Erecting Barriers

by L. J. Vickery

  Kabta magnanimously offered to stay behind and help out at the nudist camp; a gesture not missed by anyone. He stood up and slowly disrobed, which brought another flush to Becky’s entire torso, but also a speculative gleam to her eyes. Kulla didn’t feel that a mating bond would occur between the two, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun. He figured it had been a long time since his brother had enjoyed a woman’s company.

  Things hadn’t worked out exactly how Kulla had imagined, but all in all, the day had concluded on a very good note.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  With the issues in California wrapped up, the group made haste back to the compound. Preparations were already underway for a mating ceremony. Kulla and Obedience decided that there was no reason to wait. A human divorce, or lack thereof, didn’t mean anything in the god-mating world. Everything would be accomplished that very evening, and even into the wee hours of the morning, if need be. It suited the couple that they not sleep another night apart.

  The last thing Bee-Dee expected when she popped back into the compound was to be rushed by Addie-May. The witch looked seriously distraught. What had her cousin been up to, that rattled Addie so badly? Luckily, Kulla and company were thirty minutes behind her, so she could deal with whatever bothered her friend, then get back to preparing for her mating ceremony.

  “Obedience. You need to come quickly. I’ve been waiting hours for you to return.” The witch woman wrung her hands. “I didn’t want any of the gods to find out, and Angie has been no help at all.”

  “Slow down, Addie,” Bee-Dee implored, following the witch’s frantic footsteps. “Tell me what’s happening.”

  The story came out as the two left the large foyer and headed off into the dusky evening toward the cottages.

  “You were here when Dorian cast a spell and made me follow him.” It emerged as a statement, so Bee kept walking and didn’t interrupt. “Kate was determined to accompany me, but Dorian easily turned her away. When we reached the first cottage, he sent her inside, then forced my footsteps toward the cottage where he is staying.”

  Obedience didn’t like the sound of this. The actions were totally unlike her normally calm and collected cousin.

  “When we got into his living room, he dropped my bewitchment, and started talking.”

  The witch’s steps shortened, and she nearly tripped. “He spoke so coldly, Bee-Dee. So matter of fact, I almost wished he started yelling.” Addie-May stopped short and spun around. “What he eventually told me has me very frightened. I never thought…if only I’d known…” The witch drew in a breath and regrouped.

  “Dorian has been many things in the past, but never as forbidding as I saw him today. When he spoke, a cruel intent slid over his face that made my blood run cold.” She grabbed Bee-Dee’s shoulders. Tears stood out in her eyes. “I feared for my life when he finished speaking…and…I deserve every retribution.”

  Obedience could make no sense of it, and questioned Addie more closely, needing the other witch to focus. “What do you mean you deserve it?”

  “He told me…I found out just how much of his life I truly ruined with my selfishness.” She cried in earnest. “You have to understand, we were so in love back then, and we had a young daughter; the light of his life. As far as he knew, everything was perfect. And I took it all away.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Bee-Dee tried to comfort her. “You thought he would be better off free of you as you aged. You never took his daughter away. He could have come to see Angie any time he deemed it important,” Bee-Dee scoffed. She would not let Addie take all the blame for Dorian’s misery.

  “No. He couldn’t.” Addie shook. “That’s what you don’t understand, and I didn’t either until Dorian told me today. It’s all my fault.” She swallowed convulsively, breathing deeply to continue.

  “You already know that the council demands huge levies to grant a divorce.”

  Bee-Dee nodded.

  “Well, I convinced them so adamantly that I no longer wanted Dorian in my life, he was forced to make a deal for our dis-union. A deal that I never thought to ask about.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “The papers he signed stated that until I called for him, of my own free will, he would never be allowed to see me or our daughter again.”

  Bee-Dee’s breath caught in her throat. Addie had not called for Dorian until last month when the gods needed extra help protecting their loved ones from evil. That meant forty-two years Dorian waited. It must have nearly killed him. Her eyes filled up. Her cousin had given away everything in order to grant the love of his life what he believed she wanted, hoping that Addie-May would understand his sacrifice and call him back.

