Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

IZZY

I choke on my bite of food at Bishop's question. After hacking super attractively for a moment, I've cleared my airway enough to ask, "What the hell are you talking about, St. James?"

Bishop smirks at me, enjoying my predicament. I flip him off with my right hand, hoping my mom doesn't see. When she doesn't comment on it, I resist the urge to fist-pump in victory.

"Aggie told us about the council killing young mages. I figured you'd want to investigate." Bishop shrugs as he drops that bomb on my family.

"What are you talking about, Bishop?" my dad asks him.

I can't focus on that as I realize I haven't seen Aggie since I woke up. Trying not to worry that something has happened to the ghost who has become one of my best friends, I pull on the thread of magic that connects us.

Aggie materializes over the table. She looks around, confused, for a second before spotting me. "Kid!" She zooms over to me and wraps me in a spectral hug I can't feel. "How are you feeling? Are you okay? Is your magic okay?"

I smile at her rapid-fire questions as she backs up to float over the table in front of me. "I'm fine, Aggie. I'll be back to full strength in a few days."

"You scared the shit out of me! Don't do that again, kid!" Aggie yells at me now that she's assured that I'm not dying.

"I'm sorry, Aggie. I really am." Worrying everyone is the last thing I was trying to do.

"You better be. I'm too old for this shit." Aggie huffs.

I laugh, and she glares at me. When I take my focus off Aggie, I realize the whole table is staring at me. That's not awkward or anything.

"Are you talking to a ghost?" Archer asks while bouncing a little in his seat.

"Um, yeah. Sorry if it's creeping you out. I can stop." I cringe as I wait for him to tell me I'm too weird for him.

Archer surprises me by becoming even more enthusiastic. "It's not creepy. It's seriously the coolest thing I've ever seen! Can the ghost see us?"

Aggie gives him a droll look. "I can indeed, wolf. I can even hear you. Crazy how that works."

I snort at her sarcastic reply. Archer's question is reasonable for someone who knows nothing about ghosts, though. "Yep, she can."

"Oh, man. That's awesome!" Archer gives me a wide grin, and his eyes dance with delight. At my small smile from his enthusiasm, Archer's face lights up even more. It's clear how much joy he gets from making others happy.

I wonder who makes sure he's happy. A small voice in my mind whispers that I could be that person. I shut it down really fucking fast. Happiness and I don't go hand in hand. All I do is drag people down. Someone like Archer deserves a delightful ray of sunshine, which I certainly am not.

Before I can get bogged down by my thoughts of how Archer deserves better, my dad asks me, "Can you tell me what's going on with the ghosts and the council?"

I groan as I remember what led to this whole debacle. It's yet another problem I have no idea how to solve. "Young mages from less powerful families are being recruited by the council. All the ghosts could tell me was that they were in the mage development program, were taken for testing in the council basement, and then nothing. There were about forty to fifty ghosts. The twenty I healed all told me the same story."

"That's Doyle's pet project," my dad informs me. I shudder at the thought of that awful mage. Something about him always gives me the heebie-jeebies. "I thought it was strange he suddenly wanted to help less advantaged mages and didn't want my input at all."

"I don't know what they're doing, but it's not good. All the ghosts were really messed up, including Amelia. They were all killed by a bunch of cuts that resulted in losing too much blood, I think." I try to swallow around the lump in my throat at the thought of Lia. She didn't deserve what happened to her.

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry." My mom wraps one of her arms around me and pulls me into a comforting hug. I linger for a few moments before pulling back.

When I straighten, I see the wolves and Bishop staring at me with concern. I avoid their gazes because I don't need them to know how much I'm hurting inside over Lia dying. They're already worried enough about me as it is.

I'm a mess.

Dad's expression has become increasingly thunderous as he listens to me. "That conniving little fucker! I knew he didn't want to help them out of the goodness of his cold, dead heart."

"Why is he killing them?" I ask him.

"I don't know, Iz. I have no idea what Doyle stands to gain from murdering children."

"I thought Izzy, Levi, and I could go with you to the next council meeting," Bishop tells my dad. "We can poke around while everyone's occupied. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a better idea of what's happening."

"Absolutely fucking not. Izzy isn't going with you," Luca growls at Bishop.

My brows raise in disbelief at him thinking he gets to dictate what I do and don't do. "That's cute, wolf boy, that you think you have any say in whether I go or not."

Luca narrows his eyes on me and opens his mouth to say something. Bishop starts talking before he can. "Okay, you two. How about everyone just dials it down a notch or five? Luca, she's the only one who knows what the ghosts looked like. She needs to come with us. Izzy, how about you not rile the alpha wolf who almost lost his mate, yeah?"

I deflate in my seat. Bishop makes a good point, the jerk. Luca's wolf is probably riding him hard after he found me half dead. Alpha wolves are notoriously temperamental and psychotically protective of their mates. When I think about it, I'm actually impressed Luca has been this levelheaded thus far.

