“I had her do her duty.” A spark of irritation flashed in Jedren’s calculating eyes before his face smoothed to unreadable lines. “You forget your place, MacLean. Unless you want your invitation to my home revoked, I suggest you watch your tone with me.”
“I’m not forgetting anything,” MacLean fired back.
“It’s okay,” I said, hoping to keep MacLean from rising to my father’s bait. It really wasn’t okay, but now wasn’t the time. Not for this confrontation. My father watched and waited, for what I wasn’t sure. I only knew I didn’t want to hear any more. Since he was waiting for my reply, I gave him one. “Please leave. I’ll take the seat on the Council. I’ll take my place as your heir. But I will not touch souls for you.”
“Foolish girl, to think you have a choice. As heir, you’ll do what you must for our line, as stated in the contract. Enjoy your afternoon off.” Jedren didn’t wait for my response. He strolled away, looking as if he had all the time in the world.
I watched him go. The sun glinted on his silver hair, which seemed wrong. Evil shouldn’t glint.
“Who did he have you rethread?” MacLean’s eyes blazed as he turned me to face him. I felt the heat from his palms as they gripped my shoulders. I wondered if he’d set me on fire.
My laughter had more than a touch of hysteria to it. I thought it was better than screaming.
“This isn’t funny. Who was it?”
Stricken, I wrapped my arms around my waist. “I don’t know. I have no idea.” On some level, I knew I didn’t want to ever know.
Jax and Teryl came running through the slider door. “What happened?” Jax asked, when he came to a halt beside me. He scanned the back yard. When no danger jumped out, he pulled me out of MacLean’s grip and looked me over. “I sensed your fear. What happened?”
He’d felt the pull through the bond. One of these days, I needed to learn how to control that. Or maybe I couldn’t. I pointed toward the main house. “Jedren visited. You just missed him, lucky you. I don’t want to talk about it. Did you guys find Gemma okay?”
“Yeah, we know her location, and Luna thinks she’s alive.”
For now, I couldn’t help thinking. Hopefully she had a better chance than most of his victims. I walked into the house.
“Elle,” Teryl called after me. “Wait.”
He took my elbow and led me to the living room. Three medium-size totes sat on the floor. “Cassie helped Jax and me pick out a few things from your supply cabinet. We thought you might need a little downtime and could make something.” The tentative smile he flashed, though a ghost of his usual one, helped more than anything I could have thought of.
“Thank you.” I gave in to the impulse to hug him. I squeezed hard enough to draw a soft “oomph” out of him.
“You’re welcome. But I can’t take all of the credit. Jax helped.”
Jax and MacLean had followed us into the house. I could tell from their expressions, MacLean had shared the news about my missing week of soul-weaving. I gave Jax a quick hug and whispered “Not now” in his ear.
I opened the totes, thrilled to find oils, lotion bases, essential oils, and mixing tools. Everything I needed to make a few new products was there, plus a few extra items. I hauled one tote into the kitchen. “I’m going to start right now. There’s enough counter space in here.”
Methodically, I lined up the bottles, jars and bowls. Order was good. I could do this. I’d weave a scent—not a soul—and create something beautiful.
I pulled out small bottles of vanilla and rose absolute.
Teryl had been talking to MacLean while Jax watched me silently.
“He said he had her rethread a soul. Multiple times.” MacLean’s words forced a crack in the shield I’d tried to put around myself. I knelt on the floor next to the tote, and found my mixing spatulas. I set them on a stack of bowls.
“What happened?” Teryl crouched next to me when I knelt on the floor again.
A jar of body butter base was the only thing left. I stared at it until my eyes blurred. “I don’t remember. But I think it was the weekend I became a monster. Just like my father.”
Chapter Twenty
Everyone left me alone after that. I could hear their muted voices coming from the living room. I tried to tune them out and lose myself in the soothing process of creating a new scent. It cleared my mind and calmed me down. Anything to forget, even for a moment, that I’d done the unthinkable, and couldn’t remember.
