by Jamie Magee
It only made this meeting with her mother tonight all the more critical. The woman had to have answers. She had to know who had set this curse upon them—how to stop it.
“What the hell is that, Adair? What does it mean?”
“It means you were right,” she said as she rushed by him and started to pull clothes on as fast as she could. She was nervous about tonight, more than she would ever admit to anyone, but now, this revelation had somehow trumped the anxiety. As long as she focused on the urgent matter of saving Talley, the nerves could be overcome. Or so she thought.
Judge gripped her arm and turned her to face him. His eyes searched hers, a habit he had—one that would have let him into anyone’s mind but hers. “Don’t pull that witch shit on me, you tell me what it means, what I’m right about.”
“All yours, Judge,” she said pulling her arm free. Part of the spell meant only a soulmate could tread—touch her—intimately.
“What?” he asked, chasing her around the room as she pulled herself together.
“I have to look it up. I don’t know for sure.”
“You know something,” he argued.
“I know you have been an ass since we came back here,” she yelled back. “You think one orgasm is going to make me forget that? What the hell is going on? Is it Chalice? Are they taking your kill from you?”
“I’ll be damned,” he said, giving up on following her and choosing to guard the door instead.
“What, then?”
“What, then?” he repeated sarcastically. “I don’t know, might be because you’re going to have a chat with a Lady of Death. Oh and Shade is claiming Mia is the good one out of this deal when I know it’s fucking Talley—or fuck, Dove, maybe it’s because I am not a psychopath and can not fucking kill with a grin on my face—I have to work into it, to be that person.”
“We’ll if you think that gives you permission to wave an asshole card, you can fucking get over yourself,” she stated, pulling on her last boot.
She started to arm herself. It was a useless safety net, but it calmed her, so that was all that mattered. “You can work your way up to any mood you want, but you will not drug me, and you will not be an ass to me unless you expect more of the same thrown at you.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Threats are a waste of time. I’m stating the consequences.”
He cursed under his breath. “Fucking sorry.”
“You’re lying.”
“Right. I’m sorry, but I’m not. You have a long night before you. You’re mortal. Sleep is needed. You have to be focused to be able to use your magic as a weapon.”
She aimed a gun at him and arched a brow. “Feeling pretty sharp right now, babe.”
He shook his head, grinning as he did.
“This is funny?”
“No it’s fucking sexy as hell.”
Her lips twitched.
“Don’t do it, Adair. No matter what—do not smile.”
And damn if she didn’t.
She gripped the gun. “You were wrong,” she said as she tucked it in her boot.
“And you’re rested. Tell me what the mark means,” he ordered as he appeared at her side.
“It’s a chastity. ‘Only of thy soul shall tread,’” she said nervously looking up at him.
“Would that stop him? Talley?”
Adair swallowed nervously. “It might be why he cut me up, but no. The pain would destroy him, but he would endure it because he is cursed to do so.”
Judge’s gaze shifted over her, as he thought of what Talley had shown him, still feeling the trepidation for such a thing. “You know of nothing that would break the curse?”
“I might know more if I was able to study this afternoon, but you know, shit happens.”
“Can you be real with me for five fucking seconds?”
“This is my real,” she said, a little more quietly. She was a bit scared. It is one thing to think you love someone, to feel it, and it’s another to know without a doubt you do, that you are made of one.
The scars on her didn’t say his name, but his touch proclaimed the title. It didn’t promise their love would be blissful, it promised it would be true, it promised their eternal souls would never part.
“What could break it, Adair—what could stop Talley?”
“I don’t know.”
He reached his arm around her and pulled her flesh against him as he cupped her face. “Listen to me, when you find the answer—know that no matter what it is, I’m okay with it. I’m ready for it.”
“What do you know?” she demanded.
He wanted to tell her, but the words died in his throat. “That I love you.”
Adair tilted her head to the side. “Judge.”
“You don’t have to say it. That’s what I know though.”
“You know more.”
He took her hand. “We have to meet Jade in a half hour. We’ll deal with this when it’s all over.”
He started to pull her away, but she clenched his hand and held her ground. “I’m glad you’re not a psychopath. And I’m glad you care enough to make sure I get rest.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “But I don’t agree with your methods. We gotta work through shit like that, Judge.”
“Adair,” he said, ready to blow her off once more.
“I mean it. People who love each other do that. They call out the bullshit, and they become better because they work through it.”
His eyes softened all at once.
She nodded once. “You heard me.”
“That I did, Dove,” he said as he pulled her to his lips.
Adair let herself melt into him and devoured the rush of him. If there was one thing Finley had always taught her, it was to find bliss in the darkness. She said it was in little moments, and you had to steal them, for if you didn’t, they would vanish to never been seen again.
In just a moment, Adair was riding out with her lover to meet her archenemy who would then escort her to her mother,an obsessive woman who ruled death—all in the hopes of saving her Phoenix father from her and finding an answer to redeem the wolf who raised her as his own.
Life was twisted beyond reason. Any and every blissful moment needed to be stolen.
