To be Claimed by Her

Chapter 86

Brandon's POV

Sean stayed in the room with Firecracker while the rest of us sat dumbfounded in Raven and Corey's front room. Kaylie and Sang had confessed to crimes we couldn't believe. If we thought they'd hidden things from us before, now we were really shocked. Both girls had murdered people for Volto and Kaylie had sold her body for secrets. How did they fall so far? The most terrifying part was that neither of them seemed to have a drop of remorse. Kaylie was her usually hateful self, but Sang was sociopathic. She was detached and matter of fact in her descriptions. When someone would gasp or ask a question, she just shrugged as if it was no big deal. Even though we all went through hell, I'm so thankful they left us. I shudder to think what they might have done to one or all of us eventually, especially Sang.

Luke sat staring out the window. I think deep down he still hoped she was in there, some part of his Cupcake still existed even if she didn't love him anymore. When she talked about the murders, he'd become physically ill and had to run from the room. I walked towards his chair. "Hey man, do you wanna talk?"

He looked up, his eyes hollow, and gave a dry chuckle, "What's there to say? I loved a narcissistic sociopath? Yep, that's one hell of a dinner topic."

I cringed a bit, but then said, "At least you had company. We all missed it in both of them. We got so caught up in saving them, that we never saw the depth of the damage that was already done." I sat down next to him. "Honestly, man, I don't think they wanted to be saved, not deep down. Kaylie was always mad at the world, projecting it on everyone else."

North came up and handed us both a beer, "Yeah, we won the mother of all awards for crazy ex-girlfriends." He put a hand on Luke's shoulder, "It isn't just you, brother. We're all hurting, we just each show it in different ways."

"Yeah, I know," he muttered. "How's Pixie? Gotta admit, I never expected that level of violence from her either." He peeled at the label on the bottle as he spoke, not looking up at us.

"She's still sleeping," North answered, "I was surprised at first, but when I started feeling Sang's emotions - or lack thereof, it was sickening and Queen has stronger skills in empathy. I have a feeling her reaction had more to do with us than anything else. I think she knew all the things Sang had done as if she could sense it."

"Yeah, I didn't think of that. Her empathy isn't tied to her magic, so it would still work." I said. Luke seemed to ponder this, then got up and walked towards the bedroom. "Think he'll be okay?" I asked North.

"Eventually."

Yeah, isn't that the answer to everything...eventually.

We got up and headed back to the others. "How long will it take you to close out the case with the Academy, Corey," Owen asked.

"Not long, thanks to Dreamgirl we have everything documented, so it should be a day or two. What's the rush?" He replied.

"Time isn't on her side. The sooner we can get that stone out of her chest, the better. Kota says the Council will host us at their headquarters in Dublin while we try." Owen shifted in his chair, obviously uncomfortable.

Gabe laughed, "He's trying to get the point across that you two need to see about your connection with little wolf. Loki indicated that completing her soul bonds might help activate her magic."

Raven looked at Owen and the rest of us, "So all of you have...?"

Owen shook his head and I just groaned, "I wish. Luke hasn't either. Marc, did you two, um, on the plane?" Marc grinned like a Cheshire cat and showed off his arm. Lucky bastard. "Yeah, so that just leaves three of us, and now you two."

"Then why does Owen have a mark?" Corey asked.

Owen gave a full smile, "That would be my soul bond with Sean." He held out his arm showing the light grey and purple swirls.

"What? Wait, when did you two...damn what else did we miss in the last six months?" he sputtered.

Victor chuckled as he leaned over Gabe and gave him a deep kiss, followed by Axel and Silas kissing. Wait, I'd missed that last one too.

Raven let out a loud laugh and kissed Corey, "Look moy solnechnyy svet, we are trendsetters!" The room erupted in laughter at that. He looked around the room in a serious tone and asked, "Is anyone straight, or were all of us idiots this whole time?"

"I think we were all scared. Scared of each other's opinions, scared Sang would reject us as Kaylie did with both of you, and for me, I was afraid he didn't love me back," Owen said, his voice dropping at the end.

"Well that's just a stupid thought and you know it," Sean said as he came into the room. "I've been in love with you for years, but the rest of your reasons are valid. We all felt like we had to fit in this mold that made us Academy. Hell, I'm not even sure what that means anymore." He kissed Owen, then looked at all of us, "The only thing I know is that this is my family and that woman in there is the love of all our lives. She makes us better. She encouraged us to open up about our love, and it's made us stronger. She makes us stronger."

"Agreed," Silas said, raising his cup. "To our Seirína, our love!" The room filled with cheers and raised cups calling out various nicknames as we all relaxed for the first time in almost a year.