  The older witch confirmed her thoughts. “He was sure that after a few months of being without him, I would call and want him back. And I can’t even tell you how many times I came close. I missed him so much. Only my stubborn pride kept me from doing so. That, and the belief that I’d done him a favor.” The witch put both hands to her head and paced around in a frantic circle. “My eight-year-old daughter cried every day, devastated by the loss of her father. And I never had the courage to tell her I had driven him away. I ruined all of our lives. Oh gods. How could it be? I destroyed us all because I feared aging.”

  Obedience empathized with her cousin’s plight. She knew the pain of a heart spending decades without the one you loved. And she also made mistakes like Addie. She put up physical barriers against Kulla. Oh yes. She knew what misunderstandings and pride could do. She, too, made massive errors in judgment. If she’d dropped those protections, Kulla might have found her. She might have been aware of his presence, even though he’d been fated to invisibility.

  She grabbed Addie’s arm and stopped her marching. “We all make mistakes, Addie. You can’t take them back, but you can start again. You were a victim of the human culture that surrounds us.” She gave the witch a shake. “Mortals praise youth, beauty, and fresh, unwrinkled skin. I can’t blame you for being brainwashed by human culture, thinking that Dorian would lose interest. And shame on him for not discussing your different aging processes, and how he felt about it.”

  Now might not be the time, but Bee-Dee needed to ask. She looked her companion up and down. “Speaking of which, Addie, what the hell is happening to you? I swear you look different these days.”

  Addie’s hair had lost its total grayness, and appeared more strawberry blonde, even in the semidarkness.

  “I think it must be hormones.” Addie sniffed. “Being around Dorian again has gotten my juices flowing.” She attempted a laugh. “I swear I thought my period threatened the other day, and I’ve been shed of that for ten years.”

  Obedience had a quick thought that it might not be a hormonal fluke, but pushed that aside, seeing the renewed purpose on Addie’s face as the witch clearly remembered why she’d reached out to Bee-Dee in the first place. “But that’s not the biggest problem, Bee. Come, you have to help.” She turned to Dorian’s cottage and picked up her pace.

  The pair entered the arts and crafts abode, and Addie led Bee-Dee toward the back living room. What the witch saw, made her stop in her tracks. Dorian stood, stock still, one arm raised in front of him as if to cast a spell, his mouth curled and disdainful, his eyes as black as murder. Bee-Dee barely discerned that breath passed his lips.

  “What happened?” she whispered. Obedience moved slowly toward her cousin and waved a hand in front of his face. Not a trace of movement passed his features.

  “He’s been like this for hours,” Addie lamented. “I didn’t do it, but I think I know who did.”

  She turned and pointed across the room at Wizarr who sat complacently on the Stickley dining room table, focusing his round, unblinking orbs at the warlock.

  “Wizarr?” Bee-Dee shook her head, dumbfounded. Why would the cat hold Dorian immobile?

  “And Planchette is helping, too.” Addie lamented, pointing to an overstuffed chair nearby. Bee-Dee’s own familiar gave Dorian the very same, y
ellow-eyed, intense stare as that of the male cat. She heard the tremor in Addie’s voice.

  “I can’t get either one of them to tell me what’s going on.” She pleaded with Bee-Dee. “Can you talk to them?”

  Obedience nodded. “I’ll get to the bottom of this.” Bee’s eyes narrowed. “Planchette?”

  She went deep to connect with her cat. The feline resisted at first, but having been together for so long, Planchette soon realized that Bee-Dee wouldn’t give up. With a twitch, the cat drew her attention from Dorian, squared her focus to her mistress, and relaxed into the upholstery.

  Dorian jerked with the lessening of magic, but his posture otherwise held.

  “Now tell me what’s going on.” Bee-Dee attempted to hold back her displeasure with her pet. It took several minutes, but eventually she linked with Planchette, and as she gleaned their purpose, her face paled. After several minutes of communication―which included much smugness on the part the feline―Bee snapped back and sent Addie a very troubled look.

  “What is it?”“ Addie-May held her breath.

  “Dorian, it seems, is caught in a spell of his own making.” Bee-Dee shook her head, incredulously, and with the puzzled look she got from Addie, attempted to explain.