Souls, I couldn’t do. Scents, I could. I had a new scent to create.
I started with the fragrance, hoping to perfect it before I put it in a base. I wanted it to be complex and a little wild, to reflect the way I felt. The fragrance needed to be layered. A few scents that didn’t compete, but that added depth. A multifaceted aroma with floral, fresh, and exotic notes.
Humming, I played around with a combination of bergamot, vanilla, neroli, patchouli, grapefruit, and black currant. It took me four tries to get it right. I put a bit of the blend into an atomizer and after a few test spritzes, I was pleased with the result: playful, mischievous, with a hint of exotic. I’d call it “Mischief.”
I made the entire line of products, including soap, lotion, room spray, and solid perfume in trial sizes. Cassie could set out a sample table. It would be a great way to test run the new scent, and customers loved free things. I packaged the samples, setting them aside in one of the totes for Teryl to take when he left.
I still heard snippets of conversation. Every now and then, I could feel the weight of their gazes, but I kept my back to them.
I’d have to create labels for “Mischief” later. Or maybe I could have Cassie do it. I didn’t know when I’d be back at the shop.
How could I not remember creating a monster for my father?
“That’s a good question.”
This time, I managed not to jump when I heard Luna’s voice. I didn’t even have the energy to remind her to knock. I continued to fill the sample bottles and jars.
“We didn’t know anything about that week. It was a short enough time that we didn’t worry where you were, or what you were doing. You had only a fraction of your abilities at that age, so no one believed you could weave anything, let alone a soul,” Luna said.
I knocked over a bottle of almond oil, then quickly righted it. “Crap,” I muttered, and grabbed a paper towel to mop up the small spill.
For once, Luna remained silent. I hated awkward silences, but I had no desire to talk. Not this time. I kept busy by putting everything back in the totes, one item at a time. I couldn’t remember that week, and it was driving me crazy. The harder I tried, the more apparent the void in my mind became.
Finally, I turned to her. “Can Elion fix my mind? Jedren told me only the faery who did it could restore my memory, but Elion is a god, right?”
“Elion thought he restored all of your memories. We’re not familiar with the magic used to permanently erase that incident.”
I zeroed in on her words. “Then, it was only one incident? Do you know what happened?”
She looked pissed. “We don’t know. Even our magic is limited. Because of your father’s involvement, we can’t interfere.” Judging by the way she gripped her dagger, she wanted to.
“How could I have threaded a soul before my abilities completely manifested?”
She eyed the samples left on the counter. “You shouldn’t have been able to. What’s all of this?”
“Here,” I handed her a solid perfume sample. “It’s for you.”
Teal eyes shining, she took it. “A present?”
“It’s a new scent I created. You can have the first bottle.” I couldn’t drum up a smart aleck remark. I was certain she’d make up for it with one of her own.
She surprised me. After taking off the lid, she inhaled deeply. I waited for her reaction. I’d know if it was a hit or a flop. Her expression was unreadable. “Are you calling it ‘Luna’?”
That startled a laugh out of me. “No.
‘Mischief.’ If I named it after you, I’d have to go with ‘Leprechaun Gone Wrong,’ but that’s a little too long. Plus, the scent doesn’t have enough green notes in it.”
A small smirk played at the corners of her mouth. She ran a finger across the lid. “I can really have this? I already smell damn good.
“I’m going to sell it at the store. The fragrance is a wild blend most people wouldn’t be able to pull off. It works with your crazy behavior.” I tried to shrug it off as no big deal. She was the first person I had ever given a first batch sample to. I usually tested it for a week or two on myself.
She took another sniff. “It takes decades of practice and good looks to pull off my version of wild.”
I didn’t have the energy right then to take on a loaded comment like that.
“Don’t think this will get you any favors.”
And the moment was gone. I was more comfortable with this side of her. “Okay, no favors. Got it.”
She slid the fragrance into her pants pocket. “Regardless of what happened during that missing week, it doesn’t change what you have to do.”
