Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

WILLEM

Every year the Vauntero family set up a gnarly haunted house in part of their castle for the whole Island to go through. The royals themselves were the scare actors. Normally it was my favorite event of the season.

But I was already being haunted by the one that got away.

My great white shark.

My brothers were oblivious to my downward spiral and emotional damage. There was no getting out of going to this haunted house. They were extra pumped for this year because Mom, Carter, and Ria were part of it. Normally they didn't have mages playing a part. This year they were upping their game. My brothers had been talking about it for days. Bash had never been in a haunted house, so taking him for his first was special for us.

"Okay, have fun," Collins said suddenly as she stopped walking. "Try not to attack back when something jumps out at you."

Bash shrugged. "We'll burn that bridge when we get there."

She grinned and shook her head. "That's what I'm worried about."

I frowned. "Collins, you're not joining us?"

Her face fell. "No, I've just gotten a new lead about Tallulah. I . . . I need to follow it. I owe it to her?—"

"We know," Bash said softly as he tucked her pink and purple hair behind her ear. "I'm right here if you need me. But don't you dare leave this realm without me. Got it?"

She tugged on his crystal necklaces, then popped up on her toes to give him a quick kiss. "I learned that lesson long ago."

"Good." Bash cleared his throat, and I knew he was worried about her. "You're meeting Zuriel?"

"At The Emerald, yeah." She rolled her shoulders and those crystal wings of hers popped out. "Gonna stop and grab a few tacos on my way . . . to pay the toll."

"Don't forget to get a quesadilla as well so that Zuriel can give that to Araqiel first." Bash smirked. "He loves ruffling his taco feathers."

"I wouldn't dare take Zuriel's fun away." Collins turned to face the rest of us. "Watch him in that haunted house. You hear me?"

We all nodded.

Ivy's stomach growled, which made us all jump and turn to her.

She grimaced. "I started thinking about one of those New York City soft pretzels. And a hot dog—oh, and that pizza place in Penn Station that Savina took us to?—"

Connor cursed violently. "I'm just not an Italian New Yorker. I can't make pizza like that. You should talk to the angels about what we have to do to get all of those three things here."

Caleb gasped and snapped his fingers. "Zita's human family are as Italian New Yorker as you get . . . Maybe Will needs to turn his girlfriend's family so we can get them on the Island."

My eyes widened. "Um . . ."

"You know what? We haven't gone to visit them since she returned?—"

"Because we've been giving her space," Archer said with a roll of his eyes. "We're not just rolling up to Vito's house and demanding Nonna's cooking."

"My birthday is next. I'll make my requests known."

"Twinothy, our birthday isn't until January. It's October." Caleb glared at his twin. "I need it by November."

Ivy gasped. "Have a friendsgiving with them in New York?"

My brothers all pointed to her and cheered her idea on.

"Right. Now I'm starving." Collins started backing away. "I'll sneak some grub back in when I come back. Now, go take him to play. My puppy needs socialization."

"I am not offended."

Collins giggled and shot straight into the night sky. She flew so fast she was out of sight in seconds.

"Have you and Collins ever raced?"

Bash grinned. "Yes, Brian. Many times. Collins is fast, being Stonekeeper provides her that ability. However, she's only been flying for less than a year. She can't beat me."

"IVY!"

We all looked up as a group of women came bouncing out of the Vauntero's haunted house, laughing and skipping. Every time I saw Kate Graham with Cameron and her friends it made me happy. Kate hadn't had a ton of friends last year, especially not fae females her own age. Thanks to her little adventure in Vegas last Christmas, she now had quite the girl gang—and her own soulmate.

Ivy skipped toward them. "Hi!"

I stole a glance at Archer and found him watching his own soulmate hug the girls with a smile on his face. Ivy had not a single friend before she came to Megelle Island last year. Nor did she have family. Now she was one of us, and soon my brother would make that official. But she'd really blossomed into a new person since moving here. She and Cameron had bonded over broken hearts, which led to Cam's friends Gemma and Halley adopting her as their little pet. Though I wasn't sure when they all became friends with Colette.

Brian, Jethro, and Connor were obsessed with Gemma, Halley, and Colette. And right now, they were practically drooling as they watched. Archer scowled and smacked their foreheads with his palm.

"I thought you weren't coming out tonight?" Colette pulled a fallen red leaf out of her own blonde hair. "We would've waited for you."

"I wasn't going to, but the boys promised I could be in the middle?—"

"Yeah, I bet they did." Gemma did a little suggestive shimmy.

They laughed. Archer glared at them.

"Well, we'll go in with you again. It was so good." Colette hooked her arm around Ivy's. "You don't need the boys. "

"You don't have to go again?—"

"I've done it twice already." Cameron laughed. "Jude and I took Daphne in for the family hour, but no way was I missing the real deal. Now I need to go a third time."