  “When Dorian left, upon your request, he was certain he would return. But in absentia, he wanted to make sure you and Angie were safe.” Bee-Dee sighed. What a mess.

  “He left his cat, Wizarr behind to watch out for his little family, and gave him explicit instructions that he was to neutralize anything that threatened you.”

  Addie-May sucked in a gasp. “I’ve always wondered why Dorian left his long-term, best friend behind.” She groaned. “There is another loss for which I’m responsible.” Addie shook her head. “But please continue. I’m still not sure what you’re getting at.”

  Obedience snorted. “Today, Dorian lost his temper, and―according to Wizarr―it looked like he intended to do you harm,” Bee-Dee stated. “The loyal cat couldn’t take that chance. And he had his orders, after all. So the cat locked Dorian down. And I’m afraid Wizarr won’t let him go until he’s certain that your husband―” Obedience said it for the cats in the room to get used to that reality “―won’t hurt you.”

  Addie’s hand went to her throat. Her pulse fluttered. “Oh, my. What can we do?” she wailed.

  “It’s not what we can do,” Bee-Dee said softly. “It’s what you can do.”

  She looked back and forth from the warlock to the witch.

  “Planchette says that Dorian is aware of everything that is going on around him. He can hear. He just can’t move or speak. So let me give this a shot.” She walked to stand in front of her cousin, her whole demeanor turning tough.

  “You need to calm the fuck down, Dorian,” she censured, getting within inches of his static face. “I’m getting mated tonight, and I thought it would be nice to have a family member present at my ceremony.” She raised her eyebrows. “That’s now entirely up to you.” Bee-Dee crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve heard what the problem is, and if you can come to your senses and make him feel good about this, Wizarr will drop the spell and I’ll be seeing you later,” she told him. “If not, perhaps we can find a cigar store where we can prop you up.” She turned on her heel to leave, but stopped and softened her tone, sending some final words to Addie.

  “Try and talk some sense into him,” she said, kindly. “There has to be something you can say that will make it right.” Bee shed a few tears, which she tried to sniff back. “I hope you can find the words, because I love both of you, you know,” she wailed, and fled.

  ****

  Back in her room, Obedience―with the help of a disgruntled Kate who still huffed about Dorian’s high-handedness―dressed in a simple sleeveless black robe for her wedding. The witch had seen Absu and Charlie joined, and knew that the goddesses usually wore white, but she didn’t have that status yet. She remained one hundred percent witch, and it meant a lot for her to be mated in traditional witch garb. She knew Kulla wouldn’t care. She could come to him in flaming fuchsia and he’d take her. Bee-Dee buzzed with excitement. She looked forward to the pain involved in the ceremony, and also the passion.

  Tess, Holly, Charlie, Lenore, Candy, Glory, Dani-Lee, and even Anna had all gone before her and completed the amulet transfer. What good company. All eight of them arrived now, at her door, in a fine procession, carrying pine scented torches to escort her back to the main house. Her whole body quivered with anticipation. She’d waited centuries for this, and now, finally, she and Kulla would be together.

  The night air on the trip across the yard caressed her bare arms, and it felt magical; which had nothing to do with witches or immortals. It had to do with the depth of her love, and the fact that in mere minutes, she and her mate would be joined for eternity.

  The women snuffed their flames, one by one, and entered the big house. They silently escorted Bee-Dee to the elevator, and with anticipatory grins on all their faces, they plunged downward into the bowels of the Blue Hills. They traversed a long corridor until finally the group entered the the room where she and Kulla would become one.

  The chairs were full of guests; Nergal and Ereshkigal, Lauernley and humans. Even Maity had been allowed to stay until the procession of finely garbed gods made their way down the aisle.

  Obedience stood at the front, near the altar, opting―like a few of the goddesses before her―to undergo the placement of the amulet without anesthesia. Absorbed in her own thoughts, she barely registered a rustle from the back of the room until Maity’s chirping voice raised in delight.

