by Juniper Hart
Theo looked away uncomfortably, and Toby was secretly pleased that he was in the hot seat this time.
“Helios has been in contact with me,” Theo said, his words escaping so quickly, they were almost one.
“What?” Lane demanded, her face twisted in shock. Her eyes darted around the room to stare at the others. “Did you all know about this? Gena? Arden?” The Hollywood couple looked away, and Lane’s usually upturned mouth fell flat. “What did he want?” she asked coldly.
“Us,” Cruz Reyes said. “In exchange for Theo’s cousin. Helios kidnapped him from Carlingview Hospital after stealing the antidote.”
“I see,” Lane said quietly. “And you were going to give him this? And not mention it to the Council?”
“Oh, suddenly you’re schooling me on the ethics of what the Council can and can’t know?” Theo shot back.
“I wish I had popcorn,” Sierra muttered in Toby’s ear. “What the hell is going on?”
“Of course I wasn’t going to trade you! We only wanted to meet him and catch him unawares. Our hope was to save everyone and end this madness forever.”
“On his terms?” Lane snapped. “You know he’s been one step ahead of the Council for eons! What makes you think you can do this?”
“What other choice did we have?” Theo growled back. “Do you have any better ideas?”
Lane’s red bob rose, and her eyes clashed with the leader of the bears’.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” she answered softly.
The two councilmembers’ eyes met, and Toby wished he could understand what was happening. Before he could demand an answer, Graham did first.
“What’s your great idea, Lane?” the surgeon demanded with annoyance. “And why haven’t you tried it before?”
“We can only take on Helios if he’s caught unaware, and to catch him unawares, there’s only one way I can think to do that.”
Most of the group continued to stare at her blankly, but Theo seemed to understand exactly what she was suggesting.
“NO!” he choked. “No, Lane you can’t! Your grandmother offered the same thing, and I won’t allow it.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Lane replied tautly. “You’re the one who left the Council out of this mess. I’m our only hope to end this now.”
“What? What are you going to do?” Sierra demanded, her own eyes growing huge, and Toby wondered if she had an inkling.
“I’m going to do a searching spell and find him,” Lane said. “Then we’re going to storm him and take him out.”
“Lane, he’ll sense you looking for him—” Theo started to say, but Lane held up her hand.
“Then let him sense me. We’ll be ready to move the second I find him.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Theo tried to argue, but the group was already nodding in agreement, disregarding his protests.
“Yes,” Sierra breathed. “Yes, let’s put a searching spell on him. I can keep him in place if you find him… at least for a little while.”
“Only if Rowan isn’t there to release the spell,” Toby reminded her quietly.
“We’ll cross that bridge if we have to come to it,” Sierra insisted, and the others again conceded the point.
“Do it,” Toby told Lane. “Do it now.”
The group stepped back to form a circle around her, and Lane went to work as an almost palpable wave of tension grew within in the group.
It was the moment of truth. They would either kill Helios or end up dead themselves. One way or another, it would all be over soon.
7
“Sire!” Vaughan’s voice was floating both above him and around him, but when Helios looked up, he could only see Rowan’s face peering down at him with concern.
“Helios!” she hissed. “Get up! You need to get moving.”
A watery smile touched his lips as he returned her gaze.
“Carina!” he gushed. “Hello!”
Rowan balked slightly and sat back, raising her head to look at Vaughan.
“What has he taken?” Helios heard her ask. “What have you given him?”
“Nothing, mistress,” Vaughan insisted. “He…” He trailed off, and slowly, the hazy fog which seemed to have smothered Helios’ head began to clear.
“He what?” Rowan yelled. “Lane Aldwin has cast a searching spell upon him. They could be coming as we speak! We must get him out of here!”
Very slowly, Helios managed to raise his head, and he only then realized that he was lying on the floor of a building he didn’t recognize.
“He has not been the same since the poisoning.”
“I was told he received the antidote!” Rowan cried. “Is he not healed?” Vaughan shrugged miserably, and Rowan began to pace. “I need to get out of here,” she breathed. “They will kill me on sight if they think I am abetting a fugitive.” She gathered her long, flowing skirts and moved toward the door.
“You can’t leave us here!” Vaughan moaned, but Rowan was already gone, and as she left, Helios was overcome with another fog. “Please, Sire,” Vaughan begged. “You must get up. The Council will be here in minutes. Please, come with me.”
“Where did Carina go?” Helios asked as he stared longingly at the door through which Rowan had disappeared. “Tell her to come back, that I will avenge her death.”
“Sire, Carina has been gone for hundreds of years.” The pity in Vaughan’s voice was tangible, but Helios was far too overcome with the memory of his lover to notice as he jumped to his feet.
“Where is my army?” he demanded, looking around. “Where have they gone?”
Vaughan’s face lit up, and he nodded eagerly.
“I will call upon them!” he said excitedly. “They will help!” The henchman turned to run off, but Helios yelled out to stop him.
