by Leia Stone
Purple magic burst to life around my arms, glowing fiercely … before dying down.
What?
“No,” I breathed. “No, no, no. Please! Please help her. Heal her!”
Molly’s teeth started to chatter even though the water was warm. The life force was leaving her body.
The water sprang to life once more, spinning in fast circles around us. Again purple magic swirled around my arms in a bright, hopeful glow.
Before dying down again.
What the fuck! It wasn’t working.
No. No. No.
Tianna, splattered in black demon blood, crouched down, one eyebrow raised. “I think the water’s trying to tell you something.”
Well, I didn’t speak water, so we were fucked.
“What’s it saying?” I growled. The fae-witch had better know, or there was no chance at all at saving Molly. Her shivering had picked up, making her body rack against my hold. We had minutes, maybe seconds before it’d be too late.
Tianna pointed to my arms. “The water can’t heal her, but I think maybe you can.”
The purple glow. My purple magic. My healing power.
Haru nodded. “It’s never been done before that I know of, but it’s possible that your kitsune healing, combined with your witch magic, could extend to a human being.”
The normally stoic warrior was misty-eyed. He ran a hand through his dark, short-cropped hair, his lament tangible. It made me think something had gone down between him and Molly. Maybe between Reo and Molly too. Reo also seemed pretty shaken, and he was ordinarily as composed as his brother. I was sure Molly liked both of them. She didn’t do subtle well, nor did she hide the many looks she gave them. God, I wanted her to survive to enjoy … whatever it was she had going on here. The warriors were beautiful, and she deserved all the passion they might share with her.
Molly was staring off into the sky above us. We didn’t have a second to waste. It was time for last resorts.
Taking a deep breath, I called my magic forward. It was like tensing my muscles while also simultaneously letting them relax. Summoning magic was super hard, at least for a newbie like me. I still wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing, so when the purple light surged and flowed down my arms, pooling in the surface of my palms, I sighed in relief.
“Tell it what to do,” Tianna said, her voice urgent.
The purple glow was the product of both my witch and kitsune magic, a hybrid combination of powers no one knew much about, not even the hybrid fae-witch. My power could rip Molly in two for all we knew, but telling it what to do, as I had the water, seemed like a good place to start.
As I would with an ordinary incantation, I muttered a few words about healing Molly, allowing myself to relax and float with Molly draped across my lap. The warm water was spinning around us, almost as if it were cheering us on. My purple light pulsed and flooded from my palms, pouring over Molly’s pierced and bleeding abdomen. Her drooping eyelids snapped open.
“It tickles,” she mumbled, her voice little more than a croak.
I was hoping the tickling sensation was a good thing.
Blocking out the friends and selkies who surrounded us, I focused all my energy on Molly’s wound. I envisioned purple light pouring from my palms, and instructed the magic to enter her and heal her.
Help me, Gran. I sent up the prayer in a last-ditch effort. If Gran could help me from wherever she was, I knew she’d find a way. The wind picked up, caressing my face, and my eyes widened as the distinct scent of vanilla and sage brushed past my nose.
Gran.
Tears lined my eyes again and my healing energy poured from my palms, as if a dam had broken, surrounding Molly and me. My purple magic overwhelmed the entire pool, swirling in non-stop waves of color. It was a good thing all the seals were out of the water, because I had no idea what my power might have done to them.
Even in death Gran had my back. Good ole Gran, kicking ass from the beyond.
Tianna made a noise in her throat and I looked up to find her staring curiously in the direction of the wind. “Ancestor magic,” she said.
I didn’t know what that was, but if it meant Gran was helping me from the spirit world, then I was all for it.
Molly’s coloring had improved. Her cheeks were slightly pink again, which I’d take any day over the deathly pallor that had begun to tint her skin. I didn’t stop though. I pressed on, channeling all the healing through me that I could, directing it into Molly.
“That should be enough,” Brock cautioned. “Check her wound. Don’t overexert yourself.”
My baby daddy was always looking out for the baby and me. I guess someone had to.
Molly was more energetic, no longer a lifeless lump draped across my outstretched arms. She peeled back her shirt.
About four inches above her belly button, there was a small, gray puckered scar. The wound was completely closed.
Holy shit. I’d healed her.
19 Surprise
Our crew was covered in either black, nasty, foul-smelling Akuma gunk, Molly’s blood, or water from the healing pool. Or like me, an unsettling mixture of all three, but you wouldn’t have known it from the weary smiles on our faces. We’d accomplished the goal we set out to achieve, and though Molly had almost died, I’d saved her, and my katana was one glorious, solid whole.
Sure, Brock wouldn’t venture far from my side after the close call. Even as he steered the boat across the open water, he kept me pressed against him, wrapped under one of his big, strong arms. I wasn’t about to complain, mostly because I was enveloped in Brock. Besides, the wind whipping around the racing boat was chilly, and I was soaked to the bone, and equally weary.
