Page 20 of Broken Rejected Mate

“Emin,” Dorian says, “why don’t you recap your trip to the market for us?”

Emin clears his throat and sits forward, his eyes flicking to mine. It sends a shock through me, and I swallow, eyes trailing down over his chest and arms braced against the table. Mentally shaking myself, I force my gaze away.

“I arrived at the market around an hour after its start.” His voice has the same effect on me, rougher from the smoke, so much deeper than when we knew each other as teenagers. I have a sudden sense of grief—the fact that I’ve missed these past ten years with him, didn’t get to watch him grow up, watch his body fill out, his facial hair thicken, all the tiny changes I didn’t get to be privy to.

Then I remind myself that wasnevergoing to happen. I remind myself of how it felt for him to turn me away that night, knowing I was pregnant.

Emin goes on, “I delivered the package for the first objective, but sensed something was…off. With the Grayhides I delivered it to. I tailed them through the market, until they came across Ms. Marone here.”

Dorian crosses his arms. “So, you didn’t seek out the Llewelyn contact immediately after delivering the package?”

I’m burning with curiosity—to ask about “the package.” Was it what I saw that Grayhide shifter holding? The thing that looked suspiciously head-like?

“No,” Emin admits, his gaze lowering to the table. “I followed my gut. Watched the exchange, then she,” he nods toward Sarina, “had what I believe to be a premonition.”

The gazes in the room shift over to my daughter, and I pull her against my side. She stirs, but doesn’t wake.

“And that’s when the Grayhides went after her?”

Emin nods. “Veva was defending herself and her daughter, and that’s when I intervened.”

Without meaning to, I say, “He saved our lives.”

Emin meets my eyes, and for the first time since seeing him again, my hatred toward him is dulled. It’s the truth—if Emin hadn’t been there, I would have died protecting Sarina, and they would have taken her anyway.

“So, what this tells us is that the Grayhides are on the hunt for psychics.” Dorian paces, his hand coming to his chin. “We all know Jerrod was furious about Kira leaving, and when he learned of her abilities, that’s when he attempted to retrieve her.”

Dorian’s hands are clenched, his shoulders tight. I almost ask what he’s talking about, but I know it’s not my place. Maybe I could ask Kira about it, what he means byretrieve.

“But they’re not going after Kira anymore,” Kellen says, his eyes swinging to me, and a shudder runs down my back.

I’ve never spoken to the man before, but I know all about him. Saw the worst parts of him in his son, and it makes me bristle now. I glare back at him, watch as surprise flits over his features, tinged with confusion.

Of course, he doesn’t understand why I would hate him.

“That’s right,” a woman to my left says, running a hand through her short hair. I think someone called herLetaearlier. “So either they know that, with Kira’s position as Luna and Dorian’s mate, it would be too hard to get her”—her gaze swings to me and Sarina—“or there’s something about your daughterspecificallythat they want.”

“Veva is a powerful caster,” Emin says, and I hate the way my skin prickles with pleasure at the sound of those words—him admitting that. I remind my body that I want no further reactions to him, like I could possibly train it to behave better. “Maybe that could make Sarina’s gift stronger?”

“Potentially,” Leta says, brow furrowed. “Claire?”

A woman with red hair shakes her head. “I’m not sure.”

“We should talk to Beth,” Leta offers. “See if she knows anything about a potential correlation there.”

“Okay,” Dorian says. “So what we do know is that the Grayhides were willing to come into our territory to try and get these two. Granted, it was the very edge, but they still crossed through. As of right now, we’ve had some border patrol shifters dump the bodies in the desert, Grayhide area, to try and make it look like an accident, but Emin made that pretty difficult.”

Dorian glances at his friend, reproachful, and I try not to think about the wetsmackof Emin hitting that man with the fireextinguisher. I try not to think about the satisfaction I felt when he tossed the man’s body over the railing, like he was taking out the trash.

“That means,” Dorian goes on, “that we’re looking at more Grayhide attacks. That’s the last thing we need right now, especially since Aidan isn’t ready to take on Jerrod yet. So we’re going to play defense, put more effort into keeping them out, but otherwise, we’re stopping all other activities in their territory. Right now, we’re waiting until the right time to strike.”

“I’ll communicate that to our border people,” Leta says. “And maybe we should add more?”

“Do it,” Dorian says, then, turning to me, “Veva, we would still like for you to stay and help with our project. Given what happened with you at the motel, we think it might be a good idea for you to stay with someone. It will be safer for you and Sarina, instead of being alone and near the edge of town like that.”

I bite my lip, shift in my chair. The last thing I want is to sound ungrateful, but if we continue staying with Dorian and Kira, neither Sarina or I will get any sleep.

But I don’t have to say a thing. Dorian gives me a knowing grin. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to ask that you stay with Kira and me. The boys are a lot.”

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