“Wait!” he cried.
“Sire?”
A wave of unfamiliar emotions overcame Helios then, and he looked forlornly at Vaughan.
“Don’t leave me,” he begged the demon. “I don’t want to be alone.”
Never had Helios seen such a stricken nor terrified look upon Vaughan’s face in hundreds of years.
“Sire, you are not alone,” Vaughan insisted. “You have fought so long and hard to get where you are. You must never concede now. Are you conceding?”
A swirl of memories floated through Helios’ mind, a video of his life with Carina, one after the other in a photo album of his mind. Gone were all the ill feelings of anger and fury. In their place was only a desolate sadness, a yearning to be with his mate.
“Please, Sire, come with me. There is a car just outside, and the jet is nearby. We can leave the country and—”
“No.” The word was flat but firm.
“No, Sire? Shall I carry you?”
“No,” Helios muttered. “I don’t want to go anywhere if Carina isn’t there.” He heard the sound of tires on gravel outside the crumbling shack in which he’d found himself.
“Sire, all you have done has been to avenge Carina. What has changed? Why have you given up?”
Helios had no answer to Vaughan’s question. All he knew was that he had no desire to move anywhere, to pick up and go. He knew that remaining there would mean certain death for him, yet…
“Sire! You must be under the influence of a spell!” Vaughan choked, suddenly realizing why his master was immobilized. “Please, overcome it before it is too late!”
The reasoning, however, did nothing, and when the door flew open, Helios stared at Cruz Reyes, the sword clutched in his hand as he approached.
Although the déjà vu was smothering, Helios could still not move.
“Where is my cousin?” Theo growled, entering behind Cruz, who slowly advanced upon him. Helios remained in place.
“You!” Sierra barked at Vaughan. “Where is Michael Walter?”
“I-I will take you to him,” the demon sputtered. “Please spare my life!”
“Go for Michael,” Cruz instructed Theo. “I’ll f
inish what I started for Alaric.”
Theo moved to shove Vaughan.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” Helios heard Theo hiss. “Every one of us has aranium on us, and we’re not afraid to use it.”
“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?” Cruz demanded, his face inches from Helios.
If I bite him, I’ll become infected again, he realized, but the truth was, he had no interest in biting anyone.
“I concede this fight,” Helios said quietly, sitting down on the filthy floor.
Cruz was unable to hide his shock, and he quickly glanced over his shoulder to look at the others.
“Did you put a spell on him?” he asked Sierra and Lane. The witches shook their heads. Simone had gone with her mate. “Why is he acting like this?” Cruz insisted, his fingers tightening around the sword.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” Helios went on. “I will not fight. Do what you must.”
Confusion colored all their faces evenly until Graham stepped forward.
“It’s the antidote,” he muttered. “It’s turning his brain to mush.”
“What?” Arden demanded. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I saw this in some of the lab rats,” Graham sighed, shaking his head. “The solution is eating away at his brain. He’s not dying from the poisoning anymore, but his brain is rotting from the antidote.”
“Oh, gods,” Sierra breathed. “That’s… that’s awful.”
“Are you sure?” Cruz asked cynically. “I find it hard to believe that he went from homicidal maniac to puppy dog with dementia.”
“It’s true,” Michael Walter sighed from the doorway. They turned to look at him, battered, bruised, and malnourished. “I saw him deteriorating over the weeks. He was forgetting things, moody. Graham is right—he’s going to die, anyway.”
“Then we should put him out of his misery,” Toby growled. “Give me the sword. I’ll do it myself.”
“No.” Lane spoke with her usual calmness, and everyone froze to look at her. “It goes against our practices. Killing him now would be cruel and unusual.”
“After everything he did?” Toby howled. “He tried to kill everyone in this room at some point!”
“He is not competent to stand trial,” Theo conceded. “Lane is right.”
“Then what the hell are we going to do with him?” Cruz hissed. “We can’t just let him go!”
“I know a place for him,” Gena spoke, and Arden groaned.
“Where?” Cruz demanded.
“He can come back to British Columbia with us. There’s a hospice in our town where he can live out the rest of his days in peace.”
“He doesn’t deserve peace!” Toby screamed, and Sierra put her hand on his arm.
“I would rather have him far away from us,” she whispered. “And Aurora.”
“We can ensure he won’t go anywhere,” Gena assured them. “It’s a small place, and everyone knows everyone else’s business.”
“Fine,” Theo agreed shortly. “I’ll make the arrangements to send him with you.”
“That’s it?” Toby snapped. “He just gets away with everything he’s done?”
“Will Carina be there?” Helios asked abruptly, his eyes shining with happiness. “I would love to see her again.”
Graham gritted his teeth and shook his head. “I can’t think of a worse punishment than what he’s enduring right now,” he said softly. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”
There was a low murmur of consensus around the one-room shack.
“What about that one?” Theo asked, pointing at Vaughan, who tried to make himself inconspicuous along the shadows.