Cass sat on Tianna’s lap, facing her, one of his short, stubby pink legs wrapping each of her thighs. Relief was written all over my bestie’s face … but I also saw something else there. Desire. I worried he might end up giving the Amazonian fae-witch a lap dance on the speedboat’s seat if Brock didn’t get us to shore soon. Those two were seriously gaga over each other—and all groping, feisty hands.
Molly was sandwiched between Reo and Haru, who each draped an arm around her, a shock of bright purple between their dark heads. Her smile was big, despite the fact she’d almost died, and I was certain it had to do with the flirty looks she alternated giving the brothers. She surely had to be exhausted and weak after all the blood loss, but the Japanese warriors, who were so smooth on the eyes, were helping her recover at lightning speed. I wondered how that was going to work.
I mean, there was only one of her and two of them, but they didn’t look worried about any of it, and I’d heard of some men who didn’t mind sharing—unlike my possessive alpha.
Go Molly.
“I didn’t think the selkies were going to let you leave for a minute there,” Brock said, his voice edged with a wolf growl.
After I’d saved Molly, the selkies had wanted to know exactly what I was going to do to keep any future Akuma away from them and how I was going to close the gate to the underworld. They’d gotten pushy when Brock intervened, all alpha like.
I chuckled into his shoulder. “Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure you’re the reason they let me go. You made it abundantly clear that if they messed with me you’d rip their entire clan to shreds.”
‘Damn right I would.’ He squeezed me even tighter against him, as if the mere memory of the selkies rekindled his fear of losing me.
Was it wrong that I’d grown to like my man all protective and growly-like? He would’ve torn those selkies to pieces to protect me, I had no doubt about it. In the end, their leader had retreated quietly to nurse the wounds of a couple of their seals, and let us go without further protest.
As intimidating as the alpha was, there was more to the selkies’ acquiescence than his imposing build and vicious growl. The longer the gate to the underworld gaped open, the shittier things got for the supernatural community, especially for those on the lower end of the totem pole like the selkies. I’d n
ever heard of selkies being as cooperative as they’d been with us.
I sighed heavily. “Man, I wish we still didn’t have a gate to the underworld to deal with. I could use a nice, long, hot shower.” I peeked up at Brock as I recalled our previous shower, the last time I’d had disgusting creature gunk all over me.
New priority: stop getting exploded on by nasty-ass creatures.
His bright amber eyes hooded, giving me no doubt that he was remembering our time showering together in vivid detail. ‘If I recall, last time it was a nice, long, satisfying shower...’ He used our mental connection and I shivered thinking about our lovemaking. It had nothing to do with the chilled breeze; I was rapidly growing hot all over. ‘And then a nice, long, incredibly satisfying time in bed. I’m pretty sure we could use that too.’
Mmm. The way he dragged his words out made me crazy. ‘Uh, yeah. Totally satisfying. I could use some of that right now.’ I grinned. Just the thought of Brock, well, all over me, had my mind firing in all sorts of directions, not a single one pointed at the damn gate that was spoiling all my delicious plans.
Brock’s eyes blazed and he ramped the boat into a higher gear. The nose of the boat jumped in the water and we sped toward the shore. Guess he was experiencing some of the same heat that was rushing through me.
‘Just you and me,’ he said. ‘As soon as we get home, I’m taking you straight to the shower.’
Brock’s “home” was in the process of becoming my home. We were building a life together. I spread a hand across my bare belly, the one that curved out in ways it hadn’t before.
We were going to have a kid together.
Brock moved his hand from my shoulder to lie across mine on my belly, leaning closer. ‘If we can survive all the shit we’ve been through together already, we can certainly survive parenting. Nothing can be as difficult as closing up the damn underworld.’
I hoped he was right. I wasn’t exactly prepared for being a kitsune-witch with unheard-of hybrid magic, but I was more qualified for that and slaying demons than raising a child. Supernatural bounty hunting didn’t prepare me for diapers and feedings and all that shit.
I leaned my back into his chest and snuggled into his body. His hand settled more fully across my belly and the person that was growing inside.
“You do realize our baby is going to be some kind of kitsune-witch-werewolf hybrid, right? They don’t make parenting manuals for that crazy shit.”
He laughed and it was like music to my ears. ‘I don’t expect life to be easy with you, Eve. It’ll certainly never, ever be dull. Trouble seems to follow you around like it has your scent. But whatever it is, we’ve got this. Together we can handle anything that comes our way, my love.’
My love. My legs wobbled. Damn, I was such a goner for this guy. He said and did all the right things.
It was a lucky thing we were surrounded by our friends or I might have jumped him right there. Wait. It was damn unlucky that people and water surrounded us. There was no time like the present for jumping the man who drove me wild.
I was forced to swallow my impatience until the marina popped up on the horizon. The moment it did, our phones trilled from the compartment where we’d stashed them to avoid water damage. We must’ve just entered cell reception, and now our phones wouldn’t shut up. We would’ve all been happy to ignore our cells and whatever messages we’d received while we took a little time to enjoy our victory, but they wailed with alarm, the kind reserved for state and federal emergencies.
Fuck.
I grimaced, pulling away from Brock as he growled and reached for me.
“I have to see what’s going on,” I said.
