Sweet.
Now she sounded like Giuliana.
She took a seat across from Amalia, Yon, and Lennox on the couch and waited for them to begin. The sooner she could get the information and say no, the better.
Amalia spoke first. “Do you know what the Old Ones are?”
Kalinda shook her head. “I’d never heard the phrase, but then I’m not high on the magical level.”
“Ah, but you are,” Amalia replied. “The Old Ones were from before there were Enchanted Zones, or even the Pendulum Swing of the 1950s. While many don’t understand this, magic has been around since the dawn of time, and humans have lost their connection with said magic over the millennia.”
“But before the loss, there were nine families who housed the magic within their bloodlines. These families were Valdi, Scetto, Riordan, Olfader, Tigris, Dinah, Ashur, Aegis, and Vasilios,” Yon continued. “Each family helped a particular form of magic sacred to their bloodlines, and from them, magic was passed on.”
“The family heads are considered the Old Ones,” Lennox finished.
They were like a circus act, starting and completing each other’s sentences, and while it was all very fascinating, it didn’t explain much to Kalinda. Obviously, none of those names were hers, and it sounded like they were a pretty big deal.
“Okay?” She wasn’t seeing the link.
Amalia smiled. “It’s a lot, so we won’t explain it all. We were raised on this knowledge and have understanding of each of the family lines. It’s the reason we have the FBMC, to group those with some semblance of the blood into Enchanted Zones.”
Ah, so she had some connection so far off she couldn’t even call it family. Got it. And?
“So where does that leave me and you wanting me on the Council?”
“The Old Ones are long gone, of course, but those who are closer to the bloodline have more strength in their magic, the levels. And those at the highest levels are closer to the Old Ones. And then there are others …”
Amalia’s voice trailed off. She looked to Lennox, and he opened his hand. Fire, brilliant orange, yellow, and blue, danced in his palm and formed into a perfect circle with flames flickering upward. He let the ball dance over his fingers and grow before tossing it lightly. It hovered over the table between them. The heat pulsed and warmed Kalinda, close enough to almost burning but not quite.
“I am a Level 9, as are the rest of the Trinity, one step below all members of the National Council. We are born within this level, but there are times when some may change their power level when it is called for.”
“They are called Ales, which means Chosen. Chosen are meant to be part of the Council and a counterpart to the Trinity,” Yon explained.
The stared at her expectantly.
Yeah, no. Not even a little bit. She wasn’t some Ales, Chosen, or whatever else they wanted to call her. Kalinda had a feeling that admitting it, or showing some interest in it, would just make them more interested in keeping her. She was just Kalinda, owner and operator of Kalinda’s Katering, who was trying to go international with her baking skills and enjoyed occasionally helping others through her magic. That was her place in the world, and she liked it just fine.
What they were insinuating was more than she ever wanted to deal with. She remembered Zahara telling her she was powerful, but that didn’t mean she had to do what they wanted her to do. She was just as well managing what she had. Most of the time, that seemed nearly too much, but she enjoyed it, loved it even.
No, she was not going to feed into this. “What happened to Giuliana and Silva?”
“They were successfully retrieved shortly after we left, and the wolves showed up in force. With her Alpha there, Giuliana was able to immediately come out of the spellwork you put her under. The Fae, well, we’ll get to her another time. She shouldn’t be here. You were more important,” Yon answered.
And that right there was just another reason Kalinda would be giving a resounding no. Their lack of compassion meant she wanted nothing to do with them. They knew all of that and could have told her, and Silva was not someone who didn’t belong here. None of them did, truly, and all of their lives had been ripped open under the sweeps by the FBMC.
It had ruined her life, her chance at marriage, and having a family. Finding she had magic also shook her foundation in believing anyone could really love her and stick by her. Her fiancé left the minute he knew she was one of those people and never looked back. Everything in her life, but her food, was a clusterfuck with this.
Magic wasn’t always something of great pride for many of the people of Encantado, and too many of them hadn’t received any help when they’d been torn away from the only family they knew just because they had a little magic.
Wrong answer.
“I’d like to leave, thank you. I enjoyed the story time, and it’s wonderful knowing more about where magic came from, but none of this has anything to do with me.”
“You’re wrong, and there is too much to understand in just one day. We haven’t explained everything to you. We understand this is a lot to take in. We’ve given you much to ponder and will talk about more later. Take your time before you make a decision,” Amalia argued.
“I can take my time back home. I have a business to run and matters to attend to.”
Lennox shook his head. “The business isn’t necessary any longer, and a Mage Council member doing such work would be a conflict of interest in other business. Many would come to your establishment simply because of who you are and the chance to get closer to you.”
They talked about completely changing her life, again, without a thought of what it meant to her.
“I said no.”
Watercolor-face Man shifted. Kalinda thought she hated Yon the worst. The face shifting was creepy when he spoke. “And the privilege of being one of us is an honor and, while a choice, not one that can be said no to. We will let you rest on it and speak more on the morrow about who you are and what that means.”
They stood as if she hadn’t denied them multiple times. Kalinda leapt to her feet as well.
Not going to happen, dude. Not even a little bit.
