“I don’t leave stones left unturned. I don’t let threads stay unwoven. You are the final piece. Once you’re gone, I’ll be queen in truth. Nobody can try to take my throne.”
Poppy threw up her hands, and Jonah just looked at the queen aghast. “I never wanted your throne. You have killed so many, hurt countless others for something I would never do.”
“You don’t deserve to be here. You never bowed, never scraped. You weren’t the one who was supposed to have the power.” Mina took a step forward, and Jonah growled. For an instant, the queen looked scared, and he was glad for that. Just the slight widening of eyes and the tightening of her mouth belayed her fear. Good. She should be scared.
“You were always my princess, your father always my king. The only thing I ever did wrong was exist. And that’s not on me. That’s on you. Don’t make me do something we’ll all regret.”
“You already did something. After all, you killed that human boy. You don’t deserve to live.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him, you were the one who drugged me. Spelled me,” Poppy said from Jonah’s side. He wanted to reach out to console her, but this wasn’t the time for that. He could sense the other lions prowling around the house, all six of them. None of them had died, even though the queen and her sisters must’ve used some form of spell to dampen the sounds earlier. They weren’t using it now, and he didn’t think that the queen could hear them. No one had died, but he could tell that one or two of the guards were injured by the way their breaths came in labored pants. They were going to help though, if he needed them. There didn’t need to be any more bloodshed today. He didn’t want that. He wanted Poppy to be free. However, if that meant bloodshed, he’d do what he must.
“You can’t actually beat me,” Poppy said, her snakes out now. She had let the glamour fall, and he had never seen her look so beautiful. While he hadn’t known her for more than a handful of hours, he knew right then and there that this was Poppy at her best. Protective, stunning, and powerful.
He hated that she was going to have to use her powers, though.
“You are nothing,” Mina growled out, and Jonah took a step forward.
“You would do well to watch your tongue with my mate.”
The queen’s eyes widened. “Mate? You mated with an animal?” The queen threw her head back and laughed. “Of course, you did,” she said, still laughing. “Of course.”
“You really do want to die tonight, don’t you?” Poppy asked, coming up to his side. She slid her hand through his, gave his fingers a squeeze, and then let go, knowing that she would need both hands to fight. Or, at least, that’s what he hoped. He didn’t want her to avoid touching him out of fear.
“Once you’re dead, things will go back to normal. And that’s all that really matters.” And then the queen threw her hands out to the sides, and her snakes writhed around her head.
Jonah closed his eyes, but Poppy just laughed.
“Breaking the rules, are you? But the thing is, you’re not a Medusa. You can’t turn anyone to stone. You never could, and you’re never going to be able to.”
Jonah’s eyes widened, and he looked over at Poppy.
“She just has her fighting skills and her magic?”
“She used spells to hurt the others, she doesn’t have the skills.” Poppy laughed then, but there was nothing cruel about it, just weariness. She had been running for so long. She had to be exhausted.
And he was tired of it already.
“You should just go,” Poppy said. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll never come back to the realm. But I’m done. I’m done running.”
“And I’m done listening to you.” The queen turned to one of her sisters. “Marci, use your magic.”
Marci grinned, and there was pure darkness in her eyes. She began to whisper something, but Poppy threw herself in front of Jonah before she could finish.
“Stop doing that,” he growled.
“Let me fix this,” she muttered, but then there was a commotion. Madeleine pushed Mina out of the way and threw herself on top of Marci.
The queen looked stunned, just like Poppy and Jonah did, and he was confused at what the hell had just happened.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Mina asked.
“No, no more magic. It was eating your soul, can’t you see that?” Madeleine asked. She scrambled to her feet, and Marci stood up with her, shaking.
“Stop it. Just because you’re too weak to do anything, doesn’t mean you have the right to hurt us.”
“I am not weak,” Madeleine said, her voice shaking. And then she let the glamour fall, and Poppy cursed.
“Close your eyes, Jonah,” she whispered.
He did so, confused. He trusted her, though, so he didn’t even hesitate. “What the hell is going on?” he asked.
“Madeleine, she’s a Medusa,” Poppy whispered.
“No!” Mina growled out.
“I’m done hiding. You killed our father. And you’re going to kill Poppy. I’m done.” And then Madeleine screamed.
Chapter 6
Poppy staggered back, the revelations far too much for her to even breathe just then. Madeleine was a Medusa?
How did she not know? How had nobody known?
Of course, Mina and Marci had always made sure to push Madeleine down, to hide her as the youngest sister, the one that didn’t matter. They had been just as cruel to her as they had been with Poppy her entire life.
She had missed the fact that Madeleine was in pain just like she was. That she had to hide just like Poppy did.
“You think you can hurt us?” Queen Mina screamed. “You’ve always been nothing. So what, you think you’re a Medusa? I’m sure you just used magic like Marci did. Is that how you did it? Because it can’t be true. You couldn’t have been a Medusa all this time.”
“She has, though,” Poppy said, not knowing if it was actually the truth or not. Although, it seemed like it had to be.
