by Brenda Trim
She peered at the writing on the cover, but wasn’t able to read the words. The script was in a foreign language and there were symbols she thought were runes. She watched his fingers linger on the large metal locking clasp on the side.
“So this is the magical book of the realm. Why do you think it appeared now? Do you know what you are supposed to do with it now?” A million questions were running through her mind, but it was clear that he had his own questions and was overwhelmed with some strong emotion.
“The last time I saw this book, my da was using it to banish a lesser demon back to the Hell realm. It was the last time I saw my parents alive…I was taken prisoner later that night.” The lost, agonized look on his face took her breath away, and had her heart aching for her sorcerer.
Wait, her sorcerer? At some point in the past few days she had come to think of Jace as her sorcerer. Yes, she acknowledged, she had some difficult decisions to make. And she was no closer to that decision, even if she was claiming Jace as hers. It killed her that regardless of what she decided, one great guy would have his heart crushed, and neither deserved it. What he’d said registered fully, and her eyes widened in shock.
“You were taken prisoner? When? And for how long? Why? What happened?” The questions tumbled out before she could stop them. This humble, giving man was no hardened criminal, and she had a bad feeling about what type of imprisonment he may have suffered.
“As I mentioned before, the grimoire is tied to my family line, and can only be accessed by one of my blood. It is said to be fickle, appearing and disappearing seemingly at random. My da believed it did so in times of great need, either for the realm, or our family. I don’t know if it came to me for my sake or because the realm’s greatest asset is under attack, threatening the future. I have no idea what I am supposed to do with it right now,” he said, ignoring her questions about his imprisonment.
It was obvious he didn’t want to discuss the topic, so she let it go for the time being and focused on what he had said. Only those of his blood could access it? Idly she wondered if, as his Fated Mate, she would be able to open the thing. That led to a zillion other thoughts she certainly didn’t want to deal with right now.
“This sounds ominous. Sounds like we need to figure out why this book reappeared, but I want to talk about your time in prison, soon.” She grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together, needing to offer him acceptance. She recognized that the ache in her chest emanated from him. The portion of his soul that she carried connected them deeper than she’d realized. Whatever had happened to him, the scars ran deep, and she would have to peel away the layers before either one of them could be whole.
He finally met her gaze. His eyes flared before he settled his composure. She wondered what her soul was communicating to him. “I’m sorry, Cai. I didn’t mean to upset you. I can understand your curiosity, and I promise I’ll do my best to tell you about it, but right now I need to find Zander and call Evzen. This,” he hefted the tome and waved it, “returning is huge for the realm, even if I don’t fully understand why, yet.”
She nodded and followed him out the door. “I appreciate that. Is there anything I can do to help? I can feel your tension rising again,” she smiled sidelong at him, unable to stop the memory of what had caused his tension before the book appeared.
“You have a way of doing that to me.” He blushed lightly, and his smile was uncertain and tentative. She was startled to see that he was shy. Surely, this man who was over seven hundred years old knew the effect he had on the ladies, and worked it to his advantage. In his time, he had probably been with thousands of women, so why so shy? The idea of him having been with so many had her jealousy rearing its ugly head. If she were honest, she hated to think of him being with even one other woman, which wasn’t fair at all. She was struggling to choose between two men, and yet she hated the thought of him having had a history with someone else. She’d never been a particularly jealous person, and figured it had to be the influence of the mating compulsion Elsie had talked about.
“It’s your fault, you know. I can’t think straight when I’m around you. I become consumed by my desire to have you, and nothing else matters,” she winked at him as they headed up the stairs.
He paused at the landing and tugged her into his arms. “Shijéí, you have no idea,” he murmured against her lips. He hesitated long enough for her to wonder if he would kiss her before his lips came crashing down on hers.
He swept in and obliterated her ability to think or speak. His lips were silky as they slid across hers, teasing her into a fever pitch. Every thought she had flew out the window as he ravaged her mouth. The touch of his tongue against hers was electric. He wound his hands into her hair and held her close, leaving her breathless. She didn’t care if she breathed again as long as he never stopped.
All too soon he broke the kiss. He was panting and sweating, and his lips were wet with their combined moisture. He was gorgeous, and she didn’t think she’d ever get enough of him. Abruptly, he turned around and began bellowing into the spacious entry.
“Warriors, get your asses to the war room, now,” he yelled with his head thrown back. Cailyn couldn’t help but wonder why Jace was always putting space between them every time they became intimate. For her, the mating compulsion was impossible to deny, and his actions made her wonder how he was able to pull away from her. She wouldn’t have been able to stop to save her life, but he stopped with seemingly no ill effects.
Jace interrupted her musings as he retrieved his cell phone to call Evzen. Cailyn recalled meeting the man at her sister’s mating ceremony. His silver hair was at odds with his youthful appearance. There was no time to think about this further, because they needed to focus on the more important matter at hand.
As soon as Jace hung up, Zander came barreling down one side of the sweeping stairs. “What is it now?” Zander snarled as he buttoned his jeans.
Jace held up the object he had been toting. “It’s important, Liege.”
