Chapter 36

The Keeper, not a Keeper but the one and only. Darien exhaled loudly and stared at the wall of the small office.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up, letting him know he wasn’t alone. Turning, he almost sighed to see Emery leaning against the office door. “I just needed a minute.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Emery studied the floor between them. “I get that.” With a slow movement, he looked back up at him. “Did you know?”

Running a hand through his hair, Darien sighed again. “I knew there was something, but I never figured she was The Keeper.” He gave the young vampire a sober look. “Do you know what that is?”

Emery nodded. “Yeah, Attis gave me the condensed version,” he grinned, “or as condensed as I could get him to make it; he kept going on and on, having flashbacks to a Keeper he once knew. He’s pumped that our Remi is the all-powerful, revered Keeper.” Pride shone from his eyes. “I knew Mom kicked ass but had no idea there was more to it than her pure awesomeness.”

“You know you’re an abnormal child, right? Aren’t teens supposed to resent their parents?” Darien perched on the edge of the desk.

“They’re supposed to eat all their veggies too,” Emery flashed red eyes at him, “I guess I am not the usual teen.”

Shaking his head, Darien finally smiled. “You’re not the usual vampire either.”

“Are you saying Finn, Attis, and Pascal are normal?” He tucked his hands in his pockets and slumped back against the door frame, “because I think they’d be offended.” Rolling his eyes, he looked around the small space. “I don’t think any of us here fit profile of normal.”

“That’s true, but,” Darien motioned to the clock on the wall, “I meant that vampires shouldn’t be able to stay awake this late.”

Glancing at the clock, Emery shrugged. “So they keep telling me.” He straightened to his full height, reminding Darien that he wasn’t a child but a full-grown man…vampire. “I stayed up to talk to Corey when she got up,” he sighed, “I’m going to go crash.”

Darien watched him leave and got off the desk, some of the council were going to help Remi learn to tap into her skills. He hadn’t really spoken to her since they’d left last night, and he didn’t know why; only he needed time to think it all through. Of course, this hadn’t stopped him from putting her in bed and climbing in next to her. She was his mate regardless of what else she was to become. The problem he was having was whether being his mate was a good thing or a bad thing for her.

Stepping out of the office, he watched the three council members go into the back room; following reluctantly behind was Remi.

She paused at the door and looked at him. “I’m about to learn how to flip the switch to turn my beacon on,” her voice was high-pitched like she was excited, but her expression told him she really wasn’t. “Coming to watch?”

Going over, he pulled her into his arms. “Wouldn’t miss it.” He used the same fake enthusiasm she had. Remi rolled her eyes at him making him smirk as he hugged her into his body. “You look like you’re on the way to a dental appointment.”

Sighing, she relaxed into his hold. “This better not be anything remotely close to that.”

“It will be fine. You’ll do fine.” He said softly as he tipped her chin up so she would look at him. They hadn’t gotten to spend much time together lately, and he missed it. If he had his way, he’d stand here holding her all day. As he looked down into her soft brown eyes, his stomach began to tighten. If he stood here too long getting lost in her, there would be no lessons today. Dropping a soft kiss on her lips, he smiled down at her. “Let’s go find out how this works.”

Darien stood at the back of the room, staying out of the way as much as possible. It was hard to keep quiet while watching the elders try to explain what she needed to do. Presently Alaric was telling her to open her channels to find her ability. Covering his mouth so no one would see the grin, Darien waited for the words that mirrored her expression to be said.

“Does my soul come with a user guide?” Remi glanced around at them, a grin on her face, only to receive looks of disapproval at her humor. “I’m trying to tap into my magic channel or whatever,” she mumbled.

Darien snorted and received an annoyed look from Alaric.

“Perhaps I can try?” Brome moved over to stand in front of Remi.

She waved a hand around. “Be my guest.”

Wincing, Darien crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. The council members may not realize it, but he knew that tone all too well. Remi was running out of patience. If Brome wasn’t able to help her, she was going to go beyond annoyed and into angry. That he’d stick around for, there was just something about her when she got mad that appealed to his wolf side. Of course, all parts of her did that to his man side.

Brome was going on about her being a task-oriented person, which was true, so maybe he’d have better luck. That hope was fleeting as the mage began to talk to her about opening her arms and pulling the wolf shifters to her on the invisible lines she held in her mind.

Remi’s hands slapped down on her hips. “Invisible line? Really?” She looked from Brome to Alaric. “What like a mime?”

Coughing to hide the laugh that was dying to come out, Darien shrugged at her when she turned and gave him a look that said she thought they were insane.

Sighing in a way that was almost painful, she gave Brome a stern look and raised her arms again. Darien hoped it would work, for the safety of the three watching her like a science experiment. If it didn’t, he might have to step in and rescue them when Remi went berserk on them.

He watched her lower her arms. “I don’t feel anything,” she said in a flat tone. Brome, Alaric, and Hope turned to watch the door.

Darien tilted his head and looked at it for a second, then at Remi. Her eyes were on him, and it was as he thought; her patience was at its end. She glanced at those watching the door and then back to him, rolling her eyes.

Hope finally looked at her, an understanding smile on her face. “I think my colleagues are going about it wrong. Let me try to explain.”

Tucking her hands in her back pockets, Remi nodded.

Keeping quiet, Darien listened while Hope began giving Remi a bit of background and explained how the Keeper’s abilities worked. He wasn’t sure if Remi was interested or not, but he was. She was his mate and he should understand the powers her soul had passed on to her. After the first few minutes, he watched his mate’s expression and understood each little thing she did. As Hope began to explain how Remi could tap into her power, in a very new age slash witchcraft lingo sort of way, his mind began to wander back through the years he’d known of his mate’s existence.

They had always been in synch. It had always been that way, he realized. Even when they weren’t close, he had been able to just look at her and know her mood and what she was thinking. Last night when the council had explained that Remi’s soul was that of the ancient Keeper, he had entertained the idea that he shouldn’t mess with fate. No Keeper had ever had a mate, but now to watch her, he wasn’t sure if he could do that. Right now, at this very moment, he couldn’t even consider never seeing her again. There was no walking away. His wolf was preening and feeling so much pride and agreed completely. Remi was his. Gods help man, beast, or entity that tried to tell him otherwise.

He was jolted back to the present when Remi made an annoyed noise and then blew out a breath. “The only part of what you just said that I understood was let’s try it this way…”

Straightening, he moved in their direction. It was time to save their high and mighty butts and step in.