"That's not true," Thomas clarified. "He met me late at night and threatened to take my head off if I hurt you the first time I ever really saw him here."

"You did?" Judith looked pleased. "That's so sweet, Levi."

Levi groaned. Thomas smirked.

"Not sweet, Judith," Levi corrected. "You can't ever call me sweet. I was willing to kick his ass, which is manly and macho, not sweet. I've completely lost my reputation with you women."

"You're not getting off track that easily," Lissa said, her red hair throwing off sparks. "What's wrong with your brother? All of you are uneasy with him being here. Right at this moment he's alone with our little sister."

Max shook his head. "We're glad he's here. You have no idea what it's like to lay eyes on one another and actually have a conversation after the years apart."

"But you didn't," Airiana pointed out. "You didn't converse with him, at least not when we were with you."

The three men exchanged long looks, but none of them answered the question.

"When we started this farm," Blythe said, "all of us agreed to be truthful with one another, and to talk things out when there were problems. We've all had a voice in every decision. You came here and took on those same rules. We're loyal to one another. Of course your brother is welcome here, but if you know something we don't, or if Lexi is in any kind of danger, you owe it to us to tell us."

"His aura is very powerful," Judith added. "And violent. When Levi first came here, I was terrified for Rikki because Levi's aura seemed extremely dark, but Gavriil's is worse. Far worse." She looked to Airiana for confirmation.

Airiana nodded, slipping her hand into Max's. "I'm sorry to say it, but it's true. His aura was unrelentingly dark. I couldn't catch a glimpse of anything, any other trait than pure violence."

"He's not a psychopath," Levi snapped, and then shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's just that, it's difficult for someone else to know what we've been through, especially Gavriil and Viktor, our older brothers. They bore the worst of it."

Rikki rubbed her hand down Levi's back and leaned close to him, her body brushing up against his, a rare gesture for her in public, even around her sisters. Usually Levi was the one to touch her or show affection openly. In private, Rikki was extremely loving to him, but when she did something others would think of as insignificant such as her small gesture, to Levi, it was a huge declaration of love.

He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss along her knuckles. "I'm sorry, Rikki. I knew better than to offer our home to Gavriil. I didn't want him to leave, but I didn't want him alone with Lexi. I just didn't know the right thing to do."

She brushed her fingertips down his jaw, looking at him with eyes the color of obsidian. "It's all right, Levi. I would rather you protect Lexi than worry about how I might handle your brother in our home. We could have worked that out. Do you think she's in danger?"

"From Gavriil?" Levi hesitated, uncertain what he thought. Gavriil had marked Lexi in the way of their family, claiming her for his own, but the women were right, violence had been Gavriil's way of life. Levi didn't really know him at all. How could he assure the women that Lexi was safe with him when he didn't know himself?

"Yes, Levi," Lissa persisted. "From Gavriil."

"I don't know." He had to be honest. He looked a little helplessly at his brothers.

Lissa muttered something that sounded like a curse and jumped off of Rikki's porch. "I'm going back to her house. If that man has touched one hair on her head, I'm going to kill him myself."

"Lissa, hang on," Max cautioned. "Gavriil is different. You can't come at him like a runaway freight train. He isn't going to respond. He's a shadow. He took apart Caine and found out that other cult members know Lexi's here. Gavriil seemed determined to protect her from them. If that's the case, he isn't going to budge until he gets the job done. Nothing you say or do will change his mind."

"And quite frankly," Thomas added, "you can't kill him. You would never lay a hand on him. He's a scary bastard, even for one of us to take on. Hell, for all three of us to take on. If we knew Lexi was in trouble, we'd do it, but..."

"He marked her," Levi interrupted abruptly. "I saw him. Palm to palm. Right in front of me. Deliberately in front of me to warn me to back off."

There was a silence. Airiana, Judith and Rikki rubbed their palms down their thighs. Blythe looked alarmed, and Lissa frowned at them.

"What do you all know that I don't? What does that mean?" Lissa demanded.

"In our family, generations back," Thomas explained, "we've always had this strange gift." He reached for Judith's hand and turned her palm over, running his thumb across the center. Two intertwined circles rose beneath the skin for one moment and then receded.

Lissa gasped. Thomas brought Judith's palm to his mouth and pressed a kiss into the center right over the mark.

"I have one as well," he added. "We all do. It can only happen with one woman. Once she's chosen, and our gift accepts her, we can choose to use our onetime connection that binds us closer. As far as I know, no Prakenskii would ever choose a woman, bind her and then walk away. If he did, he would have to have a powerful reason."

"He did that to Lexi?" Lissa asked incredulously. "Does he have any idea what she's been through? She'll be so afraid. She isn't ready for any kind of a relationship."

"Honestly," Max said, "I don't think Gavriil is either. However traumatized Lexi's been, I can assure you, Gavriil's had equal or more. Viktor, my oldest brother, and Gavriil were taken to the worst training schools. The conditions were brutal; all of us in the other schools knew about those places and how harsh they were. We were brutalized enough, and the thought of being sent to one of the other schools was enough to keep most of the students in line."

