23. Twenty-Three

Twenty-Three

Tillman

"Are you going to tell us how you knew what to tell Will to do this morning or just keep walking around smug?" I ask Draken.

All day he's bebopped around this house like the realm is all roses and unicorns, and some-fucking-how, he's completely blocking me out of his mind. When he wants to, that is. Every now and then, he whispers some off the wall shit in my head.

"Why are you two so obsessed with it? You'll figure it out soon enough," he says, smirking.

"You said that the other day too," I accuse.

He just shrugs and goes back to playing on his communicator without a care in the world and I roll my eyes. I don't know if he's telling the truth about knowing something that we don't or he's just blowing smoke up our asses. Either way, he isn't telling.

"If we let her sleep any longer, she isn't going to sleep tonight." Corentin sighs, giving in to the fact Draken isn't going to spill.

Looking at my timekeeper, it's coming up close to dinnertime and we—by we, I mean Corentin—arranged a family dinner for Will. We easily agreed, but he thought it would be a nice idea to have Oakly, her Nexus, Lyker and his, plus Gaster all join us for dinner tonight before we take off in the morning.

Everyone but Gaster is going to the Forsaken Forest, and although I have faith everything's going to be fine, the possibility always stands that something could go wrong. History is evidence enough.

"Caspian's been sleeping just as long. A few more minutes won't hurt anything. She used a shit ton of power both last night and this morning," Draken says.

"Yeah, and he'll never sleep tonight. This is the longest stretch of sleep he's had in how many years? He needs to wake up as well or they'll both have to take sleeping tonics," Corentin says, rising from his chair, but I hold my hand up to him and Draken.

"I'll do it. You'll just piss her off with all that bossiness and you're liable to just crawl in bed and go to sleep with them. Why don't you fix some coffee, Corentin?"

I walk out of the lounge before either has the chance to argue, even though they're both already in my head, trying to tell me otherwise.

Yeah, o-fucking-kay.

Reaching her room, I gently open the door and quietly make my way in. After the freak-out this morning, the last thing I want is to startle them, but as my eyes land on them, a laugh bursts free before I seal my mouth shut tight.

Will's hair is sprawled out everywhere. I can barely see Caspian's nose poking out underneath the light brown curls and she's laid out like a starfish with her mouth wide open. How a woman so small can take up that much room on a giant-ass bed beats me, but here she is doing it.

His shadows lie over the two of them like a blanket because the actual comforter is on the floor, along with two of the many pillows. Caspian's body is Will's pillow, and his head is barely on the one under him.

I guess this is the type of exhaustion to be expected after the night they had, and only the hour of sleep he said she got before her water element broke free.

Climbing in slowly, I gently tug Will off Caspian's chest, place her on mine, and that instantly wakes him, but as soon as he sees it's me, he pulls his shit back in.

"What're you doing?" he asks, raspy.

"Coming to wake you two up. There's an hour until dinner and we're having company."

I'm not the least bit shocked that he picked up the mind connection as soon as their bond snapped in place. He's obsessed over any information he could get his hands on about a mind connection since the first time Will brought it up.

"Why?" he groans.

"Because this new and growing family is important to her."

At that, he rolls on his side and runs his shadows down her back, staring at her softly like she's the most precious thing he's ever seen. And she is…to all of us.

I'm curious and very excited to see how this bond is about to change him. It's changed all of us drastically. We're still the same men we always were for everyone else, but for her, we've been reborn. She'll always get the sides of us that the rest of the realm will never have the privilege of witnessing.

Just as I go to ask him if he's okay and how he feels, tendrils as black as his, slowly start crawling out of Willow's fingers that are splayed across my chest. They travel down her back and wrap around his like they're trying to blend the two into one. I whip my head toward Caspian with wide eyes, completely shocked at what I'm seeing.

"Shit. Is her gift emerging?"

"No, it emerged last night before the bond did. It was fucking glorious."

A huge smile takes over his face as he makes the shadows twirl and dance together on top of her. She softly groans, then a light chuckle falls from her lips as the tendrils begin to tickle her. It doesn't take much more than that and I'm holding her to me tightly while Caspian continues his attack.

"I give up. I give up, please," Will begs between her fits of laughter.

"Morning, little warrior," I say as she pushes herself up and straddles my lap.

"There's no way it's still morning." She chuckles before leaning down and kissing my cheek.

"It's definitely not. We have an hour until dinner."

