by Julia Mills
Jumping to his feet, the need to protect his mate, even from those he considered a brother snarling within him, Murdock growled, “What is the meaning of this?”
Stepping forward, Maddox acquiesced, “It seems your mate belongs to Callie’s Coven, Dock.” He took another slow step. “And Brannoc and the boys were at the Training Pitch when we rushed by. They…”
“We just followed, Uncle,” Brann interrupted as he closed the distance, placing his hand on Murdock. “If you want us to leave, we will.”
Scratching at the stubble covering his chin, Murdock blew out an exasperated breath. Looking his nephew in the eye, he gave a single nod, “Nay, stay.”
Moving out of the way so a silent Calysta could take a look at Kalliope, Murdock moved to the opposite end of the couch. Lifting his mate’s legs, he took a seat, laid her legs upon his lap and watched intently as the Priestess went to work.
Long, silent minutes passed. Murdock listened to the tick and tock of the antique clock on the mantel, waiting for any sign that Calysta knew how to help Kalliope. Staying connected to her mind, he finally broke through the residual magic of the god who’d attacked his mate.
Trying to control his temper but growling none the less, he seethed, “Cernunnos, that horned bastard.”
Flipping through Kalliope’s memories like pages in a book, he stopped cold as the Celtic God of Fertility’s words seared an angry path through his mind, “We are to be wed as soon as the third quarter moon is at its highest point in the night sky.”
“That fuckin’ arse,” he snarled then looking up at Maddox continued, “Tis Cernunnos, the warped son of a whore we’ve battled before.”
“Cernunnos, are you sure, Dock? That mangy beast hasn’t been on Earth in centuries.”
“Aye, as sure as I’mma lookin’ at ye. I saw the daft bastard in my Kalliope’s mind.” He looked at his mate, still lying like an angel who’d just fallen to sleep. “He thinks to marry my mate.”
Even to his own ears, his voice was low and threatening then it was Raibert’s turn. “This makes no sense. What could an ancient Celtic god want with our mate?”
“I think I have the answer,” Calysta stood back, one hand on her hip and the other swatting at the stray red curls falling across her forehead. “And, just let me say, I owe our Kallie here an apology when she wakes.”
“An apology?” Murdock grumbled. “Ah think tis her that owes us an explanation for all those men lined up tae court her. Lust was so thick in da air, Ah was ‘bout tae gag.”
Chuckling despite the severity of the situation, Brannoc crossed the room and stood behind Murdock. Patting him on the back, his nephew teased, “Good Heavens, we really have to get you up to date on modern speech.”
Ignoring the younger Guardsman, Murdock shook his head, “Tis nothin’ wrong with the way Ah talk.” Turning his head so he could glare at his nephew, he added, “Dinnae tell me that ye wouldn’t be rite pished off if yer Annie had all kinds lookin’ after her.”
“No, you’re right, Uncle. I would be pissed, but maybe there’s an explanation.”
“There sure is,” Calysta cut in, stopping whatever Brannoc was about to say. “I thought, and so did she, although we were both wrong, that while she was doing her Valentine’s show, our little Kallie had unintentionally cast her Grams’ True Love Spell.”
Holding up her hand, stopping the words that Murdock was about to say, the Priestess continued, “I knew Dearg. She was a wonderful woman and Witch, who could bake absolutely anything and make it taste like Heaven, but she also always put a little magic in her recipes. Up til now, Kallie has been good about taking the words or phrases that can activate Dearg’s magic out when she uses one of her Grams’ ‘special’ recipes, but when all the single men within about a thirty-mile radius showed up at WTCH, I wrongfully accused Kalliope of making a mistake.”
“But she dinnae?” Murdock was growing impatient with Calysta, but he tried to tame his tone, not wanting to upset his friend, her mate, Maddox. He needed answers and he needed them as quickly as possible. He needed to know that Kalliope was going to be all right and then he needed to find that asshole, Cernunnos and send him back to the Outer Realm as fast as he could.
“No,” Calysta shook her. “I can see that it wasn’t Kallie who caused the spell to be unleashed, it was Cernunnos. He wanted to create a distraction.” Kneeling next to Kalliope, she went on, “Look into her mind. Follow me.”
