17. We found him

17

WE FOUND HIM

W hen my cousins leave, I'm a little sad to say goodbye to them. I never thought I could feel that way about any of my cousins, but my heart feels happy after the conversation I had with Sophia.

The week passes quickly. Wedding planning isn't nearly as chaotic since Mom and Tiffany started getting along. The two of them have found common ground. Unfortunately, their common ground is their future grandchildren.

"At least you'll have no shortage of babysitters," Julien says after I tell him about our latest wedding planning session.

Even though we've hired a great team of designers, Tiffany and Mom both insist that we should be involved in the planning as much as we can. I don't have the heart to tell them that I don't care what the wedding is like. The only thing I care about is the marriage.

I narrow my eyes at Julien. "Just wait. You'll get your turn."

Julien smirks. "Yeah right. You see how Eden is. She'll be thrilled to have grandchildren, but she'd never be vocal about it."

Uh, he's right. Eden is too sweet to say anything.

I turn to him, my lips tilting upward. "Ah, but I need nieces and nephews."

He raises an eyebrow. "Shouldn't I find a girlfriend first?"

"As long as you don't date any of my cousins." I give him my best stern look. I don't think it works because he laughs .

"They do adore me." He grabs my phone from my nightstand. "I should get their numbers, just so I can be friendly and text them."

I snatch my phone from him and glare when I see that he's past my lock screen. I glare at him.

"Your wedding date is your password." He shakes his head. "Honestly, Maddie, you made it too easy."

I roll my eyes and start to complain when my phone vibrates. I glance at it, expecting it to be Damek. Instead, my father's name is on the screen.

Come to my office now. Bring Julien .

"Dad needs us to come to his office." I try to swallow, but my mouth has gone dry.

Dad never has us working this time of the night. It's nearly sunrise. Whatever it is, it must be urgent.

Julien abruptly turns and walks toward the door with a quick stride. I follow him closely, wondering what's going on.

Right away, my mind begins wandering—is it the Nodin Clan? Have they done something again? Maybe they've kidnapped somebody else.

What if it's Damek?

At the thought, I quicken my pace even more and slip in front of Julien as we rush down the stairs. When I get to my dad's office, I throw the door open and make my way toward his desk.

"What happened? What's wrong?" I sound out of breath, though it's not from the run we did. I'm on the verge of a panic attack.

"Nothing is wrong." Dad motions toward the chairs across from his desk. "Both of you, sit down."

Julien closes the door to the office and comes to take the seat beside me.

Nothing is wrong.

I panicked for absolutely nothing.

I take a couple of slow breaths, trying to calm my racing heart.

"I got a text from Kaine a couple of minutes ago. He's going to call me soon. He says he has an important update on Lucien and I want you both to be here when I talk to him," Dad says.

Lucien.

Maybe Kaine has good news. Maybe he found Lucien.

My palms feel sweaty at the thought of meeting my older brother. I've heard so much about him that I feel like I already know him. But will he like me? Does he even want to meet me?

But I should wait to see if Kaine found him before I worry about whether Lucien will like me.

Julien sits forward. "What about Mom? Do you think she should be here too?"

Dad hesitates. "I thought about it but don't want to get her hopes up. What if he's just calling about another lead? I don't know for sure that he's found Lucien and I just can't stand to see her disappointed again."

"You're right." Julien sits back against his chair frowning.

I reach my hand over and grab his, squeezing it. He glances at me and grins, but his posture stays tight.

This weighs on Julien more than I thought. Not just because without Lucien, he will be the heir once Damek and I marry, but because he misses his brother. Julien copes by telling jokes and being silly, but I know he's hurting.

Whatever this phone call is about, I hope it's good news. I need Lucien to come home. I want to meet my older brother. I want him to be at my wedding. I want to have a relationship with him.

When Dad's phone rings, I jump at the abrupt sound. He answers it right away and Julien leans forward.

"Yes," Dad says.

He doesn't put it on speaker, but he doesn't have to. We're vampires and we can hear the person on the other end.

"We got him," Kaine says.

My heart thumps faster.

They found Lucien.

Julien lets out a breath of relief and Dad sags in his chair.

"Oh, thank God." Dad takes a deep breath. "How is he? Is he okay?"

"You know Lucien. He's already asking about the clan. The healer is doing an examination right now—we had to force him to let us," Kaine says.

Dad chuckles. "That sounds like Lucien. But how is he? Is he hurt?"

"A few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious," Kaine answers. "We'll know more after the healer examines him. We should be home by sunset."

Tonight.

I get to meet my brother tonight.

I doubt I'll be able to sleep much today.

Dad closes his eyes, relief clear in them. "What about the Nodin Clan?"

Kaine grunts. "They ran like cowards. Our priority was protecting Lucien, so we let them go."

