Queen of Ruin(Book three of the Immortals Series)
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE SHE FOUND TWO MORE

"Hold on. I'm coming." Dabbing at her hair with a fluffy, white towel, Stella answered the front door. "Come on in." Closing the door behind them, Jacob's eyes darted across the living room in search of Teddy. "Is he ready to go?"

As she glanced over her shoulder at the bedroom door, she nodded. "Yeah, he's getting dressed. You guys want some coffee?" Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, Logan kissed her temple. "Yeah, that'd be great."

When she got behind the counter, she took two mugs from the cupboard. "Hey, while you guys are out, can you stop and buy me some picture frames? You know, little ones for a regular-sized photo."

Taking a seat across from her at the bar, Jacob nodded as he took the cup from her hand. "Yeah, no problem. What's the occasion, though?"

Her knees dipped as she slid her hand into her purse on the floor beside her, then she pushed it across the counter. "I had a bunch of photos printed from his phone, and I wanted to surprise him. You know, he used to live in Greece and Norway? Some of those pictures are just incredible."

He opened the envelope, and Logan poured himself a cup of coffee as she poked his stomach. "By the way, there's a few pictures of his sister. You're going to want to see those; she's absolutely beautiful."

As he flipped through the photos, Jacob chuckled at her until the pounding in his chest stopped him. His cute, dimpled schoolboy grin fell from his face as he gasped in a breath. "Logan, it's her."

Lifting his chin as he narrowed his eyes, a grin curled up on his lips. "That good, huh?"

With his hand shaking so much it made him laugh at himself, Jacob flipped the photo in his fingers to face his brother. "You tell me."

He'd heard stories about the ancient goddesses in school, and Logan was sure she was one the way her bronze skin shined against the blue Mediterranean waters behind her. The soft curves of her breasts drew his eyes, and he almost felt them under his fingertips as they snatched the photo from Jacob.

While Jacob hastily flipped through the rest for another chance to see her, Logan waved the photo at his sister. "This is Tessa?"

As she leaned against the countertop behind her, she nodded and brought her cup to her lips. "Yep, that's her. I told you she's hot."

"Here's another one." With the picture waving in front of him, Jacob came to Logan's side. Bundled up in her parka, she stood at the edge of an icy, snow-covered cliff in the village Haldir hid them away in most of their lives. "You feel it too, don't you?"

With no words to express the surge rushing through him, Logan simply nodded as his fingers traced her body. "Yes."

Her eyes bouncing back and forth between her brothers, Stella finally understood what they meant, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. "She's your mate, isn't she? I knew it." The click of Teddy's shoe hitting the wood flooring broke the siblings from their conversation as they all turned to watch him enter the room.

Twisting his arm as he buttoned his sleeve, Teddy spoke out to them and apologized for his lack of appropriate attire. "I'm afraid I'm used to dressing less casually. I suppose I'll need to go shopping if I'm going to be hanging out with you country boys."

With no response, he peeked up at the three people staring at him and lifted his brows as it occurred to him he may have insulted his new brothers-in-law. "I didn't mean anything by that. It's just Tessa's always picked out my clothes, and I don't have anything else yet."

In a voice that sounded more like begging than a demand, Logan flipped the picture around to him. "You need to bring her here now."

A sarcastic chuckle came from his nose as he sat on a stool and shook his head. "She'll never agree to it."

Typically the nice one, the seriousness on his face was almost threatening as Jacob set his picture down and leaned over the bar. "Make her."

The gnawing sensation of knowing something is wrong before the thing is ever spoken weighed on Teddy's shoulders as he narrowed his eyes at them. "What the hell's going on? Why do you two care what happens to my sister?" "She's our mate, Teddy." Tapping his fingers on her picture, Jacob glanced at his brother. "You got to bring her here."

The last shred of loyalty he had for Rafik dug itself free from the grave he buried it in as Teddy stirred his cup of coffee. "No, she's not. I told you, she already found her mate."

When the slap of the photo against the counter came, and Logan joined Jacob in his intimidating stance, Teddy shot out a huff through his nose as his lip curled into an irritated smirk.