"Damn, you all let us sleep the whole day away."

"Yeah, but you needed it. Now you need to go get ready. We're having company for dinner," I tell her, patting her hip to get her moving.

"Really? Who?" she asks.

"Everyone."

I groan as she bounces up and down a couple times excitedly, unintentionally grinding herself against me. Caspian chuckles darkly as I grip her hips to make her stop. If she doesn't, we won't be making it to dinner on time.

"Sorry. I'm going now." She laughs, climbing off me and rushing to her bathroom.

One look over at Cas and I smirk as he tracks her with his eyes. When he glances my way, a sly-ass grin crosses his face.

"We'll see you in a few," he says before disappearing into the shadows, no fucking doubt joining her in the shower.

"Asshole."

His laugh echoes through my mind as I push out of her bed with a hard-on and leave them be. He deserves a little alone time with her despite how much I crave her. The three of us have had our moments with her, so he can relish it too. For now.

Making my way to the back lawn where I know the other two already are, I run through all the things I've got to discuss and go over in the morning with the E.F. members and any others that are joining us. I'm not ashamed to admit it to myself, never out loud, but I'm more nervous for this mission tomorrow than any other mission we've ever been on.

There's so much at stake here. What if Keeper refuses to negotiate with us? What if the Summum-Master doesn't follow up on his threat and search the schools? What if he's at the forest? And if he's not there, how fast can word get to him about where we are?

Not that I'm fearful of facing him. I'm ready to. We all are. But the number of his true army is still a mystery for us, add in the fact as of now, Keeper is under his control, so he also has an army of unhinged vampires at his command. I can't risk something happening to Will again. There's no doubt in my mind, if she were to get taken again, we may never find her.

And over my dead fucking body will that happen.

"Where are they?" Draken asks as soon as I'm out the threshold of the house.

"In the shower."

His eyes immediately darken, and he tries to storm past me, but I place my hand on his chest to stop him. Fucking believe me, I wanted to join as well, but not this time.

"Give them this for now."

"I don't have to join. I just want to watch. How many times has he spied on me?" he asks. Both me and Corentin chuckle because that's a very valid question. Cas has probably spied on all of us many more times than we're aware of.

"Hello, boys," Gaster says cheerily, walking onto the patio with a plate full of pastries. "Where's the other one and my Guardria ?"

"In the shower together. Can I have some of those, Gas-man?" Draken both says and asks nonchalantly, not even aware of the uncomfortable face Gaster is making at him.

"That was too much information, Draken. And since when are you indulging in my sweets again?"

"Since my little wanderer fed one to me yesterday and I remembered how much I love them," Draken says, proving his point as he pops five in his mouth.

"That's exactly how you choked the first time," Gaster says, shaking his head and moving to place the platter down. "I assume we should be expecting some changes to burst free any moment now, huh?"

"Already happened," I say.

Telling Gaster the story of what happened this morning, his eyes grow wider and wider as I carry on. Willow's abilities are nothing short of miraculous and now confirming she has all four elements, all four of our gifts, plus his, Oakly's, and the sight, she's a pure powerhouse. But I know, call it a gut feeling, there's still something we're missing that has to come about.

"My, my. What is the plan for if Caspian's gift emerges while you all are on the mission?" he asks, not giving me a chance to get to that part.

"It's already emerged."

"What?" Him, Draken, and Corentin ask at once.

"What's everyone saying what for?" the Primary in topic asks as she and Caspian materialize out of the wall.

"Your gift for Caspian already emerged?" Corentin asks, stepping toward them, tilting her chin up and moving her head around as if he's looking for something.

"Yeah, last night. You're not going to find what you're looking for, your highness." Will grins, swatting his hand away playfully before wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Let me see you, child," Gaster says.

She easily steps out of Corentin's embrace, all smiles as she stands in front of Gaster. He circles her repeatedly, running his hands through the air around her, I guess sensing her new gift.

"Well, I'll be. Your strength has grown tremendously, yet you feel completely stable. Is that how you feel?"

"Stable is a very good word for it. I feel balanced and calm. I hope this means no more crazy-ass crying spells or going full psycho mode when one of you is gone."

"Aww, but I like it when you go psycho," Draken complains with a mouth full of fucking pastries.

"I'm still plenty possessive, dragon, but not throwing myself at one of you in a fit of crying would be nice." She laughs, using her thumb to wipe away all the crumbs around his lips. To which he sucks her finger into his mouth.