  “Unc-Ken,” she squealed. “Unc-Ken.” Her small feet pounded in the direction of her uncle, who had just shown up with the nursemaid Vesca on his arm. He looked…different. Everyone gazed questioningly at the agent. And what did Maitlynn chant?

  “Dog. Dog. Dog.”

  Obedience’s mouth fell open. She knew what that meant. Everyone did. Jake moved first to clap Ken on the back.

  “Well I’ll be damned.” The head agent exclaimed.

  “Yeah.” Ken snorted. “You will be damned now, boss, if you try to take my breakfast, ever again.” The agent dropped a kiss on Vesca’s upturned nose and she grew rosy red along with Ken’s shoulder which glowed significantly. He looked a little sheepish.

  “Vesca’s parents figured out we’d been…uh…” He looked down at Maity who hugged his leg and chose his words carefully. “…friendly, and wouldn’t let me out of their sight until I claimed their daughter and made things legal.”

  He said it with trepidation but clearly he was overjoyed, and his happiness spilled over into Bee-Dee’s chest. What a wonderful night. She refused to think about Addie and Dorian. They couple had to work things out. Everyone should be in love.

  The room settled back down as a discreet cough came from the doorway, and Marduk stuck his head in. Everyone scrambled into their seats, and the procession commenced amidst burning incense and ancient chanting.

  Bee-Dee would never get tired of seeing all the magnificent immortals in their gold torques and armbands, their jeweled loincloths sitting low on finely sculpted, muscled hips, their naked chests oiled to a high sheen. Bare feet traversed the distance between the door and the altar in a slow, methodical rhythm, and when the line of gods approached and finally split in two, her love appeared. Obedience sucked in a breath at her first sight of Kulla in his plain linen wrap. Her man was magnificent. The finery on every other god couldn’t compete with the brilliance of her stripped down mate. His honey colored curls were burnished gold in the light from the wall sconces, and his muscles gleamed and rippled as he walked.

  Her mate moved forward and reached for her hand, backing them both to the upright alter stone where they would begin their life together. She smiled, reassuringly, and readied herself.

  Kabta stepped forward and winked. Bee-Dee tried to keep a straight face but her smile broke through. The god, who would soon become her brother in law, had retur
ned from California to be Kulla’s best man. An important job. He would be the one to cut into his brother’s flesh and score the amulet in two. Dr. Dani stood by Bee’s side, a blade in her hand as well. It would be the surgeon’s job to place the talisman into her shoulder.

  The room faded from Obedience’s view as she focused on the god next to her. All she could see was Kulla’s dear face, only vaguely aware of Maity’s protests as the little tike got taken from the chamber.

  Kulla’s hand―their fingers entwined―raised hers to grab at the pegs next to their heads, a reminder of the pain to come. As the chanting increased, Kabta stepped forward and placed a strip of leather between Kulla’s teeth. Dani did the same for her.

  The strange words intensified, then Obedience felt the grab of muscles that jerked Kulla’s leg where it lay against her thigh. She could hear him breathing hard through his nose. Kabta cut deep. A fine tremor shook Kulla’s body and finally a grunt wrenched from his throat. Bee-Dee knew the amulet had been split.

  Now it was her turn.

  Dr. Dani, with a practiced hand, made the first cut into Obedience, and the fiery pain shot through her like lightning. She tried to focus on anything but the burn, helped by the sudden appearance of Addie and her cousin as they slipped into the back of the room. Now Bee-Dee wanted to sob for more than one reason.

  The doctor’s deft fingers manipulated, causing pain, moving the amulet into place. Then just as suddenly as the torment began, it disappeared. Bee-Dee instantly became suffused with a different kind of heat. She gasped and spit the now unneeded leather from between her teeth. A moan of pleasure rolled up from her gut.

  She could feel him. Kulla. His every thought and every breath. As if he lived within her. She sensed a twin heartbeat to hers, a rising excitement. She kept propriety, barely, holding back from mounting her new mate in front of all eyes.

  “The shoulders are closed.” She barely heard Kabta’s words, the lust overtaking her. When Kulla turned and grabbed her around the waist, she thrust her hips at him with the surety of a Chosen. She knew what he needed, but could she wait?