by Brenda Trim
Zander pushed Bhric behind him before he could offer to share his bite with the Mambo. “We need information and we have been told that you, Tia, can help. My Fated Mate’s sister has been enchanted by a Fae spell and we must see Marie for an antidote.”
Dozens of gold bangles jangled on her slim wrists as she gestured, “Look around you, we have many charms and talismans. I am not sure any of dem will lift a Fae spell.” Tia stood from her stool and smoothed out her billowy purple skirt, clearly not willing to share anything more.
“Tia,” Zander’s Scottish accent was terse, “we appreciate your mandate to protect your Queen, but know that we mean her no harm. As the Vampire King, I give you my word that we seek only an antidote for Cailyn. I vow that on my mate’s life.” Jace hoped Zander knew what he was doing because what he’d just said to Tia was unbreakable in their realm.
“I appreciate your assurances, but I can offer what is in my shop, no more.”
“We doona have time to waste here, and I didna want to interfere with fate, but I know where you may find your mate. I received the gift of premonition from my Fated Mate,” Zander tested. Tia’s head snapped around faster than a cobra strike. That got her attention telling Jace the female wanted to know about her mate. Problem was, Jace knew Zander was bluffing. There was no way to know you were mates until the relationship was consummated.
Tia placed her hands on her hips, the picture of feminine pique. “You mean ta blackmail me for da information on my Queen in exchange for da information on my mate. Bastard,” she hissed, anger lighting her eyes.
“Like I said, we mean Marie no harm, and I would no’ have involved your mate, but I am left with no other choice. Time is of the essence. You know the Goddess has led us here. Surely, you can sense Fate’s hand at work,” Zander coaxed.
Silence descended over the shop, and Jace thought the tension was going to shatter his bones. Tia closed her beautiful, green eyes and sighed in resignation. “She is in da swamps off 45 in da depths of Jean Lafitte territory. Now, about my mate?”
“Thank you for helping. I hope you like the rain. You will find your mate among the Seattle shifters,” Zander told Tia. Jace cursed and sent a prayer to the Goddess that Zander wasn’t wrong. Otherwise, this mambo would have her revenge.
Jace expelled the breath he was unaware he had been holding. Hang on Cailyn, I am close, Shijéí.
Wait, Shijéí? Sweat broke out over Jace’s skin at the automatic endearment.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Get out of my way, sex fiend,” Jessie shouted. What in all that was holy was going on now? And who was Jessie screaming at? Sex fiend? Realization dawned on Cailyn…fucking Rhys.
For the millionth time in the past hour, Cailyn wished she had the energy to get out of the bed. She felt herself weakening by the moment, and knew she wasn’t doing so well. To say her nerves were fried was a vast understatement. She was propelled from annoyance to rage over the situation in the blink of an eye.
“Now you’re just turning me on. Come and feel,” Rhys teased.
“You are a sick son-of-a-bitch if me pushing you is a turn-on.” The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed and Cailyn knew Jessie was beating the crap out of Rhys.
“Ooomph. You pack a mean punch. Now I’m even harder,” the warrior taunted. She hoped Jessie got a good one in, although, Rhys was basically harmless.
“Stop it,” Elsie’s voice joined the fray. “Jessie, settle down. We will let you see her. We are simply worried about your control, or lack thereof. I trust you to tell me if you start craving her blood. We have no idea if you will be driven by the same bloodlust that drives skirm. Breslin, Rhys, and I are here, so don’t worry, nothing will happen to Cailyn even if you do lose it.”
Cailyn perked up at the mention of Breslin. She was glad that the fierce Vampire Princess was there to help Elsie and Rhys. She wanted nothing to go wrong with her friend.
“Thank you. I don’t want to hurt her,” Jessie said as she entered the room. Tears sprang to Cailyn’s eyes the moment she saw her friend. Jessie ran to her side.
“I’m so sorry Jess. This is all my fault,” Cai murmured through her tears.
“Stop that. It’s not your fault. Oh, Cai you don’t look so good. How are you feeling?”
“I’m ok. Just need some more rest and I’ll be good to go.”