After we all fuss over her a little bit more, me, her, and Gaster use our earth elements to extend out the table and add extra chairs. We might as well just keep it like this when everyone leaves because I have a feeling, Will's gonna make family dinners a normal thing once we have time for it.

"Well, aren't you just a ray of fucking sunshine," Oakly hollers, grinning from ear to ear as soon as she and her men pop into the lawn. Her eyes trace all over Will and she knows without even being told that she's bonded to all of us now.

The two of them hug, laughing, no doubt have their own little conversation just as Lyker and his crew pop in as well. Aria wastes no time joining in with the other Primaries and just like that, the twelve of us men are pretty much forgotten.

"No hey, hug, or nothing for me, fortune teller?" Lyker says teasingly.

"I was getting there, Alphahole. Ladies first, always." Will smiles, embracing him, then his brothers.

"Cut it out," I tell Draken when I hear the rumble in his chest.

"It's not me, it's him. He doesn't like that shit."

"You are him, dragon, but regardless, growl louder so we can run all these people off," Caspian says with a roll of his eyes and a sly-ass smirk.

"Enough. Draken, stop it and get used to it, Caspian. No one's ruining her dinner tonight, so suck it up and go take your seats," Corentin orders.

Even as I try to focus on what Ry's saying to me, I can't help but laugh at the shit going on in my head. This mind connection is incredibly useful and highly entertaining, but damn, the noise can get overwhelming at times. I haven't had this many voices in my head at once and not been able to block it out in a long time.

I've tried practicing blocking them out individually from talking to me all the time, mostly because of Draken, but I haven't cracked it completely yet. When they send their words to the entire group, or at least between us guys, there's absolutely no stopping it. My mind won't even allow me to try. I guess a connection like this isn't supposed to be blocked, so it's a permanent distraction I'm gonna have to grow used to.

Conversations flow easily between our three Nexuses as they always have, but now, with three spunky, sassy-ass Primaries in the middle of them, it's far livelier. Less talk of missions and killing rebels, and more of things the Nexuses are learning together.

From my eavesdropping, I know that Aria still hasn't had her awakenings, but Kyan knows and hasn't said anything to anyone. That's going to be quite the little secret that comes out. And it will. Secrets always reveal themselves.

"Fuck them two, hell, three, are gonna get us killed one day," Ry complains mentally as Willow accidentally makes a glass explode all over the table, attempting to show Oakly and Aria how she can move things with her new shadows.

"Nah, let's be real, they'll probably be the three to save our asses."

His eyes whip to mine and widen. It takes me a minute to understand why he's staring at me, then it clicks. This is exactly what happened to Oakly the other day.

"Can you hear me?"

"Crystal fucking clear."

"Holy shit," Will mumbles.

When I look over, both her and Oakly are staring between the two of us in shock. The answers written across their faces for me to see.

"You're not doing anything, little warrior?"

"Nope. That's all you," she says with a bright smile that has the whole table now looking around in confusion.

"What's going on?" San and Caspian ask at the same time.

"Apparently, I'm now talking in other people's heads. Oakly's heard me before and I thought maybe Willow was somehow interfering, but I just talked to Ry."

"And he could talk back?" San asks.

"Not necessarily. I hear his voice like I normally would when hearing people's thoughts, but I responded like I'd be talking in my Nexus's link."

"I think you may have just expanded your gift, Tillman. Try on me," Gaster says enthusiastically, eagerly volunteering to be the guinea pig.

"Concentrate on me, just my voice. Respond once you've established you're talking to me and only me," he instructs in his mind just as he used to when I was a kid, and I pick it up instantly.

"Just like old times, old man."

"I am in my prime, thank you very much," he says with a warm, grandfatherly smile and everyone erupts in excitement.

The eight men who aren't in my Nexus jump at the chance to now try it and picking up their thoughts, pride swells in my chest. Their first thoughts are how excited they are for me, to immediately following up with what an advantage this gives the E.F.

Me being able to translate orders, plans, warnings, what have you, mentally and instantaneous is something that could've helped tremendously while we were out in the field.

Yeah, I have to open my mind up more and listen to more voices at one time so I know what thoughts to respond to, which quickly can give me a headache, but in times of need or importance, this is huge. Just like any other time I've had to navigate and work out something new with my gift, I'll grow used to it to the point the headaches will stop.

"Shit. Have all your gifts been growing like this with your bondings?" Jamie asks me, eyeing us all like we're his next experiments.

