by Brenda Trim
“Me too, but there is no one there we can trust. They’ve all drunk Cele’s evil Kool-Aid. We need to perfect our spell before we go back in, that’s for sure,” Pema replied. Isis thought about how disastrous their last foray into Cele’s mansion was. They had almost been caught, and she had no idea if Cele knew it was them. The way Cele stormed into the house told Isis that Cele was aware her protections had been broken, but Isis questioned if they’d covered their tracks well enough.
The tinkling of their door-chime sounded and all four of them turned to see who had entered. Isis’s mouth dropped open and her eyes bulged. None other than the High Priestess herself was standing in their doorway. Pema took one step forward with Ronan close at her back. She could tell by his protective stance that he was itching to eliminate the witch. “How can we help you, Cele?” Pema asked pointedly.
“You can help me by relinquishing your power to me, and then going straight to hell,” Cele spat out. She could almost see steam escaping from the witch’s ears, she was so angry. Isis noted the witch seemed to be muttering under her breath, and, wanting to be prepared for anything, she clasped hands with Suvi and touched Pema’s fingertips, connecting them. Isis felt an additional jolt in their combined power when Ronan laid his palm on Pema’s shoulder. Okay, that was new, and something they would need to talk about at a later date.
“There is no way in hell we would do that. You really have lost your mind, you know that?” Suvi spouted.
At that moment, Isis felt a pressure to obey Cele’s command. It quickly became imperative that she do exactly that. She felt Suvi lose her vehemence and knew there was some magic at play in the matter. Pema, however, seemed to be immune. Why, Isis wondered. The thought crossed Isis’ mind that Ronan, as her Fated Mate, was anchoring Pema. Testing her theory, Isis conjured an image of Braeden smiling and nearly whooped when the compulsion left her. She squeezed Suvi’s hand and reached out through her bond to her sisters, mooring Suvi to the three of them.
Isis saw when Cele realized her attempt had failed. The High Priestess was undaunted. “I will make you regret not giving me your power freely. What I will bring down upon you and your mates will be like unleashing Lucifer upon earth.” Cele waved her twig-like arms, reminding Isis of a dried-up, dead tree. “I know what you did to my daughter, just like I know that you broke into my house. As for you, I will never understand why my daughter gave you the best years of her life. You were always beneath her,” Cele said, pointing at Ronan. “You will be lucky to live through my wrath!”
“I loved your daughter before I knew who she really was. Now that I do, I see that you both grasp for what belongs to others, because you fall short in every respect,” Ronan asserted.
“Tell me, Cele, when did you go Dark? How can you imprison and torture a helpless stripling? Does it make you feel powerful to see him cower from you in fear?” Isis couldn’t help the disgust that seeped into her voice. Only those who went Dark were capable of such despicable acts. When a supernatural turned evil the whole world was at risk and just being near this female made Isis’ skin crawl and her gut churn with acid.
Suvi took a few steps and they formed a triangle, facing down Cele. “And, by the way, how is Claire? Fate finally catch up with her? They do say never to mess with fate, that she’ll bite you in the ass in the end.” Isis finished, holding back as much destructive anger as she could.
The High Priestess turned bright red with rage. “You will regret crossing me. I have powers above and beyond your imagination.” Isis had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next. Understanding Pema’s silent command to cast a barrier spell, Isis muttered the words under her breath along with Suvi and Pema. “Oh no, you don’t,” Cele yelled and had her wand out in the blink of an eye.
Isis felt the malevolence attached to the instrument, and tightened her hold on her sisters. Cele summoned her black magic and uttered Dark curses, causing their invisible barrier to slip. Isis prayed that the power of three was enough to combat dark magic. An instant before orange light shot from the tip of the wand, Ronan took Pema to the floor, shielding her with his body and breaking their connection. As he huddled over her sister, he shifted into his bear, his angry growls filling the room.