Murdock waited until he could see the light of Calysta’s connection to Kalliope light up in his mate’s mind. Following her, he and Raibert both growled as they could see the taint of the Celtic God of Fertility’s mischief.
“Son of a bitch,” Murdock spat. “He forced her to invoke the spell.”
Getting to her feet and stepping back to stand by her mate, Calysta curled into Maddox’s embrace as she continued, “And did you feel the strength of Kalliope’s magic. Did you see all the layers she uncovered when she fought Cernunnos?”
“Aye, were they nae there before?”
“Oh no,” Calysta quickly answered, still looking at Kalliope, her eyes filled with a motherly love. “I knew she would someday inherit them. Was sure Dearg and Kallie’s mother, Pryderi had hidden it and Kallie would uncover it when the Goddess deemed her worthy.” She smiled sweetly. “But those ladies were nothing if not thorough. It seems Kalliope’s been carrying it around with her all along and it is extremely powerful. The Sùdrach’s, later changed to Sugarbaker because Kallie’s great-grandmother had a wicked sense of humor, were some of the first Witches to land on this rock. There powers come from not only the earth but also Hecate, the Greek Goddess of Magic and Witchcraft. The story of how they came to be blessed by her is one you will have to ask your mate, but it goes without saying that as the last Sugarbaker to still draw breath, your mate is one very powerful Witch. It only took the heat of battle to bring it out of her.”
Looking at his lovely mate, letting what Calysta had just said sink in, it only took a second for the Guardsman to hiss, “And that wily arsehole wants to marry my mate and steal her magic.”
Before anyone could answer, a loud roll of thunder shook the cottage, the sliding glass door that lead to the patio shattered, and in stormed the horned god of the Celtic Pantheon, Cernunnos. Ripping the brass torc from his neck, the god roared, “Reo!”
Strong, ancient magic filled the room, paralyzing all its inhabitants, leaving them helpless to do anything but watch as the horned god lifted Kalliope off the couch and turned to leave. Calling over his shoulder before disappearing out the doorway filled with shards of glass, Cernunnos chuckled, “Oh, and you were right, Dragon.” The word was said with so much derision that it made the room smell of rotten eggs. “I am going to wed your little Witch, take her magic and then bathe in her blood, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Chapter Eleven
Something hard was poking her in the back, her wrists and ankles were on fire, and her head felt like she’d just been celebrating Mardi Gras with Jack Daniels, Jim Bean and all their rowdy friends. Lifting her arm, unable to brush the hair out of her face, Kalliope’s eyes shot open as she realized a large iron shackle was wrapped around her wrist.
Sitting up way quicker than she’d meant to, she waited until the room stopped spinning before looking down her body and cursing, “Son of a…Cernunnos, you stupid bastard, show yourself.”
Looking side-to-side and up and down, it only took Kallie two seconds to figure out she was in a dungeon straight out of the Middle Ages, and the stupid god who’d kidnapped her had cuffed her with iron and covered every blasted stone in her prison with a Dampening Spell. Leaning her head down until her fingers touched her face, she pushed her curls off her face and wiped the dirt from her brow.
“Cernie, I’m not messin’ around with you. I’ve got a headache the size of Texas, and I could eat a cow. Just get your ass in here and let me loose.”
Just when she was sure her demands would once again go unan
swered, a tray with fresh fruit, cut-up vegetables, chunks of cheese and cubes of what smelled like chicken appeared beside her. Rolling her eyes as her stomach growled so loud the sound reverberated off the rock walls, Kallie picked up a banana and sniffed the skin.
“Is this shit safe to eat?”
Not waiting for a response since she was sure none was coming, she peeled the banana, scarfed it down and then picked up a few pieces of cheese and a baby carrot. Eating while she continued to peruse her cell, Kallie looked for anything she could use to pry the shackles off her wrists. Not only was the iron burning the flesh right off her bones, the damn things were heavy, and the chain the idiot god had used to hook them together and then secure her to the wall was so big she figured they could hold a charging bull.