“I can’t think of a worse punishment than being stuck at Helios’ side for five hundred years,” Toby muttered sarcastically.
“Vaughan will give up the names of all the members of his never-used army,” Theo said. “He will not get off as lightly.
“There is no army,” Vaughan mumbled, keeping his eyes trained away from Helios’ blank, psychotic stare. “I only told my master that to appease him.” He darted his eyes toward Helios, as if he expected reprisal for his confession, but Helios did not lose the serene smile from his face.
“You lied about the army?” Theo asked in disbelief. “You didn’t recruit one rogue Enchanted to help you?”
“No, Sire. No one would dare defy the Council of Seven. We abide by the rules of the Charter.”
“All but you,” Lane reminded him.
“Please, mistress, I have been with Master Helios since before times were certain. I have never known any other way. I know I cannot escape your punishment, but I beg you to consider mercy.”
“You will be brought before the Council,” Theo said. “It will be for Raven to decide.”
“I understand, Sire.”
Theo moved to raise Helios to his feet.
“Graham, I expect you to do a full medical workup on him before I commit to sending him off to Canada,” he instructed. “Keep him bound and within reach of the sword. If he tries anything…”
Graham nodded curtly. “I understand. Come on, Helios. Let’s get you to Carlingview. You remember that hospital, don’t you?”
Helios ambled along happily, grinning at the others as he passed.
“I can’t wait to see Carina!” he cried. “She’s going to be so proud of me.”
There was a bittersweetness that overcame the group as they watched Graham and Kate lead Helios out of the cottage.
“I’ll take Vaughan to the Council,” Lane volunteered. “And Dr. Walter can probably use a trip to Carlingview, too.”
“So that’s it?” Cruz demanded, sounding slightly annoyed. “I feel like we should have done more about this.”
“And what? Execute a sick being?” Arden retorted. “That’s just wrong.”
“All that matters is that we’re safe from whatever he was plotting,” Gena interjected quickly. “He’ll be far away, and you’ll never have to worry about him turning up around you.”
“And you? Aren’t you worried for your family?” Sage insisted. “Your daughter being so close to a killer?”
Gena’s eyes narrowed, and a slow smile formed on her lips.
“We’ll be okay,” she murmured, her eyes glimmering with a secret only she and Arden knew. She reached for his hand and squeezed gently. “We always are, aren’t we?”
Sage had to nod in concession. “I suppose we’ve all made it this far,” she agreed.
“Come on,” Theo sighed, gesturing for them to follow him out of the dingy house. “I’ve had enough of this mission for one lifetime. Anyone up for a drink?”
“Hell yes,” the group chorused and followed him out toward their waiting cars.
Each couple held onto their mates, hearts beating in perfect sync as they realized that the worst was truly over. They had all lived to see another day without anyone dying in the process.
“Good day,” Toby murmured in Sierra’s ear.
“Great day,” Sierra said and twined her fingers through his, squeezing tightly.
“Are we sure about this?” Arden murmured as they joined the others in the back of Theo’s Jeep.
“Are we sure about anything we’ve done so far?” Gena breathed in return.
“Fair point.”
“I love you,” Cruz whispered in Sage’s ear.
“I love you back,” she replied.
Through the rear-view, Theo stared at the group, a deep sense of satisfaction flowing through him.
“You look rather proud of yourself,” Simone told him teasingly from the passenger seat.
“I’m really proud of my bears,” he answered without hesitation, and he meant it. They had felled a giant together, and Theo would never forget it.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Simone sighed.
“Yes, mistress,” Theo laughed and pulled out of the lot, away from the scene forever.
Enchanted Foxes
Shifter R
omance Collection
Enchanted Foxes: Shifter Romance Collection
Text Copyright © 2019 by Juniper Hart
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing, 2019
Publisher
Secret Woods Books
[email protected]
www.SecretWoodsBooks.com
Shaken
Enchanted Foxes
Prologue
Henry yawned slightly, his hand covering his mouth as he sauntered into the condo.
“I’m afraid to ask,” he mumbled, studying Lane while she stared intently at her computer, his voice coarse with lack of sleep. Sunlight flooded the living room, but his mate barely looked up.
“What are you doing up?” she asked. Henry would have to have been deaf not to hear the lack of interest in her response.
“Oh, well, you know, I was abducted by aliens earlier in the day, but they returned me, and now I could go for a coffee,” he answered dryly.
“Hm,” Lane said without tearing her eyes away from what she was doing.
“Lane…” Henry groaned. “Please tell me you haven’t gotten us mixed up in anything else that will get us in deep shit with the Council of Seven.”
That seemed to get her attention, and she cast him a wry yet annoyed smile.
“Have I gotten us in trouble yet?” she asked innocently. Henry groaned louder and ambled toward her, shaking his head. He didn’t want to know what she was up to, but he knew he couldn’t very well stick his head in the sand, either.