Anger burned in her chest as her lungs filled with hot air and expanded, her skin tingling. She would not let anyone contain her. Not ever. Chills raced down her back and her fingers sweltered with power wrapping around them.
“I said no.”
Her voice was wrong, and the world ribboned with shades of black winking in and out. Gray fireballs, like in the Chaos Realm, pushed from her chest and hovered in front of her, spinning in a circle.
“Lennox!” Amalia screamed.
Lennox was already moving. “I see it.”
“Let me go,” Kalinda demanded.
The fireball Lennox had been controlling over the table expanded and contracted, turning into a snake of fire, and twisted its way around the circle of gray in front of her chest. Lennox was working, his fingers dancing fast enough to blur, and Kalinda wrenched forward, pulled by the fire she’d taken from him, but she jerked back, staying on her feet.
Help me!
The gray fireballs spread out, making Lennox’s fire grow before shooting out toward the Trinity. They stood shoulder to shoulder, Yon and Amalia now working just as fast as Lennox.
“Sleep,” they whispered in unison.
Rest, child. You’re not yet ready to control this.
I can’t stay here. I can’t. Please.
He’s coming. Trust us.
Who?
But they didn’t answer before the world faded.
She was really tired of falling asleep like this.
Chapter Seven
She was gone.
After getting to Kalinda’s shop and finding Silva and Giuliana literally foaming at the mouth, Romano figured Kalinda would be hiding somewhere out of her need to run from the stress of her changing magic. He didn’t think he’d be able to think of anything else but the picture Silva and Giuliana struck: damn n
ear half-clothed, sweaty and ready to go yet trying to fight anything in their path. It wasn’t until he realized he couldn’t smell Kalinda anywhere and traces of powerful magic over it that he realized their anger was because they hadn’t been able to protect her.
“I’m sorry,” Giuliana said for the umpteenth time. He loved the girl, but he was two seconds from punishing her like he would his men. But he’d been under the control of Kalinda’s magic before and he knew how powerful it was.
“Explain again what happened,” Dominic ordered. He’d brought extra men with him when Romano told him Kalinda needed them, just in case, and it was a good thing he did.
“We were eating the test batches of Kalinda’s cake when all I could think about was mating to the nearest male I could find. There were no males, obviously, and that caused a bit of an issue. By the time I even sensed the Trinity was here, it was too late. I was too far gone, and even though I was fighting to get back and help, I couldn’t do much. The Fae did better.”
Romano turned on the small Fae Kalinda employed to take care of her shop. Silva nodded. “It’s like she said. I was able to sense them faster and tried to react but couldn’t. I tried to tell Kalinda to run, but she couldn’t get away. Her magic is even more powerful than it was the day with the Leo, I was unprepared to handle it.”
Why the hell would the Trinity come for Kalinda? Zahara said the Council would check on her, but that didn’t mean the Trinity. They never came for anything unless there was war brewing between shifters or magical factions.
“Scenters, head out and see which direction they traveled. One of the Trinity is a phaser, but he leaves traces when he ports. We may be able to pick up something,” Dominic called out.
While any shifter generally had a good nose, scenters worked exclusively on tracking and had a highly developed sense of smell. If anyone could pick up anything, it would be them, but Romano was not optimistic.
“I’m calling Zahara. She may know more than we do.”
It took a few minutes of haggling her price, but the witch said she’d be on her way, and Romano was left to wait. His wolf pounded against the confines of his cage, wanting to get out and search for Kalinda himself. There was nothing either of them could do. The Council Headquarters was on the outskirts of Encantado, near the portal into the city. They were also shielded by a ward tougher than Fort Knox, and no one could get in unless invited.
It took some time, but the scenters eventually came back after finding the signature of the phase in the direction of the Council Headquarters, like Romano had expected.
“Fuck,” Dominic cursed. “Even Arturo didn’t want to trifle with the Council if he didn’t have to, but I may need his help getting an audience with them.”
“And it just keeps getting better.”
“Oh, just you wait.” Zoey’s eyes blazed with anger. “You let my best friend be taken. You’re going to die.”
Romano groaned. Zoey didn’t get vindictive or mean very often, but she was ridiculously headstrong and stubborn when it came to her family and friends. He’d have to protect his balls while he slept if he didn’t bring Kalinda home, and fast.
Giuliana must have thought the same thing because she slumped in her chair, hands to her head, and whimpered. “Can I just tell her it was all Romano’s fault?”
“No. I’m throwing you both under the bus. It’s not going to be my fault.”
“What great leadership we have,” Giuliana mumbled.
“The better to ruin your world with, my dear.”
Zahara arrived before there could be any more back and forth between them, her face paint vibrant and her white dress swishing around her ankles. Bells and coins tinkled together with each step from jewelry around her ankles, and she was barefoot, red paint on the soles of her feet.
“They have claimed her.”
“No, they took her,” Dominic clarified.
Her eyes swung to the Capo di tutti Capi. “For the Council, that is one and the same. They have been looking to fill their ranks since one of them died, and she has the power to do it.”
“I’m not leaving her with them,” Romano promised.
Zahara sucked a breath through her teeth and rolled her eyes. “Did I say there was not a way? I only stated what happened.”