"You did right," Dad assures him. "Thank you, Kaine."

"It is my honor to serve the Scott Clan."

Dad ends the call and takes a few deep breaths before he looks up, He grins widely. "Our whole family is going to be together soon."

Julien jumps up from his seat. "I'm going to go get Mom."

He runs from the room and I watch Dad. He can't stop smiling and his cheeks are pink with elation. He tips his head back and looks up at the ceiling.

I lean forward. "Dad, do you think Lucien will like me?"

He looks at me, his eyes wide. "Why do you think he wouldn't like you?"

I shrug. "I've been doing his duties while he's been gone. Maybe he won't like the choices I've made."

Dad shakes his head. "Madeline, your brother loves you."

"He doesn't know me," I argue.

"Ever since I found out about you, once you were eighteen, Lucien has been after me to go find you and bring you back." He folds his hands on the desk in front of him. "I didn't want to disturb your life, but he argued that this was where you belonged. He wanted to meet you. He wanted us to be a family. You know my reasons for not coming sooner. I was an idiot for not listening to him and I'm certain he will tell me so when he sees how well you've integrated into the family."

My eyes widen.

Lucien wanted to meet me.

"So he won't hate me?" I chew on my bottom lip.

Dad chuckles. "No. He will adore you. Damek, on the other hand, will likely be interrogated."

"Does he not like Damek?" I put a hand on the base of my throat. I just got Mom and Tiffany to stop fighting, the last thing I want is Lucien trying to start something with Damek. Though, Damek isn't the fighting sort.

"They get along well," Dad assures me.

I let out a breath of relief.

"But you are his little sister," he continues. "And he will want to protect you."

"Yes, but I don't need protection from Damek," I say.

Dad shrugs.

The door is abruptly thrown open. I jump at the sudden noise, once again hating how the room is soundproof.

"What is going on?" Eden asks, walking up to Dad's desk. "Julien woke me up and told me I needed to come to your office. He said it was something urgent." She pauses. "Is it Lucien? Did something happen?" I can hear the anguish in her voice.

She's been waiting for news, not knowing if they would find her son alive or dead. I can't imagine how difficult this has been for her.

Dad smiles so widely that I'm sure she can tell without being told. "Kaine found him. He's alive."

Eden sobs in relief. Julien slips his arm around her and hugs her tightly. When I look at Julien, he's got tears in his eyes which causes me to tear up.

"When will be home?" Eden asks once she can speak.

"By sunset," Dad answers. He walks around his desk and embraces his wife. "Lucien is coming home ."

Julien and I watch the two of them embrace, both of us smiling. I don't know Lucien, do I do know that this feels amazing. Pretty soon, our family will be whole.

When Eden backs up from the embrace, she wipes under her eyes. "We should all get some rest. Tonight, we're having a family reunion."

My heart flutters.

She glances at me. "You should call Damek. I'm sure he will want to be here."

"Are you sure?" I ask. "I don't want to intrude on family time."

Eden puts one hand on her hip. "Damek may not be married into the family yet, but he is family."

Julien snickers. "She told you."

Eden waves her hand. "Now, off to bed. Both of you. I will see you both early tonight."

Julien slips his arm around me and says, "Good morning," to Eden and Dad, then he leads me out of the room.

I take a deep breath as he shuts the door behind us. "How am I supposed to sleep tonight? I'm way too anxious."

"Me too." Julien rubs his hands down his face and then smiles at me. "You have no idea how happy I am, Maddie. And not just because I don't want to be heir. I just want my older brother to come home."

"I'm excited to meet him," I say as we walk toward the staircase. "It always felt so weird to have an older brother that I didn't know."

"Lucien is going to love you," he says echoing the words Dad told me. "He always told me that he wished for a younger sister instead of a brother."

I grin. "I'm sure he was just messing with you."

"Maybe."

We head up the stairs toward our rooms. I rub my sweaty palms against my oversized sweatshirt. "I'm so nervous."

"Don't be." Julien slips his arm around me. "Come on. Let's go to bed so you can call your prince. But don't stay up half the night."

"I won't."

We pause at our doors and Julien turns to face me. "Things will be different when Lucien gets back, but I promise that it will be a good change."

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "Thank you, Julien."

He grins. "As long as I'm still your favorite brother."

I press my lips together not making any promises.

Julien's mouth falls open in mock surprise. "Maddie! I'm the one who gave you your nickname. We're besties."

"We'll always be besties," I say. "You'll always be my favorite younger brother."

"He hasn't even arrived and you already love him more than me. I see how it is." He grumbles.

I grin. "Good morning, Julien."

"Good morning, Maddie." He opens his door and turns to me one last time. "By the way, you should warn your prince that Lucien will be interrogating him."

I groan as Julien shuts his door behind him.

So Dad wasn't joking about that.