Forsaken Duty (Red Team #9)(99)

“I couldn’t get out,” Augie said. “I couldn’t do anything. They just locked me in there. I didn’t know if anyone knew where I was. I didn’t know where I was.”

“Your dad about lost his mind trying to find you. And you didn’t know it at the time, but the watchers saw him put you in there. You were only there an hour or two.”

Augie wiped his cheeks. “They said there were pools of acid near my room that they would drop me into. I didn’t know what to do.”

“You stayed calm. You stayed alive. Those were the right things to do.” Lion gave Augie a sideways hug. “Go be a son. Be a brother. Be our friend. Don’t be a jerk. Your parents were hurt by the Omnis, too. Not just physically, but mentally. They have wounds that need healing. Heal together. Be a family. Give us an ideal to look up to.”

“Can I still train with you?”

“That’s up to your parents, but I would welcome that.”

Augie stood up and nodded at Lion. “Okay. I will.”



Owen stood at the French doors in the den, watching as Lion and Augie walked up from the lower terrace and parted ways. Augie went toward the entrance near their bedroom wing. Lion came toward him.

Owen opened the door and let Lion in. “What’s going on?”

Lion shrugged. “Nothing you wouldn’t expect.”

“And what should I be expecting?”

Lion’s smile was a little sad. “You know how we talked about keeping the pride together? That, in some cases, it might be more harmful to return boys to their families than it is leaving them with the watchers? That’s the issue here.”

“There’s no issue. Augie belongs with his family.”

“I agree. That’s what I told him. But look at it from his perspective. For the last three years, he’s been learning how to survive. That’s a powerful way of living a boy doesn’t let go of easily. There’s nothing stronger any of us feels than to survive. We’re how he’s learned to live.”

Owen leaned against the front of his desk. He’d asked Augie for patience and tolerance as they all learned to be a family. Those were luxurious emotions compared to an existential reality.

He looked at Lion. “What do I do?” Of all the adults here at Blade’s, Lion knew the most about raising boys.

“Chill.”

Fucking chill? Fuck that all the ways to hell and back. He’d just gotten his son in his life. All four of them finally had a chance to come together to be a real family, and he was supposed to fucking chill?

He supposed his reaction to that directive showed on his face.

Lion smiled. “Boys are a lot like cats. Curious. Intelligent. Independent. If you want them to do what you want, you have to let them see it themselves. Lead him to the behavior you want. Otherwise, you’re just herding cats and neither of you will ever be happy.”

Owen sighed. Parenting was hard as hell. It was easier to face a bastard like Edwards while tied to a chair, getting beat up by his goons. “Okay.”

Lion started for the door to the hallway, but stopped. “Augie wants to know if he can still train with us?”

Owen looked at Lion. Maybe that was the answer…the bridge to his son. A foot in both worlds, sure, but that wasn’t a bad thing. “Yes, he can. Thanks, Lion.”



Owen looked around at the huge gathering in the team’s main living room the next afternoon. A day had passed since the big fight at the WKB compound. Lion and his watchers were there, as were the entire team and their women and children and some of their parents. Max had even brought one of the biker guys back with him. Everyone was visiting, reconnecting.

His team needed this time to regroup.

Owen had thought, when they’d first moved in to Blade’s, that it was way more space than they needed. But if his group got any larger, he was going to have find a bigger place. Addy sat next to him on the sofa. Troy was on floor playing some game with Zavi. Augie was over with Lion.

Addy had taken a shower this morning and then attacked her breakfast like a teenaged boy. Her energy was improving rapidly. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, but she—and he—were adapting well.

“Hey, guys,” Jim said. “Don’t know how this passed your attention a few days ago, but we missed Thanksgiving.” He grinned. “Kinda miffed Russ. He was looking forward to making the feast. We still have all the fixings. It would be a shame to let them go to waste. How about we make it happen tomorrow?”

Owen smiled at Addy. Thanksgiving. With everyone. She returned his smile and reached for his hand. “I think that sounds like a great idea,” he said.

Max frowned at his phone, then said something that Owen didn’t want to hear just then; “We got incoming.”

“Who is it?” Kit asked.

“Jax.” Max looked at Owen. “He’s got someone with him.”

Addy tried to get up, but Owen gave her a slight shake of his head. He crossed the room and opened the door. He instantly knew the man with Jax. They stared at each other, not quite enemies, but not friends either.

And then the man held out his hand. “Son.”

Owen looked over at Addy, then at his own son, then at Troy. Slowly, he reached out and took the offered handshake. “Dad. So it’s true. You are alive.” This wasn’t how Owen had expected it would be. He was looking at man who was near his own age. Now he knew what Wynn had been feeling when she met her parents. His dad must have taken the same nanos that they had.