The queen raised her chin, her eyes narrowed to slits. “What do you know?”
“I know that if there was a magical way to create a Medusa, you would have done it long before this. You would’ve found a way and killed anybody in your quest to do so. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
“Enough of this,” Jonah growled, his eyes were still closed, but his claws were out. He was one second away from shifting to end this, and Poppy didn’t blame him. She could sense the others outside, but she wasn’t sure that any of the gorgons and the other Medusa in the room could.
In fact, she was pretty sure that these three women were oblivious to the fact that the lions were prowling around, ready to come inside the house at any moment to help.
But Poppy didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. Between Marci’s magic, Mina’s tenacity and cruelty, and Madeleine’s Medusa powers, she didn’t know if she could keep everyone alive if anyone else joined them.
“You’ll die, just like your little friends,” Mina spat.
Poppy cursed again, her powers fluctuating as she figured out what to do. Madeleine had her snakes out, her eyes wide, they were a darker silver, almost gray and matte, but they still had some of the Medusa power in them. How had Madeleine hidden that for so long?
Poppy didn’t know, and this wasn’t the time to find out.
Instead, she let her snakes hiss and shouted, “Stop now, and you can live. I don’t want to kill you.”
“You’re going to die anyway,” Mina growled.
“Stay back,” Jonah ordered, and Poppy knew that was directed at the lions. With two Medusas in play, they would die just by being in the wrong place, and she didn’t want that. She couldn’t stand by and let Madeleine die, nor would she let Jonah do all the work for her.
Marci had her arms out, muttering some incantation, but then Jonah was on top of her, his claws slashing. Marci ducked, screamed, and threw a curse at Poppy. Poppy ducked out of the way, the death curse that would’ve killed her missing her by a bare inch. Marci must ha
ve had a warlock or someone teach her that curse. Someone had infiltrated the realm like everyone had once feared, but it was Marci who had succumbed to the temptation and hurled death magic.
Jonah growled so loudly the windows shook, and then Marci was done screaming. He snapped her neck in one quick movement, and she fell to the floor, a pile of dusted bones in a long dress.
Poppy’s eyes widened.
“You use a curse that takes a life, you’re going to lose your own,” Jonah spat. He wasn’t looking up, just down towards where Marci’s bones were.
So, using magic required a sacrifice, and since Poppy hadn’t died, Marci was the one who paid. Jonah just helped that along. But he had to keep his eyes closed, because Madeleine’s eyes were still open.
“You’re going to hurt someone,” Poppy called out, needing Madeleine to stop, to pull her glamour back.
“I can do this,” Madeleine rasped, her whole body shaking.
Poppy didn’t think she could. Madeleine might be a Medusa, but she was even more untrained than Poppy was. Even more powerless.
“You were always nothing, just like little Poppy. You’ll deserve the death that comes for you.” Queen Mina held out her hands and grinned.
“You might have bested the witch, but you can’t best me. I’m the queen.”
“And you have no power. No power over me, and no power over the realm.” Poppy let her snakes hiss again, and her eyes widened. She felt her power wash over her.
Mina’s mouth gaped as Poppy let the full force of her Medusa out.
Jonah growled, and she knew he was right beside her, she could feel his hands on her hips as if he were trying to help her by giving her some of his own power and strength. She leaned into him. She didn’t have to do this alone, even if he couldn’t help with this one thing. Because the lions, if able to, would walk right in. They would help even if she was a stranger. Because they were good, and they did what was right. They were not Medusas, they were not what Mina had made their realm. Treacherous.
Mina reached out, her hands outstretched, but under the combined Medusa powers of Madeleine and Poppy, she wasn’t enough. The stone slid up her dress, rose to her hips, wound around her chest and her arms, and eventually reached her neck. Mina tried to let out one last final scream, but it wasn’t enough. The stone slid around her body, her snakes, everywhere.
The queen of the gorgons was gone.
Madeleine fell, her eyes shut, her glamour back on as she passed out, her energy spent. And Poppy just leaned into Jonah, shaking.
“What...? I can’t believe…” she whispered, unable to do anything else. Her glamour was quickly back in place as the lions finally came in, ready to fight.
“Jonah?” one of them asked.
“It’s over. For now. Be careful with the one that’s still breathing, she could still turn you to stone.”
“I don’t know what to do now,” Poppy whispered. The immense relief that she thought would’ve come from knowing that she could go back to her realm if she wanted, didn’t come. Nothing did.
She was numb, and she didn’t know what to think. But as she leaned into the man, the one who could be her mate, she knew she needed to breathe, needed to think. She just didn’t know where to go from here.
“We will take care of this, because you are ours,” Jonah began. “And I think, right now? I think we should go see a certain cub. She can help you with anything. Give you a little respite.”
Poppy turned in his arms and smiled.
“I can come see your home?” Poppy asked.
“I think you should. And then, when the time comes, we’ll figure out what to do next. But you need to rest, Poppy. After all this time? You need to rest.”
As she looked down at the tattered remains of what had once been her enemy, the woman who had once tried to take so much from her, she knew Jonah was right. She was ready to go to his home, and maybe if she believed in fate, it could be her home, as well.