“Don’t pull that bullshit with me. You’re pale and I can hear how weak your heartbeat is. What did the delicious doctor Jace say?”
Cailyn wanted to put a muzzle on her friend, as it was she looked over at her sister and saw the calculation in Elsie’s eyes. She pushed that to the side to deal with later. “Jace said that I have internal bleeding, broken bones, and a concussion, and that he can’t heal me because the Fae put a spell on me. He and some of the other warriors went to get me a cure. What I want to know is how you are doing? I can see the physical changes you have gone through already.”
Cailyn was unnerved by how sleek and muscular her friend was. Jessie had always been stick-thin, but now she had muscles that people worked years to obtain. Her brown eyes shone in the light, and she moved with an innate grace she had only seen with the other supernaturals she’d met. Jessie’s bleached-blonde hair appeared to be even silkier, and had a fullness women envied. Emotions stuck on her throat at the changes to her friend. She loved her either way, but wished she hadn’t been put through this ordeal. Cailyn understood that Jessie’s life as she’d known it was over.
Jessie began blinking rapidly as her eyes filled with tears. “Cai, I have no idea what is going on and I’m so scared. I woke up in a body I no longer recognize. I look like Lara Croft with the muscles, and I have fangs, for Gods’ sake.” Cailyn easily identified the lisp as Jessie spoke. Cailyn’s heart clenched at hearing her best friend’s fear. She knew that there was no way she could return to her life without helping Jessie through this. That’s what best friends do for each other. She would never abandon her.
That led to other questions. What would she do about John and her job? She supposed the John issue should be clear-cut given that she had broken off their engagement, but she still loved him. She wasn’t entirely certain that she didn’t want to marry him. She was still confused, and her emotions were all over the map.
Months ago, her body had taken on a mind of its own and roused an interest in Jace. It was an irrational, all-consuming attraction that had dug its hooks in and refused to let go. The thoughts alone were causing her stomach to tighten, and her feminine places to become warm and hungry. She’d never been torn like this. She cared for Jace and wanted him desperately beyond reason, but she still had feelings for John.
Her three J’s drove her crazy. Jessie needed her to be there while she adjusted to an entirely new existence as a supernatural creature. She had planned to marry John in the winter, but then Jace had burst into her life. She wanted things from him she had never envisioned. With Jace it was mad passionate fire. There was nothing mediocre about him and what she needed from him. It was raw and animalistic, yet deeper than anything she’d ever felt. She was a wreck!
“No matter what, I will always be here for you,” she promised and stretched her fingers toward her friend. Jessie sat on the bed next to her and picked up her hand with extreme care. The action was a reminder of how very fragile Cailyn was at the moment.
*****
“Where in the name of the Goddess are we?” Gerrick grumbled from the backseat. Jace adjusted the rearview mirror and glanced back to see blue of Gerrick’s magic light flitting between his palms. The light sent shadows across Gerrick’s scarred face, which was drawn tight, causing him to appear forbidding. He realized that Gerrick was as anxious as he was, which was sobering.
“Middle of the Goddess-damned swamps. Focus and use your sight, I think the weeping willow Tia told us to turn at is up ahead, but I can’t see shit through this mist and fog.” Jace rolled down his window and pointed out to the left side of the desolate two-lane road.
Finall
y, Jace spotted tiny, winged faeries flying all around the enchanted willow. The creatures were from the Unseelie court, which was likely where Marie had received much of the information on the potions she sold. The Unseelie were often thought of as the dark and evil side of the Fae, while the Seelie were seen as the light and good. Jace knew differently. All Fae were capricious creatures who thought only of themselves. The Seelie Queen was as prone to mischief and revenge as the Unseelie King.
“Thank fuck,” Bhric blurted as he shifted in the seat the sound of his leather pants rubbing across the seat, “I didna think we would ever reach it. And by Lucifer, it smells like the seventh circle of hell out here, eau de nappy twat. Damn, roll the window back up.”
Jace shuddered at the thought, but had to agree and rolled up the window. There was a definite decayed-fecal smell that reminded him of a pus demon. Jace took a left at the willow as instructed and began to wind his way down a single-lane dirt road that hadn’t been graded in way too long. They drove in silence until they stopped at an old abandoned dock that was barely afloat in the murky swamp. The mist and fog was thicker near the waters’ edge. Jace parked the car, heat and humidity slapping him in the face the moment he opened the door.