"For the most part, yes, but they're all very different. Draken can shift into any size he wants, his blue flame can destroy just about anything, and I'm pretty sure there isn't a shifter alive, other than Willow, who could command him to do anything. I can command people with my thoughts, dig deeper into their memories, and now talk to others, apparently. I haven't seen Corentin develop any new abilities, but his gift has doubled, probably tripled in strength. He moved through the entirety of our property that day we couldn't find Willow in under a minute. Caspian, we're waiting to see."

"That's insane. You five are going to be unstoppable," he says with an astonished shake of his head.

That excitement creates even more and after everyone has a turn letting me talk in their minds, I sit back and listen to the happy out loud conversations.

I use it to keep my mind distracted because Jamie's words stick to me hard. It plays on repeat for me to hear. Unstoppable. Sure, that could be a good thing when my—our number one priority is keeping Willow safe, but at the same time I can't help but think.

Do we need to be unstoppable because of what we're going to have to face?

My body and mind say it's time to wake up thirty minutes before my timekeeper does. So after wasting a minute lying here, staring into the dark room, unable to force myself back to sleep, I slowly, quietly get out of bed.

Tiptoeing around the floorboards that I know creak, so I don't wake the others up, I grab my shoes by the door and head out to the back lawn. There's no point bothering with going to my room and changing. I can run just as fine shirtless with these sweatpants compared to any of the others, and once I'm done, it'll be time to put a uniform on anyway.

The thoughts are already racing as the cool morning air greets my lungs when I take off sprinting down the trail. I usually don't come out here until the sun is at least on the verge of rising, but I know this path like the back of my hand, so I don't need my sight to show me the way. Plus, this morning is different.

Yeah, last night was a blissful dinner and it brought Will so much joy, but now I feel so much anxiety and dread. It's of my own creation because I feel it in my heart everything's going to be fine today, nothing bad's going to happen, but my own paranoia is fucking with my thoughts.

It takes me no time at all to reach our tree. Hell, I may have even beat my record getting here since I was so distracted, and as soon as I see the beautiful, blooming Willowrries, I release a deep sigh.

Everything's going to be fine.

Bending the limbs to my command, I walk my way up to my escape and the lingering scent of the flower below follows me. When I open the door, it mingles in with the scent of Willow that's never left this treehouse since the night we bonded. It's like a drug. The way the sugary coffee scent and the flower merge together so perfectly, working instantly on calming me down, is addictive. I'll probably go mad if this smell ever leaves this room.

Lowering myself to the floor, I practice my deep breathing and stretches to loosen my mind and body. I know this bout of fear that I'm facing stems from her kidnapping because I've never felt this worked up before a mission. It's always just been my men I worry about, and they can hold their own. And I don't say that in a way that makes it seem like I doubt Willow can. I know she can. I just also know I'd never survive without her. None of us would.

Me and my brothers would simply cease to exist.

"Room for one more?" Her voice coats me and all the air in my lungs rushes out as my body completely relaxes.

"You still have…sixteen minutes you could be sleeping," I tell her, reaching my hand up for her to hold as she lowers herself to the floor. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. They all started tossing and turning. Everyone's a little nervous this morning."

"You don't feel nervous at all. Well, a little but not nearly like us," I say, cocking my head to the side.

Her bright smile is contagious, one I don't fight to match.

"I'm a little nervous, yes, but I've accepted how this mission is going to go, and I'm perfectly okay with it," she says confidently.

"You've seen it, haven't you?" I ask, knowing I shouldn't.

"Bits and pieces."

I won't push because it's wrong to put her in a situation where she wants to tell me but can't. I'm sure she already feels that way, so I refuse to make it harder for her. Although, her admitting that little snippet to me just then does fucking wonders. It's like she commanded me to calm down, everything will work out, and my body just accepted it.

"Thank you, little warrior," I say, pulling her into my lap.

Cupping my cheek, she pulls my face close to hers and we fall into a long, slow kiss. It's everything I needed and so much more. Just a few minutes alone with her was all it took to make everything inside of me right again.

"Anytime. Now come on, my gorgeous, green-eyed giant. We have a forest to infiltrate."

I throw my head back, laughing as I stand with her still in my arms. Transporting us to her room rather than walking or running back, she was very right in her assessment of the guys. I feel their anxiety and nervousness keenly the moment we step through. Walking Willow over to her bathroom, I set her gently on her feet, give her a quick kiss, and shut the door before turning to my brothers.