Episode Eleven
Chapter One
Talon had wanted to send every rider he had with Adair. He wanted to be at her side, but reason told him that would be a mistake.
Jade’s suggestion that Brosia should be a friend to him, someone his Club could work with and not against, made sense. At least from a logical point of view, it did. But not to Talon. Not when it came to trusting Brosia with Adair. He knew the woman could vanish with Adair, never to be seen again. The thought of such ripped him deep inside.
His only comfort came from the briefing he was given in Church, where Cashton relayed all that went down when Reveca was before Brosia. He recounted seeing Brosia’s hidden weakness and Reveca’s bold strength. Under it all, both those women wanted what was best for Adair and Talon. Agreeing on what was best would be the issue from hell…
If something bad went down tonight, Talon was not above asking Dagen or any of the dark angels to take him right to Brosia. He’d get Adair back one way or another.
Cashton’s advice, with Dagen backing him up, was to send Scorpio along with Shade, Gwinn, and Judge. They said Brosia would be less threatened if there was a soul of fire near, but warned Judge to not expect to be with Adair during the conference and to not do anything to cause an uproar from her.
The advice, along with all the other Club shit stirring, had put Judge in a foul mood.
Judge and Adair finally rekindling what they once had helped dial back the constant edge Judge felt, but it took little to nothing to bring out the asshole in him. Like when Scorpio reached out and hugged Adair, then joked he’d let her ride with him if Judge’s bad mood was taking up too much room. No that was not a good moment for Judge.
“Just keeping it real,” Scorp
io said with a wink.
Seductively, Adair slid behind Judge on his bike. He was smart enough to take a second and savor the moment, the significance of the act. How it symbolized how far the pair of them had come. Them together in front of the entire Club as one was exactly what the other riders needed to see—what Judge needed to feel.
Adair’s hands slid around his waist, and just under his ear, she said, “Can you not read Scorpio? It’s amusing to him, your mood.” She squeezed her legs tight. “He doesn’t mean what he says, but it always makes you aware of me, so he’ll never stop…he wants this for us, truly.”
Judge leaned back, and there in front of them all, he rested the palm of his hand on the back of her head as he drew her into a deep claiming kiss. When he pulled away, he bit her lip. “I’m aware, Dove, more than you will ever know.”
Then they tore out—Judge and Adair in the lead, Shade and Gwinn to the right, and Scorpio to the left.
As they approached the shore of where he found Finley’s body so long ago, Judge’s entire body tensed. Feeling it, Adair’s hands moved under his kut and held him all the tighter.
There was a fire burning in the distance, and Scorpio took the lead to investigate, then he waved the others on. It was Jade who had built a massive bonfire, one that was at least eight feet in height and a solid circle—one which framed the very place where Finley died.
“Feeling festive?” Adair remarked dryly as she dismounted the bike.
“Protective,” Jade responded as she nodded for them all to follow her toward the brush that would lead to swamp waters.
Scorpio was the last to follow. Like any other time, the fire had enchanted the phoenix in him.
Judge and Shade were just before Gwinn and Adair.
All day, Gwinn had been submerged in the books Evanthe had given them, searching for the one word Mia had said: Aleay. She hoped it would offer some proof to defend the man because, as of right now, the entire Club was divided, and very few of them had any real sympathy for Mia. One definition that was all she needed!
“Creator,” Jade said out of nowhere.
Everyone stopped, knowing this woman was unpredictable—who the hell was she talking to?
Jade ducked under a branch that was in the path then glanced back to Gwinn. “Now, move on to more pressing matters, like the near future. Vocab time is over.”
Gwinn sucked in a sharp breath and successfully ignored the questioning glances thrown her way.
“What the fuck did she mean?” Shade asked, falling back to her side.
“I was thinking of a lot of things at once.”
Scorpio almost laughed. “Like that matters, the woman is certifiable.”
“I can hear you,” Jade warned.
“Congratulations,” Scorpio shouted in her direction.
Jade stopped short, staring into the darkness. “Come, Adair.”
“All of us,” Judge said, clutching Adair’s arm.
“She comes now, if any one of you are allowed with her, you will be—no one else will be able to pass.”
“Then what the fuck do you want her now for?” Judge raged.
Jade glanced back at him. “I thought it would be good karma to tell her how to survive.”
Judge flinched forward, ready to bless her out, but Scorpio came from behind him, patted him on the chest. “Easy now there, big guy.” Behind his neck in a quick, quiet tone he said, “Flex your hidden strength.”
Judge clenched his jaw and squeezed Adair’s hand before letting it go, not bothering to lift his glare from Jade until she had turned from him.
Then Judge’s gaze lifted to his hidden strength. Dagen, and four of his men were perched about, watching, always watching. Judge wasn’t a fan of relying on them to protect his woman, but he was wise enough to know when to shut his mouth. Dagen had vowed no matter what, he would personally return Adair if something went wrong this night.
Adair had donned her bitch mask, the one she always wore in Jade’s presence, as the two of them trekked further into the swamp.
