by Candi Fox
“Aye, brother.”
He watched as the storm rode away this time their pace to the East coast became a slow jog.
Chapter 47
Cord
He managed to get Emma from the stage to their small honeymoon cabin without anyone seeing her. When the stagecoach driver asked about sending a doctor, he instantly gave in as any husband would.
Cord would figure out what to do if a doctor arrived. Since the destruction of the city, only a handful of residents remained to rebuild. The doctor could be anywhere within a twenty-mile radius of town.
Ensuring his wife’s survival took precedence over everything. He needed his brothers for that. Three mates, four hearts. The night before the wedding, they met deep in the woods around Warren.
Wolf led them in a bonding ceremony. Each pledging himself to the other and to Emma. He looked down at his wife. He hadn’t the heart to leave her on the bed.
Every time he tried, she woke up in enormous pain and cried out. After the third time, he gave up. The blackness continued to slowly creep across her skin.
He could smell it; the cat could smell it. Something foul was in that bullet. Some magickal poison. No doubt, Nora was somehow behind it.
The woman managed to fool him for years. Either he severely overestimated his skill, or she had help. Spells become more powerful when you work together. More bodies equal more energy, and more energy means a much larger bang.
His cat whined, drawing his attention back to his bride. Her breathing became labored and concerned him more than the pallor of her skin.
Closing his eyes, he opened the link to his brothers. “Hurry.”
“Show us where you are. We are near.”
Cord closed his eyes, concentrating on the location of the cabin, the terrain. A brand-new water pump outside the kitchen. Fresh red flowers in a planter by the door and herbs growing in a window box over the kitchen sink.
The small two room cabin stood less than a hundred yards from the tree line. He focused his energy on being a beacon they could follow, relaying the information to them.
His cat paced back and forth restlessly, making concentrating difficult at best. Moments later, he felt his brothers’ energy.
Not long after that, they quietly entered the cabin via the kitchen door. Quickly crossing the room on silent feet, they both knelt beside him.
Cord loosened his arms slightly.
“You can lay her down now brother, we are here,” Wolf said gently.
“Every time I lay her down her pain worsens. She cries out.”
“Nik help me loosen her garments so we can see her skin. Brother tell me why you couldn’t get the bullet out,” Wolf said.
Cord explained what happened in detail while Nik gently loosened Emma’s clothing so the shaman could see her skin.
“The way the lines reach. The bullet burrowing. It must be spelled to seek her heart.”
“Can you remove it?”
“I know not, but I can slow the poison and buy us time to figure out the rest.”
Wolf
Wolf pulled out several herbs from his pouch and began to grind them, adding just enough bear grease to make a paste.
Once the paste finished, he held it in his hands, pouring healing energy into the mixture before applying it to Emma’s wound.
Holding his hand just above the wound he began to chant. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his senses to more fully explore the poison and magic used. In his mind’s eye he saw the poison spreading slowly like vines of death creeping across the ground. The magick went beyond dark magic, the power used felt like pure, unadulterated evil.
For once in his life, he felt completely powerless. He had no idea how to save his mate. While he could slow the poison, he didn’t know how to stop it or reverse it.
“I must consult the spirits.”
“Wolf, we don’t have time for a spirit quest.”
“I agree, my brother; however, I don’t have the answers. Where else should I find them?”
Chandler
“I’d like to see the prophecy.”
“How is that going to help?” Cord Asked.
“Only one way to find out.” Wolf Added.
“Mine’s in the saddle bags.”
Chandler retrieved the scroll out of Cord’s saddlebags while Wolf produced another from who knew where.
“Where’s the third piece?”
“We assumed you’d have it.”
Fuck. Nik must have it somewhere. The question is, where? He searched Nik’s memories for anything resembling the two rolls of animal skin that contained two parts of the prophecy.
“Nik!”
“What?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Sorry, Cord. I’m trying to remember where I put the skin. I had no idea it was part of some prophecy.”
He stood up, walking over to Emma and kissing her on the forehead.
“I’ll be back soon, love.”
Without another word, he headed outside and into the woods. He let Nik’s memories guide him. Nik found the scroll a few years ago when he helped with the cleanup.
Apparently one of his friends owns a local hotel. He made quick work of the distance. Finding the black walnut tree, he hunkered down to find the natural hollow near the base of the tree. Foliage grew around the base obscuring most of the tree’s deformity.
It took him only a few moments feeling around to find the animal skin. He tucked it under his arm running back the way he came.
Chandler arrived back to the cabin in a fraction of the time it took him to find the tree and the skin. Emma lay between them, breathing easier than when they first arrived.
Both men looked up at him. He drew out the skin, unfolding it and laying it with the others.
“Look.” He pointed to a broken design that ran through each piece.
A minute later he rearranged the three pieces until they fit together. A glow began to emit from the skins. The three pieces became one before floating above the floor.
