“A dragon gaisa? Victoria! Is this true?” George asked in shock.
“Yes,” Victoria softly admitted.
“What did you call the witch?” The grey-shirted male asked, surprise evident as he spared a quick glance back at Victoria.
“He called her by some other chick’s name! How lame is that?” shouted Jill, running out of the portal shelter.
She had one of George’s heavy earth swords, likely salvaged from the weapon pile Raphael had thoughtlessly left behind in his hurry to catch Victoria.
Victor was right behind her, already armouring himself in black, which helped marginally to hide his short-shorts outfit.
The badass fire swords dripping blue flames were plenty distracting, anyway.
“Don’t kill him!” Victoria shouted, feeling her last glyph light up.
It was showtime.
Heard but not Seen
Maeren
Everything happened at once.
Raphael turned around to estimate the threat coming from behind him.
The black-shirted male pulled a boulder from the ground the size of a small car that he must have been slowly working up through the earth, cracking the ground open with a tremor.
The general pulled his scythe and moved, leaping forward powered by earth that threw him at least twelve feet as he came whistling down, the curved head of his scythe sharply cutting the air.
Not to be outdone, the boy swung his sword around in a half-circle overhead, like it was a magic wand, and then pointed it to between Jill and Raphael.
It caused an eight-foot wall of rock to rise up from the ground in a line that followed his sword, separating Jill from her target.
Victoria let her spell close shut with a snap of water.
It had wrapped itself around Raphael like a lover. He may have water magic himself, but he couldn’t steal her spelled water.
She let it squeeze him just a little too tight, binding his arms and legs together for the rough part of this ride.
With an explosive flash, the portal imploded and the dragon lit up like a big, white firecracker, shimmering against the setting sun as he disappeared in a mirage.
Of course, the inevitable happened when the person under attack from all sides suddenly disappeared.
Everyone collided.
Victoria would have found it comical if she maintained consciousness, but it was blinking in and out, in . . .
She just barely held on, but her link to Elizabeth and George was gone.
Incredibly, nobody was hurt.
Jill cut through the rock the black-shirted male had tried to drop on Raphael, after she cut through the rock wall from the pink-shirted male. She shouted at the old man to get out of her way, which Victoria doubted Jill knew was an earth general.
Victor took one look at the scythe embedded in the split rock and walked around the yelling match between Jill and the general.
Victoria blinked at the image of her twin coming closer, trying to clear her double-vision of him until she realized it was just the two swords he was carrying.
“So, a dragon,” her brother said in lieu of a greeting, or even checking if she had a brain injury.
He squatted down beside her, looking at Jill. His attention was clearly divided.
“Yep, his name is Raphael,” Victoria said. “He enjoys long flights in the middle of the night and kidnaps princesses for fun.”
“Is he really . . . ?”
“Yes, Vic,” she said, attempting to get off of the ground.
It wasn’t going well, her muscles like warm jelly.
Her twin noticed and picked her up, letting his magical swords flicker out. He didn’t sheath them, which spoke of his discomfort with the other vampires around them.
“Are you okay?” he finally asked, holding her gently as he slowly stood up.
“Just a magic coma,” she said. Her brother frowned down at her.
“Like a sugar coma from eating too many gummy bears,” she clarified.
Her brother looked back up at Jill. “Hmm . . . like eating the entire box of Lucky Charms for the marshmallows and leaving the cereal pieces for me?”
Victoria nodded against his chest.
“I would say you deserve the tummy ache, but I know this wasn’t all your fault,” Victor said. He held her a little tighter. “George and I saw you leading those vampires along with Elizabeth Norwood. Was she still forcing you?”
Victoria heard the anger her brother was holding inside. He never hurt a witch in his life, but for what he assumed the Norwoods had done to Victoria, he might be driven to turn a blind eye while others hurt them.
Just the threat of it frightened her. George had Elizabeth in his clutches and Jill had crossed a line without knowing it.
“I wasn’t forced to hunt with Liz tonight, and I already know it was risky, so can the lecture. They may have forced me at first, Vic, but trust me that they had their reasons, good reasons,” Victoria said, providing a hasty defence.
Victor stared at Jill. “You know they have to stand trial?” he asked. “William is dying to get Jill and her mother back at court.”
“You offered to claim Blue,” Victoria reminded him. “Are you letting Will poach from your harem like Phil now, too?”
Jill may not realize it, but she was much better off with Victor. The cold affections of William were infamously short-lived and Jill deserved so much better for her warm heart.
Victoria had never played matchmaker for her brother before, but she had known Jill was right for him the first time Jill lit up her blue circle to protect them during the Lasier bonding ceremony for her sister.
Soft and strong, Jill was what her twin needed.
“Jill turned me down,” Victor reminded her, but he hadn’t stopped staring at her.
Her stubborn brother needed a nudge.
“Do you think Jill knows that is her grandfather?” Victoria asked. “He’ll probably want to escort her to court himself, and since he’s her closest male relative . . .”
“No,” Victor said, taking one step forward.
He didn’t specify what the ‘no’ was regarding, but Victoria guessed it meant no to everything.