"You won't be safe there," Luca rumbles.

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm not really safe anywhere, wolf boy," I tell him without my usual attitude. "Bishop and Levi are more than enough to ensure nothing happens to me. I'd invite you along, but mages hate wolves. You'd stand out."

"I don't like it."

"That's fair."

Luca blows out a breath and rubs one of his hands over his too handsome face. He closes his eyes briefly before snapping them open and fixing his gaze on me. "Will you be careful and not take any unnecessary risks?"

He stares at me with so much raw emotion in his eyes that I'm temporarily at a loss for words. "Yeah," I croak, feeling like a fly caught in a trap while unable to look away from his gaze.

"That's a solid plan, Bishop. The next council meeting is a week from today. Does next Friday afternoon work for everyone?" At my dad's voice, I'm able to break eye contact with the big wolf. I shake my head to clear the Luca haze from my mind.

When I do, I realize what my dad said. "Today's Friday?" I could've sworn I passed out from ghost healing on Wednesday night.

"Yes, it is, little raven. You've been out since late Wednesday." Levi twists in his seat to face me. His eyes flick between mine in worry as I process what he said.

"Oh," is all I say. That hasn't happened before. Even when I almost died when I was younger, I was out for a few hours. Not an entire day.

"I'm free Friday afternoon." Levi sits back in his seat after staring at me for a beat.

"I'm free for some B&E then too." I'm always available for messing with the council.

"I'll get council passes for the three of you. If anyone does catch you, that'll help." Anger at the council and worry for us war in my dad's eyes. I'm sure he'd rather someone else investigate what's going on, but we can't let anyone else know what I can do.

We all turn back to our food now that we have a plan in place. I'm almost done with my food when an auburn-haired woman bursts through the doors to my left. She jogs over to Cain with her curls bouncing and gives him a hug from behind. After wrapping her tanned arms around his neck, she leans her cheek on his shoulder.

Jealousy sparks in my chest, tempting my magic to slither out of its prison. I'm able to lock it down, but the jealousy burns like acid through my veins as I watch another woman put her hands on my mate. I'm not touching the reason for the jealousy with a ten-foot pole, though.

"I'm glad you're finally out and about, Si. I've been worried about you holed up in Luca's room." She looks up at me from where her head rests on Cain's shoulder. By the way her hazel eyes twinkle with mirth, she's putting on a show to provoke me on purpose. Rather than react, I simply grind my teeth and hope to incinerate her with my gaze alone. Now, that would be a nifty power to have. It sounds way more useful than seeing ghosts.

"Prue. Is this really necessary?" Cain asks with exasperation. It grates on me that he doesn't remove her arms from his shoulders. Is he into her? Not that it should matter to me whether he is. Yet, here I am, ready to kill someone just for touching him.

"Absolutely. I wouldn't have to annoy you if you'd just introduce me to your mate." Prue gives Cain a kiss on the cheek. I have to grip the edge of my seat hard enough to hurt to stop myself from marching over there and punching her.

Fucking hell . I guess the mate bond makes me a bit psycho too. I can't find a shred of regret for my violent thoughts when she's still touching Cain.

Cain sighs heavily and side-eyes the woman before looking at me. His eyes widen at whatever he sees on my face. "Isabel, this is my little sister, Prue. Prudence, this is Isabel, my mate," he hurries to explain.

My anger evaporates when I hear that it's just his sister.

"Wow, using the full name. You must be really ticked off, Silence." Prue notices the confusion on my face, and her grin gets bigger. "Ooh, you haven't told her your full name, have you? This is great. His full name is Silence Cain Blackthorne. He goes by Cain most of the time, for obvious reasons." Prue grins at me like I wasn't just planning to murder her.

Wow. That's certainly a name. I can see why he prefers Cain. His parents must've really disliked him to give him that mouthful of a name.

Because I don't have anything nice to say about his full name, I skip over that tidbit of information. Instead, I glare at Prue. "I'd say it's nice to meet you, but you're kind of an asshole."

Prue looks at me for a second before throwing her head back and cackling. When she gets her laughter under control, she tells Cain, "I like her."

"Of course, you do, Prudence Luisa. Isabel enjoys stirring the pot almost as much as you do." I'd be offended if what Cain said weren't true.

Prue's name is almost as bad as Cain's. Their parents really shouldn't be allowed to name children.

"I mean, you're not wrong about me," I mutter under my breath. Cain gives me a half smile, and butterflies swarm in my stomach. I love seeing the serious wolf smile, even if it's not a full one.

"We're going to get along great. I would come around and hug you, new sis, but you definitely look like you'd stab me with a rusty spork right now. I'll let you marinate in my awesomeness before we hang out. Luca. Archer. Mage randoms," she says with a dip of her head at everyone. Prue then strides back the way she came, leaving me confused about what just happened.