Instinctively, Chandler moved to sit next to the others. The skin now transformed into a luminescent parchment that grew until the glow surrounded all four of them. Magick symbols and ancient runes swirled around them.
Chapter 48
A convergence of energies swirled around the room creating a mini tornado levitating over Emma’s prone body.
Cord’s lion rose from his chest like a ghost, joining the tornado. Next Wolf’s wolf came out of his chest and with a howl it leapt into the swirling vortex. Lastly, the energy pulled a giant eagle from Chandler’s chest; with a whoosh and a cry it entered into the fray.
Multicolored sparks emitted from the vortex, showering them with color. The vortex increased its speed until it finally burst into thousands of pieces. It reformed almost instantly and entered Emma’s body.
Emma
She sat up with a start, making it out of her mates’ arms and to a nearby bucket before losing the contents of her stomach. Thick black gunk poured from her mouth into the bucket. She retched many times before the nausea subsided.
Three sets of hands soothing her.
“Bath,” she croaked.
“I’ll take you, little dove. Cord, why don’t you get some rest?”
“I’ll stay here and make something to eat while Cord rests.”
“Thank you, brother.”
Brother? She didn’t remember Wolf calling Nik brother before.
“Wait? When did you two get here?
“I’ll explain at the springs unless you want to wait.”
“I’d really like the bath.”
Wolf picked her up, carrying her outside, making the short distance to a nearby spring.
“Where are the other people?”
“I believe this is a small private spring. I haven’t seen anyone else.”
He sat her down by the edge of the spring, laying the towels on a nearby rustic bench.
“Do you need help, little dove?”
>
She shook her head. Her buttons still were unfastened from earlier, it made getting out of the dress easy. Her chemise was in tatters. The strings on her corset already loose weren’t difficult to get out of.
Emma looked down, expecting to find a hole, or at least a healing wound in her shoulder. Only Cord’s mating mark remained.
Wolf stripped off his leggings leaving him in only a loincloth. He eased into the hot spring first before getting Emma from the ledge.
Once immersed to her chin in the hot water, she closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth. She felt Wolf close the distance between them. He put his arms around her, pulling her closer.
“We almost lost you.”
“What happened?”
“Someone used dark magic to poison the bullet, then enchant it to seek out your heart.”
Her eyes flew open.
“What? Why?”
Instead of backing away, Emma clung to Wolf for moral support.
“Cord believes Evanora is behind it.”
“Why? She doesn’t know I can place her with the outlaws.”
“You’ve taken the one thing she’s been proudest to have, Cord.”
“There’s more. My mother told me I’m a witch, of sorts.” She blurted it out then stepped back to see his face.
A large smile spread across his handsome face. “I’m not surprised, little dove, to find out you’re a magickal being.”
“We’re supposed to unlock my magick when we get home. I know there’s more going on. How you and Nik got here so fast. How you’re here at all.”
Wolf cupped her chin, bringing his lips down on hers in a brief kiss.
“I promise to tell you everything and answer any questions. First, let me hold you.”
“I, um…” She looked down at the water, her heart breaking. “I’m a married woman now, Wolf.”
“Yes, you are. Only Cord will not be your only husband, nor will I.”
She looked at him, willing him to say more. When he didn’t, she gave in, letting him enfold her in his arms.
Wolf
He’d happily explain everything, but right now he wanted to hold the only woman he ever loved in his arms. His mind was still reeling from the prophecy’s physical actions. Who was he kidding, his mind still reeled that the prophecy was unfolding before his eyes?
His arms tightened around Emma. Closing his eyes, he listened to her. First her breathing slow and steady, then his wolf picked up her heat beat.
He took a deep breath relaxing breath before listening again. Emma’s breathing slowed slightly. Wolf smiled; she was completely relaxed in his arms. His wolf stepped forward nuzzling along the top of her head.
Mate.
The thought sent warmth rumbling through him. She touched his soul. His ama foretold of his mate’s arrival on her deathbed. Two days after she gave birth to Aponi. He promised his mother he’d take care of his sister. He had and always will, though that didn’t save her from the occasional punishment.
His sister’s restless spirit often found her in trouble. He smiled, thinking of how much his sister looked like their mother. Aponi, a late in life surprise baby, took a toll on her mother’s body. Ama insisted he’d meet someone from the white man’s world. A woman of mixed blood, noble by birth, and she would possess powerful magic.
“She’s the one, my wolf.”
“My mate.”
“Not just your mate. There will be two others. The prophecy.”
Wolf took his part of the prophecy, the one his mother left him, and hid it away. Last year, while on a spirit quest, he saw the stars align in an unfamiliar pattern.
After seeking the answer for months, he retrieved the scroll, not surprised to find a part of the constellation from his visions. He studied the scroll and the stars every night since.
Heartbeats. He brought his thoughts back to the presence. Drawing in a deep breath he drew on the wolf’s hearing. Emma’s heart beat strong and steady.