“No, I guess it doesn’t.” I finished putting everything away, feeling less numb. And more determined. I directed my question to the men as they walked into the room. “When are you going after Gemma?”
“Now. She should be here.” Teryl showed me a piece of paper with an address penciled in.
“MacLean and I have finalized our strategy,” Jax added.
I was relieved to know they hadn’t been talking about me after all.
I picked at the label on the bottle of water, because I couldn’t quite meet anyone’s eyes. “How dangerous is it for you two to get her?”
“Less dangerous than it is to leave her there,” Luna replied with a tinge of impatience. “They can handle themselves. They’re trained to do this.”
Of course they could. That didn’t ease my fears a bit; it only served to ignite my temper. “Why only this woman? Why not Clio? Why not the dozens before? If she’s there with more, why not get all of them? You’re the one who told us about her. How could you not have known about the others?”
“We’re limited—”
It was my turn to cut Luna off. “Yeah, yeah, you can’t interfere. I’ve heard that line before. You know what pisses me off? You’re dumping it all on my shoulders to fix. I get little bits of information here and there, and for some reason, it’s up to me to clean up a mess I’m only now learning about. Yes, he’s my father, and my mother brought him back, but why am I sending my mate to help some woman I don’t know, when I could have—should have—helped Clio?”
Luna narrowed her eyes at me. “It doesn’t work like that.”
Teryl’s voice shook with grief and anger. “Then how does it work?”
The dagger came out and started twirling through the air. “We don’t determine who lives and who doesn’t.” She caught the handle and pointed it at me. “Don’t you think I would have saved Emmaline if I had that kind of power or knowledge?”
I threw up my hands in frustration. “Then how do you know about Gemma?”
“Did you know about Clio?” Teryl asked before she could answer.
She jammed the blade into a cupboard with a quick stab and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms before saying, “Elion told me about Gemma. He saw her in a dream. It’s not a consistent magic. We knew about Clio moments after her death. From a hunter.”
“Who?” MacLean was on high alert.
“The light elf, Blythe.” Luna sounded as weary as I felt. “She lives in London and heard about it too late.” Her teal eyes glittered with emotion. “You’re not the only one working to stop him. We all have limitations and we’re doing the best we can, despite what you believe.”
Teryl’s eyes were dry, but hard as he watched Luna retrieve her dagger from the wood. “I believe you. That doesn’t make it better, but I believe you. We have to save anyone we can, starting with Gemma.”
“Okay, hunters, get your asses in gear. We don’t have all day. I’ll work with the dynamic duo here while you’re gone.”
I turned to the guys and mustered up a smile. “Good luck. Please be safe.” Jax pressed a soft kiss to my lips. MacLean gave me a tight smile, and then they were gone.
“We’re going to start small.” Luna grabbed a cardboard box I hadn’t noticed sitting in the corner.
“If you have mice or some other furry creatures in there,” I said, “all bets are off.”
Teryl watched warily. “I’m with Elle on that. I’m not going to search for anything in a rodent.”
Luna dropped the box on the dining room table. I cringed, hoping nothing was alive in there.
“I eat on that table.” My protest was half-hearted. When she reached inside, I had to look away.
After a few seconds, Teryl nudged me. “It’s safe. No animals.”
I dared to look. Luna was arranging four small potted plants. “You want us to work on plants?”
She ran a hand over her curls, and stood back to look over the pots. “Plants have souls. If you screw up, I can fix these babies. They’re not going to turn into serial killers.” She locked eyes with Teryl. “One is already damaged. You won’t be able to tell by sight. The damaged soul will have a similar feel to a rethreaded soul. You need to get used to looking for the soul first.”
Neither of us moved. Plants or not, I wasn’t sure where to start. I walked over to the table, and studied the four little plants. I recognized one as a lavender plant, one was a sweet pea flower, and the other two were unfamiliar. I lifted my hand so that it hovered over the sweet pea. I felt the gentle hum of energy.
