by Eliza Gayle
Jake introduced them all and Jessie couldn’t help but understand why Jake was so enthralled. Between Denn’s gorgeous bad boy look and the beauty of Raven with the dark spark in her eye, Jake had found his perfect balance. Magick or no, she could feel it all around her. The connection between the three of them was palpable.
Jake put his arms around Jessie’s shoulder and led her up the dock, back to where the others waited, and Noah watched her. He probably thought he was being subtle, but she felt his gaze slide over her every time he turned her way. Knowing he kept an eye out for her gave her a warm secure feeling despite the turmoil they were all about to face.
She took in the other two men she knew by name but not sight. Graelen and Cash. Another set of beautiful men, one with a more serious look from his cropped hair to his slacks and pullover, the other total bad boy all the way. Black t-shirt, tight jeans, combat boots and leather jacket.
“So, how did you all manage to get here at the same time? I thought those of you coming in from the north would take at least a day.”
“It’s amazing what you can do with a private jet and an offer of a cash bonus,” said Cash.
Of course, how could she have forgotten? The Scott family was one of the wealthiest in the country with holdings and dealings in more industries than she could keep track of.
They’d barely made it into the house before she was approached by one of the women.
“I’m Rena, Graelen’s mate, and this is Selene, who is with Cash.” She pointed to the red headed woman standing near her as she shook Jessie’s hand.
“It’s good to meet you both, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Jessie did her best to control her nerves. Under normal circumstances she didn’t like to be around groups of people, and this certainly wasn’t a normal situation. When you never know what might trigger your inner demon, you tended to stay away from innocent people at all costs.
“I have been studying what Noah told me about what happened to you and I have some theories. If we all want to get comfortable and let me lay out these documents I brought with me, we can all discuss it.”
“In case no one told you, our Rena here is the brains of the operation, her being our resident Tarot historian and all,” Selene offered.
Jessie nodded and led them to the large living room where there were couches and chairs along with a large oak coffee table that Rena could use as a table for the things she wanted to share with the group. As much as she wanted to hear what Rena had to say, her skin itched to leave the room, to get out of the house and back into the open space. She felt like a ticking time bomb. Noah must have sensed her distress as he crossed to her with concern in his gaze.
“What’s wrong?” He kept his voice low so that only Jessie could hear him.
“Nothing, I’m fine.”
“Uh huh. Fine is never a good sign.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I know it’s a lot of people with a lot going on, but it’s for your protection, for all of us. We need a plan of action for whatever comes our way.” His hands stroked her hair as she took deep calming breaths, but no matter how she tried to convince herself everything would work out, she knew it wouldn’t. Her sense of dread overwhelmed her.
Chapter Seven
As everyone moved around them—finding a seat, getting drinks, and waiting to hear what Rena said—Noah could only think about what he’d been about to confess to Jessie before they’d been interrupted. He loved her and he needed to tell her. He was even tempted to blurt it out now, but knew how inappropriate that would be. She seemed skittish already, so he would wait until they were alone again later tonight. But like it or not, she didn’t get to run this time. She was his and he had every intention of holding on to her.
He pressed his lips to her silken hair, loving the soft feel of it against him. Just holding her like this got his body hard and ready. Would he ever get enough of her? He doubted it.
“Hey, do you two need to get a room?”
Noah shot his twin a look over Jessie’s head and had to choke back a laugh when he saw the stricken look on Jake’s face. Guess her big brother wasn’t ready to handle thoughts of his sister having sex with a Scott twin. Especially considering his own relationship with Denn and Raven. By now Jake knew exactly what kind of sexual appetites all the Scott brothers had in common. He’d bet he didn’t know that his sister fit that appetite just perfectly.
Noah led Jessie to the far corner of the room, far enough away to give her a small sense of freedom and close enough to see and hear what Rena had to say.
“As you all know, I’ve been studying the family Tarot for weeks now, hunting for clues to help us figure out what would come next and what we could do to prevent anything tragic from happening.” She picked up four of the cards from the table. “These pentacles cards seem to coincide most with the pieces of the prophecy that have been found. Yet we still don’t know exactly how to handle our latest situation.”
“Are you talking about what happened to Jessie?” Jake questioned.
“Yes, exactly. For a while there we thought that the Reverend knew exactly what the prophecy said and that he was acting against it trying to kill one or all of the brothers, but we didn’t have any real proof of that until now.”
“She’s right, it seems pretty clear that if he knew enough to take Jessie prisoner and try to keep her from Noah, then he’s known all along, and his steps have escalated with each attempted failure,” Graelen interrupted.
“From everything I’ve read and studied, all four have to connect to their mates, and I’m not sure how well that will work as long as Jessie is tethered to the Reverend through the branding ritual and the demon magick,” Rena said.
“Yeah, that demon magick I took out last night was some pretty powerful stuff. About knocked us both on our asses,” Noah said.
“You got your magick back?” Jake’s face lit up. “That’s awesome. I don’t see how he could stop you now.”
