Page 78 of The Magic of Revenge
"It's not a joke, Hunt. It's me. I swear. Here, video call me." I hit the button to switch the call to video and wiped at my eyes just as the screen flashed and my brother's face came into frame.
"Jesus. What. The. Fuck? What is happening right now? How is this..." Hunter blinked rapidly as we stared at each other through the phone. "I think I'm going to throw up."
The screen suddenly showed the ceiling of wherever Hunter was and I heard the telltale signs of him puking his guts out and muttered curses and 'oh my gods'.
"Are you alright? Hunter?"
"One second."
The video tilted and then Hunter was back, looking much paler as he took several swigs of water.
"Cam, how is this possible? I thought you were dead. For ten years, ten fucking years..." Pain filled his voice and it made me want to track Asrael down and snap his fucking neck.
"I thought you were dead, too. I only just found out the truth... It's a long story. Listen, I need you to know I never, ever would have walked away from you, had I known you were alive. Fuck, I've grieved you guys every damn day since that night. You were always with me, in here." I pounded my chest above my heart with my fist.
"Where are you? I'm coming to you. Don't move." The video flipped to the ceiling again and I heard rustling around, drawers opening and closing.
"What are you doing?"
"Packing my bag. I need to see you, Cam. Fucking hell. You're alive. Alive. You're alive," he chanted, like he was in a daze, or more likely, shock.
"I'm in Emerald Lakes. It's a tiny ass town. Tell me where you are and I can tell you how to get here."
"I'm in The Sails. Here for work, but just finished training a new class so I'm free. Even if I wasn't, there's nothing that could stop me."
"That's about ten hours from me. You gonna drive or fly?" I asked, needing to see him as soon as possible. It was like I needed to have my own eyes on him, feel his arms around me in a hug to really believe that this was happening. I could’ve asked Khol or Bram to get him, but I had no idea what he’d been brainwashed to believe over the years and I didn’t want to risk this going to shit. A ton of witches and mages were extremely prejudiced when it came to demons as a whole. I mean, I knew we had been.
The phone moved and then his face came back into view. "I'm going to my car now. I'll be there early in the morning."
A huge smile spread across my face and Hunter mirrored it. "Fuck. I can't wait to see you, brother. My brother," I sighed. "Oh, don't tell anyone where you're going. Like I said, this story is complicated, and just trust me. Don't tell a soul."
Hunter nodded. "Obviously. Someone fucked us over. I'm not giving them another shot at it." A door slammed and then Hunter was sliding into the driver's seat a few moments later. "I'll update you on my ETA when I get closer. I'm on my way, big brother. Gods, I've wished for this a million times. To have you back. And you're here... I can't wait to fucking see you."
"Get your ass here, man. Be safe. Keep me posted. I love you."
"Love you too, CJ." Then the call ended and I grabbed a pillow, screaming into it. Screaming for all the years lost, all of the life we'd lived without each other. And then I cried. I cried because I was so damned thankful that we'd had years to lose. That we'd each had a life to live, even if it was separate. That meant we were both breathing. And that was everything.
* * *
Night felland I'd filled everyone in. Everyone was keyed up with nervous energy about Hunter's arrival. The guys were every bit as excited as I was. They knew Hunt from the time he was just a baby and his death had hit all of us hard. Well, Bram hadn’t been around back then, but he’d known about my past. I’d confided in him one night when he was ‘Johnny’, our handler—we’d gotten shitfaced at a pub and it all came out. Despite not knowing Hunter, he was happy for me.
My little witch suggested a game night and I think we were all just so tired of the drama and seemingly constant danger lately that the idea of cutting loose and having some fun was exactly what we all needed. So that's how we all ended up camped out in the living room, music playing through the speakers, beer and liquor flowing.
Bette had decided to go stay with Randy Roger for the evening, saying she just needed to get away for a night to clear her head. I didn't blame her. Saige had told us over dinner about her conversation earlier with Khol which gave me even more incentive to rip Asrael’s shriveled up heart from his body. Khol was also moving into the apartment above The Pig. It made sense and gave him some space... and gave us privacy.
Faris was lounging in a huge bean bag that he'd convinced Bram to buy earlier when they were in town. It was furry and zebra print; it screamedFaris. Maybe I should have found that odd to know what was “Faris” and what wasn't already, but I didn't. He was right before when he told us that he knew who we were. Fischer was the one who had chosen to keep him a secret from the rest of us—and while I didn't blame him exactly, I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt a little that he hadn’t trusted us with his secret.
"What are we playing?" Sloane asked, sitting on the floor next to the coffee table.
"I have Risk? Gods, I love Risk." Saige held the game to her chest and smiled.
"You want to play Risk, the game of World Domination, with six highly trained mercenaries?" Fish laughed.
"And don't forget Napoleon. He's always got world domination on his mind," Kai added and we all laughed when the mouse poked his head out of the pocket of Kai's shirt. Maven hadn't been around during dinner and I was kind of surprised he wasn't in here with us.
"Hey, where's Mave?" I asked Saige and she shrugged.
"Sometimes he stays out for a while like this. I think he's either hunting or he just needs his alone time. He'll be back for more food though." She sat the game down and looked at us thoughtfully.