The first bolt of light passed over them, destroying a wall display of candles. Wax melted and puddled on the floor, bubbling from the impact. As the dust settled, a ten-foot, brown, grizzly bear rose with its enormous teeth bared. Suddenly, Ronan lurched toward Cele with his jaws wide, but Cele was faster as she repeated the curse and orange light burned a path through his left shoulder.
“Noooo,” Pema screamed and crawled to her mate’s side as the bear collapsed to the floor, instantly shifting back into his male form.
“Suvi, get over here, now,” Isis shouted, dropping next to Pema and Ronan.
“No, I don’t think so,” Cele screeched as she spat another foreign word and orange light erupted from her wand once again. Isis let her anger take hold and it rumbled through the building. When the floor shook, Cele lost her balance and her next blast from her wand went wild, destroying several shelves of product. She shrieked and continued chanting words as she alternately aimed her wand at the three of them.
Suvi deflected some of the blows with a shielding spell that sent the light rebounding back to Cele, yet she managed to duck the magic. Before Cele could cast another spell, Isis grabbed Suvi’s ankle, keeping hold of Pema and felt the rush of their combined magic. Unaware they had joined together, Cele let another volley fly and it rebounded off of Suvi’s shielding spell and hit Cele square in the chest. Unfortunately, the witch absorbed the Dark magic and seemed to grow momentarily stronger from it. Suvi dove next to Isis and they both lay next to Pema, who was on top of Ronan’s still body.
Cele shrieked like a bird of prey and Isis could feel her calling Dark energy to her. A thick, dank, grey fog filled the room and surrounded the High Priestess. Isis made sure she had a tight hold on her sisters and automatically, and in unison, they called upon the power of the Goddess, the moon and the power of three.
Black lightning shot from Cele, while at the same time, silver-white lightning left Isis and her sisters. The two energies met and exploded in the middle of the room. The resultant blast sent them all tumbling backwards. Isis recalled the bomb blast the month before as she heard glass explode and felt debris pelting her body. Instinctively, she threw her arms up to cover her head and neck.
The moment the noise stopped, Isis lowered her arms and looked around the room. Their shop was in ruins, yet again. She cursed as she scanned to see where Cele was. The glass from the front windows was in pieces on the sidewalk, along with the High Priestess. Sirens sounded in the distance, indicating that the human authorities were responding. She searched for her cell phone to call Orlando and Santiago, two of the Dark Warriors, to ask for interference with the police department.
Cele surged to her feet and turned towards them. “This isn’t over, not by a long shot,” the High Priestess promised before stalking off into the night.
Isis glanced around at the destruction and spotted Suvi. She pushed debris off her sister, trying not to panic when Suvi was unresponsive. Isis touched a large lump on the back of Suvi’s head and was instantly worried until she heard her voice. “Ouch, that hurts, dammit,” Suvi muttered weakly.
She brushed glass off Suvi’s back and smiled. She sounded like Isis did when she had to wake up early in the morning, but luckily, she was going to be fine.
Pema sat up slowly as several police cars pulled up with their lights flashing. “Ronan is hurt. Call Jace and tell him to get here,” Pema ordered before crawling over to her prone mate.
Ronan had been thrown like the rest of them and he was lying naked on his stomach with a huge hole in his shoulder. The police were going to have questions they couldn’t answer, but, at the moment, that concern was secondary to getting Ronan help. She pulled her phone out and called Jace. After filling him in on the situation and getting his rea
ssurance that he, Santiago, and Orlando would portal into their backroom, she searched for something to cover Ronan.
She handed Pema a blanket she found in the back and noticed that Ronan was coming to. “Don’t move, babe, you were hit with dark magic. Isis already called Jace and he will be here shortly and will heal you,” Pema reassured Ronan.
Ronan cracked his eyes open and took in the scene around them. “Did she get away?” he croaked. At Pema’s nod, he shut his eyes in defeat. “Call Hayden. Tell him about the fight, and ask him to send reinforcements.”