Leaning down to meet his eyes, Logan laid his claim. "Well, I guess today's her lucky day because she just found two more."

Sliding her hand around his back as she came to sit on his lap, Stella leaned into his ear. "Teddy, this is a good thing. We can all be one big family."

A cold wave of guilt sent a shiver through him as he pushed her from his lap and ran his fingers through his hair. "You three realize she's married, right?"

The Alpha pushed out his lips and shook his head as he moved around the counter. "Not anymore."

Wishing he could go back in time and never even mention his sister at the dinner table, Teddy wiped his hand across his mouth and pointed to the door. "That poor man is waiting for her to come join him. Let's say for a minute that you can convince her to be with you. What happens when that someday comes and they're reunited? What happens? Hmm?"

He chuckled back at the thought of it and pointed at Logan. "What? You think she would choose you over her husband?"

Like the answer was so clear, he crossed his arms and shrugged. "You said she doesn't remember him."

"Jesus, Logan." The ugly scowl of a man who knew he was only digging deeper into a hole he can never climb out of came across Teddy's face. "That spell won't last forever. Eventually, her memories will come back to her. I don't even know how I'm going to begin making that shit up to her. Making her cheat on her husband by forcing her to be with you two, well, that seems like a terrible fucking idea to me. I got enough bad karma to answer for when it comes to her." The heaviness in Logan's footsteps as he came across the living room only added to the frightful demeanor he wore when his eyes flashed gold and black.

Pointing at Teddy, his raspy voice echoed through the house. "I'll drive down there right fucking now and drag her ass back kicking and screaming if I have to, Teddy." His finger replaceing its way South, he pointed to where he stood. "I want her here now."

Like little blades of grass pushing themselves up into the air, Teddy's hair began to squirm in the hot breeze his anger was creating. His eyes flickered with darkness as the warlock warned him what became of people who dared to cross his sister. "I don't give a fuck what either of you wants. You put your hands on my sister, and I'll kill you myself. It wouldn't be the first time I've done it."

Stepping between the two of them, Stella pushed them apart with her hands. "Calm down, you two." After she nudged Logan back, she turned her attention to Teddy as she tried to reason with him. "This is Fate. They want all of us to be together."

Laughing in her face as he backed away from her, Teddy shook his head as he slid his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, see, we aren't really fans of those spiteful whores or the whole bullshit religion. You know, the having our entire family slaughtered thing more or less soured us on their plans for us. Trying to use them as your argument won't get you far with me, my dear."

Logan pushed back his hair and took deep breaths to try to calm himself when he passed by Jacob. "Talk to this man before I fucking snap."

Jacob looked to Teddy as he patted his brother's shoulder. "This doesn't have to be ugly. You don't even have to get involved. Just tell us how to replace her; we'll go talk to her ourselves."

With a snort through his nose, Teddy bent over and laughed at the suggestion. "Even if I thought that might work, her guardian wouldn't let you two within a hundred yards of her. Haldir's what you might call overprotective." With his hands up like he could fight the very idea of anyone keeping him from what belonged to him, Logan stormed back into the room. "What guardian? Who the fuck is this asshole?"

Before he came too close, Teddy threw up his hand to stop him. His fiery spirit was rarely cooperative, but he had difficulty keeping him bottled up when it came to Tessa.

After the way the twins reacted from seeing her photo, he realized that he could never bring her there. It was a disaster waiting to happen. "Easy there. He's the man my parents left us to when they died. You go knocking on his front door demanding to speak to her is about the quickest way I can think to have yourself killed. The two of them are inseparable. Any delusions about having her all to yourself, well, you should probably forget that shit."

With his hand gripping his rather large chest, Logan's whole attitude instantly changed as he inched closer. "She's mine, Teddy." His chin nodded back to Jacob. "Ours. What would you do if I told you that you could never be with Stella again?" The thumping in his head that stopped the day he left Savannah rushed back in an instant, and he rubbed at it with his fingertips. When he turned and walked into the bedroom, Teddy yelled back over his shoulder. "I don't want to hear another goddamn word about this. I'm done with this conversation."