Read My Brother's Keeper for Free Online

"Fae?"
    He smiled. "Good job."
    Colton waved his hand. "What about me?"
    Anne thought about it a moment. "Dog?"
    Meryn burst into giggles.
    Colton frowned at her. "I am not a dog." Pouting, he looked over at Anne. "Why did you guess that?"
    Anne gave a half shrug. "Because you're so open and friendly. You were waving your hand so eagerly, it reminded me of my friend's dog wagging his tail."
    Her response had all the men cracking up. Colton crossed his arms. "That's not fair. She guessed Gavriel and Darian right."
    Meryn was giggling and pointed at him. "She got you right, too, admit it."
    Colton sighed dramatically and winked at her, letting her know he wasn't really mad. "I'm a wolf shifter, so half right."
    Meryn leaned in on her elbows. She pointed over her shoulder at her husband. "What about him?"
    "Oh, he's easy. Bear."
    Meryn's eyes widened. "How'd you know that?"
    Anne looked Aiden up and down. "He's huge and kinda growly like a bear, but nice and gentle like a teddy bear. Plus, Bart always complains that Aiden eats all the honey buns as he walks through the store."
    Aiden stared, his mouth wide open. He turned to Gavriel. "Did you know we were so easy to identify?"
    Gavriel brought a hand up to cover his mouth. "I think you are a rare exception."
    Anne remembered the reason why she was there. "That leaves witch. That's Keelan isn't it? What's happened to him?"
    Colton was about to respond when Rheia held up her hand. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask. Are you sure you're okay? You're taking all of this extremely well."
    Anne shrugged. "I'm a nurse; not much fazes me anymore. I've known since I was a child that something strange was in these mountains. Personally, I like the idea of vampires and shifter dogs as opposed to the alien invasion theory I heard at the feed and seed last week."
    "I am not a dog!" Colton wagged a finger at her.
    Rheia nodded. "You had me convinced at nurse."
    "You're the doctor aren't you?" Anne asked, feeling a special kinship with the woman.
    Rheia nodded and the twinkle in her eye told Anne she felt the same way.
    Aiden cleared his throat. "Rheia said that nurses are like the human equivalent to military sergeants in the medical field." 
    Anne nodded. "That's about right."
    "If that's the case, then I'm going to lay it out straight for you." Aiden took a deep breath. "Keelan is a witch. One of his gifts is premonition. In his dreams, he saw a scenario play out where all of us died. To prevent that from happening, he sacrificed himself to save us."
    Anne sucked in a breath, and the room started to close in on her. "I thought you said he needed my help. I can't help him if he's dead!" She had finally found someone she cared about; she couldn't lose him, too!
    Aiden was suddenly kneeling down in front of her, and he took her hands in his. There were tears in his eyes. "He's not dead, but he's not alive, either. The spell he protected us from stripped his soul from his body. My brother is also a doctor. He said we can keep Keelan's body alive for quite some time while we look for his soul, but it will be hard work. He'll need a lot of care."
    Anne put the pieces together. "That's why you came to get me? Because I'm a nurse?" She shook her head. "There have to be hundreds of nurses out there who are better qualified. Why me?"
    Aiden squeezed her hands. "Because, after meeting you, Keelan told us you were his mate, his destined partner."
    Anne felt like all the air in the room was disappearing. She had recognized Keelan the second she saw him. She had been dreaming of him for weeks, but he had never said anything to her.
    "You're telling me that the one man I am destined to be with has had his soul stolen and could possibly die?" she asked quietly, staring down at the floor.
    "Yes," Aiden replied softly.
    Anne had just enough time to turn to the one person in the room who could help her. Rheia's look of panic was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.
     
    *****
     
    "It wasn't my revelation