* * *
CHAPTER NINE
Braeden had to park his Jeep down the street from Black Moon. He was immediately struck by the suffocating remnants of Cele’s magic when he climbed out and shut the door. He took off running down the sidewalk as a lump settled in his gut, telling him that something had happened at Isis’ shop. He sent a silent prayer up to the Goddess that his mate was safe from harm.
It almost stopped him in his tracks to think of what he would do if she was taken from him. She had come to mean as much to him as Donovan did, and he was truly between a rock and a hard place with how he was going to protect them both.
He had already betrayed Isis in an attempt to free his son and fervently hoped she would eventually forgive him. She was a stubborn, volatile female, and he doubted he’d ever earn her forgiveness, but he would never stop trying. He shook that off when the scent of blood reached him and he began to run faster.
As he approached the shop, he was shocked to see the complete destruction to their business. Numerous shifters and Dark Warriors roamed the room, helping to repair the damage. “Hey, buddy. You come to help clean up, too?” Rhys asked.
“I came for my mate. I had no idea anything had happened. Is she okay? Where is she?” He glanced around as he entered the storefront, relieved to see that most of the blood came from Pema’s mate.
“Isis or Suvi?” Rhys asked while he dumped garbage into a large can. He saw the Vampire King in the building and was impressed that his mate and her sisters had such powerful supernaturals in their corner.
“Isis,” he responded as he continued his search for his mate.
“I had no idea,” Rhys replied. “I guess that means she’s off limits now. She was one fine piece of ass—” Braeden’s eyes went black with his rage and he lunged for the Dark Warrior. Isis was his, and no other man would ever even think of her in a sexual manner. He quickly had him in a headlock, ready to rip off the male’s head.
“If you ever fucking think of her again, I’ll kill you, cambion.” His shoulder hit Rhys in the stomach, taking the warrior to the floor. He gave no quarter and began pummeling his face. He heard gasps and felt someone grabbing his shirt, trying to separate them. Nothing penetrated his haze until he heard his mate’s worried voice.
“Fucking Rhys, did you have to taunt him? You got what you deserved,” Isis told the warrior before she turned her penetrating gaze on Braeden, melting his heart.
The rage left him and he sat back, his chest heaving with his breaths. She was alive and healthy, and he couldn’t help but smile in his relief. Stormy, grey eyes locked him in their spell. “Thank the Goddess, you’re alive. Are you okay? And, what happened here?”
“I’m fine. What about you?” He closed his eyes as she ran her hands up and down his arms, checking for injury. From the moment their skin met, his cock hardened, and he had to fight his need for her. She enflamed him like no other.
“I’m not hurt. Tell me what happened. Goddess, when I saw the devastation, my heart stopped. After the week I’ve had, I thought it might be the end of me.” He grabbed her roughly into his embrace and held her tightly against him. It wasn’t enough, he wanted to pull her inside his body and keep her safe, but settled for claiming her lips, needing her taste in his mouth.
After several long and intense kisses, Isis broke away, cupping his stubbled cheek. “Our High Priestess came here accusing us of breaking into her house and harming her daughter, and as you can see, things got out of hand. Ronan was hurt the worst, but Jace healed him. The worst part is that our shop was destroyed, again. We can’t afford for this to keep happening.” He wondered what she meant by their shop had been destroyed again, but focused on the fact that it had been Cele who had done this. No doubt, the information he gave Cele had led her to their doorstep.
“Don’t worry about anything. I’ll have one of my brother’s crews out here right away.” He felt responsible for their predicament, and didn’t think he could feel any worse. He had betrayed his mate and she had paid that price. He would do whatever it took to get her shop up and running again.
“What does your brother do?”
“He owns a construction company,” he replied. Her earlier words registered fully and he realized what she had said. Cele had accused her of breaking into her house and the puzzle pieces started connecting as he realized that Isis and her sisters had been trying to break a spell on a crystal sphere similar to his son’s prison. Could Isis have been trying to find a way to save his son?
