The Forbidden
Page 41
He handed the picture back to Silver, who pinned her gaze on him as if she knew his thoughts. As if she were aware of the primal urges within him every time he looked at the picture of her sister, who smiled with such mischief in her eyes.
Irrational.
His was an ordered world. He was methodical and never impulsive. Such a woman would never be an attraction to him.
Silver placed the picture back onto her desk. “Why don’t we meet up with the others at Enchantments?”
Silver, Hawk, and Tiernan headed out of the aging building to the store the witches had rented just a few doors down from the apartments.
Over the past few weeks since Samhain, the witches, along with Jake, had combined monetary and physical resources—not to mention a good dose of magic and D’Danann muscle—to remodel and open the once boarded-up store.
There were still things that needed to be done, but it looked remarkably well considering the short length of time the witches had had to put it together.
They had made it into a New Age café similar to Moon Song, a store/café that Silver had run for the D’Anu Coven before she was banished. They had named the new store and café Enchantments.
It was in what Silver said was the most New Age and one of the most artistic parts of San Francisco—the Haight-Ashbury district.
All Tiernan cared about was the fact that Cassia cooked and baked the best food he had ever eaten in all of the Otherworlds. D’Danann were notorious for the amount of food they could consume. He was no exception.
Enchantment’s kitchen was the main gathering place for the D’Danann and witches. It afforded more room than Moon Song had, which was an added benefit. The warriors could eat their fill with most of the witches cooking for everyone. The warrior women could match the men bite for bite, and still remain toned and muscular.
When they reached the kitchen of Enchantments, Tiernan’s stomach rumbled. The kitchen smelled of spices and freshly baked pumpkin bread.
Silver called to Cassia who was wiping her hands on her apron. The blue-eyed, curly-headed witch was part Elvin and had an ethereal glow about her now that her true identity had been revealed.
Before she had let her true self be known, she had acted the part of a clumsy, inept witch as a way to better protect Silver from the dangers she had faced before Samhain.
Tiernan grabbed a slice of warm pumpkin bread and Hawk scooped up a chocolate chip cookie.
As he ate the bread, Tiernan dug the piece of parchment he had found out of his pocket and handed it to Cassia.
“Where did you get this?” Her eyes widened. “I don’t recognize these runes at all.” She shuddered and goose bumps appeared on her forearms. “All I can tell is there’s something very wicked about them. This paper is shrouded in evil.”
Silver quirked an eyebrow at Tiernan. “What’s that?”
He shrugged. “I do not know.”
Cassia kept the parchment close as she drew out her black and gold rune stones. She tumbled them onto a clean portion of the counter and studied them. “The stones give no additional clues, save that we are in grave danger.”
“So what’s new?” Silver sounded flippant, but her eyes held that same dark concern that had been present ever since she saw the vision of the coming of Balor and her vision of Copper.
Cassia gave the parchment to Silver. Immediately the witch started shaking so hard the parchment trembled in her fingertips and she looked as if she might faint or throw up, or both. Tiernan would have taken her by the arm to aid her if Hawk had not already been at her side.
“This is the circle,” Silver said in a hoarse whisper. “Copper was tied down in a circle just like this when I scried with the cauldron this morning.”
Rhiannon took the parchment from Silver. The moment the witch’s hands touched the parchment her face paled as it had earlier. As she held it tighter, she said, “I get the feeling of immeasurable evil.” She inhaled and slowly let out her breath. “I see a door within a massive room. The circles are engraved into the floor with the runes scraped or carved into it.”
Tiernan studied the drawing more closely. He could easily see now that the vertical rectangle could be a door, and the circles could be on a floor before it. A look of relief swept over Rhiannon’s face when Mackenzie took it from her.
With an expression of distaste, the petite blonde set the parchment on the kitchen table, then dealt her tarot cards into a Celtic cross. Among other things, the cards revealed grave danger and battles ahead, but also that a new friend would be taking a journey and an old friend would be returning.
After everyone had the opportunity to look at and evaluate the parchment, Tiernan left the store. He stood in the store’s back parking spot and lifted his face to the sky.
At the same time, he unfolded his great brown wings from his back, he shielded himself from sight. With a simple flap of his wings, he took to the sky in search of the damnable warlocks and the Fomorii.
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About Cheyenne
Cheye
nne McCray is an award winning, New York Times and USA Today Best Selling author of upward of 100 novels and novellas. Chey grew up on a ranch in the southeastern corner of Arizona, and enjoys building worlds her readers can get lost in. She lives in a small AZ town with her hubby and a growing menagerie that includes two dogs (Checkers and Nikki), three ducks (the neighborhood celebrities), and five chickens named by the kids (Taco, Detective Spunky, Bubblegum, Zazu, and Dumpling). Find out what Chey is up to these days—cruise her website, follow her on Facebook and Twitter, and even drop her a line or two.
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chey@cheyennemccray.com
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