Eternal Echoes, Emblem of Eternity Trilogy Book 2 (26 page)

“We’re keeping you safe,” Alex growled.

“No, not safe,” I answered. “You’re keeping me in a cage.”

“Tonight is a perfect example of why you can’t be alone. I don’t know how you got out of the mess, and I’m glad you did, but it won’t happen again.”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I got out of it because I can take care of myself.”

“Well,” came a voice with a slight southern lilt from the other room, “that’s not entirely true, is it, darlin’?”

Dammit! We’d agreed he wouldn’t come out until I was ready to tell Alex and Emil.

Alex whirled on the voice. Emil’s whole body froze as Tate walked into the room. Alex’s arms were out in a defensive position, but his eyes widened in recognition. His arms faltered, lowering slightly, as if wondering whether Tate was a risk or not. Emil stood slowly, locking eyes with Tate.

“Nice accent,” Emil said, testing the waters. “I haven’t heard that since we lived in Texas during the Civil War.”

Tate grinned, and suddenly, with them both in the room, the resemblance was obvious: the wavy hair, square jaws, perfectly straight teeth, and smiles to die for. “Those were good times. The gambling, the people…though I miss Buttercup the most.”

I looked at Emil. “Buttercup?”

Emil seemed slightly amused. “His horse.”

“She was a beauty,” Tate replied. “Never loved anyone more than her.”

I found that hard to believe. Emil was charming, but with the accent and small town boy persona, Tate could probably take charm to military levels—if he was actually trying to be charming instead of aggravating. I imagined the trail of women he’d left in his wake over the years was in the triple digits.

“Anyway,” Tate continued, “I haven’t been Texas Tate for a while. Wanted to try a change. And it fits in well ‘round these parts. Lots of country people.”

Tate had temporarily thickened his accent—for Emil’s benefit I imagined. I half expected him to whip out a belt buckle the size of a plate, Wranglers so tight they’d put his potential children at risk, and plop a straw cowboy hat, complete with leather band above the brim, on his head.

It was hard to wrap my head around Tate and Emil being in Texas a hundred and forty five years ago, and having a horse named Buttercup. Yes, I understood being a Daevos member also meant you were immortal, but so far, I’d only heard about Alex and Emil’s life with Cassandra. It was strange to know they’d lived so many years without my soul being a direct part of their lives, and also, that those years were missing from my knowledge of them as a whole. My flashbacks couldn’t pull memories I’d never experienced. Which meant I’d have to trust what they said about their own lives without the benefit of flashbacks to confirm the information. I didn’t like that at all. I trusted Emil more than Alex, but I knew they both kept things from me, even if they didn’t mean to. Keeping secrets for centuries would be a hard habit to break.

That realization also made me think about my own lives, and all the things I still didn’t know. Had my soul come into existence with the birth of Cassandra, or had I lived longer than that? If so, was it possible I might eventually get those memories through flashbacks?

Emil moved toward Tate. Alex stood back, letting Emil take the lead. His muscles were tense, ready for anything, but he was giving Tate the benefit of the doubt—and letting Emil handle the situation since Emil was Tate’s brother. Emil reached out and hugged Tate tightly before taking a step back. “It’s been a while,” Emil said.

Tate nodded. “Since you left last summer.”

Emil slid a glance in my direction. He looked back at Tate, the two of them sharing a silent communication—like they could read each other’s thoughts with a glance. Do all siblings have that? As an only child, I’d always wondered how that would feel. I thought I’d eventually get that feeling from the person I loved. So far, I’d been too busy dealing with shadow figures, soul stealers, and two soul mates to cultivate any telepathic relationship skills.

The silent conversation continued. Tate shifted his weight, like he was anticipating Emil’s question, and tilted his head in my direction. “She’s the one you’ve never forgotten. You always chase after her. It’s your pattern.”

“I’d do anything for her, Tate. You know that. Trackers were missing and she was in danger. I had to be here.”

Tate’s gaze slid from Emil, to me, and back again.

“When did you get here?” Emil asked. “How did you even find me?”

Tate took a deep breath, bracing himself. “I followed you.”

Emil’s eyes got huge. “What?” he sputtered. “When? I’ve been here since August.”

