With a stomp of her foot, Leilanni fisted her hands at her side, “You act as if this is a choice. Yet, you have already told us that we cannot be returned to our bear forms. So, I don’t see why we’re getting this run around.”
Nita, assessing the situation, switched her gaze back and forth between the Queen and the others. “She’s right, why do you toy with us?”
The Queen offered another genuine smile. “Because, my dear girls, I believe I have a perfect solution to the problem. No spell can return you permanently to your former selves, which, I gather from your silence when asked, you’d rather not do anyway. However, I can offer you this … what if you could be a bear only sometimes, and human as well. Like Mato and Chris, here, you would be able to choose when you shift forms.”
Although the offer seemed good, Leilanni was not convinced. “How can you give this gift, yet be unable to return us for good? Besides, you’ve already proven yourself a liar. I don’t know if I believe you can really do this.”
“I understand your concern. It would take more power than I have to make it permanent, is basically the answer. But I can give you the magic … the power, to return to the form whenever you choose.”
Nita stepped forward. “I want it. I choose to be both human and bear.”
“Nita!” Leilanni, cried out. “We don’t even know that it will work.”
With a shake of her head, Nita turned to Leilanni. “I don’t care. If I can be human and be with Mato, yet also be the bear who I am at heart, then I’ll take it. It’s better than being human all the time.” She turned back to the Queen, “Let’s do it.”
Mato, grasped Nita’s hand and pulled her close. “I do not want you to put yourself at risk for me. I will not lose you.”
“It’s totally safe, I assure you,” the Queen interjected.
Nita gave Mato’s hand a squeeze and turned back to the queen. “I’m ready.”
“Turn around and expose your shoulder blade to me.”
Nita did as the queen instructed, pulling her shirt up and over. She felt the queen place her hand flat upon the exposed area and mutter some foreign words, then a sprinkling of fairy dust shimmered down onto her.
Was that it, Nita thought, she didn’t feel any different. Then, a sudden burning sensation bore into her shoulder underneath the Queen’s unwavering palm. Nita bit her lip to keep from crying out. It felt like the Queen had placed hot coals upon her skin. And then, just as the pain was becoming unbearable, it began to wane. “It is done.” The Queen removed her hand from Nita’s shoulder and stepped back.
“What did you do to her?” Leilanni demanded.
Katya moved in before Leilanni could get to Nita and quickly examined Nita’s back. “Ohhh, I love it!”
“Love what?” Nita asked, wishing she could see her own back.
“Do me now!” Katya demanded of the Queen. “I, too, would like to be human and bear.”
Nita looked to Leilanni for help. “What’s on my back?”
The blonde woman leaned in and quickly looked to where the Queen had touched her. “It’s a bear paw. I actually like it a lot.”
“So she hasn’t scarred me.” Nita was afraid that the Queen had left a hideous scar upon her back.
“No, it’s a mark. A mark of the bear.” Nita could tell by the level of Leilanni’s voice that she approved.
“Katya.” The queen beckoned the redhead over to her. “Please, do as Nita did and you will receive your mark as well.
Katya did as she was asked and unlike Nita, Katya did cry out a little bit. But, Chris was there beside her to grasp her hand and soothe her through it. “Only a moment more, dear Katya.” When it was done, Katya grinned and hugged Chris. “I can’t wait to change so that we can run together.”
The Queen’s gaze drifted to Leilanni. “So, do you choose to be both human and bear? Or only human? The choice is completely up to you.”
Leilanni drew in a deep breath and then exhaled. “I choose both.” Even though she chose both, she knew what gave her second thoughts was the fact that Nita and Katya’s mates were both bear shifters, her man was an alligator … an alligator who couldn’t even shift.
“Very well,” the Queen repeated the process again. Before she began, Paul caught the eye of the queen and whispered, “If you hurt her, I will kill you.”
“Do not worry, my friend.”
And then, before she knew it, Leilanni had her very own bear paw on her shoulder blade. The queen stood back and caught each of the girls’ eyes. “These marks you now carry are the mark of the bear. They are not merely a symbol, but also hold the magic which will allow you to shift as you please.”
“How does it work?” Katya asked. “I mean, how do we begin the change.”
The Queen glanced at Chris. “I think that these young men can help you with that, for it is done the same way.”
Katya looked up at Chris and Nita at Mato, but as Leilanni looked to Paul, his eyes were on the ground. The queen noticed and stepped toward him with her hand stretched out to him. “Dearest Paul, the fierce and loyal, do you think I have forgotten about you? I know what ails you.”
Paul met the Queen’s eyes and held her gaze. “I don’t require anything, Your Majesty.”
She shook her head, “Ah, ever so prideful. Paul, I know that you are only a human, who was once an alligator.” Paul nodded in confirmation, “Would you like to be able to shift back and forth between human and your true form?”
“I’d like that very much, Highness.”
“Come. Step forward,” the Queen ordered and Paul immediately did as she asked. Then, the Queen reached into some hidden pocket within the folds of her gown and extracted a leather cord with an alligator tooth attached to it. “This necklace is like the girls’ mark. It holds the power for you to shift between forms. You will wear this, dearest Paul, so that you will be able to stay true to both your love and the animal inside of you.”