Epilogue
Months later
Poppy groaned, wanting more, but not sure what to do. Jonah smiled down at her, his lips on her jaw, then her neck.
“It’s been months,” she whispered.
“Months, I’ve gotten to know you. Every inch of you. And now you’re mine.”
“I’ll always be yours,” she whispered. “But months? Don’t make me wait any longer.”
They had waited in the months since the attack. Since her freedom had been found. Because they needed to get to know each other. Although they had each told one another their deepest, darkest secrets the first night they met, Jonah was a man of old deep down in his heart, and had taken the time to court her.
There were flowers and chocolates. There were little notes. There was the soft touch of his fingers on her cheek. The way he played with her hair…and her vipers. There were days that he would just stare at her and smile. Times when she found her favorite book on their bed, waiting for her.
So many little things, tiny glances. So much time where he could be hers and everything that mattered, and she got to know him in more ways than just their deepest and darkest secrets. But in a way that took him straight to her soul.
They were in the lion realm now, and she was learning to fight, learning to be with Jonah.
She would protect baby Penelope and any children that came from her and Jonah’s union along the way. Because she wanted to be by his side, even if they were no longer in the realm of their births.
She knew that he would take her to the jaguar realm someday, but he didn’t want to go there for himself. So, she would wait, even if it took a century or two.
And she could go back to her original realm to see the gorgons, to see what had come of Madeleine and her new realm. Because Queen Madeleine was a just ruler, one who wanted people to enter their realm and be happy, to find peace. And Poppy knew the gorgons were on their way to a new world. Once Madeleine found her mate, everything would change once again, and the queen would be able to rule in full.
That time would come, and Poppy knew she would help, but it was no longer her home.
Because her home was with Jonah, the jaguar who smiled at her, who helped her protect herself. Who taught her what it meant to be part of something more than who you were when everything was taken away from you.
And now, after months, she was ready to be his.
A bond in truth, a mate forever.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Jonah asked, his voice soft, deep.
“If you don’t get inside me right now, I’m going to scream.”
Her snakes came out for just an instant, hissed, and then went back under their glamour.
Jonah laughed and then took her mouth hard. “I’m afraid your little vipers are going to bite me if I don’t make you an honest woman.”
“They’re ready for me to be mated. And you need to mate with me right now, mister. Be mine, Jonah. You’re already mine in everything but bond. Love me.”
“Always, my Poppy. My precious, my mate. Always.” And then he slid into her, and she groaned.
He licked up her neck and then kissed her again before going back to her shoulder, his fangs piercing her flesh in the mating mark. Even as he did, he thrust in and out of her, his cock thick, hard, and pulsating with need. She groaned, wrapping her legs around him, wanting more, needing more.
As the mating mark burned, it sent them into oblivion. She knew this was it, the moment she had been waiting for. He spun them so that he was on his back with her riding him, his hands on her breasts, his fingers pale against the dark brown of her nipples.
She grinned down at him, arching her back just slightly so he could go deeper. And when his thumb moved down to her clit, rubbing that little nub just so, her whole body clenched, and she shook, calling his name as she came.
Jonah gripped her hips and thrust in and out of her, harder, faster, until both of them were shaking. She screamed again, her hands on her breasts as she plucked at her nipples.
He
came inside her, deep and hard, fast. The bond between them slid into place, perfect, everlasting. She couldn’t do anything, couldn’t breathe. It was all she could do not to beg for more.
Then she was on her back, and Jonah was sliding in and out of her, once, twice, and then again.
She held onto him, her hands sliding down his sweat-slick back. His lips were on hers, and she was lost.
She had found her mate, her love, and even though she had been the one on the run, she hadn’t known where she would land, let alone that it would be with him.
* * *
Afterwards, they cleaned each other up and then got ready to head to work. After all, she still had a job to do. When she wasn’t training so she could protect baby Penelope and the others she loved, she was still a bartender. Dante the dragon still needed her until he could find a replacement, and she didn’t mind in the least.
She went back behind the bar when they got there, and Jonah went to the large table in the corner where the seven lightning-struck were sitting with their families. It was one of the baby’s birthdays, and even though it might feel weird to have a birthday for a child in a bar, it didn’t here. It was daylight, and Dante’s Circle was open for everybody. Plus, no humans were around. It was just the supernaturals. So, when a baby dragon and a baby bear started wrestling on the floor, nobody thought much of it. Poppy wanted to take a picture and never forget.
When Jonah walked up, baby Penelope in his arms, she just grinned.
“Poppy!” Penelope babbled, her hands outstretched, her little arms waving around.
Poppy reached out and plucked the baby from Jonah’s hip and held her close. She smelled of powder, innocence, and sunshine.
A little baby lion cub, one that she loved with her whole heart. And as she looked over at her mate, she grinned. One day, they would hold their own child, and she couldn’t wait. But for now, they could breathe, and she was safe.
Dante’s Circle Reborn: A Dante’s Circle Collection Page 12