"I'm sorry about that," Lissa said, "I really am, but he can't force Lexi into anything she doesn't want. She's been forced enough times in her life without having it happen again."

"What can we do?" Judith asked.

"I'm not willing to tell my brother he isn't welcome here," Thomas added. "Not unless he does something that upsets Lexi. We're all speculating here because we're uneasy, but we don't know what's going on at her house."

"Then we need to find out," Blythe said firmly. "One of us needs to go back there and check on her. If we all go, it will look as if we're attacking Gavriil in some way."

"I know Lexi. If she thinks we're all in some way going after him," Lissa added, "she'll defend him. She doesn't want to hurt a snail in her gardens let alone someone she considers wounded. If we make her look at him like that, she'll fight for him and not think about the consequences to herself."

They all looked at one another. Airiana glanced toward her land. Each of them had five acres of their own within the farm's acreage, and right now, she was concerned with what was going on with the children. She wouldn't put it past Benito to be spying on them all.

"I'll go if you want me to," she volunteered, reaching for Max's hand. "But probably Benito will follow us."

"Let me do it," Blythe said. "If I go alone, no one is going to see me as a threat. I can take some food over. Levi, can you whip something up for me, sandwiches maybe?"

"Not peanut butter," Lissa said, referring to Rikki's beloved ingredient she thought was a perfect meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"Hey! I eat more than peanut butter," Rikki said. "I actually can eat a few other things now, can't I, Levi?"

He ruffled her hair. "You do, and I'm so proud of you. I'll see what I can find, Blythe. That's a good idea." He went into the kitchen. Their door was generally open, leaving just the screen closed. He would be able to hear their conversation while he put together a lunch.

"And then you'll call us," Lissa said anxiously to Blythe. "I won't be able to work on anything until I know she's safe."

"I think Lexi's the safest person on this farm," Max said. "Gavriil will protect her with his life. If you've got him, you don't need the rest of us. He's a one-man army."

"I just don't want him making any demands on her," Lissa said. "What exactly happened this morning? Lexi was so upset she cried a lot when she was telling us."

Thomas shrugged. "Gavriil came to the farm to see us, and he spotted Lexi. He followed her to the other piece of property, but he was on foot and she was in the trail wagon. When he spotted her, one of the men was rushing her with a knife and he shot him first and then the second man who was armed as well."

"But not Caine," Judith said.

"Caine was already trapped in the ground. Lexi used the kick-out move we've been working on and she connected with Caine's knee and thigh, driving him away from her. That gave her enough time to open a crack in the ground. He sank to his thighs and the ground closed, trapping his legs there," Max explained.

"But he wasn't dead?" Lissa persisted.

"Not right away," Thomas said. "He lived a little longer, just long enough to tell Gavriil others would be coming after Lexi."

"Why would he tell Gavriil that?" Rikki asked.

"Gavriil said he felt the need to confess," Thomas said, using a tone that said that avenue of conversation was closed.

The women exchanged a long look of comprehension.

"Don't look now," Max cautioned, "but we're under surveillance, and it's not Benito this time."

Airiana scooted over to casually lean her hip against the railing beside Max, fitting beneath his shoulder. She tried not to laugh. "Nicia and Siena? They're babies. What in the world are they doing over here?"

"They've got Benito's binoculars, and he's never far from them," Max said.

"I think the strap has grown right into his neck," Airiana agreed. "If the girls are here, Lucia must be as well. She doesn't let them out of her sight, and this is her first official big babysitting opportunity. I told her I'd pay her to watch the children for an hour or two, but that I'd be on the property if they needed us."

"Where is that little devil?" Max asked. "He's got to be close by."

Airiana tilted her head up to Max's face. "Surely you're not referring to our son as a 'devil.' He's so like you."

"My point exactly."

"If you can't see him," Blythe said, "he's really becoming like you. When have you never been able to spot someone sneaking up on you? I think it's so great that he's emulating you."

"They spend every night in our bedroom," Max groused. "All four of them. The two little girls are in our bed. Lucia sleeps on Airiana's side on the floor, and Benito sleeps on my side on the floor. We've taken to escaping through the upstairs window to the gazebo. Of course they position themselves perfectly to know if we get up and try to sneak out. That boy has actually tried to follow us."

Rikki snickered. Lissa burst out laughing. Judith covered her mouth and buried her face in Thomas's shirt. Thomas and Levi laughed uproariously.

"I can see I'm not getting any sympathy from the lot of you," Max said, but his eyes were laughing, and there was no doubt that he was proud of Benito's blossoming abilities.

"Fortunately for you," Levi said, returning to the porch with a picnic basket filled with food, "it isn't easy to get close to this house. All the ground cover is low, and fireproof. He can't have overheard us."