“How is your dear friend?” Jade asked.
“You mean the snake in the grass?” Adair was sure whatever traitor the Sons were hunting for was Jade. If not, it was Miriam.
“You’re not acquainted with such.”
“Are fucking with me? Are you telling me to trust Miriam?”
Jade laughed as if this were a stroll through an open field on a sunlit day. “No, I’m telling you to kill her or well—take her blood. How much is up to you.”
Adair stopped Jade and turned her to face her, shock masking her expression. “Cut the shit, Jade. You want the Cauldron? Take it. Take it all. I don’t have time for your hexes, for your twisted words. I need to take care of my family.”
“Ah, now that she’s a princess, she has no need for a quaint shop,” Jade mocked as she treaded on.
“Everything is an insult with you.”
“Everything is a lesson, and you would know that by now if you did not let Miriam get your panties in a wad.”
“She’s a whore. A horrible witch. An even worse friend, but death?” Adair hadn’t had much time to think about it, but she was sure the reason Miriam had her spell Talon was so that she would not be first in line to be “handled” by the Club—Adair thought Miriam was buying time. Her gut told her that was true.
“For what, though?” Jade asked, glancing back. “Buying time? To purchase such, you need a reason, an end goal.”
Adair fisted her hands the second she realized Jade was in her thoughts, again, answering unspoken questions and reasons. “I hate it when you do that.”
“You envy it.”
Adair rolled her eyes.
“I’m not killing her,” Adair announced flatly.
“You still need her blood.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Jade stopped and looked back at Adair. “The righteous sinner’s blameless impossibility.” Jade stated as if it were obvious. “That is the spell your mother will tell you, but she doesn’t know the meaning of it. I’m telling you it’s meaning is blood. And you need to collect as much as you can on your journey this night. Otherwise, I fear you may be a bit too stretched for time.”
“I’m going to see Miriam?”
Jade drew her head back. “O’ course not. But I’d imagine you can manage walking over to the cage and taking a dram or two of blood.”
“A dram!” Adair harshly whispered.
Jade lifted her shoulder. “Or a prick, what have you. However, killing her now would save you some trouble later, but then again…no, it wouldn’t.”
“What does that mean: the righteous sinner’s blameless impossibility?”
“Miriam is the sinner, find the rest.”
“The rest?”
“For Creator’s sake, do I have to spell this out of you, child?”
“Yes. Yes, you do,” Adair said, flinging her hands to the side in frustration.
“Find the impossible, the innocent, the sinner, the righteous. I would advise to at least collect two this night, but I already know you will not.”
“Then, why tell me?”
A shrug. “Karma? Ah, maybe to use the phrase, told you so. We are off point.”
“You never have a point.”
“You need to pay attention tonight. The path that led you here was created by the fates at will. You are not yet near ascension. You will not travel time for some time, but this ordeal, meeting death—will trigger a trio.”
Before Adair could ask, she went on.
“Each Voyager is granted three points in time to return to when they are green. It is a test of how long you will wait until your time comes. If you cause harm with your alterations, rob set fate, it will be a long time to come. If you are precise, your time to Voyage is all but upon you.
“As I said, you have had no training, much less awareness. May luck be with you, for this journey with death will spur your time—long before you should be ready.”
“I’m good with spoiler alerts if you want to drop a few on me—what’s about to go down, Jade?”
Jade’s stare moved over Adair. “You will betray him…and be at peace with it.”
Adair felt like the wind was knocked from her.
“It’s time,” Jade said, looking to the bank of water.
All at once wind picked up, the water was alit with flames.
Adair heard the others crashing though the brush to reach her.
Then she was there. A lithe, tall, beautiful redhead moved across the fiery water as if she were gliding toward a prize all her own.
Adair slowly crooked her head to the side, taking in the sight of her. She knew didn’t look a damn thing like this woman, yet there was something familiar about her.
The fire humbled just before Brosia reached the bank.
“Daughter.”
Adair offered one shallow nod, knowing then that even her voice sounded familiar.
“Come.”
Jade stepped before Adair. “The girl wishes a companion.”
“You fear me child?” Brosia asked quietly.
“Fear is a vast word.”
Ambrosia grinned. “So much like your father.”
Adair lifted a brow, having a really hard time seeing her and Talon together. Not only was Brosia nothing like Reveca, she was clearly a high-maintenance girl.
“So be it.” She glanced upward and winked at someone or something then met Adair’s gaze. “I’ve chosen your companion.” Her stare lifted again. “No need to hide now.”
Instantly, Dagen appeared before Ambrosia on the fiery water. He bowed casually. “Observing, it’s what we do best.”
Ambrosia smiled dispassionately at him. “You adore her?”
“She’s amusing,” Dagen admitted. “In her own little human way,” he elaborated with a glance and a wink to Adair.
“Why do you protect her so, tell me. Has the witch enthralled you as well?”
“No,” Dagen said as his flirtatious, ice-blue stare moved over Brosia. “There is such a thing as doing something just to do it.”