Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) by Sarah Ashwood (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

She made no secret of it. But after the birth of our son, she started to change. Dramatically. I thought at first it was simple hormonal changes from pregnancy and childbirth—that type of thing. We saw doctors, therapists; did all the right things. She grew increasingly forlorn, in spite of it all, but she managed to keep it under wraps except for around me.

“In truth,” Sean said, finishing his first drink and rising to pour himself another, “our marriage hasn’t been good since…”

He stopped, chuckled bitterly. “Why am I telling you these things? Either of you? Perhaps I’ve kept quiet for so long that it’s actually a relief to have it out in the open.” He shook his head. “I thought if I gave her everything, I could make her happy. I was wrong. I couldn’t give her enough because what she wanted wasn’t me, or our son, or our life here.

“She’s a Merrow. She loves the sea. She loves freedom. She couldn’t help it. It was born and bred into her; a part of her, like the blood in her veins. It didn’t matter how much she’d loved me once, or how much she loved Jackson. The call in her was stronger than any other bond here on Earth. She wanted her red cap; she wanted her freedom. I thought by keeping it hidden from her, like the old stories say, I’d help her forget. I could keep her here. Keep her satisfied.”

“But it didn’t work,” Carter supplied when his boss stopped, seemed to fumble for words.

Sean exhaled a heavy breath and locked his hands behind his neck. “No, it didn’t work. As I came to that realization, I came to understand her longings were overtaking her judgment. Her philosophies were changing. It started small. It was subtle. We argued about it, then mutually chose not to discuss it. I never dreamed she’d actually do anything about it, didn’t think she’d truly betray me until that night...”

“What night?”

“The night your young lady visited us for the first time.” Sean turned to look at Carter. “You see, that attack—you didn’t know, and neither did I at first, but the more I considered it, the more I questioned how could that have occurred without an insider’s aid? And were Nosizwe’s shifters really after Ciara, or was that simply a pretense to throw us off? It looked like they were attacking Ciara, when what they really wanted was to eliminate me, you, and even that girl. It was never about Ciara—that was a sham. It was all about eliminating me. And you, as well, I’m sure,” Sean said to Carter. “They never even tried to turn you, did they?”

“No.”

“They wouldn’t have.” Sean’s smile was grim. “Out of everyone in my employ, you’re the sole person I knew I could completely trust. You’re the Talos, the bodyguard. You can’t betray your loyalties.”

“You make it sound like I don’t have any free will,” Carter said gruffly.

“Do you? After I told you to protect Ellie, was there ever a time you were truly through with the job? A time when you knew without a doubt that you could walk away from her?”

Carter kept silent. He wasn’t prepared to argue the point. Months ago, he’d thought he had walked away from Ellie forever—sent her away, more like, into a new life under an assumed identity. Instead, he’d found his way back to her, in the Pacific Northwest. Had the in-person meeting truly been necessary, or was he led there by an instinct he couldn’t get rid of, couldn’t deny any more than Ciara Costas could deny hers?

In the end, as shapeshifters, they were captive to their alters exactly like normal humans were captive to their bloodlines. Some things were ingrained. Some things couldn’t be changed. Some things simply were. But that didn’t mean free will didn’t exist or they couldn’t make their own choices.

Did it?

“In fact, Ellie, was what confirmed it for me. Do you recall how they sent the Nakki after her? How it knew exactly where to go? How it spoke her name? We knew Nosizwe had spies everywhere, but that confirmed for me precisely how close they were. She was a witness. They wanted her eliminated. Ciara wanted her eliminated. It was all one big massive plot to undermine me, destroy my life’s work, and gain possession of the Stones. Everything, everything she’d done over the past few years points back to it, now that I’m forced to reckon with it. I’ve tried—oh, how I’ve tried. But there comes a point where I can’t. And I suspect your disappearance and Ciara’s story are going to cement that.”

Sean massaged the back of his neck for a few moments, his face screwed up as if in pain. The silence was tense. James shifted, drawing Carter’s gaze. His co-worker shook his head, as if in sympathy. He didn’t know what to say. Neither did Carter. Carter had never seen his boss this vulnerable. However, he wasn’t truly surprised. Sean Costas was a ruthless, brutal man, but if he had a weak point, it was his wife. Carter could understand that. If he had one weakness, it was Ellie, as he’d learned over the past several months. Now Sean was facing the undeniable facts of his wife’s betrayal, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. Carter had no words of comfort, no advice to give.

“Tell me what to do,” he said instead.

Sean looked at him. “What would you do?”

Carter was caught off guard by the question. “I beg your pardon?”

“You’re a married man. I’m supposing you’ve decided to stick with Ellie, against the odds, since your union has yet to be dissolved. If you were me, if you found out she had betrayed you, everything you’ve stood for, everything you’ve worked for, and the people you’ve tried your entire life to protect, what would you do?”

Carter kept silent, wrestling in his brain. At last, he said, “I don’t—have an answer for that.”

“That’s not true. You