“Dammit,” he said. “Will we ever get a break?”
“Hopefully as soon as we get home.” I offered him a half smile, because neither of us believed that for a second. Something was wrong, very wrong. Our phones were wailing.
Cass popped the compartment open and handed me my phone. “I’m in serious need of some alone time with my T,” he said. “This had better not be a problem requiring our immediate attention.”
Yeah, his scowl told me none of us were believing it.
“Fuck,” he said while I glanced down at my phone to see what the fuss was about. “What the hell?” I barked.
Haru and Reo flanked us the next second. “What is it?” Reo asked.
“Tsunami warnings,” Cass said. “The entire Pacific Northwest is under orders for immediate evacuation to further inland.”
Molly claimed her phone and started typing. “There’s been an eight point magnitude earthquake in the ocean, between the Oregon Coast and Japan,” she said. “The force rolling off of it could create a tsunami big enough to cause some serious damage to the Northwest United States.” She was scrolling on her phone, her mouth settling into deeper and deeper frown lines.
“Could it affect Eugene?” Brock asked, and I was sure he must be thinking of the pack he’d left stationed there.
Molly looked up, chestnut eyebrows at odds with her violet hair as they climbed toward her hairline. “If this tsunami hits like they’re predicting, Eugene could be beachfront property or even wiped off the map.”
“I can’t leave the gate unguarded,” I said right away. “We can’t evacuate Eugene. This feels like a trap.”
“Like hell you can’t,” Brock said. “That gate isn’t worth your life.”
“It’s my responsibility. This is what I have to do. Nobody but me can do it. If I don’t protect it, who knows what might come through.”
“The tsunami will kill whatever comes through,” Tianna said, on her feet next, moving to the rest of us. “No creature can withstand the kind of force Molly is talking about, not even demons from the underworld.”
I looked between her, Haru, and Reo. I could feel Brock’s glare like a laser beam, but this was bigger than me, what we shared, even bigger than the unborn life I carried inside. “So even if the gate cracks open wider as this comes in, there’s no concern that the entire underworld will pour out because all the shit coming through would be killed?” I asked the warrior brothers.
“That’s probably what would happen,” Haru said. “Unless water creatures come through.”
“Probably,” I repeated. “That means it’s possible the entire gate could open when these seismic forces roll into the tectonic plates beneath Oregon, or whatever scientific shit will actually happen. Then if the tsunami doesn’t kill the demons, humanity will be over anyway because there’ll be no containing all the beasts that escaped.”
“Yes, that’s a possibility,” Reo agreed.
I looked down at my phone. The alert had come in an hour ago and it gave a ten hour impact warning. That meant we had nine hours to get our shit together.
“We can come back as soon as it’s safe and seal the gate then,” Cass said, but I wondered how much of what he said was motivated by his desire to protect me. “We’ll fix whatever happens. We always do.”
He knew me too well. He knew that no matter what, I was thinking about all that could go wrong if I abandoned this unstable gate. Fuck, it was barely keeping things out without a damn tsunami. But I was pregnant, and not a total idiot, so I knew I needed to put my life first.
Cass placed a stubby hand on the back of my thigh. ‘You won’t accomplish anything worthwhile if you stay behind. You’ll just get yourself killed, girl.’ His black eyes said what he didn’t, not even in my head. He and I’d been through too much together to throw it all away on an off chance.
“We’re evacuating the second we hit land,” Brock said in his alpha tones, though he had to know I’d only follow his command if I wanted. “Ray’s already getting the wolves ready to go.”
Ah, that’s why Brock hadn’t been hounding me to go with him. He’d been using the pack link to communicate with his second in command. I kept forgetting that Brock was responsible for nearly a hundred wolves. He no doubt felt the weight of every one of their lives on his shoulders, especially now.
“And we’ll be right by your side cleaning up monster shit with you,” Cass said.
Good. It was settled. The blaring alarms had finally all been silenced. We had a plan, and it was taking us away from the blasted gate and the epicenter of our problems.
My phone rang to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out?
Cass and I froze. “Shiiiiiit,” he said. “Don’t answer it.”
I sighed. “You know I have to.”
“You don’t have to do anything, girl. You’re a badass bounty hunter.”
“Who’ll have her ass handed to her by her boss if she doesn’t take his call.”
“It’s Mack?” Tianna asked. Apparently she and Cass had done some pillow talking.
“The one and only.” I hit the answer button and snapped the phone to my ear before I could change my mind. “Evie Black,” I answered. Fucker better not be calling to bitch at me about something. I had enough to deal with today.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Mack barked into the phone. The satyr and head of the entire Supernatural Bounty Hunting Agency was known for his gruff demeanor and addiction to banging fae. “I’ve been calling you like I got nothin’ better to do with my time.”
Yeah, he’d actually probably had Stella, his secretary who handled the entire agency while Mack was “otherwise engaged,” doing the dialing. But no one talked back to Mack and got away with it.
“I was busy,” I said without explanation. I hadn’t let Mack in on the whole kitsune underworld-gate deal, and I didn’t think now was the time. A tsunami was rolling our way.