Tate pressed his lips together for a few seconds, gathering his composure. “So have I.”

Emil’s mouth dropped open. I shifted my eyes to Alex who was wearing a similar expression. “How did I not know about this?” Alex asked, dumbfounded. I’d been wondering that myself. Alex was my Protector. He was supposed to be able to find these threats and neutralize them. But in a college town where people from all over the world constantly come and go, identifying anyone out of the ordinary would be difficult. The Daevos should be forced to wear some sort of Daevos alarm, or something that couldn’t be covered up, sneaky little buggers.

Emil turned to Alex. “How did you not know?” he asked. “How did
I
not know?”

Tate leaned back against the stairs. “How would you know? I didn’t want you to see me, so you didn’t.” He lifted one side of his mouth in a cocky grin. “Aside from one incident with Evie seeing me at a store in August, I kept pretty well hidden.” He paused as everyone took the information in. “I couldn’t leave you alone. Not with everything that’s going on between the Daevos, Amaranthine, and especially our Clan.”

Clan? Emil and Tate were part of the same Clan? I mean, it made sense, but I guess I hadn’t put two-and-two together while I’d been sitting in the living room waiting for Alex and Emil to get back and wondering what methods they’d use to try and imprison me for going to the party without them.

Emil pushed his brows together, confused. “What’s going on with our Clan?”

Tate shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek. “You always do this,” Tate said, exasperation coming through in his tone. “You find her, and you run off to make sure she’s okay. At least this time, you had the balls to actually be with her. But this isn’t the first instance you’ve left for an extended period of time. Our Clan members are starting to get suspicious about what you’re doing, and where you go on these little sabbaticals.” He paused, pegging Emil with a hard stare. “If they find out you’ve found her again, they’ll expect you to take her soul.”

I widened my eyes. “Umm…what?”

It was like I hadn’t even spoken.

Emil adamantly shook his head at Tate as anger flashed in his eyes. “I’ll take their souls instead.”

Tate winced. “And there lies the danger, Emil. You make the mistake of choosing love—something the Daevos are wholly against—over loyalty. To you, nothing is more important than Evie. Our Clan won’t understand that, and you know it. Love doesn’t make sense to them. You’re in danger of breaking up our Clan. Loyalties will be divided and we’ll end up in an eternal fight. It’s not worth it. You need to come home.”

I glanced at Alex and could see his mind working overtime. Another Daevos threat to consider, but this was one Emil could control. Alex knew if Emil left, he’d have some time with me to himself. Judging by Emil’s tight expression, he was well aware of it too.

Emil shrugged. “If fighting is what it takes, then that’s what will happen. It would be a last resort, but I’ll do it. I won’t let anyone hurt her, and I’m not leaving her this time, Tate.” His voice had the hint of a plea in it. “I can’t.”

“Hey!” I waved my hands in the air. It finally got their attention. “Could someone please tell me why Emil would
have
to take my soul?”

Emil took a deep breath. “Since you were my wife, you were my responsibility. I brought you into our world. When my Clan found out you’d left and you knew our secrets, they demanded we find you. Alex was able to get you out of the city and keep you safe. But, if my Clan had found you, taking your soul would have been my responsibility. It still is. If they ever learn we’re together and your soul is still intact, it will be a problem.”

“Seriously?” Sheesh! “Isn’t there some statute of limitations on these things?”

Emil shook his head.

“If tonight is any indication, she’s doing fine on her own,” Tate said. Strange, that’s not what he’d told me back at the house. In fact, he’d lectured me on why I needed watching. It seemed Tate wasn’t above lying to get what he wanted—which was Emil out of Gunnison, and back in Greece. “You could at least come back for a while so the Clan sees you’re still around. The whole point of you staying with the Daevos was to keep our Clan from finding her. Now you’re practically leading them to her. You need to come back. At least for a while.”

Emil pursed his lips, not liking Tate’s rationalization. “Things have changed. The whole situation between the Amaranthine and Daevos is changing. The Rebel Protectors want to attack the Daevos, Daevos Clans are looking for Evie, Trackers are still being taken, and shadow figures are floating around. I’m not leaving her, Tate. Not now, not ever. I’ve waited too long to be with her just to go back and play a role to make people happy.”