“Holy shite! It canna be. When did it return? What preceded its arrival?” Zander uttered as he rushed down the main stair case and took the tome from Jace.
Elsie rounded the top of the stairs pulling on her shirt. “What’s going on? Is everything ok?” She reached Zander’s side and stood on tip toe trying to see what he had. Cailyn noticed the glow in her sister’s eyes. She had never seen her sister happier, better loved, or more content than she had since mating Zander. It was everything she had ever wanted for her baby sister. “What’s that?” Elsie asked.
“’Tis the Mystik Grimoire,” Zander explained as he resumed walking to the war room.
“Oh, that’s the book that’s been missing forever, right? I assume having this back is good for us.”
“Aye, a ghra, this is a verra good thing. Have you called Evzen? I doona want him chewing my ass for not informing him of this right away,” Zander asked as he turned his attention from Elsie to Jace.
“Yes, he will be here—” The doorbell interrupted Jace. “In fact, that’s probably him now.”
Cailyn heard Angus, their majordomo, answer the door right before Zander crossed to the intercom on the wall, pressing the button and hollering, “Every one of you arseholes, get doon here right now.”
There was a ruckus as numerous heavy feet tread their way down the hall and/or stairs. One by one the Dark Warriors come from various parts of the mansion. Cailyn noticed that Orlando wasn’t among the group
The missing warrior’s voice echoed through the intercom. “I’m going to need a few minutes and a bucket of ice please, Angus. Elsie’s creole has created a fire down below,” Orlando complained.
Zander jabbed the button, but couldn’t hide his amusement. “Get your arse down here, now, you pussy. ‘Tis important,” he laughed.
“Fuck off,” Orlando retorted.
Cailyn and her sister broke into laughter while Evzen and Killian came into the room and were still laughing when Orlando waddled into the roo
m a minute later.
Evzen and Killian’s reaction to the book was overshadowed by Orlando’s complaints when he entered. The big bad warrior continued complaining as Angus brought him an ice pack to sit on.
“You are a baby if you can’t handle a little spice, O,” Elsie teased.
“I’m not a baby. You all wait until you take a shit and see who’s crying then. And, what the hell kind of peppers were those? Ghost?”
“No, they were jalapenos, you big baby.”
“I know Elsie’s pepper of choice is critical, but can we focus on the issue at hand?” Gerrick rolled his eyes.
Evzen wasn’t able to hide his excitement. With awe, he picked up the tome and touched the lock like Jace had done. “This is incredible. I can’t believe it appeared to you after all this time. Do you recall the spell to open the lock?” Evzen asked Jace.
“I can’t figure out why it reappeared now, but yeah, I remember the spell,” Jace replied quickly. Cailyn wondered if he was thinking of his parents and his imprisonment again. The torment she’d seen before spread across on his face.
“Then by all means, open it. It did, after all, appear to you,” Evzen retorted as he set the book back on the table.
Jace placed his palm directly over the lock and chanted words under his breath. She was unfamiliar with the language he spoke, but it worked its magic as a soft snick could be heard before the lock sprung open. Jace took two deep breaths and then cracked the book.
Cailyn gaped at the old parchment that held elegant script on its pages. The ink glowed and the pages were all hand-written, as well as embossed with Celtic symbols and runes similar to the cover.
Cailyn walked up and stood next to Jace who traced the letters reverently. She wondered if his father had written the passage on the page. “What language is that written in?” she asked.
Jace looked up and she noticed the sentiment in his amethyst eyes. “It’s old Gaelic.” This book meant a lot to him. She suspected it was having this connection to his father back in his possession.
She should have guessed it was Gaelic, given that the realm began in Scotland. “Can you read it?”
Jace chuckled and traced her cheek. She leaned into his touch and his palm cradled the side of her face. He inflamed her and made her feel alive. How could she give this up? On the other hand, how could she break John’s heart? This was not the time to think about the decision before her, but she knew she needed to make one soon. It wasn’t fair to any of them for her to be in limbo like she was, but she would address that later.
“Yes, I can read it. My da taught me when I was very young, and there are some things one never forgets,” Jace said.
“Why did it come to you, Jace? What were you doing before it appeared?” Evzen changed the subject of their conversation.
Cailyn turned beat-red, recalling what they had been doing. “I was leaving the medical room after we had discovered the tracking device in Jessie,” Jace replied.
“Did it return to help us find Kadir’s lair? ‘Tis aboot time we win this war against the demons and their skirm,” Zander commented.
“I have no idea if there is a spell that can locate the lair. But, I believe we can use this to bring down Kadir. The last time I saw it, my da was using it to banish lesser demons. It has been lost for so long that no one knows everything in it. Until we review the entire document we can’t know for sure,” Jace answered as he flipped pages and read. “This will take some time.”
Zander ran a hand through his hair and turned to the majordomo who had been standing in the doorway. “Angus, would you bring us some coffee and lunch? And, bring my mate one of her energy drinks,” Zander leaned down to kiss Elsie. The kiss heated, and had Cailyn looking with longing at Jace. She’d love for him to kiss her and claim her in front of his friends.
Finally, Zander broke away from her sister and turned to the group. “Och, we’d better get started.”