Luna pointed to each and listed them off. “Lavender, sweet pea, dracaena, and spider plant. The oracle goes first,” Luna said, before I could do more. “He needs to check to see if the soul should be re-threaded. Not every soul deserves a second chance. Your dear father comes to mind.”
“Great. I’m going to create a psycho-killer plant if it doesn’t deserve to bloom again?” I asked.
“Teryl can tell if it will bloom, or if it will become a twisted plant.”
“What if I screw it up?” As dumb as it sounded, I didn’t want to hurt the plants.
“I said I’d fix them,” Luna reminded me. “You can’t learn unless you try. Oracle, go.” She was all out of patience.
Teryl pressed his lips together and focused on the plants. I knew how he liked to work, so I found a notepad and pen in a kitchen drawer. I handed it to him, and he smiled his thanks.
Luna raised her eyebrows. “You two think you’ll have time to sketch it out? What, you’re going to draw the pretty flowers? Find the damn threads.”
Teryl slammed the pad and pen on the table, causing two of the pots to teeter precariously. “I’m not going to rush this. I know we don’t have much time, but this is my process. My fiancée is dead. I’m not going to mess around with souls and risk losing anyone else because I got careless.” He vibrated with furious energy. “Do you get that? I got careless!”
Luna carefully put her dagger on the table next to his paper and faced him. “I hear you, oracle, but I happen to disagree. You didn’t get careless. Jedren did. Her death was senseless. No amount of sorrow or anger you direct at yourself will bring her back. Do you get that?”
Teryl jerked as if she’d struck him. The only sound in the room was his harsh, angry breaths. I waited, wondering if I should step in or butt out. Luna gave a slight shake of her head at me, telling me to stay put.
“She thought the transfer to London would be better. She wanted to use the extra income to pay for the wedding…” he trailed off, sounding more lost than angry.
“She knew what she was getting into.” Luna spoke in a softer voice. Teryl shook his head vehemently, denying her words. She pressed him. “Yes, she did. Just as you both knew she had little choice. Your guilt serves no purpose now.”
Teryl walked toward the slider doors leading to the patio.
“Um, Teryl?”
He said nothing and walked outside.
Elion entered the room so quietly, I was startled when he said, “Give him a few minutes. I’ll watch over him while you two talk.” My uncle walked out, leaving me alone with Luna.
“Okay, looks like you’re up first. Tell me what you sense.”
“Am I supposed to touch them or what?”
“You tell me. I’m not a weaver. By the way, where’s your dagger?”
I grabbed the weapon from the counter and held it up. “I’m not using this on a plant. I’m pretty sure that would be overkill.”
Luna muttered under her breath. I didn’t hear her words, but I could tell they weren’t flattering. In a louder voice, she said, “It will enhance your ability to read the energy of the souls. It’s not just for hacking something to pieces. Quit stalling and do it!”
I walked back to the table, holding the dagger.
“Okay, let me try.” I stood over the plants. The energy emitted was similar, but after a moment I noticed each plant had a slight variation. “Am I looking for something specific?”
Teryl and Elion walked in, Teryl looking a lot better. I wondered what he’d done. Or rather, what Elion had done. Teryl touched my shoulder, but he was already glancing at the plants in concentration. “Elle, let me check first.”
I was happy to hand it over to him. “Do you want the paper?”
“No, thanks.” He was distracted as he studied each plant. “This one. The lavender I think? It’s okay.”
Luna smiled and lifted the plant off of the table. “Well done, oracle. Next?”
Teryl pointed to the spider plant. “That one. It’s starting to…unravel, I guess you could say. But it shouldn’t be. It’s not meant to die yet.”
My skin felt itchy with nerves. I could feel a small hum of energy coming off each plant, like a tiny version of the energy that had come off the Council members. “Okay. I have no idea what to do.”
Elion put a hand on my shoulder as he came to stand slightly behind me. “I’ll guide you. Close your eyes and see the soul. What’s the first thing you notice?”
Stone Cold Revenge (Set In Stone, Book Two) Page 18