"What else do you know that you're not telling me?" Vane asked him.
"Tons of stuff. The ultimate fate of the world. The next president. If the Saints will win this weekend. Hell, I even know the lottery numbers for tonight."
"Really?" Tabitha asked, perking up. "Want to share? Come on, Ash, I need the Powerball numbers. Please. Please, please share! I'll even let Simi eat all the popcorn if you tell me."
Ash snorted, then turned toward Kyrian, Amanda, and Tabitha. "I think Vane needs some time alone with his brother and mate to talk."
Tabitha whined. "Ash, give me those numbers!"
He looked at Tabitha drolly. "Six."
Tabitha held up her hands and motioned to him for more. "And?"
"There's definitely a six somewhere in the winning numbers."
"Oh, you suck, big time," Tabitha said, pouting for a second before she shrugged it off good-naturedly. "Well, now that we know Ash really is cruel and Vane isn't a serial killer, I guess I better get back to my store." She paused by Ash's side. "We still on for the movie Friday night?"
Ash nodded. "I'll be there, same as always."
"Cool, see you then." Tabitha made a quick exit.
Kyrian stared at him with his mouth agape. "You're dating Tabitha?"
Ash gave him a crooked grin. "No, but I find her highly entertaining. She screams the most fascinating things at the movie screen and eats more popcorn than Simi. I have to say, Tabby is definitely one of my favorite people."
"You're a sick man, Ash," Kyrian said as he headed for the back of the house.
"I think you're wonderful," Amanda said before she reached up and pulled his head down toward hers. She kissed Ash on the cheek. Releasing him, she turned in the direction Kyrian had headed off and raised her voice. "And my husband will be sleeping in the guest room for the next couple of nights."
The baby started crying upstairs.
"I've got her," Ash said, vanishing instantly.
Amanda paused by the couch. "I'll be in the kitchen if anyone needs anything."
"Sure," Bride said. "You going to just poof out of here, too, Amanda?"
"I don't have that ability." She touched Bride's hand comfortingly. "I know how you feel, Bride. I really do. Like you, I thought my sister was a screaming loon, and have found out over the last couple of years that she is strangely wise. Just take deep breaths and believe in the impossible." She offered an encouraging smile to them, then left them alone.
"Well," Fury said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess this is where you give me the heave-ho and I head out. You guys have a nice life."
"Wait," Vane said, standing up. "You really didn't betray me, did you?"
"No. I only planned on betraying Stefan and his group to the Arcadians. It was a moral imperative that I screwed with their heads, not yours." He watched Vane warily. "I'll be honest though, Vane. I hate you and you piss me off to no end.
You always have."
"Why? What did I ever do to you?"
"You have no idea," Fury said, his expression cold and angry. "Mom wasn't always that nutcase you met. At least she wasn't to me."
Fury met Bride's gaze. "I'm really sorry for what she did to you, Bride. But you have to understand what the Katagaria took from them. After she was kidnapped by my father, they sent all their strati out to find her. While they were gone from the village, another Katagaria pack came in and slaughtered every child they could find. They raped and murdered most of the women. Those who survived only did so because they fought them off, and most of them, like our grandmother, were never right again. That's why you didn't see that many women in the town."
Fury sighed and turned back to Vane. "You don't know about our Arcadian half.
Since the first birthing of our kind, there has been an Aristo in mother's family in every generation. Her older brother, who was killed when she was taken, was one of them. Our grandfather was another. When she returned with me, Dare, and Star, they thought I would be one, too. I had a strange scent to me that they assumed was the power."
"But you're not Arcadian."