Jill wasn’t going with her grandfather anywhere and Victor would have to take care of the introductions.
She had only known the relationship between Jill and the grey-shirted male because George had told her he was an earth general, after ordering her to circle herself.
There was only one earth general that would have been so close to running into Jill, and even that was a coincidence that had to be explored later.
Somebody had to have tipped General Bloodstone off.
The twins watched as Jill swung her sword at the boy that had put the wall up. She wasn’t using it to do anything other than to make a point.
“And you, the next time you try putting a wall between me and my best friend, I’ll find the nearest poison ivy patch and—”
“That’s enough,” the general said, interrupting what was sure to be an inventive and itchy punishment.
The boy looked angry. He yanked off his pink shirt, revealing a chiselled chest crossed by leather weapon belts that were loaded. He secured the broadsword on his back like it was just another dagger.
“I did not agree to escort one of the furies across Maeren,” the bare-chested young man said.
Yeah, ‘boy’ didn’t suit those muscles. Earth lords were beefcakes and strong enough to last all night.
Victor’s grip tightened and Victoria protested.
She might have said that last bit out loud, but Victor was probably more upset because Jill wasn’t blind and she was staring at the boy’s chest with surprise.
“I will be escorting Jill, not you.” Victor said, jerking his head towards the path into town for Jill to follow him.
He still carried Victoria in his arms.
The exit was only marred by her brother’s clothing impairment. No wonder nobody recognized him as a fire prince
.
“Where is your mother?” the black-shirted male asked as Jill tried to walk around her grandfather.
“Victor!” Jill called after him, sounding nervous.
She had been fine when everyone was slamming stone around, but the first mention of her family, and she showed her softer side.
Victoria could sympathize, being carried around by her brother.
“Let me down, Vic,” she told her twin. “I can walk, although I won’t turn down a horse once we get to town.”
“Jaeson, remove your hand from the young witch’s arm,” Jill’s grandfather said. “I’m sure she wishes to freshen up with her escort in town before we bombard her with questions.”
Victor let his twin down and met the general’s eyes as he took Jill by the hand.
“We will stay in town tonight. Give me time to discuss the situation with Jill and we can have breakfast together.”
“Two witches guarded by a single male?” The black-shirted male complained.
Victor let the other male see the fire in his eyes and smiled. It really wasn’t a good time for anyone else to push her brother’s temper.
“One male to guard the rest of the populace against these two witches is more like it,” Victor explained.
He tugged Jill with him.
The earth vampires let them go, satisfied they weren’t going far.
“Did you see the dragon disappear?” Jill asked before they were out of hearing distance.
Victor marched faster.
“Transported,” Victoria corrected. “Back to the cave he came from, via the portal express.”
“Cool,” Jill said.
“Dangerous is more like it. You blew up the portal,” Victor said to his sister. “And Jill nearly sliced her own foot off, swinging that earth sword like a green recruit,” he added.
“You’re the one that gave it to me,” Jill pouted.
“To defend yourself, not to attack a dragon,” Victor ground out, marching them both along the path.
“You looked cool, too,” Victoria told Jill.
“Thanks. Do you think you can show me—?”
“No. There will be no showing Jill any further magic until she learns to obey, for her own safety.”
Jill stuck her tongue out at Victor. “I wasn’t asking you.”
“You are under my protection, and as you so conveniently pointed out earlier, certain rules apply in Maeren,” Victor reminded her.
“I’m not bound by claim protocol,” Jill protested.
Victor scoffed. “Of course not, you’re my prisoner,” he gleefully informed her.
“Can you believe this?” Jill asked Victoria.
“I told you he is bossy,” Victoria replied.
She was helpless to intervene further. Hopefully, her nudge had been enough to get Victor to act.
“You said he tied witches up for fun. Kinky, not asshole,” Jill bitterly complained.
“Timely reminder,” Victoria said. She turned to her brother. “Jill doesn’t like to be restrained, like no tying up, at all,” Victoria told him in a more serious tone.
“Really,” Victor commented.
He stopped walking, turning to face Jill. His long fingers caught her under the chin to tip her face up to his searching gaze.
“Who do I need to kill?” he asked her, his fangs punching out in aggression.
Whoa. This was way beyond the protectiveness of an escort. Her twin was displaying the kind of possessive behaviour of a claimed male. She knew it!
“I’ll fight my own battles, thanks,” Jill said, stepping back. Victor growled under his breath, clearly not satisfied with her response. “But this particular crime was committed a long time ago and punished already.”
“I would rather determine if the appropriate penance was paid myself,” Victor said, grabbing Jill’s hand again and tugging her forward.
Victoria fell into line beside them, hoping they were close to town. She wanted her own room.
“Further vengeance isn’t possible,” Jill said. “It’s a long story but suffice to say he won’t be bothering any other little girls.”
Victoria knew her twin was going to lose his shit after that admission.
Jill didn’t know that her twin had a protective streak a mile wide when it came to vulnerable females.
Victor might be dominant and a bit of a control freak but he wasn’t abusive, not ever, and he didn’t tolerate that kind of crap from other males.