“It’s not a role, Emil. Your Clan needs you.” He gestured toward me. “Right now, she doesn’t.”

“Yes, she does. You were there tonight. People are searching for her, and it’s probably because of what happened when Caleb took her.”

Speaking of that, if Tate had been here as long as Emil, he should have been helping us fight Caleb’s Clan in the cave. But he hadn’t. “Why didn’t you help Alex and Emil find me when Caleb took me?” I asked, trying to keep the accusation from my voice.

“Because I wasn’t here.”

I assessed him. “You said you’ve been here since August. So which part are you lying about?”

He plopped down on the couch, his foot making a thud as he put it on the coffee table. “I wasn’t lying about either. I’ve been here as much as possible, but with Emil gone, someone has to help keep things organized. I’ve been running interference, going back and forth between Greece and Gunnison, trying to make excuses for Emil.”

Emil rolled his eyes. “You’re making it sound like it’s a big deal. It’s not. I’ve left before.”

Tate nodded slowly. “Yeah, but not with things as unstable as they are right now. Rumors about the missing Trackers and possibility of Amaranthine attacks have been swirling. Most Daevos Clans are on the defensive because of it.” He put his foot down and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You need to come back and help us provide a united front.”

“I told you, I’m not leaving Evie.”

He shook his head. “The Amaranthine and Daevos are about to go to war. You don’t need to be in Gunnison.”

I glanced at Alex, wondering if that was true. Judging by his clenched jaw and shallow breaths, the war statement was probably pretty accurate. The meeting must not have gone well.

“That’s exactly why I need to be here.” Emil’s voice was low and calm in a way that was far more powerful than yelling.

“She,” Tate said, pointing at me, “is the last person you need to help right now. She has an Amaranthine Protector, plus she can take care of herself.”

“Why do you think she can take care of herself?” Alex asked.

Tate held Alex’s eyes. “Why don’t you?”

Alex stared back like he didn’t understand the question.

“You’ve been watching her longer than I have. You know what she’s become capable of. She can protect herself as well as you, Emil, and all the Amaranthine combined. You just don’t want to admit it.”

Alex regarded Tate coolly, but didn’t say anything else. I had a sudden new level of respect for Tate. I’d been trying to explain that same thing to Alex for months. Tate was able to accomplish it in a couple of sentences. At least someone in my life thought I was older than five.

Emil shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The more people she has keeping her safe, the better we’ll all feel.”

“Speak for yourself,” I said.

Emil met my eyes. “I’m not leaving.”

“Our Clan is starting to lose faith in you as its leader,” Tate said. “You need to fix that and come home.”

“You’re the leader of your Clan?” I asked.

Emil looked at me, nodding slowly. “Tate and I share the responsibility.”

“Why would you share it?” I asked, genuinely curious. “He’s your younger brother.”

Emil looked at me, surprise flickering over his face. “How did you know that?”

“You were a Duke. So you had to be the oldest.” Again, things I’ve learned from historic romance novels.

Emil held my eyes. I could tell he was curious how I knew the Duke information. I hadn’t mentioned that flashback to him. Alex didn’t seem to pick up on it, or maybe he assumed Emil had told me.

“They’re twins,” Alex said.

I looked from Emil to Tate, and back again. There was definitely a family resemblance between them, but they didn’t look like twins. “Funny, Alex.”

“It’s true,” Emil said, “We’re fraternal twins. I was born a few minutes before Tate. I was the Duke per societal rules, but we’ve always ruled our Clan together, and since we’ve never had heirs, we traded off the Duke title in different lifetimes.”

No heirs. So Emil hadn’t knocked up my Cassandra incarnation. How many kids I’d had, or if I’d had them at all, was one of many things I’d wondered about my previous lives.

“Which is why you need to come back,” Tate said. “I’m sick of doing it on my own.”

They were going in circles, repeating the same argument. I thought it could go on all night. Emil must have realized the same thing because he gave Tate a lethal stare before turning to me. “It seems there are things Tate and I need to discuss. If you’re okay, we’ll go and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I nodded my assent.

“I’ll stay with her tonight,” Alex said, folding himself down onto the couch.

Emil sliced his head down once. Tate stood, annoyed that he hadn’t gotten his way—yet—and followed Emil out of the house.