"I wouldn't put it past him to have some sort of a listening device," Max said. He frowned as he surveyed the food Levi handed over to Blythe. "Is that a picnic basket? I mean like a real one? With a handle and plates and silverware?"

"Does it have a checkered cloth as well?" Thomas asked innocently.

"Go to hell, both of you," Levi suggested, with a rude gesture behind Rikki's back. "You're jealous because I'm civilized and know what a picnic basket is."

"Is there something wrong with a picnic basket?" Rikki asked, her eyes widening. She turned as though looking to Levi for an answer.

Levi scowled darkly at his brothers. "They're trolls, baby, of course there's nothing wrong with using a picnic basket."

"Oh. I thought maybe you bought it as a joke or something," she said, looking serious.

Thomas and Max nearly fell to the porch floor laughing. Thomas actually held his sides. Levi couldn't help laughing either. It was rare for Rikki to tease him. He definitely hadn't bought the picnic basket. Judith had given it to Rikki, thinking she might use it on her boat when she went diving. Rikki used a cooler, but she treasured the basket because it had been a gift.

"He's on the roof," Max said suddenly, his head snapping around. He glared up at the rooftop. "Benito, get down from there right this minute."

"That's awesome," Levi said. "He made it all the way across the open yard and didn't tip any of us off to his presence. He's getting good, Max."

"Benito, I'm warning you. Get your butt down from that roof right this minute," Max said. "Airiana's about to have a heart attack."

Airiana raised her eyebrow. Clearly Max was the one worried about Benito's safety, but she didn't contradict him. "Do come down, Benito," she encouraged.

"Did you come in from the other side of the house?" Levi asked, as the boy shimmied down from the top of the roof to the overhang of the porch.

Before he could answer, Max reached up and caught the boy around the waist, pulling him down and setting him down beside him none too gently. "Stop scaring Airiana."

"Sorry, Airiana," Benito murmured, his eyes bright with his accomplishment. He couldn't stop smiling. "I did it, Max. All three of you and the women. I snuck up on you, and no one even noticed me."

"You used your sisters as bait, keeping our eyes on them, didn't you?" Thomas asked.

Benito nodded. "Max said to use any distraction that might seem natural. I knew it would tip you off that I was close, but if you weren't looking at them, you might have felt me getting close to the house."

Max dropped his hand on top of the boy's head and carelessly ruffled his hair. "That was good thinking. What did you use to get up on the roof? There's nothing to climb on to make that kind of height."

He knew Levi wouldn't keep a ladder that close to the house and there were no trees to use the branches.

Benito looked smug. "Rikki always sleeps with the window open. I've never seen it closed, not once when I've come around. I just used the windowsill."

Max narrowed his eyes at the boy. "You're not that tall."

Benito shrugged, but he looked a little apprehensive. "I jumped and caught the beam and swung my legs up."

Airiana gasped. "Benito, you could have missed and broken something."

"I know. I realized it wasn't the smartest idea," he hastily admitted. "I won't do it again. I was going to ask Max what would have been a better way to do it, but I was going to wait until you weren't around."

Max groaned and looked away from Airiana's darkening frown.

"Wait until I wasn't around? What exactly do you two discuss when I'm not around?"

"Man things," Benito said, puffing out his chest. "Not for women's ears."

Max clapped his hand over Benito's mouth and pulled the boy into him, pretending to strangle him. "You can't say things like that. How many times do I have to have this conversation with you?"

Airiana made a face at Max. "I see, Benito. How often do you and Max have these little manly talks?"

"Lucia!" Max raised his voice and signaled to the three children still hiding in the brush. "Now would be a really good time for you girls to join us."

"Coward," Airiana hissed, and winked at her sisters.

"I'd better go check on Lexi," Blythe said, tucking her arm through the handle of the picnic basket. "I'll call as soon as I've spoken with her and know what's going on."

"She's safe with him," Max said. "I'm certain of it."

"Who's safe with who?" Benito asked, looking from one to the other.

Blythe laughed. "You have your hands full, Max."

Siena, the youngest child, ran to Airiana and wrapped her arms tightly around her legs. Nicia raced to leap into Max's arms. Lucia sauntered after them. At fourteen, she was trying hard to be grown-up for her younger sisters and brother. Benito and Max had a bond, forged on the ship when Max rescued him, the same with Nicia. Siena naturally gravitated to Airiana, but Lucia hadn't quite made up her mind yet.

Airiana knew she wanted to stay, but she'd trusted the man who had betrayed them and sold them into the human trafficking ring. She was more reserved, watching everyone closely and keeping her sisters and brothers very near to her. This was the first time she'd ever participated in one of Benito's plots to spy.

Lucia seemed to feel most comfortable when she was close to Airiana. She enjoyed being around the others, but she was always very quiet and watchful. Airiana couldn't blame the girl. She'd barely had a chance to process her parents' murder when the man claiming to be their uncle had turned them over to be used and discarded by sex traffickers. Then Nicia's twin sister was murdered and Nicia and Benito assaulted.