Brittany pursed her lips and nodded. "For science."

"It's a must." Kate gestured to the castle which was entirely unlit on the outside. This was the one night of the year they let it be super creepy. "This year was so much better with Indi and Torren."

My heart seized in my chest. All my muscles tightened and locked down. Indi is in there? Of course she is, Will. Torren is marrying a Vauntero in a few days. They're part of the royal family now. And Daniel lives there. Maybe that's what they're going to haunt me with . . . just them going at it with a spotlight. I cringed as the visuals of my own intrusive thoughts had me in a chokehold.

Panic was setting in, seeping into my bones like frostbite. I shoved my hands in my jeans' pockets and exhaled roughly. The others were all discussing something about the haunted house, but I heard nothing, just my own inner screaming. My chest was so tight it felt like I'd been run over.

I didn't want to see Indi again, especially without Zita as a buffer. My fake-girlfriend had been too traumatized by her own life to be able to handle a haunted house. I didn't blame her. That was very, very fair. But I could've used her with me. She'd become a bit of a crutch and the best idea I'd had in ages.

Dammit. I should've stayed home. Is it too late to bail? Maybe I should offer to go help Dad at the hospital? Surely he's shorthanded on a night like this and without Nash.

" He's trying to bail on us."

I gasped and looked up to find Bash watching me. "Dude. What the hell? What happened to the no mind reading your family members rule?"

"There was a built-in clause to that contract where if I was worried about your safety?—"

" BASTIEN. "

He shrugged, entirely unbothered by my concerns. It was moments like this when the differences between him and the other fae on the Island were glaring. "We've all been talking to you for three minutes straight."

Jethro held up his smart watch with a timer going. "I timed it."

Brian shook his head and gestured wildly at the castle. "The girls already went in. I'm missing being the thing Gemma and Halley cling to in fear because you're falling into a black hole."

Connor nodded, his face serious. "He makes valid points."

Archer put his hands on his hips and stared at the ground as he chuckled. "They're not going in without us, buttheads. They're just girl-talking, so they went ahead of us."

"Yeah, use your eyes, lover boys." Caleb pointed. "They're waiting for us."

Brian's eyes lit up with excitement, then he spun back to face me. "Talk. Now. What the hell?"

"What?" I glanced around each of them with a scowl. "What did I do? I was just thinking about stuff?—"

"Yes, let's just skip all the pretending you're fine and just out with it?—"

"I am fine?—"

Bash groaned. Loudly. "If you're going to lie in front of me, please lie better so I don't know. I can feel and see your aura."

My stomach dropped. They were all staring at me.

"See, Archer? See? " Brian waved in my direction. "I told you he was being weird on sardines night in the lighthouse."

"He's been weird since Bash's birthday party."

"I know . . . You're upset you missed out on charades." Bash nodded thoughtfully. "I get that."

I nodded. "That's it. Definitely that's it."

Connor shook his head. "Zita's great, so I can't imagine what could possibly be shutting you down like this. You didn't even eat my apple pie last night."

I scowled. "You made apple pie last night?"

Connor threw his hands up in the air.

"Trevor and I hooked up right in front of you Wednesday night and you didn't notice." Caleb giggled. "Not intentionally. We didn't see you sulking in the shadows of the bay window?—"

" Ew, on the couch, Twin?"

Caleb rolled his eyes. "I didn't say it was on the couch. And I plead the Fifth. So shut up and focus. We're berating Willem right now."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Look, I've just been . . . like . . . going through some shit. Trying to figure out some shit. That's all. So maybe I'm a little in my own head?"

Archer nodded. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder, then squeezed. "Willem, we call bullshit."

The others snort-laughed.

I sighed. "Archer?—"

"No, no. It's bullshit." He nodded again, his eyebrows pinched together. Those yellow eyes watched me carefully. "We already know you've been struggling with your travel schedule and how you're never home. We know you're in the process of finding a better work-life balance. We've all seen that since Christmas . . . since you had a fiancé for those few short minutes before Ivy realized you were the wrong Will."

My brothers all laughed.

"That guy's such a prick," Jethro mumbled.

Brian huffed. "Such a shame we can't break his nose."

"I could." Bash grinned. "What are they gonna do? Deport me to my own realm?"

Brian, Jethro, Connor, and Caleb all cackled.

Archer pinched the bridge of his nose. "Guys, focus. Don't give him a method to turn this conversation away from him. We'll discuss Bash beating the shit out of Will Beau later . . . like maybe before Ivy's birthday. But we're trying to beat the truth out of our Will right now."

I glared at him. "Thanks, Archer."