“Jill is safe now, here with you,” Victoria told her twin, putting her hand in his free one and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
She shot Jill a look and the other witch quietly murmured her agreement.
Victor let out a huff of amusement. “You are such a managing, scheming little brat,” he told Victoria. “You’re both naughty witches and don’t think I’ll be forgetting it,” he warned.
“No, sir,” Jill said, eliciting a giggle from Victoria.
“If only your sister was so obedient,” said a strange male voice.
Everyone halted, but it wasn’t of their own will.
They were simply frozen in place by the speaker, although Victoria couldn’t see him.
He had sounded like he was right in front of them, where there was only open road and the town, about a mile ahead.
It felt like lightning holding her muscles still, exactly how she had felt under Elizabeth’s control, but with the cold dread from Daemon’s involuntary shut down on the field when they had been attacked by the strange vampires.
She couldn’t react, not even speak the questions that should be racing through her mind.
It wasn’t earth magic that held her tongue, but a lassitude forced on her by magic drugging her mind.
It was even worse than Daemon. He had tried to provide them reassurance, but this magic was even more heavy handed, forcing her mind to relax when it should be screaming.
She knew it was wrong, but each second, she cared less.
“Sorry, I haven’t tried controlling witches before,” the male said.
They all gasped in a deep breath at once, and then the next one, slower, realizing they had control over their own breathing again.
“Let them go,” her twin demanded.
She still couldn’t see the male speaker.
“I’m hiding using illusions I’ve planted in your mind, princess,” the speaker said. “Oh, and call me Geer. I do prefer that to male or speaker.”
“Why should we bother speaking out loud at all?” Jill said. “Can’t you just join all of our thoughts. Speech is a waste of breath.”
“Well, your sister did say I was full of hot air, more than once, I might add. I thought you would prefer I eased up on the complete mind control. Speak up again, if you feel differently. Our conversation would certainly be quicker if I simply took what I wanted from your head.”
“No,” Victoria said, feeling sick.
She didn’t want to go through that loss of control over her own thoughts again.
“As I figured, though I must admit, I don’t need to read your mind, princess. Such an expressive face you have, so much lovelier than the scowl on your twin. He’s much handsomer with a smile, I’m sure.”
“What do you want, and where is Elizabeth?” Victor asked, annoyance bleeding through his calmly asked question.
Pretty boy looks were a sore point for her twin. He was keeping a lid on his temper, all things considered, although he had little choice.
He had to be worried about what would happen to Jill and herself if he angered this Geer.
Where had Victoria heard that name?
“Oh, I’m Elizabeth’s mate. Her dragon mate. She has quite a few mates, unfortunately. I’d say I’m pleased to meet you, but honestly, it would be a waste, and I’m a bit put out that you sent Raphael away.”
Victoria wore a scowl to match her twin. “Stay out of my head, lizard,” she grumped.
“Save the petty insults for your beloved, princess. I get enough from d
ear Elizabeth. You are the one thinking so loud, you may as well be screaming at me. Besides, I saw you send Raphael somewhere with that rather brilliant transport spell. I was only wondering where he went.”
“My sister could build better blocks than you before she could count if that is your limit, someone thinking really hard at you,” Jill disparaged.
Jill didn’t sound intimidated at all by this Geer and his mind control. Of course, she had the most experience with a mind reader out of all of them.
“Elizabeth really doesn’t like that term,” Geer said. “Now, I’ve done my best to impress upon you my power and importance, so let's skip to the more urgent part of this conversation, what I want to know.”
“If we answer your questions, will you let us go, unharmed? Victor asked.
Geer sighed. “I don’t have to bargain with you. The answers are all there, waiting in your unguarded minds. That said, I have absolutely no plans to harm any of you or the three earth lords I’ve also frozen while we have our talk. You’re going to cooperate, anyway. Let’s move on.”
“Wait,” Jill said. “How do you know we’re going to cooperate? We could be tricking your mind, thinking one thing while subconsciously—”
“Where is Raphael?” Geer asked, talking right over Jill.
“Don’t tell him,” Jill said.
“He can read my mind,” Victoria said.
“Then, why is he asking?” Jill retorted.
“He’s being polite,” Geer answered, a touch peeved. It was hard to judge, not being able to see him.
“I am perturbed by your stubbornness. It means I have to be pushy, and I would rather seduce than take, princess,” Geer said. “Care to answer?”
“I sent him back to the caves.”
“The banishment caves, in Dragos?” Geer asked, sounding surprised.
“Yes.”
“I didn't see that coming,” Geer said.
“Neither did he!” Victoria snapped back. “Next question.”
“Where is your mother, Jill?” Geer asked.
“None of your business,” Jill quickly answered, as if out of habit.
“Actually, I think we’ve established that I have questions and you answering them is very much my business, or else, I’ll have to make threats I don’t mean, but I promise they’ll be intimidating. I’ll even breathe fire if I must. Nobody here to catch me now that the princess has banished Raphael.”
No Witch Way Out (Maeren Series Book 2) Page 34