“Do you think I can start a catalog of sorts to document what’s in it?” Killian asked as he leaned against the table.
Jace tilted his head in a way Cailyn was fast coming to recognize he did when he seriously contemplated something. “My guess is it won’t work since this is a creation of the Goddess, but it’s worth a try.”
Evzen read to Killian from a random page and as he went to save it, the document went blank. “Jace is correct. We can read from it, but we can’t copy it. We will have to rely on memory as to what it contains,” Evzen observed.
Angus and several other staff returned with trays laden with assorted sandwiches, pasta salads, fruit, and chips, as well as a variety of drinks. Cailyn’s stomach growled when she saw the food, reminding her she’d worked up an appetite from Jace giving her the most intense pleasure she had ever known.
She grabbed a sandwich to divert her attention. Being in a room full of people with supernatural senses wasn’t the place to linger on erotic memories. “Can you put the information in there about the cure to the spell placed on me?”
Jace pulled her back to his front and squeezed her in his arms. She felt his need to have her close, a reassurance that she was healthy and whole. He wrapped one arm around her waist and picked up one half of her sandwich and began eating it. Even the simple act of sharing a sandwich was sensual. “The Grimoire contains a vast amount of information from my forefathers. Any hex, enchantment, potion recipe, or prophecy up till it disappeared has been documented in these pages. If I had gotten the recipe for the potion from Marie Laveau, either Evzen or I could have written it down. I will record the Fae spell, as well as the fact that Marie has the antidote.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to include her location in the swamps and her network of Mambos,” Evzen interjected. His thoughtful tone of voice had her turning to the Guild Master. A quick flex of her ability didn’t provide her any clear information. She still wasn’t able to pick up clear thoughts from the supernaturals.
“While you’re looking, find that banishing spell, Evzen. It wouldna be remiss of us to have it memorized. Just because we havena faced lesser demons in over a century, doesna mean we willna face them again. It could provide the turning point in a battle,” Zander intoned as he sat in a chair and tugged Elsie into his lap.
Her sister was on her second energy drink. As Cailyn understood it, Elsie still struggled to remain awake during daylight hours, like all young vampires. Apparently vampires, as with all supernatural creatures, came into their powers when they sexually matured at twenty-five. That was also the time they passed their stripling years. For vampires, the transition to adulthood was a time when they were forced to sleep during daylight hours. Only the mature could remain awake easily during the day.
“Zander, you need to see this,” Evzen exclaimed, waving him over. Zander stood with Elsie and walked around the table as Evzen continued talking, too eager to wait. “According to Jace’s great-great-grandfather, Áedán, the Triskele Amulet can kill a demon. And, by that, I mean it actually destroys the demon’s soul, ending its existence.”
Zander placed his hands on the table and glanced at the open pages. “This is the break we need. Och, now we have to find that lair. To be able to destroy Lucifer’s second in command would be a great victory indeed.”
“’Tis a game-changer, let’s take that to the next battle,” Bhric bellowed, fist-pumping the air.
“Nay, it willna be at the next battle. From the premonition, we will be facing new enemies and I need more information before I take such risks, but I will relish the moment I can use the amulet to end Kadir’s sorry existence forever.” The determination in Zander’s voice made Cailyn shiver. She’d hate to be their enemy.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The fervor in the room heightened as ideas and suggestions were thrown out. It seemed as if everyone was talking at once, and Jace was struggling to concentrate on the matter at hand. They had discovered the most important information of the past seven centuries, and he wasn’t able to think about any of it.
A
fter the interlude with Cailyn in the medical room, he had been hard and aching, and was left wanting. It had only worsened and was consuming his every thought. The Goddess had certainly made it impossible to walk away from your Fated Mate. He could complete the mating and relieve the searing pain in his mate mark or suffer for eternity. All of that was overshadowed by the insistent compulsion for her body and soul. He had to get out of that room.
“I need a bit of time, Liege. Call if you need me,” he told Zander, as he gripped Cailyn’s hand and led her out of the room. He knew Zander would understand the turmoil he was experiencing from the mating compulsion, and wouldn’t fault him.
“But,” his mate sputtered as they reached the stairs. When they stopped on the landing between the flights, he whirled her to face him. A startled noise escaped her, and her hands landed on his chest, her nails instinctively dug into his muscles.
He cut her off, “I couldn’t concentrate on anything in there besides you. If I don’t have you right now, I’ll go out of my fucking mind.”
The groan slipped past his lips when her hands began moving. He didn’t think she was aware of what she was doing. She stepped into him and he felt her heat through her clothing. His hands bracketed her hips and he pulled her flush.
“I couldn’t concentrate either. It’s like I have lost control. I have never wanted or craved anyone like I do you.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. Her lips brushed over his, teasing before her tongue coaxed his mouth open. She deepened the kiss, making her desire clear, and he was unable to stop this time.
His arms slid around her waist and he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her quickly up the stairs to his room, kissing her the entire time. Her lips coaxed, and commanded his to respond. She awakened more than his nausea. He had only ever experienced discomfort with females, and yet Cailyn breathed new life into him.