve says with a smile.

"I need to borrow Luka before he joins you in the war room," Reece tells her. She looks up at him and nods, face serious again.

"Guess I better get ready before I'm late," Eve says with false enthusiasm.
I realize she knows what Reece is going to talk to us about, by the way she hurries off to get organized. I know damn well I'm not going to like it. Garret's eyes meet mine and I can tell he's thinking the same.
Eve's back downstairs pretty quickly, dressed in one of her usual training outfits. She gives us each a hug and kiss, Luka included, much to his dumbfounded delight, before shooting out the door. I turn back to Reece.

"Alright what's going on?" I demand.

"I need to tell you all a little story, then I need to fill you in on what I discovered last night. But I need you all to remain calm and hear me out. No taking off, losing your shit, just sit and listen to the end. Then we can calmly discuss it. Can you all do that?"

"Fuck." Garret grumbles, shifting uncomfortably, immediately on edge, his dragon peeking into his eyes already. "I'll try."

"This is about Eve, isn't it?" I clarify. Reece nods and I sigh, bracing myself. The others murmur agreements that they too will do their best to stay composed.

Reece tells us a story about Eve's parents betraying Sirus and his entombment. I've got to admit, that would throw anyone over the edge. He also tells us the things Sirus has done to move against his father since learning who Eve is.
While I'm glad someone is messing with the enemy, it doesn't excuse what he did to Eve and her pack. I'm not going to release the prick because he woke up and grew a conscience.
Reece blows out a breath.
"Everyone with me so far? Does it help you understand his motives better?" We all nod slowly.

"We are not turning him loose if that's the angle you're going for," Garret growls. Thank goodness someone else is riding the same way as me.

"Not the angle I'm coming from." Reece agrees. Then he starts telling us about his late-night walk last night, and I see red.

"You are telling me-" I start, but Reece interrupts me.

"I will wait till you are calm before I go further. You need to hear the whole thing before we discuss it."
I close my eyes and try and rein myself in. I can't believe she's been sneaking out to Sirus after I told her no. Sitting in the cell with him. Does she have a damn death wish!
I nod to Reece for him to continue and he patiently waits for Garret's scales to retract before he tells us about the talk he had with Eve after.
I feel my anger die back to a simmer. I know how much she misses her family. I can understand her latching on to her last link. But that monster? I don't care how remorseful he is. No way was I ok with her being with him.

"How long has she been going to him?" Devlin asks.

"She said since a couple of weeks after she was denied permission," Reece replies.

"Clearly visiting him has helped her." Lysario muses. "She's much better with Luka and she hasn't had any nightmares in that timeframe. She's been happier too." A few of the guys nod in agreement.

"And she's got all that intel out of him. He hasn't harmed her either." Luka adds.

"What if he's playing the long game?" Lysario asks.

"She has acquired my gift though, she can tell if he's being truthful," Mikyda interjects.

"She may not want to grant his request for death, but I have no qualms about doing it," I say angrily. "How can she put aside everything he's done! If she wasn't his daughter, he would have forcefully mated her, then we would have all been fucked!"

"You can't just kill her father, no matter how much we would all want to," Garret growls. "If you take him from her, she would not forgive you. You would become the bad guy." I throw my coffee mug across the room in frustration.

"So, what? We just let her cozy up to the enemy and pretend everything is ok? This is bullshit!" I rage. "I told her it was too dangerous. What the fuck is she thinking!"

"Are you pissed she's spending time with him or pissed she disobeyed you?" Acassus drawls.

"Both!" I roar.

"Have you met Eve? Eve does what Eve wants when push comes to shove. You're lucky she complied for two weeks." Luka laughs.

"Look she wants to know him, he's helping her lay her demons to rest and she's getting a ton of intel from him. We also know he is being truthful and behaving genuinely. I say if it makes our girl happy, as long as we keep an eye on things, we let her do it." Mikyda says gently.

"You don't understand! You weren't there. You didn't see her, what they had done, how broken she was. Fuck, she flatlined on the operating table more than once! That monster nearly took her from us permanently!" I'm pacing angrily now, barely keeping my wolf at bay.

"I was there too," Reece says. "I read the reports. The orders were that Sirus's brother breaks her. Sirus himself did not take part in it, nor choose his brother's methods. I'm not saying he gets a free pass by any means, I just wanted to remind everyone of the facts."
I look to Garret, surely, he's not going to buy into this bullshit? He saw her, he must see the danger I see. He appears deep in thought, which surprises me that he's even contemplating letting her near him. He meets my eyes and sighs.

"I would give her the world, you know that. If this is what she truly wants, I would like Mikyda to feel him out, just to double-check. If he deems Sirus safe for her and for us, I will agree to allow the visits to continue." Garret says at last. The others murmur in agreement.
I can't hold back my transformation this time, my wolf tears through me, as I roar in anger. Garret sighs and goes to the front door.

"Go run it off." He tells me. "We will talk more when you are calmer and have given it some thought. Just remember at the end of the day, we don't control Eve. Eve controls Eve. I am ashamed she felt she had to hide this from us, you should be too." I snarl at him and race out the door as he opens it.
"And stay the fuck away from Sirus and her, until we have finished talking this through." He calls after me.

God damn scaley asshole!