“I don’t understand.” He thought to his wolf.
Heartbeats. His wolf sent him back.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated the wolf’s hearing. For several moments, he heard nothing out of the ordinary. There faint in the background, a second heartbeat. A tiny fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird. Then another, and one more.
Four heartbeats. How could this be possible? Magick, it must have been the prophecy of the magic. Great father grant me the words to tell my mate and my brothers.
If he didn’t help fulfill the rest of the prophecy, they would all suffer. A woman having three children by three different fathers at one time. One of them being what most people saw as savage and beneath them.
“Wolf.”
“Little dove.”
“What are you thinking?”
He chuckled, “Very many things. Yet none as much as this.”
He brought his lips down on hers, devouring them like a starving man. He was starved of her touch, her passion. Hands roving down her bare skin, he grabbed her ass, lifting her up. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, then gasped and pulled back.
“What’s wrong?”
“I want to see your back.”
He put her down and turned around. Her fingers traced the healing scratches she put there.
“It was real.”
“Did you think our lovemaking not real?”
He turned around, taking both of her hands in his.
“You weren’t there when I woke up. I thought I had a dream. I should have been sore. I mean we... I... ah.”
He couldn’t hold his laughter in, her enraged look only made him laugh more.
“An elder needed my care. I left you in a deep slumber before that I healed you.”
He kissed each of her temples before lowering his head and brushing his lips against hers.
“I never intended for you to doubt our night together, or our connection.”
“I don’t understand.”
He couldn’t help another amused chuckle, this one at the enormity of such a small statement. The situation was beyond anything he experienced or even witnessed, yet it seemed right.
“Perhaps we should rejoin the others and see if together we can come to a better understanding.”
“Your English is beyond perfect, while I don’t know the first word of your language.”
His smile widened.
“I’ll teach you. Are you ready to get out?”
“Yes, but I’m not ready to leave you.”
He pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. “I’m not going anywhere. We will figure something out.”
“Promise?”
“I do.”
Wolf took his mate’s hand, helping her out of the hot spring before wrapping her up in towels and picking her up.
She laughed, the sound music to his ears.
“I can walk.”
“I like carrying you. I’ll come back later for our clothes.”
He looked down at her, catching the raw hunger in her eyes. “Little dove, if you keep looking at me like that we will never come to an understanding with the others. For I shall high thee away and keep you for myself.
“My mother taught me to speak and read the white man’s language.”
“Who taught your mother?”
“My mother’s entire village was burned to the ground, everyone else in the village murdered or taken. At the age of three, she found herself alone and surrounded by death.
“Weeks later a family of settlers found her nearly starved, dirty, and all alone. They took her in and raised her as one of their own.”
Chapter 49
Emma
The week in Hot Springs, Arkansas flew by. Each day was filled with love, not just physical kind. Emma blushed, laying her head on her husband’s shoulder. After a grueling day, he was deep asleep.
Her thoughts pulled toward the other two men in her life and the upcoming unlocking ceremony. The week was spent talking, sharing, learning of the pr
ophecy, and making love to each of her three husbands.
So far just one on one, though the men suggested we try more than one of them at the same time. Heat flooded her cheeks thinking about all the ways that could work.
The smell of freshly made cinnamon rolls brought her out of bed. She took extra care not to wake her husband. They arrived home last night to remember Cord’s cabin was mostly unfurnished, and he didn’t want his bride spending the night at his officer’s quarters.
No sooner had they arrived on her parent’s doorstep than the deputy came tearing down Main looking for the Sheriff. A fight broke out at Ruby’s, one large enough to require the sheriff, both deputies, and Nik. Whom admitted he was a federal marshal honeymoon.
Wolf had to check on his sister and would meet them later tonight for the unlocking ceremony. Dawning a robe, she walked past Nik’s room and down the backstairs to the kitchen.
Mrs. Derringer had the oven door open, the smell of cinnamon wafting through the air.
“Water’s hot if you want to make coffee. Yours is better than mine.”
The older woman closed the door with the heel of her shoe sitting the hot pan down on a cooling block.
“I’ll never admit it, so don’t go bragging.”
She embraced Emma in a hug. “So good to have you back home and safe.”
“It’s good to be back home.”
Emma made the coffee and helped Mrs. Derringer make the icing using a soft cheese reminiscent of mascarpone, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar.
Waiting for the rolls to cool enough to frost, she started cooking breakfast while Mrs. Derringer got a head start on dinner.
By the time her parents came downstairs, she loaded the sideboard with a virtual feast. Bacon, thick slices of ham, sausage, potatoes, eggs, gravy, biscuits, and enormous, freshly iced cinnamon rolls.
A bleary-eyed Cord, followed shortly by Nik, joined them. Emma shooed both men away from the sideboard and loaded a plate for each of them before pouring each a cup of coffee.