Sixteen

“Thank you for calling and letting me know, Brandon.” Bas was smiling tightly, “No, she won’t be in to charge anything for a few days. I’ll see if she’s up for doing any work at home, she’s a little under the weather.” There was a pause, “I’ll do that. You know she’ll be knocking on your door as soon as she’s better. I think she’d move you into the house with us-” He laughed quietly at something the other man was saying. “She is. I have to go too, take care.”

Eli watched him hang up the frown and close his eyes as if he were exhausted. “What’s wrong, Bas?”

“We may need the Bathim to help protect the Sibyl. Maybe we can bargain with them and have her brought home-”

Folding his arms, he couldn’t keep the sharpness from his voice, “Why? We protect the Sibyl. They aren’t needed.”

“Witches have begun descending on Brandon’s shop, they're finding the things she’s charged for him and asking about them and about her. Someone has just purchased nearly all of her work, asking for more and to meet her. How will you tell Sibbi that she can never leave the compound? You’ll need more help than you realize.”

“We’ll deal with that once we have her back.” Cate rested a hand on the Alpha’s thigh as they sat together.

“If you offer to give them a safe place-”

“Attacking my mate and taking the Sibyl of Germain isn’t something I’m willing to reward.” Alpha Germain rubbed his brow. “There has to be another way. Remi says she feels muted somehow, she’s there but they can’t speak. How well can you communicate with her?”

Bas squeezed the bridge of his nose, “Was it rewarding me by allowing me to make amends and serve? They attacked me, not Madam Cate, if it makes any difference to you, my Alpha.”

“How well, Bas?” Cate asked in a firm but gentle tone.

“I feel her clearly. I could probably make myself heard. Do you want me to tell her not to help them unless they agree to release her?” 

“No, tell her to get away from them. I don’t want more of those things roaming the woods, I know Vivi’s a quick one when she wants to be. Tell her to get them to bring her out of that hole and then to get herself and Grace away. They can be found if they can escape.”

Bas was silent as Eli walked with him out of the safe room and out along the paths to the witches’ house. He paused in the doorway, as the witch went in and dropped onto the sofa.

“Bas?”

“You can go. I’m exhausted and Sibbi is drifting in and out of sleep.”

“I can’t. I was told to stay with you.” Eli stepped in and shut the door moving to sit in a comfortable looking recliner. As he sat he could tell it was where Bas usually chose to sit. He studied the man on the sofa, he seemed fragile and the smell of worry was coming off of him like a fog. “She’s strong, you know. I shouldn’t have to tell you. She’s gotten used to having you here to help her but she used to do well enough on her own. And Grace will try to take care of her.”

The witch smiled bitterly. “Do you have any idea how we suffered apart? You can say my sister does well enough on her own, but you have no understanding of what she needs. My sister believed she was broken, she suffered from the lack of silence and from abuse. She’s strong, but you’ve seen her health. That is the cost of her life spent alone.

“I lived my life with our sadistic father and an ache in my soul that told me I was in the wrong place, I needed to be with her. I need to be with her. I need to look after her. We weren’t meant to have a life outside of each other, and I’m grateful for Maria, I love her more than myself, more than breath, but my purpose is Sibbi.”

“Good wolves, including her mate, are out hunting for her right now, Bas. They’ll bring her home.” They’d bring them both home, he told himself silently.

“If the heart doesn’t soften… I don’t believe they will. She said she is the Bathim’s purpose as she is mine. But I don’t think they understand the harm they’ll do to her.”

They sat in silence until Eli couldn’t take it anymore. “What needs to be done? I need to be doing something, anything, and it would probably do you some good not to just lie there and mope.” 

“I’m not moping, I’m trying to reach my sister.” Bas lifted his head and glared so strongly Eli looked away.

“Well…” 

“Find something to clean. I keep the house, do the laundry, wash things, anything that needs to be done. If Maria has taken care of the inside you can go outside and look for things to do. The garden may need weeding, I don’t expect you to know what can be pruned and taken to the drying shed. Things there may need looking at, but you probably can’t make Sibbi’s smudges… you can try to find out about her car, what it will take to have it repaired.”

“It was totalled.” Maria spoke gently as she came in from the back of the house catching the end of the conversation. “Rob was looking at getting her a new one.”

“Have them keep the wrecked car, my love, if it can’t be fixed she’ll want to take something from it. It isn’t the type of car that she loves so much, it’s that car in particular.”

“I’ll tell them.”

“Can you put Eli to work? I need to try to reach Sibbi.”

“Do it from her room.” Maria helped him up from the sofa. “It’s safer in there, her bedroom defenses are the strongest you both can manage.”

“Remi-”

“He won’t mind if you’re helping to find her. You can even lay in their bed.” She gave him a warm smile, “He promises he won’t fuss.”

After she’d taken the witch into one of the bedrooms she came back out with a worried expression on her face. “He’s exhausted.”

“He said they suffer apart.” 

“They do. It’s like a stranger, stronger version of the mate bond. He can’t sleep when she’s awake and he can barely eat when she’s hungry. It’s been that way all of his life. They were never meant to be separated. He was born to take care of her, very literally.”

Exhaling, Eli ran his hand through his hair. “What can I do to help?”

“I’ve started some of the cleaning. You’re welcome to join me.” She gestured to the kitchen. “There isn’t much to do today since we didn’t cook and eat at home. The bedrooms are still clean from yesterday… He keeps the house spotless.”

Eli glanced around and smiled faintly, “He does. Remi doesn’t like him in the bedroom?”

“Remi prefers to clean their room himself but if Vivi leaves something lying around on the bed or,” she paused and laughed, “on the floor, Bas goes in to tidy up and Remi fusses. They both fuss at her for her ‘floordrobe’.”

“She’s so particular about her glass I didn’t think she’d be a slob…” He laughed as Maria grinned and shook her head.

“I love Vivi but… she was used to living out of laundry baskets and trashbags. She complains that the dresser is just an unnecessary step. Bas washes her clothes, folds them and gives them to Remi to put away.”

“Ha! What does she do around the house?”

“She listens to the Sibyl.” Maria picked up a decorative geode. “People come to ask her questions, or she gets feelings about things that might happen and usually do happen and she tells the Alphas. Sometimes she goes through the house touching things like she’s looking for something, usually the things made of stone. Most of the pack likes to get pretty rocks for her when they see them. Though Bas tries to discourage it.”

“Why?”

“Aurel found a very pretty, decently sized uncut diamond-”

“She liked that, I bet.”

“She wouldn’t touch it. She doesn’t trust diamonds. They can hold malevolent energy and not even she can always see it if it was applied a certain way. Bas apologized and explained, and Aurel understood. I think he asked Brandon to sell it for him.”

“Aren’t there diamonds in the creepy jewelry collection?”

“There are. Every glass case is sealed so that nothing can leak out. That entire collection belonged to their father and Bas said he learned quickly after he saw Vivi work. They both love the jewelry but they can’t trust it. Diamonds can hold onto things…”