by Franca Storm
“It is because Kristoff has kept her in the shadows all these years.”
“So I wouldn’t find her.”
“So she wouldn’t find you,” Nathanial corrected.
“She knows about me then?”
“Yes. He has told her. I read it in his thoughts.”
Luca breathed a sigh. “If you hadn’t read his thoughts we may never have known, father. I can’t believe it. All these years.”
“I know, Luca. I am sorry that I didn’t discover this sooner. I was too preoccupied with my rule over the realm. I neglected my duties to you.”
Luca smiled. “I didn’t deserve your attentions back then anyway,” he jested.
Nathanial laid his hands on his shoulders. “I am glad we are past our darker days.”
“Me too.” He turned back around and continued to watch her and then something occurred to him. “Is she…has another man taken her?”
“No. She is pure.”
Luca smiled. “Good.”
“Go to her then. She is waiting.”
Luca hesitated. “I…what should I say?”
Nathanial chuckled. “Are you not the infamous seducer of women?”
“Normally, but this is…different. I--”
“Just introduce yourself. The conversation will progress from there. Besides, she is your mate; the connection is already there. You needn’t worry.”
“Right,” Luca said. “Okay. Yes, I can do this.”
And with that he teleported away.
Nathanial leaned over the castle turrets and watched as Luca reappeared in the courtyard below. He saw him call softly to Aerona. She turned around and as soon as she saw him, she grinned from ear to ear. Before Luca could utter another word she bounded towards him and flung her arms around his neck. Nathanial watched Luca hesitate briefly, before reciprocating and wrapping his arms around her waist. And then he looked up at him and smiled happily.
Nathanial smiled back at him and then turned away to leave them to it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Ryan! I don’t want to do this!” Jada cried as she sat on the foot of her bed, eyeing Kristoff warily. She glared at Ryan’s hand clutching Cora’s tightly. “Is this because your wife is back now?”
Ryan broke from Cora and approached Jada. He shook his head sadly. “No, sweetheart. I’m sorry, but the bond between us isn’t real.”
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “It’s real to me.”
“I know it feels that way, but--”
“But nothing! It is real, Ryan! I know you felt it too!”
Ryan caught Cora’s eye and looked away quickly. Shit, this is fucking awkward.
Kristoff decided to help him out. “It was designed to make you feel certain things. But it is most definitely not real, my dear.”
Ryan saw the hurt in Jada’s eyes and he pulled her to him. He held her tightly and nodded to Kristoff, silently telling him to get on with breaking the bond.
As Ryan watched Kristoff close his eyes and hold out his upturned palms, he told Jada, “I’m sorry for the way I treated you near the end. You deserved better than that.”
His heartfelt apology made her cry harder and he tightened his hold around her. A moment later he flinched as a sudden sharp pain shot through him. He glanced over at Kristoff and saw balls of red fire glowing brightly on his palms. He was entranced in his magick. Jada let out a pained cry.
“It’s okay. You’ll be okay,” Ryan whispered to her.
He craned his neck to look at Cora. She stood much like Kristoff, but, instead of red fire glowing from her palms, there was that familiar silver of her power. Her eyes were open and she smiled reassuringly at him.
A few moments passed and the pain dissipated.
“It is done,” Kristoff announced. “The bond is broken.” He eyed Cora, “Did you do it?”
Cora nodded.
Jada pushed Ryan away all of a sudden and he stumbled back in surprise.
As she looked at him, there was confusion in her eyes. “Your majesty?” she eked out. “I…how?”
Ryan cleared his throat and said in his most commanding, business-like tone, “You were upset. As the sister of my second-in-command, I was offering you comfort. Are you all right now?”
She scratched her head and her eyes narrowed. “Uh…yes. I’m sorry about that. Please forgive my forwardness.”
Ryan waved his hand dismissively. “Not a problem. Don’t worry about it.”
“I…I guess I should get back to the camp.”
“Actually, Damon is here in the castle. He’s waiting for you in the lounge.”
“The castle…that’s where this is? But wolves and vampires--”
Ryan smiled kindly at her. “A lot has changed recently. You have not been well so you don’t remember. Damon will fill you in.”
She nodded her understanding. “Okay.”
Ryan opened the door for her and stepped aside so she could pass.
“Thank you, your majesty. You are very kind.”
He nodded politely and she hurried past him. “First turn on your left!” Ryan called out. He shut the door with a heavy sigh and turned back to Cora and Kristoff. “Thanks.”
“I see why you were so drawn to her,” Cora commented.
“Uh oh. That’s my queue to leave and let you two have at it,” Kristoff said as he sauntered past them and left the room.
“What does that mean?” Ryan asked after he had left.
“She’s hot.”
Ryan grinned. “Hot, huh? Is this some sort of thing leftover from Vamp Cora?”
“What?”
“You know, enjoying other women?” he said, stepping close to her.
She pressed her hand to his chest and pushed him back. “Down boy. Never going to happen.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
“Then why did you even bring it up?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “You can’t blame a guy for trying.”
She rolled her eyes.