Zander crossed in front of the car’s headlights to stand next to Jace. “Any ideas of what we will face?” Zander asked as he sheathed his claymore in its holster and checked his sgian dubhs.
“Not definitively, no. Evzen said there have been various rumors that Marie protects her swamps with anything from a wraith to Wendigos to trolls to Bakulu himself.” Jace glanced around, his unease building. He sheathed his own claymore and secured his medicine bag with the stones and salt.
“I suspect we are being watched even now. We must proceed with extreme caution no matter how badly we want to storm through to her front door,” Jace said as he considered how dangerous their journey was about to become. One scratch or bite from a Wendigo and they could become flesh-eating zombies, too. As hard as it would be to avoid any contact with the Wendigo, wraiths posed an even bigger threat. They could not be destroyed, and could devour their whole group with ease.
The bayou had a sound all its own. Crickets chirped and frogs croaked as crocodiles rippled through the water. The moss and lichen waged a battle against the trees, water and mud in the swamps. The trees’ lichen-covered limbs gleamed in the moonlight.
Making their way through the knee-high grasses, Jace removed the quartz talisman Tia had reluctantly given them. The mambo hadn’t wanted to give them any information, but traded the talisman for all the information Zander could supply about the shifters in Seattle. Being a mambo to the powerful Voodoo Queen didn’t immunize her against wanting her Fated Mate.
Jace closed his eyes and called his staff to him. The familiar weight of the Alder wood warmed his shaking fingers. He and Gerrick chanted the words of the reveal spell. The sound of water slapping against a hull sounded long before the small fishing boat came into view.
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat, Captain,” Bhric chuckled as he jumped, none too gently, into the rickety boat while keeping his eyes on the crocs. “I really hate anything with bigger fangs than me.”
“Dumbass,” Gerrick muttered as he entered with more caution.
“I canna believe this boat floats. I’m more worried right now aboot sinking than what we might face. Hopefully this thing moves,” Zander observed once they were all seated.
“It will. I can feel the power in the crystal,” Jace said before he put the white quartz to the bow of the boat. It started forward immediately, the wooden hull slicing a path through the moss covering the water’s surface.
Movement on the banks caught Jace’s attention. “Liege, we have company. Wendigo, shit. Remember to be careful, and don’t get bit or scratched,” Jace remarked.
The sound of swords unsheathing joined the cacophony of the night. The boat slowed its pace before it stopped, and suddenly the banks were filled with creatures. Jace counted at least twenty. That was going to be a problem if they were to avoid the enormous fangs in their gaping maws. Silver glinted in the misty moonlight as they all brandished their weapons.
The gleam of the night highlighted the zombie-like creatures’ glowing, yellow-brown eyes. Jace squinted at the closest monster, noticing its fangs were dripping green slime. The grass and water sizzled and popped where the slime hit. A shudder racked Jace’s body at how grotesque they were.
Clothing hung in tatters on their bodies. Through tears in their shirts, scales of a vibrant-orange were visible and green pustules oozed from large sores that seemed to cover their bodies. The smell of decaying flesh nearly knocked him out cold. He knew their sluggish movements were deceiving, and that they were supernaturally fast. Their lumbering gait was designed to lull victims into false complacency. Long brown claws flared, and one growled a warning to them. It was the sound of old heavy door hinges groaning in the wind.
“Brace yourselves,” Zander instructed.
“Damn, these are some ugly mother-fuckers. Talk about having a bad hair day. I’m renaming them Patches cause shit, that’s ugly,” Bhric’s attempt at humor didn’t defuse the situation. They were in deep shit.
Gerrick widened his stance holding his sword at the ready. “Don’t leave the boat. We stand a better chance sticking close together.”
“Aye, fight back to back. Doona leave yourself exposed,” Zander ordered.
For the second time in his life, Jace was truly scared of what would befall him. He had something he was fighting for, and it felt as if he had something to lose. He called up an image of Cailyn to give him strength.