Paul tilted his head forward and let the Queen slide the necklace over his head. Once she stepped back, he lifted his head until his eyes met hers. “Thank you. There aren’t enough ways to thank you.”
The Queen waved him off. “All in the name of true love, which I believe on this night has prevailed.”
The girls, all holding hands with their men, smiled. For they knew that true love had, indeed, won the fight this time.
Chapter Eighteen
After telling Butchy to return with the girls for a few days, the Queen left the group shortly after and they all stepped through a portal back to the cabin, the place where they felt safest. Everyone was exhausted from the encounters the day before and it didn’t take long for all of them to fall fast asleep.
When the sun rose the next day, the cabin in the clearing was already bursting with activity. The door slammed open and Nita shooed the men out onto the porch. “We need groceries,” she explained. “All of you go to town and get everything we need.”
“We don’t have a car!” Paul complained.
“Then get one when you get to town,” Nita ordered, slamming the door in his face. Paul turned to face the others, “Women.” He shrugged.
Mato laughed. “My Nita, not only beautiful, but fierce.”
Chris shook his head and was about to add to the conversation when a shiny black truck suddenly appeared in the drive. All the male heads swung in the direction of the cabin and they saw the source. Butchy stood in the kitchen window, watching their struggle.
“Thanks, Uncle Butchy,” Paul called out. “I’m driving!” he called as he jogged down the steps.
“No you aren’t,” both Mato and Chris replied in unison as they also headed for the truck. Chris made it to the driver’s side first so he yanked open the door and slid behind the wheel. The other guys jumped up into the cab and joined him.
Then they were off to get the groceries, just a little inkling of what their lives were now going to be like with their women.
Meanwhile, back at the cabin.
“
They’re gone!” Katya peeked through the curtains. Nita bent beside her so that she could get a look, too.
“I don’t see why we couldn’t do this with them here. It’s not a secret,” Leilanni scowled.
Nita held up her hand to calm her. “I know, I know. But, I just wanted our first moment back as bears to be special, something for us to savor. It began with us three and this new beginning will be the three of us alone again.”
Butchy wandered into the room. “Go on girls, go have your run.” He waved them off.
The girls grew silent and looked at each other. Then, with a squeal, Katya was off and running. She slammed out the door and hopped off of the porch with Nita and Leilanni following close behind her with large grins spread across their faces.
Butchy watched his charges from the porch. They smiled and laughed as they ran for the woods, stripping off their clothes and tossing them carelessly away. Just before they disappeared from the clearing into the woods, the three women shifted and it was three bears of a different color that were seen charging into the forest.
Good for them, Butchy thought after they had gone into the forest. They had found their true loves and were also able to be whom they were inside. While he was genuinely happy for the girls, he couldn’t help the pang of jealously that wiggled into his heart.
He had done so much for these charges and where was his reward? That’s right, he didn’t get anything out of it. He had grown fond of the girls and their men, there was that much, but he couldn’t help but wish for his own true love.
Letting out a sigh, Butchy stepped inside and retrieved his bottle of whiskey from the kitchen. Not even bothering with a glass, he went back outside and plopped himself down on the porch with his sorrow and his bottle.
“Well, a happy ending for most is still a happy ending.” He raised the bottle and toasted himself. “True love prevails.”
Epilogue
Brunhilda nervously moved between the two long book-covered tables, stopping here and there to flip through pages. “It’s not here, Albert,” she’d say aloud.
As time passed, the intensity with which she searched heightened and with it, the insane conversation grew even more hostile.
“They’ll pay, Albert. Oh, yes they will.”
The old woman stopped at the end of the long table and glanced around the ancient library at the hundreds of books still lining the shelves. “You can defeat it, he said.”
She shook her head. “Can’t defeat fate.” Her head flew back as maniacal laughter escaped her throat.
Spinning, she pointed into thin air as if conversing with an invisible being. “Don’t you say that! Don’t you ever say that. I tried. I did! Anastasia was my gift to the world and he took her. He took her and he killed her. That was not my fault!”
Brunhilda’s head bobbed up and down. “Yes, yes. I’ll find the spell. Not to worry.”
Moving through the tables again, she hovered over one book in particular. “Yesssss. Oh, such a nasty spell. Not the one I need, but surely one I can use.” She cackled.
Her shoulders bent as she shuffled to the fireplace. She groaned as she hoisted the large black cauldron sitting off to the side and hung it on the hook over the fire. Moving faster now, she retrieved a large clay pot full of clear liquid and dumped the contents into the cauldron. She worked her mouth until it was full of spit and then spat into the kettle. Her claw-like finger shot into the fluid, stirring in a counter clockwise motion.
“Yes, yes. That’s it. Now we shall see what those horrid bears are up to. We’ll find him and make him pay for taking her.”
The old woman’s head jerked to the left. “Don’t you say that! They have it coming. Those girls have to pay for taking my baby.”
As if still responding to the invisible source, she began violently shaking her head. “No. No. No! You don’t understand. You never understand, Albert.”