"Big brother duties." Archer pointed to Bash. "So start talking or I'm giving Bash permission to rifle through your brain until he finds the answers—with or without his sensory deprivation and hypnosis."

Bash rubbed his hands together like he was hoping I wouldn't tell them so he could play.

I stared at them.

They stared back. Unwavering.

Jethro held his smart watch out to show me how much time I was wasting and how they weren't budging.

I threw my head back and groaned.

"Here we go." Archer clapped his hands. "Come on. Let it go."

I pointed to each of them. "No one tells Mom. Promise me. If you tell her, there will be swift consequences."

None of them smiled. They nodded. Each of us knew what it was like when our mothers knew something about our personal lives that we didn't want her to know—particularly things about our romantic lives.

"Remember my first girlfriend, like that I had as an adult?"

Archer scowled. "When you were nineteen? Right after you went to Fashion Week with me?"

I nodded. "Yes," I said softly.

"Yeah, we remember. You were rather secretive about that relationship." Archer glanced to my brothers. "We know you were an absolute mess about her and then even more destroyed when you broke up?—"

"But we don't know who she was," Jethro finished. He arched one eyebrow. "You have never told us anything personal about her, so we couldn't look her up."

I swallowed through the hot lump of emotion in my throat. "Well . . ."

Connor cocked his head to the side. "Wait, this is about that girl?"

I nodded and licked my lips. I was having a hard time getting the words out.

Caleb's eyes widened. "The tea. Come on, Willem. Say her name. Just her name?—"

"Indi."

They gasped loud. So loud that people walking down the street around us paused to look over at our little huddle. Caleb staggered back and clutched his chest. Brian grabbed ahold of Jethro's shoulder like he had to brace himself.

Archer closed his eyes and hung his head. "I knew it. I knew it."

"Wait. Indi?" Connor pointed to the castle. His blue eyes were wide. "As in Torren's older sister? As in the Indi we were just told is in the haunted house?"

Jethro blinked. "That's why she was nervous at Bash's party. Remember she'd been invisible without intending to be? She must have been nervous about seeing Will."

I flinched "Wait, what? What happened?"

Brian's eyes were so wide I could see the whites all the way around them. " OH. That's why you got weird during sardines! Indi and Daniel showed up."

"Ouch." Caleb grimaced. "Daniel's hot ."

I glared at him. "Thanks. That helps."

"I wanted to kill him once because he was good-looking and charming." Bash smirked and it was very alarming.

" What ?" I frowned. "You know Daniel?"

"Yeah, Collins and I brought him here." He grimaced. "There's a whole backstory with him and my mother, a centuries' old backstory that's pretty damn horrible—much like my own past. In our effort to bring my mother down, we feared for him and his sister because they were very much in real danger, so we brought them here last year. They live with the Vaunteros."

"They live with them?" My stomach turned and flipped and twisted. Images of her and Daniel basically living together were going to ruin my appetite for the rest of my life.

"Yep. It's a whole thing. It's not my story to tell, so I won't. They weren't supposed to live with them permanently, but the Vaunteros have welcomed them for as long as they need."

Brian frowned. "Your mother died last November?—"

"I realize that that feels like a long time to you, but it's difficult to trust her death after such a long history of her terror." He looked to the castle. "The elder members of the royal family lived in fear of her for centuries, especially the King, Queen, and Constantine. They were in the first war with her. They were there before the realms were split two thousand years ago. I'm sure they're merely feeling protective of the Ward siblings."

"So, he's hot and damaged." Caleb whistled. "What a combo. Indi is also hot and damaged. She'll love that?—"

" Caleb. Seriously? " I growled at him.

"Sorry, sorry." He pretended to zip his mouth shut.

Connor smacked his twin in the head, then he looked to me. "Dude, are you okay?"

"Yeah, man. How are you feeling about seeing her? You good?"

I threw my hands up and scoffed. "I thought I was doing fine and handling it fine, but you all just made it painfully clear you think I am not fine?—"

"Because you're not." Archer nodded. "I may not have known her name, but I knew the damage she caused. I know she ripped your heart out rather brutally, and now here she is ten years later on the Island right when you're already having an existential crisis. Of course you're not okay."

I clenched my teeth together because my emotions were too raw to speak without falling apart.

Bash sighed. "That seems to always be how it goes."

"I'm trying, okay," I heard myself whisper.

"Right. We get it. Thank you for telling us, Will. None of us will tell Mom."

I nodded.

"In the meantime, I think the only right thing to do right now . . ." Archer took a deep breath and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Is to get you two together. Forced proximity is a trope for a reason."

I gasped. "What? No?—"

"I'm on it." Bash nodded and gave me a terrifying grin. "Let's do it now inside the haunted house."