“So, either he’s scared of me, or just being cautious.” Popping another cube of cheese into her mouth, she groaned, “Or maybe he just likes his women in chains.”
Trying once again to reach for her magic, Kalliope thought about kicking her feet and throwing a tantrum befitting a two-year-old. She could feel her magic, sitting right on the edge of her reach, Cernunnos’ blasted Dampening Spell keeping her from grasping it.
Closing her eyes, she pushed even harder, felt the mysticism she’d been born with rise up and reach for her. Pushing it to the left and then the right, trying to find a chink in the Celtic god’s magic, Kalliope fell flat on her back as more power than she’d ever before felt beat against the steel barrier of Cernunnos’ spell.
Keeping her mind’s eye trained on the massive wave of magic, she took several deep breaths, counting to ten as she slowly let them out. Let her preternatural senses flow towards the barrier, she knew immediately that it was hers, or rather from her family, but it was still so very much stronger than anything she’d ever felt.
Still trying to figure out how her magic had gotten so much stronger during the time she’d been unconscious, the name Murdock and the handsome face from her dreams came into view. “Hey, yeah, where did he go? How am I back with Cernie? Please tell me that I haven’t lost my mind. I really can’t deal with that today.”
Trying to clear away the cobwebs of her foggy mind, images began to flash in Kallie’s mind. She saw Cernunnos coming out from the shadows of her dressing room. Remembered being walked like a puppet on a string through the Ad Department. Saw the flash, boom, bang of her magical duel with the Celtic god on the stairs, and then there, at the end of her most recent memories was Murdock, catching her when she fell out of the elevator and assuring her that everything was going to be okay.
“So, unless that big hunky Dragon is a fibber, something else has gone wrong, and I bet I know who’s to blame.”
Pushing herself back into a sitting position and maneuvering her arms and legs as carefully as possible until she had her back against the wall, Kallie sat staring at the wooden door with iron hinges and locks, waiting for her captor to appear. With no window to see the sun and her favorite watch mysteriously missing, it didn’t take long for the Witch to lose her patience and begin yelling at the top of her lungs.
“Carnunnos, get your big, ole, horned head down here, right now. I have questions, and your ass better have answers.”
“One, two, three, four,” she counted under her breath, before inhaling with gusto and bellowing, “Oh Cernie, you big, dumb, deer-lookin’ son of a bitch, are you ever gonna answer me? You have to know I won’t give up.”
“Five, six, seven, eight.” She took another big breath and shouted, “Let me guess. You want to make little horned-headed babies, and you think I’d be a good matchmaker?”
Turning her head to the side, hoping to hear movement somewhere outside the door or overhead, she continued to count, “Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, no, no, that’s not it. You like my green eyes and want little girls with stupid nubs on their heads and pretty little peepers like mine. Well, to that I say, Fuck you.”
Deciding she wasn’t pushing the right buttons, Kallie got straight down to business even forgetting to count as she screamed, “I’ve got it. You’re a stupid, dumb fuck, inbred from the word go and your dick is so small I’ll need a magnifying glass and tweezers to find it.”
An ungodly howl filled the air, the ground beneath her violently shook, and the huge wooden door on the other side of her cell burst open. Tearing into the dungeon like a raging bull, Cernunnos’ eyes were the color of fire and his face so contorted with fury that Kallie barely recognized him.
“How dare you?” He roared. “You insolent, little maggot, who do you think you are?”
Taking a threatening step forward, the Celtic god lowered his head and aimed the pointy tips of his antlers at her chest. A snap of his fingers echoed off the stone walls a split second before Kallie was jerked off the floor stopping only when she was hanging upside-down and spread-eagle, her chains attached to hooks she hadn’t seen until that moment.
Refusing to be intimidated, she scoffed, “I’m Kalliope Jane Sugarbaker, you fucking piece of egotistical shit. I’m the Witch with a seriously bad attitude who you attacked and kidnapped, and I don’t give a shit what you do to me, I’m never gonna give you whatever you think it is that I have.” Raising her head the best she could, Kallie winked, “So, hit me with your best shot, Asshole. I’m ready.”