"Everything's gonna be fine. I was just a little worked up, but she's confident that this mission is going to go fine so, so am I," I say confidently.

Each of them visibly relaxes because it was my emotions that were causing theirs. Steadfast and calm, that's how I always am, but that wasn't the case this morning and it bled out to all of them. Obviously, now that we've each bonded, our own bonds are growing closer as well if we're feeding off each other so strongly already.

"I have a vest for you at the gym, so just dress in what I lay out for you on the bed. It's new uniform pants and a shirt," I tell Willow as I make my way to my room to shower and change myself.

Time seems to fly by from that point on because before I know it, we're popping into the gym. My brothers and I dressed to the brim in our uniforms and weapons and Will in what I made for her. The sun is just dusting the trees and everyone's running around, making preparations for us to leave in just a few minutes.

We make our way over to Ry and his Nexus, who's gently pulling the Bane of Essence vials out of the protective containers Jamie had them in and is setting them out on the table.

"They still good to go?" I ask.

"Yep. They're perfect," Nikoli says.

"Good. Duros, Rems, and Hedges report," I shout out.

The three Nexuses approach and show respect to Willow first, then me, and I keep my face stoic, although on the inside I'm laughing my ass off. She knows it too by her muttered asshole in my mind.

"No activity at the Forest or Rebel Castle, sir. The academy is clear as well. Prior compound has movement but unidentifiable. Wards are down, so I'd assume they're expecting company."

"Good. Stick with the plan of you staking out the compound when we leave and alert me to any sign of threatening movement. Pull out if you're noticed," I order.

"Yes, sir," they all echo, and with one more bow of their heads, they turn off to gather what they need to go.

That was a last-minute decision, but Will's assumptions of them having a death wish, I believe are right. So slowly, I'm going to have to pull them out of dangerous situations for their own well-being, then force them to get some help. It's my job as their leader to ensure their minds are just as strong as their bodies, and at first, sure, I understood that it was grief driving them and they needed a way to express it. But I can't continue to allow them to purposely put themselves in a life-or-death situation, hoping for death.

"Be careful, child. None of your usual shenanigans." I hear Gaster say behind me, and I turn to see him bear-hugging Will.

"They're Elementra's shenanigans, not my own, but I'll try." She giggles into his chest. I don't like the fact she didn't promise him like she normally would, but she's still just as levelheaded as she was back in the tree house, so all I can do is believe her.

"Will, Oakly, come here," I order.

Opening the box on the table that I had Gaster bring with him, I pull out the two new uniform vests that I've been working on. We don't truly have a way of testing them for this particular mission since we don't just have vampires sitting around, but they damn near chipped Draken's claw, so I think they'll work.

"Aww, new clothes." Oakly cheers.

"Whatcha got for us?" Will asks curiously.

"Something I've been working on. Here, slide it over your head," I tell her although I basically do it for her as Ry takes Oakly's and does the same. Both girls rub the fabric around their necks and arms once they have them in place and look each other over.

"You've made bite proof vests for us," Willow says with glossy eyes when she realizes what they are.

"Hopefully. These are only prototypes, but I tested them with Draken's claws and the results proved promising. I'd feel better with the two of you wearing them today. I sent one with Lyker yesterday for Aria as well."

They both smile warmly at me and I give Willow a quick kiss to her forehead as my timekeeper goes off. Ry quickly finishes getting Oakly situated in her new uniform while Jamie passes us all a vial, then we turn toward the massive crowd of E.F. members.

"Everyone, listen up," Ry bellows out beside me.

"We're leaving in ten minutes. Jamie, San, and Nikoli are walking around, giving you your Bane of Essence vial. They have the potency to last for six hours, but we have no intentions of being gone that long. If for whatever reason you get separated from your assigned team, get out of the forest. You've all memorized the map, but make no mistake, it's a ten-mile stretch of nothing but confusing, foggy trees. You will get lost and if you fuck around long enough, you'll run out of time. If your team encounters Keeper, the one and only vampire we're after today, do not try to apprehend or approach. Inform him of where we are, who we are, and our intentions to speak to him. We've been preparing for this. We all know what to do. Any questions?"

When no questions come, I raise my vial into the air, and my little warrior, my Nexus, my men, my friends, all mimic me in solidarity. With a stern but prideful nod, we pour our main source of protection down our throats.

Here goes nothing.