Jessie’s body went stiff as a board against him and fear radiated out of her like a radio broadcast. His own body went on high alert, the hair prickling on his skin. Something wasn’t right. He was missing something.
Jake smiled broadly. “I mean, not to short the magick of each one of you, but her demon side is scary powerful. I don’t imagine there is much she can’t handle.”
Everyone turned to look at them, and even Noah stared down at the woman in his arms. Instinctively his arms dropped and he took a step away from her as the shock of Jake’s words fell away, rage wound its way through him, red hot and burning through his veins. Flames licked at his skin as the emotion allowed his magick to break free from his control, building until the heat surrounding him had everyone taking several steps back.
“Noah, you need to calm down. Let’s discuss this.” Denn moved toward him, steady and controlled, his earth magick tamping down on his fire.
“It’s true then? You knew?”
Denn opened his mouth to answer but the windows at the front of the room, overlooking the front yard and water beyond, exploded, sending thousands of shards flying into the room. Bodies ducked and ran for cover as total chaos erupted around them. Distracted from his anger and sense of betrayal, Noah grabbed Jessie’s arm and dragged her into the secure office.
“Noah, what the hell are you doing? We have to get out there and fight. We don’t know what is happening.”
“Precisely.” He sat in the chair and, one by one, checked every screen for potential intruders. With no visual confirmations anywhere on the property he flipped the lights of the room to off and lit up the screens, with the heat sensing infrared and every warm body within a half a mile of the property glowed red on the monitors. “That’s better. Now we know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“How many?” Already Jessie was reaching for the cabinet of weapons he had shown her earlier.
“I count only ten.”
“That seem right to you? Your uncle has come to retrieve me, or worse, kill me,
and he only sends a group of ten men against you and your brothers? He is either incredibly stupid or we are missing something here.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
The door to Noah’s office shook and the walls around them buckled. His brothers were gearing up their magick, which left Noah with an uneasy feeling. No magick, not yet. He grabbed up more of the weapons that Jessie couldn’t carry and headed for the door, not even bothering with the lock anymore, just blowing it open with a blast of energy from his hand. Okay, maybe a little magick.
He motioned to his brothers, who were all ducked for cover and covering the women. It wasn’t the first time in his life he wished for telepathy, it sure would have made things a lot easier. “We’ve got ten bogies out there, the closest about twenty meters from the front window and spread out around the house. Things are about to get messy. Might as well go out there and get this over with once and for all.”
Noah headed out the back door, trusting that his brothers would follow. Expecting a firefight, spoiling for one actually, he drew up short when he came face to face with his uncle standing on the lawn. “Where the hell did you come from?
“Does it really matter?”
As all three of his brothers spilled onto the deck, each stopped and stared, just as surprised to see their uncle as the others. No one spoke or moved until Jake came out the back door. When he spied the bastard they called family, he rushed forward before anyone could react and grab him.
“You son of a bitch. You hurt her. I warned you if you hurt her there would be no mercy for you. You should have listened.” Jake hurtled himself towards Scott, looking to tackle him to the ground. Instead his body slammed into a red energy field they hadn’t seen. He twisted and turned in mid air, his body bent back, stretching to the point of breaking.”
A female scream from behind snapped him from the picture in front of him as he grabbed his hand around Jessie’s slim bicep when she tried to run past him to get to her brother.
“Let me go. We can’t just let him die.” Her words lashed out at him as much as the burning hatred in her eyes. Red demon eyes.
He held fast, not letting her get away. “No one dies on my watch tonight, sweetheart. Get back.” he replied sharply.
Calling the heat and energy he needed took only a second, yet time seemed to stand still as he flung the flaming ball at Scott. The heat and fire mixed against the demon wall, weakening it enough to release Jake, who slammed into the ground lifeless and still.
“You can’t win tonight, Noah. I’ve waited and worked far too long to not be sure this time.” The surety of his uncle’s words made him hesitate. Scott might be an asshole of epic proportions and drunk on demon magick, but one thing was certain: he was not stupid. They were missing something.
“You’re wrong, Scott. Despite your many attempts to sabotage us, we’ve managed to piece the true prophecy together and know that you’re too late. The four of us are here and we each have our mate, even demon magick can’t beat the four of us together.” Graelen stepped closer to the wall as he spoke until, when mere inches away, he stopped and wordlessly dared his uncle to try it.
“Maybe—maybe not. But I don’t just come with demon magick.” He gestured behind him, where through the heat and haze of the unbroken energy, a dark woman stood. Scott turned to his other side and, from behind the trees, eight cloaked women moved forward.
“What the hell?”
“My coven,” Raven said.
“And a Voodoo priestess…” Noah’s words trailed off in thought. A coven of witches he knew how to handle, betrayal by Severina another thing. Surely the magick of the four could still outdo even a group of power like this, but not likely without collateral damage.
“Severina, how could you?”
The woman stood stoic and still, not saying a word in response. Noah forced more betrayal and anger to the side, giving a quick glance to his brothers before once again standing to face Scott. He’d known since he was a child this day would come. He would take a stand against the evil that was Scott Cunningham, but he’d never thought it would be this complicated or crowded.