Sighing, she pulled her wand from a hidden pocket inside her cloak and shot a beam of red light into the wall over her shoulder. “Now, I didn’t want to have to do that, Albert, but you gave me no choice. I have far too many things to do to fool with you at the moment.”
Brunhilda gazed into the cauldron and waited for images of the girls to appear. One by one, their faces floated across the mirror-like surface. The blonde’s blood-streaked face, followed by the red head with tears flowing freely down her cheeks, and then finally the ebony haired girl. Her expression clouded with worry and torment.
The old woman’s lips spread into a toothy grin. Her once tightly-wound hair had slipped from its ties, leaving long tendrils of grey to float around her head like snakes. “Oh they will pay, all right. They will most certainly pay.”
She scurried to the shelved books and ran her finger across the spines until she found what she was looking for. It had been a very long time since the woman had practiced real magic. Oh she’d tried well enough when her daughter had been ill, but even then Albert wouldn’t shut his mouth long enough for her to really think it through. If she’d had more time...
She raised her head to listen as a loud bang followed by a moan echoed through the back room. She needed to hurry up and find that spell. Her guests were waking and it wouldn’t do to be unprepared.
A loud roar echoed through the stone edifice. The old woman cackled and shuffled to a small iron door at the back of the room. It took at least a minute for her to remove the iron bar over the door. She could have used magic, but she was saving it. That last battle had taken too much power. Finally freeing the door, she pulled it towards her. Metal grated against stone with an ear splitting screech as it moved.
Inside the dank room stood three strong cages. Two held bears, but one held a strapping young man wearing only a crocodile tooth necklace. He glared at her accusingly as she approached.
“Brunhilda, you need to let us go. This was all a big mistake.”
The old woman threw her head back and laughed. “Mistake then? You all accidently stole the only thing I ever loved?”
The young man nodded. “We really didn’t mean for it to happen that way. If you’d just hear us out--”
She shook her head. “No. Time for talking has passed. Payment must be made.”
“Brunhilda, please.”
Her withered face wrinkled impossibly deeper as her eyebrows drew together. “Who is this Brunhilda? That woman doesn’t exist anymore, boy. Brunhilda tried to keep me at bay, but you can’t fight destiny. Oh, no you cannot.”
The naked young man rolled his eyes in disdain. “If you are not Brunhilda, then who are you?”
Rage flashed in her eyes as she spun to face him. “I am Babba Yaga. Strongest of all witches. Now keep silent or die.”
About the Authors
Willow Cross, Jennifer Malone Wright and K.B. Miller are all authors of the paranormal and fantasy genres.
Willow Cross has a long back list of titles including the best-selling, Haunted series. She is also the author of The Dark Gifts series, The Ghost Diaries, A Higher Calling and the Oceans of Red. Willow has a deep connection with the paranormal which she has brought over into her writing to share with others. When she is not spending time with her family or writing, she enjoys reading, playing online games and sipping Malibu rum.
Jennifer Malone Wright is best known her YA paranormal series The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter. Her other works include the follow up to The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter called The Arcadia Falls Chronicles and her newest series, Graveyard Guardians. Jennifer is the mother of five crazy kids and wife of a soldier. Jennifer also loves coffee, talking on the phone with her equally crazy friends and has a passionate affair with Red Bull.
K.B. Miller is best known for her best-selling series The Moon Coven. At home, K.B is a full time writer with a very supportive husband and son who is too smart for his own good. In her free time K.B. likes to read, dabble in graphic design, watch her favorite shows, and spend time with her other love … coffee! She is also an owl enthusiast and swears she will som
eday ride a unicorn.
Excerpt:
Oceans of Red
Demon Revolution
Written by Willow Cross
Chapter One
December 21, 2012
3:33 am
The walls of the ancient adobe church shuddered as the first tremor hit. Cloaked figures, knowing they would likely die during the event about to transpire, remained on their knees and continued chanting. Candlelight flickered casting odd shadows on the walls. Within seconds, another tremor shook the floor beneath them. The priests lurched forward. Now, prostrate on the floor, their voices rose in unison as they beseeched God in all his infinite glory to hold fast the seal.
Centered in the tile floor of the room, a mosaic of the virgin mother holding her babe covered the ancient site. They knew the decoration held no power. What was beneath held evil in check. The seal, if broken, would mean the end of everything just as the prophecies foretold.
Bits of adobe fell from the walls, joined by small chunks of tile from the ceiling. A loud boom echoed through the structure. Cracks and fissures made their way across the entire span of the floor. Pieces of the mosaic popped and flew into the air. Their voices did not falter as the dirt under the place where the mosaic had been, dropped and caved in. Dark smoke erupted from the gaping hole blanketing the room. As the quake intensified, the smoke pushed against the ceiling until it blew up and out in small pieces.
The two heavy entryway doors flew back with a crash. One priest, still praying, glanced over his shoulder. His voice caught in his throat.
A young girl, not more than twenty, hovered in the doorway. Her vacant eyes stared straight ahead. Wind whipped long tendrils of blond hair around her slender body as she floated forward.
“We must leave, brothers. It is too late. We have lost,” he yelled over the raging wind.
Several priests came to their knees while others continued yelling supplications.
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