“If it’s not too much trouble for your brother then that would be great. The Dark Warriors have more important issues to take care of, like hunting demons and skirm, not here fixing our shop. But, I’m more worried about you right now. I may still be getting to know you, but I can tell that you’re weak again,” she murmured, getting his attention.
He nipped at her lips, pushing aside his suspicions. He didn’t want her to know what he had been forced to do. “It won’t be a problem for my brother. I helped him with some of the work on Confetti Too.” He leaned close, his lips a hair away from her ear. He held back his smile of male satisfaction at her shiver. “I personally fabricated some of the amenities in the private rooms. I’ll have to show you my favorite one. It has a sex swing in it.”
“I thought you did sculptures, but you certainly have my attention now.” She melted into his embrace and placed her hands on his chest.
“Can you go somewhere with me?” he asked.
“I was going to come to you anyway. I have something I want to talk to you about,” she replied. Gut instinct warned him that he wasn’t going to like what she had to talk about. He nodded to her and pulled his phone from his front pocket, forcing himself to ignore the erotic heat pulsing off her in waves. He pushed the number, never taking his gaze from her glowing silver eyes. He loved the way her eyes ignited with her arousal.
“Griffin, it’s Braeden. There has been an incident at Black Moon Sabbat, a store on Third Street owned by my mate and her sisters. Yes, you heard right, my mate. Listen, brother, I need you to send a crew over here to fix the place and they will need to bring large panels of glass to replace the windows. Yeah, thanks. I’ll call you tomorrow. No, I don’t have time to go into it right now.”
She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the metal frame of the front door. “Pema, Suvi, I’m leaving with Braeden, but his brother and one of his construction crews are on their way to help fix this mess. They will have glass to replace the windows so you won’t have to board them up. See you later. Love you.”
“We love you, too. Thanks for the help Braden,” Pema called out. It was clear to him how close she was to her sisters, and how much they meant to her. It made what Cele was forcing him to do all the more difficult.
He twined his fingers with hers as they made their way quickly down the street to his Jeep. His body wound tighter with each step, and his need only worsened once they were in the vehicle, heading down the street. The confines of the car amplified the savory peach scent of her arousal, and made his mouth water, depriving him of all reason. The moonlight highlighted her soft features, haloing her head. She was an angel, his angel.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“My place, unless you want to go somewhere else.”
“We could go to my place. We’d have the house to ourselves and it’s just across I90,” she murmured as she leaned over the seat and ran her tongue down the side of his
neck. His cock jumped in anticipation within the tight confines of his pants.
“Goddess, you tempt me,” he growled huskily.
“How do I tempt you?” she asked teasingly, knowing full well what effect she was having on him. Her voice was like a satin caress over his nerve endings. She continued the torture when she pulled the neck of his t-shirt down and kissed her way across his shoulder while she rubbed his inner thigh with her free hand. She had him so distracted he almost missed the freeway entrance.
“You tempt me to pull over and fuck you in the back of this Jeep.” His breathing became ragged with the image that came to mind.
She slid her slender leg over his hips and sat on his lap. He couldn’t stop his gasp of appreciation. She wasn’t fazed by the fact that he was going a hundred miles an hour down the nearly deserted highway while she sat astride him, grinding against his cock the entire time. His hips had a mind of their own and pushed up into her shielded feminine flesh, feeling the heat radiating from her core
“What are you waiting for then?” she asked, breathily.
She lowered her head and nipped and licked at his racing pulse. It was more than a mere tease, it was torture, and he hadn’t even tasted her mouth. She stroked the back of his neck as she worked her core on his aching cock. He lifted one hand from the steering wheel and tweaked her nipples through her lacy shirt, eliciting a moan from her. “I’m looking for an exit, baby. Goddess, I don’t know whether to tell you to stop or go faster.”
She moaned and increased her pace. “I’m thinking faster.”
He saw an exit and clipped it, almost hitting the guardrail. “You make me feel like an eager youth again. You are going to unman me if you don’t stop.”