Noah pulled the internal cord that reined his power in and the energy flooded his system, fire building in his veins. The creep of dark power became an overwhelming rush. In a connection that could only be familial, he sensed his brothers do the same. Even Denn had come prepared for this one, cloaking himself in earth spells so strong he could smell the musty trace from here. Together they pooled their energy, ready to break down the barrier that stood between them and the end of a curse that had endured for centuries and plagued them for decades.
The power they created together sizzled and crackled around them, raising goose flesh along his arms. Darkness swirled inside him, rage accompanying the deepest magick he could pull. He’d never unleashed that level of fury, always afraid of the repercussions of it. He looked at Jessie next to him where he’d subdued her—she’d removed the shirt that covered her brand. The mark Scott had given her glowed deep, dark red and the look on her face was pure agony. He was ripping her up from the inside out with his greed.
With a simple thought of directed focus, Noah unleashed a stream of fire and blue energy directly at his uncle with the sole intention of burning through that shield, and what ever happened after that, well, he’d brought it on himself. That kind of karma Noah could live with.
One after another each brother added his brand of magick to the mix until the power generated glowed white-hot and unstoppable. Sizzles and pops sounded like cannons in the night air as the red shimmering wall was blanketed with the white magick. He heard the coven of witches chanting in the background, which was interrupted when Raven, the little water witch she was, created her own energy burst from the swamp and cut them off from Scott.
An unknown female screamed and the energy field exploded in a burst of orange flames and blue sparks, knocking them all back on their asses. Noah landed on his back, the air in his lungs expelled forcefully. His brain pounded inside his skull as he gulped in short, shallow breaths, trying to get past the pain in his chest and back.
“Is everyone okay?” Denn’s voice questioned, but Noah still couldn’t slow his heart. “Noah, are you okay?” He wanted to reassure his brother but he couldn’t. Breathing hurt so much it wasn’t possible to attempt speech.
“What’s wrong with him?” Graelen stood over him and he still couldn’t do a damn thing.
* * *
“I tried to tell you,” Scott bellowed. “Your magick isn’t strong enough to defeat me and never will be. I’ve tolerated you annoying little brats all these years and I’m done. Tonight it all ends and I finally get what should have been mine.”
“That’s one thing you’re right about,” snarled Cash.
Scott lashed out with a streak of red-hot magick aimed at Cash, the most belligerent of all his nephews. Unfortunately he ducked and had just enough of his own power left to push the magick’s path away from him. Damn air witch!
Jessie lay on the ground motionless, just like he’d expected. His lips turned up in a wicked grin. The more they fought him the more her condition would worsen, until the clock struck twelve and he would finally receive his birthright from the bastard sons.
With only a few minutes left he turned to the coven. “It’s time. Begin the ceremony. Our celebration begins now.” The witches stepped backwards, fear etched in their faces. Severina, too. A sudden black chill swept through him as he turned to see the twins scrambling, gearing up for a last ditch effort to save a demon.
Give me a break.
* * *
“Oh hell, Graelen, help me over here. I’m not sure Jessie is still—” Rena cried.
“Don’t say it. Words have far too much power.” Denn ordered her.
Noah pushed at the pain, pulling on any shred of reserve he could find just to roll on his side. He spied Jessie lying on the ground fifteen feet away with Denn and Rena hunched over her. She wasn’t—she couldn’t be—he cou
ld see the glow of the magick in her arm. Darkness slipped through his veins like oil, threatening to drown him in it. He watched Denn check on Jessie as Cash and Graelen stood guard in front of them.
Why the hell had he let them even half convince him there was a solution in that fucking prophecy? He’d said from the beginning it wasn’t possible and no one had listened. Now look at him. He and the woman he—Jessie—were about to die here in his beloved swamp. Not a bad place to die, but damn it he wasn’t ready.
An idea whispered in his head, unbidden. Shit.
He fought for words. “Bring her to me.”
Denn turned and looked at him “What?” He’d heard exactly what Noah had said and he knew it. He unfurled his hand and reached for her. Noah’s stomach clenched tight as he waited for Denn to respond. Finally Denn scooped her into his arms and brought her over. “If you touch her, she could die.”
“Trust me, brother.”
Denn laid Jessie on the grassy ground next to his body. Her face shone pale in the moonlight, looking fragile and weak. His heart lurched. Her chestnut hair, that he could almost feel tight in his grasp when he took her, fell across her forehead and shrouded half of her delicate cheek.
“Noah, you can’t sacrifice her just because she’s a half demon. She’s an innocent.”
“Demons are never innocent.”
With the last ounce of his strength he grasped her hand tightly in his larger, rougher one and closed his eyes to focus on the instant and electric connection sizzling between himself and Jessie. This has to work. His darkness within moved, crept through him away from his lungs and heart, lightened. He tested his legs and arms, already feeling the difference.
“Noah,” Denn whispered urgently. “You have to stop, she’s crashing.”