“No, in all seriousness, thank you for making her forget. She has a good chance now to be happy,” Ryan said.
“I’m sure she will be happy now. That false bond took a toll on both of you.”
“Yeah,” Ryan agreed. “It was intense.”
Cora trailed her hand along his arm and asked casually, “Even the sex?”
Oh shit. “Cora, there is no answer I can give that won’t upset you. So I’m going to ignore it if it’s all the same to you?”
She sighed with resignation. “You’re right. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I get it. Let’s just put all of this behind us. Jada. Luca. There’s just you and I now—just like it was always meant to be. Okay?”
“Yes,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I would like that.
“Clean slate?”
“Clean slate,” she agreed.
“Good, now let’s find out where the hell Kristoff just fucked off to. I want our son back!”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Why are we outside the gates?” Ryan asked.
He stood holding Cora’s hand tightly, watching Kristoff form a large circle of salt on the grass of the forest, just outside the Dark Realm gates. Nathanial was lighting candles with his dark energy and placing them along the circumference of the circle. They flickered softly with red energy.
“Because there is a chance that we may pull Oriana out along with your son,” Kristoff answered.
“And we do not want her inside the Dark Realm,” Nathanial added.
“So if we do end up pulling her out as well, we kill her immediately,” Ryan said.
Cora rubbed his arm and told him gently. “We won’t be able to as we’ll be caught up in the spell with Kristoff. Nathanial is here to protect us if we do pull her out as all three of us will be vulnerable.”
“And I am here to help him,” a voice came from behind them.
They spun around to see Marella walking through the Dark
Realm gates—well, struggling, given how far along she was with her pregnancy now.
“Angel, you are almost ready to give birth. Go back inside,” Nathanial ordered as he approached her and reached for her arm to usher her back inside.
She shook herself out of his grip and said, “She gets under your skin too easily. I am here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Your magick may be strong, but it isn’t pure right now, because of my child inside you.”
“Exactly. It’s not, which will be an advantage when dealing with a creature as impure as my sister.”
Nathanial drew in a calming breath and looked to Ryan for his backing.
Ryan chuckled and held up his hand that was joined with Cora’s. “Really? You think I’m in any position to advise you on how to win an argument against your woman?”
“Hey!” Cora said, punching his arm. “You win….sometimes.”
Ryan cocked an eyebrow. “When?”
Cora thought for a moment. “Well, I can’t think of an example right now, but I’m sure it’s pretty even.”
“Okay, my love. Sure it is.” He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead chastely. “It’s okay, I know I’m whipped. But I love you too damned much for it to be any other way.”
Nathanial and Marella exchanged an amused glance.
“Fine,” Nathanial acquiesced.
“Thank you,” Marella responded with a wink. “Good decision.”
Nathanial growled with agitation.
Her hand brushed his and she smiled at him. He rolled his eyes at her, but took her hand anyway and pulled her close.
“Okay, we’re ready to get started,” Kristoff announced as he lowered himself to a sitting position inside the circle. He crossed his legs and then held out his hands to Cora and Ryan.
“Great, holding hands in a circle,” Ryan grumbled.
Cora pulled him into the circle and sat down, forcing him to do the same. “Like this,” she told Ryan, crossing her legs and holding her right hand out to Kristoff.
Ryan swallowed his protests, reminding himself that they were doing this to get their son back. And that was all that mattered. He followed her instructions and took Kristoff’s hand and held out his right hand to Cora. She weaved her fingers in his and smiled reassuringly at him.
“Focus your thoughts on your son. You’ll enter a hypnotic trance, much like a shared-dream state. Once you find yourselves there, use the power of your bond to call your son to you. I need to stress that we don’t have a lot of time. You must find him as quickly as possible. This is black magick. Enabling you to reach into Spiritomb is a violation and the spirit plane will not tolerate it. As such I will be forced to fight their protests; I cannot maintain the level of power required to do so for very long. Understood?”
Ryan and Cora both nodded.
“Good,” Kristoff said. “Now, close your eyes.”
***
“We’re here,” Cora said.
“Wherever ‘here’ is. I can’t see a damned thing,” Ryan said as he glanced around at the thick white fog surrounding them. “Orion!” he called out. He followed it up with a wolf howl.
Cora called out in wolf also, using the phrase that Josh had taught her.
Ryan smiled. “Impressive. ‘I love you’?”
“Josh taught me.”
“I knew he was the culprit,” Ryan jested. “I—wait, he’s coming. I can sense him.”
Cora drew in a sharp breath. She clutched Ryan’s hand tightly; anxious to see their son.
“Come on, Orion!” Ryan encouraged.
And then they watched as Orion bounded through the fog towards them. Ryan made a move forward, but Cora warned him, “Don’t let go of my hand. It will break the spell.”
He nodded. “Come here, son,” he said, reaching out with his free hand.
Orion bounced over to him and Ryan hooked his arm around him, lifting him off the floor and pulling him to his chest. There were tears in his eyes as he held him against him. Orion noticed them and licked at his father’s face.
Cora laughed. “Let’s go.”
