Now he felt vaguely queasy. “What way?”
“She wants to take control of the Conclave. That may not happen for her, but it can happen for Luciano’s kids. If—if no one else has a better claim.” She shrugged. “So I’ll give up mine.”
Chapter 6
Jackson met them at the door to the safe house. He muttered a few words, and the heavy press of magic that reverberated through the walls eased. “You’d better get in here, Nicky.”
His stern expression scared the hell out of her, and she shoved him aside, already searching for Michelle. “What is it? What happened?”
The few necessary items in the front room were in disarray. Jackson’s mother knelt near the kitchen, sweeping up broken glass. Michelle was nowhere to be seen. “Jackson—”
“She’s fine,” he interrupted. “I think. Hell, I don’t know.”
She gripped Derek’s hand, took a deep breath, and called her sister’s name.
The air on the far side of the room shimmered, and an open door appeared in the middle of the wall. Through it she saw her sister curled on the bed, shoulders heaving as she buried her face against Aaron’s chest. He looked up and caught Nick’s gaze, and his green eyes looked exhausted. “Shelly, sweetheart. Your sister’s here.”
Nick let go of Derek and rushed into the room, heedless of the magic that still rippled through the air. She didn’t stop until she was on the bed, her arms around Michelle. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Jackson leaned against the open doorway. “She’s been upset. All kinds of weird stuff’s been happening. This door?” He knocked on the doorframe. “It’s been disappearing. With fair regularity, actually.”
“It’s not disappearing.” Michelle’s voice sounded hoarse and, when she lifted her head, Nick’s chest ached at the bruised exhaustion on her sister’s face. “I think it’s an illusion. But I don’t know, because I’m not doing it.”
Derek stood behind Jackson, watching helplessly. Nick tried to smile at them both. “Can you guys go out and get the things we brought? Take your time.”
Jackson hesitated only a moment. “Mama, yell if y’all need anything, okay?”
“Shelly?” Aaron’s hand hovered over the back of Michelle’s head. “Do you need time with Nicole?”
“Please.”
Aaron shot Nick another worried gaze, but he inched from under Michelle and rubbed the back of her shoulder. “I’ll be just outside if you need me. If you need anything.”
It was almost worth everything to see that quiet happiness on Michelle’s face, and the way Aaron’s fingers brushed her cheek in the softest of touches.
Nick felt like she was intruding on a private moment, so she averted her eyes until Aaron had left the room. “Do you need some water, Micky? Have you eaten?”
“Yes.” It came out a little forceful, and Michelle took a breath. “I didn’t mean it like that. But if one more person asks me that question, I think I’ll blow something up on purpose.”
“We’re worried, that’s all.” Even as she spoke, dread still weighed in her belly like ice. “You just…have to bear with us.”
“I don’t know how.” Michelle pulled back and rubbed her hands over her face. “Damn it, Nick. You know what my life is like. Dad’s not exactly demonstrative, and having this many people acting concerned about me is making me nervous.”
Nick fought a growl. The thought that her sister’s life had left her unable to accept even the most basic concern from others filled her with fury and guilt, mostly in equal measure. “I’m sorry.”
“They just keep hovering. And…trying to hug me.” A tiny, almost hysterical-sounding giggle escaped her. “My God, Nicky. They’re trying to hug me.”
“Things are different here.” As explanations went, it was grossly inadequate. “Has Mama Holt offered to bake for you yet?”
Michelle wrinkled her nose. “She wants to teach us how to bake. Apparently it’s a serious crisis that we can’t make fudge. Mackenzie’s under strict orders to bring back a candy thermometer.”
Nick stifled a laugh. “This’ll be the most well-stocked safe house Alec has by the time you guys get to leave.”
The words brought the worry back to Michelle’s eyes. “Have you talked to anyone yet? Do you know what’s going on?”
Nick had to look away to answer. “Enrica sent Luciano to talk to me.”
“Oh.” Michelle’s voice sounded carefully neutral. “I always got the feeling he isn’t any more interested in pack politics than you are.”
“He isn’t, but he does what she tells him. Up to a point, anyway.”
“Enrica hasn’t been very subtle over the years. Everyone knows she wants Luciano to marry you.” Michelle’s gaze flickered to the door. “Luciano met Derek?”
“Mmm. It went well.” The potential for bloodshed was something Nick didn’t want to consider. “Luke’s going to help us stall Enrica and the Conclave for a few days. It’ll give us a chance to make plans.”
Michelle tightened her fingers around the bedspread. “What did Luciano say about Aaron? There must have been terms. There are always terms.”
Nick’s first instinct was to lie, but she quelled it. Her sister had been lied to enough. Besides, she had to already know. “The Conclave wants to execute him, Michelle.”
The mirror on the other side of the room shattered. Glass tinkled to the hardwood floor, the soft sound dwarfed by the low, inhuman snarl that rose in her sister’s throat.
Michelle’s normally brown eyes had bled to amber. Power gathered in the room, and Nick felt an echo of that magic inside of her, fighting to break free.
“I’ll kill them all,” Michelle whispered. “If they touch him, I will kill them all.”
“So will I.” Nick gripped Michelle’s hand and tried to center her. It had been so easy when they were younger, almost effortless, but they’d spent too much time apart. “If anyone comes after either of you, we’ll stop them. I swear.”
Magic flared again, and Michelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “No one heard. I…think I managed to shield the room before I lost it. I must have. Aaron would be in here already if I hadn’t.”
If they can find the door. Desperate to ease the fear permeating the room, Nick pressed Michelle’s hand to her heart. “Micky, they’re not going to get to you here. I’ll stop them. You have to believe that, or you’ll make yourself sick.” Or crazy.
“I’m not worried about me, Nick. I’m worried about him.”
She thought of Derek and nodded. “I meant both of you, sweetie. All of you.”
Michelle’s fingers trembled against her chest. “All right. Tell me what you’re going—what we’re going to do.”
“Give them something they want more than you and Aaron and your baby.”
“You are not going to marry Luciano Maglieri!”
“No,” Nick shot back, aghast. “Neither of us wants that, for Christ’s sake. I’m going to give up my succession. Let the rest of them fight it out. I never wanted to be Alpha anyway.”
Michelle hesitated. “That could work. For a while. But they won’t let me go, and they won’t just pardon Aaron.”
“It’ll buy us time to figure out what to do.”
“All right.” Michelle dropped her hands to her lap. “Will you stay for a bit? I’m so tired, but every time I start to fall asleep, the power slips. Maybe if you’re here to balance it…”
“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away, sweetie.” To illustrate her point, Nick kicked off her shoes and stretched out on the bed.
Michelle relaxed on the pillows, her eyes fixed on the ceiling and one hand resting on her stomach. “So much chaos because of a baby.”
Nick ignored the stab of pain that stole her breath and scooted closer to Michelle. “So much chaos because of some stupid, archaic customs.”
“Stupid, archaic superstitions. You know, I almost believed them. I almost thought—”