Hearing there was a way outside of diplomacy that could take however long, Romano perked up. “And what would that be?”
Zahara shook her head as if Romano was completely slow. “Moon-bite.”
“Well, shit.” Giuliana was not helping. Not even a little bit.
“The full moon isn’t for two weeks. There isn’t any way I’d let her stay here for that long and hope I could give her the bite.”
The moon-bite marked the one receiving as a mate to the wolf who gave the bite. It was done under the full moon, and even if the man didn’t believe the chosen woman was his mate, his wolf made the decision and it was accepted.
But was he ready for that? Okay, he wanted her, and he knew she was his, but he’d always struggled with matings. Most wolves didn’t understand why he was that way, but they didn’t have his parents or his upbringing. Didn’t have to watch as a mate-bond forced two people together who didn’t love each other until … finally … they tore apart.
Would he be destined to the same result when Kalinda desperately fought him at every turn?
A moon-bite was never wrong, and it was what Dominic had used to have Zoey as his recognized mate and get out of the pre-arranged marriage with Fabiana Bianchi, but his hadn’t been a true bite.
“The Council will recognize such an important part of your customs or face backlash from the shifter community, which is larger in many ways than pure magic groups. By claiming her as such, you can be by her side while she is with them,” Zahara explained.
“That doesn’t bring her home.”
“One step at a time, Romano. If you are there with her, the chances of her leaving are much higher than her being there alone with no protection.”
“I can’t wait for two weeks to get there—if they give an audience that fast in the first place—and let that be the only way I can get to her.”
Dominic snapped his fingers. “I may have an idea, but I need to speak with Arturo first. Can you give a few minutes, Zahara?”
“It’s on your dime, and I charge extra for wasting my time.”
“Of course.”
Once the witch was gone, Romano turned to Dominic. “What is it?”
“Hold on.”
Dominic was already getting on his phone, and Romano found his wolf wanted to get out. It needed to run, fight, and tear through anything to get to Kalinda. She must have been terrified, fighting with everything she had to get out. In the time he’d known her, he learned she didn’t like to be trapped. Maybe he should have paid more attention. If he had come with her to make sure she was getting her job done in her shop instead of believing having free rein of pack lands would be enough, this may not have happened. Romano would have come with more men.
Instead, he’d overestimated the allure of pack lands and maybe of himself. For three days he’d given her space, but was there, a quiet protector she could rely on if she needed. But she’d never asked, not once. She moved around his home, cooking, cleaning, scribbling notes on ideas and putting them neatly on the bedside table of the guestroom for later use. Her mind was always working through some way to make Kalinda’s Katering better, to better assist her clients, or coming up with new recipes so she was one step ahead of the competition. He’d never seen someone work so hard.
He respected her fire and liked who she was more and more. Now, she’d been taken, and he had to get her back one way or another. The idea of taking her as a mate was permanent, and he wasn’t sure how to think about it.
Sure, he loved how her body was, her mind, even the way she fought him at every turn. She was so serious he needed to pick at her just to give her something to lighten up about. But he knew a life with him in the world he lived in woul
dn’t be easy. Though the Lombardi Pack had changed a lot of their ways, they were still violent and bloody. Sometimes, people had to die, and they were the ones to do it.
Since his promotion, Romano was Dominic’s right hand, and what job Dominic didn’t do, Romano did. Kalinda didn’t live life like that. She was light and beauty, a businesswoman and entrepreneur carving out her place in the world. As his mate, things would be different.
Yes, she’d still have her business, but if they were at war, or there were problems, how she ran her business may change, if she could even be there in person. Serving and being in the middle of potentially dangerous situations would not be accepted.
Romano had a feeling telling Kalinda any of that would only start a war he’d be desperate to win. But did he want her? God, yes. He would never deny that, and his wolf howled at the chance of even getting her. But moon-bite? That was permanent on a level he hadn’t even thought they could get to yet.
“Can it be done now?” Dominic clenched his phone to his ear. “Good. Whatever it takes, and I’ll owe you one … yes, I know what that means. I know better than anyone.”
When he hung up, Romano shook his head. “I will owe him one, not you. I didn’t mean for you to give that sort of promise, and you have Zoey to think of. Pups.”
“It is what it is. You saved my life, and now I’m helping you. End of story. Zahara!”
Zahara poked her head back into the room. “I’m right here. It’s not like I didn’t hear it all anyway. And you should tell him what you promised to give in return for this favor. He deserves to know.”
“That is pack business, where it will remain.”
“Dominic—”
“I said end of story.”
The power of an Alpha permeated his words, sending shards of pain into Romano’s head. He stumbled under the pressure, and Giuliana, already weak from Kalinda’s magic and fighting it, passed out on the floor. Romano nodded his head, exposing his neck in a sign of submission.
He and Dominic, well, their bond went deeper than perhaps blood could have ever made them. It wasn’t just about Dominic pulling him out of the Chaos Realm. He’d been there, tearing through ranks and proving himself when Dominic’s world had turned to shit.
Mated to the Enforcer (Mafia Wolf Shifters) (Encantado Shifters Book 2) Page 7