Hidden One

Chapter Nineteen

(Kate)

"Has Kasper come back yet?"

"No, he's still gone."

I hung my head in my hands, sinking to the floor and leaning my back against the wall. He'd been gone almost three days now.

It was that cursed Teresa. that Shifter-loving backstabber who had broken my brother. Had she no idea how fragile he'd been? How broken? Clearly she'd gotten some kind of sick joy from it, but I'd thought her better than that.

"We'll find him, Kay." Alexander whispered, rubbing a hand over my back. I shook him off angrily, unwilling to deal with anyone right now.

"Leave me." I ordered, not looking at anyone. They all filed out the door, Alex the last to leave as he shut the door behind him.

I just needed to think, without anyone there to disturb me. I'd been getting a lot of headaches recently, a draw-back from my first encounter with Tessa. I'd not told anyone about them, and I didn't think I'd ever truly heal completely. Hopefully it wouldn't affect me too much, though I felt one coming on right now.

Rubbing my temples, I tried to create a plan of action. Tessa could not be let go- she was too valuable. But we also had to find Kasper. The only way to get everything done would be to split everyone up into two groups, and I didn't want to do that. So who was more important?

Kasper was my brother, but Tessa could threaten everyone. And really, it wasn't like Kasper would go anywhere, right? We had no leads, so it wouldn't make a difference. The trail was already cold.

With that thought in place, I started to create my battle plan.

Kasper was cold. Not physically, of course, but mentally. He also wasn't sure where he was.

The room was dark, the only light caused by a small fire against the back wall. He was on a bed, covered in blankets- this would explain the physical heat, which was beginning to make him sweat. Now that he was slightly more awake, however, he was starting to understand his mental chill.

Tessa. A wave of pain crashed over him, a slight groan of anguish escaping his sore throat. He knew it wasn't her fault- he could never accuse her of anything. He just wished she hadn't let him see her and her mate together.

He'd had a remarkable breakthrough when he'd seen her. Suddenly everything had made sense with her. She wasn't meant for him- maybe, someday, he would find his Liliana again, either reincarnated or in the afterlife, but he must endure the pain of being alone, knowing someday he would be happy again.

He'd heard what Kate had said to her, when she'd left with those Shifters. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive his sister those words. All the names Tessa had been called...Kasper finally saw the light of the matter. And he was no longer on Kate's side.

Sitting up, he threw his legs over the edge of the bed and went to stand. A hand dropped onto his shoulder, stopping him.

"Are you sure you're making the right decision?" Kasper looked up to see a dark-haired man standing above him, three long, gash-like scars running along the left side of his face. One split through his eyebrow, his sightless brown eye beneath it focusing on him unnervingly. Absently, Kasper noticed the man's good eye was gold, not brown like the other.

"I'm sure. Why are you?" The man, who seemed wiser than his own years, smiled slightly.

"You may call me Niko. You're making the right choice."

Kasper nodded, standing and walking toward the door. Before he left he turned back to Niko.

"Thank you, Niko."

"You're welcome, Kasper."