“I had hoped you would stay dead, princess,” Oriana’s voice echoed around them.
She stepped through the fog towards them.
Ryan snarled at her.
“No,” Cora told him.
“We need to kill her. She took our son!”
“We will, baby. But not now. We need to get Orion out of here. Turn around and keep walking.”
“Cora--”
“Please. I can’t lose him again. Can you?”
“No.”
As they turned around, Oriana fired a bolt of black lightning at them. Cora sensed the attack and, without letting go of Ryan’s hand she spun around and fired a bolt of white fire back at Oriana. It ripped through her black magick and blew her back through the fog.
“We need to hurry. She could recover quickly here and latch onto us,” Cora said.
A hole ripped through their surroundings and they could see themselves sitting in the circle with Kristoff as Nathanial and Marella guarded them on high-alert in case of an appearance from Oriana.
“Do we just walk forward?” Ryan asked.
“I think so,” Cora said. “Hold him tightly, Ryan.”
“I am. Don’t worry.”
Ryan led the way and pulled Cora behind him. Just as she stepped back through the hole, she felt a hand gripping her arm. She looked back in surprise to see Oriana holding onto her. She tried to shake her off, but it was too late.
***
Ryan opened his eyes to find Orion nestled in his lap. “Orion!” he cried, gathering him in his arms. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, son! I love you!” He turned to Cora as she was just opening her eyes as well. “Cora, we did it! He’s here!”
“Oh my God!” Cora shrieked. “Baby!” she said, nuzzling Orion in Ryan’s arms. And then she pulled back suddenly and glanced around. “Shit! Oriana grabbed onto me as we were stepping through the hole.”
She eyed Kristoff who seemed fine, but was a little out of it as he was still coming down from the spell. His eyes were glazed over and he hadn’t returned to reality yet. And then she spotted Marella and Nathanial emerging from the forest, arguing. There were burn marks all over the forest floor.
“Judging by the marks all over the ground and the look on your faces, I’m guessing Oriana did make an appearance?” Ryan surmised.
“Yes. She’s free,” Marella reported.
“And you couldn’t stop her?” Ryan said.
“I wounded her,” Nathanial reported.
“We could have done a lot more damage if you hadn’t trapped me in a protective field, Nathanial!” Marella yelled.
“If she’d hit you with her magick it could have wounded you and our child, Marella!” he fired back.
Marella shook her head with disbelief. “You are too paranoid.”
“And you are infuriating at times.”
“Guys!” Ryan yelled. “Forget it. She’s gone for the time being. Let’s just get back inside the realm, before she comes back. She can’t enter, because of Cora’s barrier.”
As Ryan heard his own words, he was surprised at his own levelheaded, calm response. Considering his usual react and ask questions later response, combined with the fact that he wanted to kill Oriana more than he’d ever wanted to kill anyone, it was odd. But as he looked down at his son in his arms, he understood why. Now he’d finally got him back, all he wanted was to be with him. He didn’t give a damn about going after Oriana right now. He didn’t give a damn about anything else. Only his family.
“Come, my love,” he said, holding out his free hand to Cora.
She took it and he pulled her close as the three of them walked back through the Dark Realm gates.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ryan held the door of his bar open for Cora who had Orion clutched tightly to her chest. He was still in wolf form and Ryan had taught her how to hold him properly and to avoid
being scratched by his little, but very sharp, claws.
“Over there…” Cora spoke as she pointed to the end of the bar. “…is where Mommy and Daddy first spoke to one another. Your Dad was being his arrogant Alpha self at the time.”
Ryan laughed. “And trying to get into your pants.”
“Ryan!” Cora protested. “Don’t tell him things like that.”
“Believe me; he’s heard me say worse.”
“What?” Cora asked, shocked.
“Aw…I’m just kidding, darlin’.” Mostly. Oops.
She huffed and carried Orion through the bar towards the steps that led up to his apartment.
Ryan followed after them and said, “Your Mom showed up here on the pretense of having accidentally been clawed by poisonous wolves. She claimed she needed my help, when we both know what she really wanted.”
Cora jabbed her leg into his shin.
“Ow!” Ryan exclaimed.
“Don’t be a pussy,” she said.
“Pussy? So we can use that word around him?”
Cora rolled her eyes.
Once they reached the landing, Ryan jogged ahead of them and opened the door. “After you, wife and son.”
Cora gasped as she stepped inside. “Oh my God, Ryan!” she exclaimed excitedly.
The entire apartment had been renovated from top to bottom. It had once been a bachelor apartment—one room, plus a tiny bathroom. Now as she walked in, there was just one mammoth living room. All the furniture was new—a wraparound cream couch and matching oversized chairs. She laughed as she saw a tiny version of the chairs, which she suspected was for Orion. The furniture faced a huge flat-screen television that was mounted on the wall above a state-of-the-art entertainment unit. Over on the other side of the room was a real log fireplace. She noted the stone table beside it and saw the spell books piled on top of it. Over on the wall were shelves lined with various potion bottles. She eyed Ryan in surprise.
“Nathanial’s idea. For you to practice your magick,” Ryan said.