It was Cernunnos’ turn to raise his head as he stepped forward, no longer looking as if he was going to spear Kallie with his horns. Stopping a few feet from where she hung, his eyes level with her, something Kallie was sure wasn’t a coincidence, the Celtic God of Fertility stood perfectly still and stared at Kallie like he was seeing her for the very first time.
Watching closely as Cernunnos’ furious expression turned to an eerie smile, Kallie nearly lost everything she’d just eaten as the Celtic god snickered, “I was going to steal your magic and kill you, but now I rather think I would like to keep you alive. I can only imagine the fun I will have taming and bedding you.”
Chapter Twelve
“Kayne! Kayne, damn you, answer me,” Murdock called to one of his oldest friends over and over, knowing that if anyone could help him save Kalliope from the maniacal Cernunnos, it would be the son of the Celtic God of the Sun if he would only answer.
Spinning towards the hand on his shoulder, ready to kill whoever had broken his concentration, Murdock snarled, “What?”
Holding his hands up in surrender, Brannon quickly explained, “None of us can get through to Kayne. I think whatever is holding the Berserkers in those damned silver coffins is messing with our mindspeak.”
Trying to calm down enough to speak civilly to his nephew, the older Guardsman countered, “Then Ah’m gonnae myself. Heavens only knows what that bloody bastard has done to my Kalliope.” A helplessness he’d never before felt continued to grow within him. Shaking with frustration and rage, he added, “If he’s tooched a hair on her wee bonnie head, Ah’ll rip that foockin’ god from limb to limb.”
Before he could continue, the front door opened and in walked two women that he immediately recognized as Witches. Walking towards him, Calysta gestured towards the women as she explained, “This is Della, my sister.” She took the hand of the pretty woman with long dark brown hair and shining lavender eyes. “And this is Alicia, Drago’s mate, and one of the very powerful McKennon Witches.”
Walking forward, the younger Witch with red hair and deep brown eyes held out her hand as she reassured, “I’m here to help in any way that I can. I’ve tried to reach Drago, but something is interfering with even our bond. It has to be the black magic that was used to capture and detain the others.” The powerful magic of her lineage combined with the pure white Dragon magic from her mate filled Murdock with hope for the first time since the Celtic god had stormed in and taken Kalliope. “I’m sorry he’s not here and sorry that my mom and sisters have gone to the States to help the Golden Fire Dragons.” She took a tiny step forward and leaned in. “But, I have every faith that we can find your Kallie. Not only is she feisty, but Kallie thinks on her
feet. If there’s a way to get a message to us, she’ll do it.”
Unable to speak, Murdock could only nod. He could feel the copious amounts of love and support flowing from everyone in the room and had to admit it was one of the things he missed the most. Never in all his days did he imagine so much could change in just a few short days but they had, and he was going to need to change, too, but first he had to get Kalliope back.
Clearing his throat, Dock continued to nod as Brannoc explained, “The ladies here believe because of their connection to your mate and with the combination of all our magic, they can find where Cernunnos is holding Kallie.” He patted Murdock’s shoulder. “I’ve seen them do some seriously miraculous things, just give ‘em a chance.”
It sounded like a viable idea. Heavens knew he and Raibert had been shoving everything they had into the Mating bond they shared with Kalliope and getting nowhere. Whatever that blasted lunatic god was using to hold Murdock’s mate was damn near impenetrable. With a single nod, he agreed, “Aye, let’s doo eet. Time’s a wastin’.”
The words were still echoing around the room as Calysta, Della and Alicia got to work. Covering the dining room table with a deep purple cloth, embellished with mystical runes he’d seen many times over the years, Calysta then placed a small copper pot in the middle then filled it with subtle aromatic herbs. Her next step was to place short, thick, lavender pillar candles at the four points of the compass.
Watching carefully as Drago’s mate unwrapped an antique hand mirror framed in silver at the head of the table, he felt the magic in the room stirring, growing, reaching for the Dragon magic only he and Raibert could provide. “Ah’ll be givin’ it all Ah have,” the Dragon King replied confidently. “We will be bringin’ the lass home tonight.”