Moira Rogers - Crossroads

If she let down the walls now, she’d never be able to function through the next few days. “I can’t, Alec. But thank you. For everything.”

For a second she thought he’d argue, but he dropped his arm. “Fair enough. Now what are you planning on doing with Derek Gabriel in the middle of all this mess? Because you’re gonna have to tie him up and stick him in a closet to keep him out of it.”

“Oh, Jesus. He thinks I’m trying to keep him away from it because he’s a second-class werewolf or something crazy like that. I just don’t want him getting his head ripped off because of me when I’m not even in danger.”

“ He’s going to be in danger if you don’t sit him down and explain shit to him. You can’t leave him out of it, Nick.”

The thought made her chest tighten painfully. “I don’t know what to tell him.” Even after nearly twenty-six years, there were so many intricacies she didn’t understand. “I’m bad at the political stuff, Alec. No matter what my father’s aspirations are, I don’t think I’ll ever get it. So what do I say?”

Alec planted a hand in the middle of her back and urged her to sit on the couch. “You tell him the truth. He doesn’t need to know the stupid details, just the general situation. If you want, I’ll help.”

“The truth.” She knew Alec was right. What else could she tell Derek? “I have to. I’m going to need him, or I’ll never get Michelle and Aaron through this.”

“Trust me, that boy isn’t going to stand idly by and let you go through this alone, so at least make sure he’s helping instead of getting in the way. He wants to help. Fuck, he needs to.”

She leaned back into the plush cushions of the sofa. “He’s half-crazy from that crap with Talbot anyway. Christ.” If she’d known he gave a damn, she wouldn’t have just run off to help rescue Mackenzie and fight a power-mad Seer. She’d have talked to him, made him understand that she had to help. Maybe even asked him to join her and stand by her side.

“Why don’t you go in there and curl up with your sister? Being near her will do you both good, and I can keep watch.”

“Aaron—” Her voice failed. “Aaron’s there. He’ll do a better job than I could. I-I don’t want to intrude or…” Nick growled and shot off the sofa. “I hate feeling like I don’t know what to do. And I can’t let Michelle see how scared I am.”

Alec watched her in silence as she paced the room in an attempt to still the frantic energy inside her. After a few minutes, he rubbed at the side of his face. “I’ll talk to Jackson in the morning. If we can’t shuffle his mother out of the way, I was thinking we could drop her in the safe house with Michelle and Aaron. It’s secure, and Michelle could probably use a little bit of mothering.”

Jackson would be pissed they hadn’t called him already. Derek would need an explanation. And her father— “I’m kicking Aaron out for a while, after all,” she said suddenly. “I need to be with Michelle.”

“Send him on out here.” Alec bared his teeth in a grin. “I’ll keep him distracted.”

Michelle stirred as Nick nestled behind her on the double bed and drew another plush coverlet over them. “It’s okay, Micky. It’s me.”

Her sister shivered and pulled the blanket tightly under her chin. “I should have known better than to tell the Conclave. I should have known better . How can I still believe in their good intentions?”

“Because you want to be normal.” Loved. Nick wrapped an arm around her sister. “I sent Aaron out with Alec. Is that okay?”

“He’s too nervous to sleep anyway.” Michelle rolled to her back, staring up at the ceiling with eyes that should have been the same ones Nick saw in the mirror every morning. But pain had made Michelle old before her time, pain and weariness and the constant demand by the Conclave that she know her place.

“You should have left a long time ago.” The words sprang, unbidden, to Nick’s lips. “Fucking Conclave.”

Michelle laughed, and it sounded tired. “It seemed like such a perfect plan, Nick. Use their stupid, chauvinist superstitions against them. They believe them, even if they pretend not to. If it weren’t for Aaron—” Michelle’s lips tightened, and Nick knew she was biting back words, trying to find a way to minimize the mistreatment she’d suffered. “I didn’t think about contraceptives. I didn’t think about anything . Every time I touched him, our brains shut off. I’m surprised they didn’t catch us the first time.”

She thought of Derek—and the insane desire that gripped her whenever he came near her. “I understand what you mean. But you’re safe now, and you can be together.”

“I love him, Nicky.” Her sister’s voice trembled. “I love him so much.”

The blanket ripped a little under Nick’s hand. “I know, sweetie. Alec is going to take you both someplace safe tomorrow, and I’m going to figure this out.”

Michelle moved her hand over Nick’s. “I want to help, but I have no idea what to do. The magic… It’s completely out of my control. Most of the time I can’t access it at all, but when there’s danger or I’m scared, insane things happen. Like the lights earlier.”

“All you need to worry about is relaxing and staying calm. For your baby.”

“For my baby.” She dropped her hand to her stomach and smiled at Nick. “Your niece. Or nephew. If the magical midwife person could tell, she didn’t say.”

“We can find someone to tell you,” she promised, a smile curving her own lips. “Jackson might be able to. If not, we’ll keep looking. And there are great hospitals here, Micky.”

Michelle closed her eyes and snuggled her cheek into the pillow. “I’d like to see Jackson again, and I’d like to meet Mackenzie. How are they? Together?”

“Mmm. She moved in with him.” Nick almost felt fifteen again, snuggled in a canopy bed with Michelle, gossiping about boys. “His mom is visiting. Maybe you’ll get to meet her too. And…maybe you’ll get to spend some time with Derek.”

“You seemed pretty fond of him,” Michelle teased sleepily. “You know, people were walking by the bar and staring at you two.”

“They don’t call it the Big Easy for nothing.” Nick’s laughter subsided. “He wasn’t born into this. He was attacked two years ago.”

Michelle’s eyes popped open. “Oh, Nicky. That’s awful. Did they find whoever did it?”

They’d never spoken of it, but she’d have bet the bar downstairs that Alec had killed the rogue wolf responsible for Derek’s attack. “Yes, they did.”

“Good.” Her sister sighed. “I’m so tired. But every time I try to sleep I think I hear something. I’m scared I’ll wake up and someone will have come for Aaron.”

“Sleep.” Tears threatened to choke Nick, but she blinked them away and slid her arms around Michelle. “No one is getting in here. Aaron is safe.” For tonight.

“Thank you.” Her sister’s voice was a sleepy murmur. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Michelle.” Nick lay there, unmoving. She could hear Alec and Aaron talking in the other room, their low, unintelligible tones soothing.

Her next step would usually be to call her father for help. But the Alpha would be honor-bound to report what he’d learned to the Conclave. The only way he could help was obliquely, with as little knowledge as possible of what was going on. Nick’s heart ached for him; he’d tried so hard to protect Michelle, to make her life better than the average Seer’s.

He’d succeeded to a degree, a sad acknowledgement considering her sister had fled to New Orleans in fear for her life.