Their enemies moved swiftly, sending the crocs, toads and other swamp critters scurrying for safety. Water sloshed into the boat as claws gored the sides. Zander’s battle cry was deafening as he swung his sword, decapitating the first to reach them with ease. That didn’t deter the others. The next used the carcass as a step stool to get its tall, lanky body closer to where they stood in the boat.
Jace rushed to the back of the boat where two were climbing into the craft, unbalancing the boat and threatening to overturn them. Jace muttered a freeze spell and was able to be-head one before the other regained movement. Grunting out a curse, he used the momentum from his first swing to bring the sword around and take out the second. He swiveled around to see Bhric freezing several Wendigo. In that moment he felt like they could do this. When three of the five broke through Bhric’s ice as if it was paper, he amended that statement. At least it bought a few needed seconds for Bhric to take down one and send the others flying.
“Jace, your back,” yelled Gerrick. He pivoted around with his sword at the ready to cut a monster in half before its claws ripped through his leather jacket. He needed to stay focused. He backed up slowly towards Gerrick and Zander and Bhric.
Jace ducked as Gerrick swung his weapon around, sending orange, pus-filled arms flying. The limb flopped wildly around the boat, grappling for traction.
“Fuck,” he yelled out and kicked the appendage into the water before rising from his crouch. “Unattached limbs still attack and carry their poison, so watch it,” he yelled.
The demon that created these flesh-eating beings was brilliant, Jace thought. Detached limbs carried the instructions to infest and create more within its DNA. Nothing else would power such devotion to a mandate. The real question running through his mind was what Marie Laveau had done to gain control of them. They were single-minded creatures not subject to domination. There was no doubt that she was a seriously powerful demi-Goddess.
The boat lurched, sending them stumbling and throwing out their arms and swords for balance. Jace stayed low to avoid friendly strikes. “Shit, they’re under the boat—” his words died off as they were all sent toppling into the water. He dropped his sword and frantically swam to the bottom of the murky swamp. He searched as best he could with the limited visibility, feeling around for his weapon. He was completely at their mercy without it. Several agonizing minutes
passed, but his search yielded nothing. He cursed fate for his luck.
Fate be damned, he wasn’t going to fail Cailyn. He kicked up and gulped in mouthfuls of fresh air when he breached the surface. Zander was perched on a pylon wielding his claymore, while Bhric stood on a fallen log, together facing ten monsters. Gerrick was on the other side of the swamp fighting off four beasts.
At that moment, three of the Wendigo battling Zander and Bhric broke off and headed Jace’s way. He called his staff to him and grasped the Alder wood below the leather grip, hefting it to shoulder height.
When the first beast reached him, he shoved the end through his throat and sent a wave of power through the staff. The hole widened and Jace wrenched it from side to side. He felt his magic draining, and was relieved when the head plopped backwards into the water, sending the torso splashing after it. As he swiveled the staff and turned to the last two, a flash caught his eye. Gerrick had taken out two with one sword stroke. That warrior was a beast.
Refocusing on his own combatants, Jace put all of his force behind his next swing and took off a quarter of one Wendigo’s head, but the damn thing was still coming after him. Directives were definitely imbedded deep in their DNA. Otherwise, survival instinct would kick in and send this one scrambling. He was able to slow it down by pushing it back into the water.
Zander and Bhric were cutting through their numbers rapidly, and Gerrick was down to one opponent. That small distraction cost Jace as claws dug into his biceps. The zombie was pulling Jace up to his dripping fangs. He managed to grab the small sgian dubh he kept sheathed at his ankle and sliced into the creature’s carotid, ducking to avoid further contamination.
He was in trouble, he thought, as he felt the excruciatingly painful movement of the acid through his veins. Wrenching his arms free he cried out and sliced his knife through its neck, finishing it off before he staggered and fell face first into the murky water.
He couldn’t fail Cailyn. He needed to get to the salt in his medicine bag. His arms felt like lead, but he managed to plant his palms into the soft ground and heft himself over onto his back. Stars glinted in his vision and he heard splashing close by. A thousand-pound weight kept his body immobile.