by Helen Scott
Aster had been surprised to find out Ellie was in on her secret, but when Cin explained why, it all made sense. The sweet Scottish woman was nothing if not helpful, especially when it came to her new family, so she expected nothing less.
When she’d been handed the bottle of thick brown liquid, she wasn’t sure what to think. Nothing that looked like that ever tasted good, but it was supposed to help her figure out who the father was. How it was supposed to do that was unclear. All Ellie knew was that Aster had to drink it while the moon was high. The moon was definitely high now. She’d spent most of the day either freaking out or sleeping, and she was still tired.
She looked at Cin and then at Ellie, hoping that either of them would give her an out, some kind of spell or something that could take the place of this weird drink. They both just looked at her expectantly as if she should think this was the most amazing drink ever. Sorry, but no. Nothing could top an iced caramel mocha from her favorite coffee shop in the middle of summer. It was heaven. Maybe if she imagined hard enough, this could taste like that.
They nodded their encouragement before they glanced at each other once more, their unease and nervousness playing on their faces. She screwed her eyes shut and started chugging the drink. After a moment, she realized that it didn’t taste that bad. It was sweet with a spicy bite to it. When she opened her eyes and checked the bottle, she realized that she’d downed almost all of it. The woman who’d made the drink had said only to drink more than half if she was showing, and she definitely wasn’t, so she hoped it wasn’t going to mess with her.
She went to set the bottle down on the table, but she missed. The bottle dropped to the floor, and she heard, but didn’t see, it shatter. She fell back onto the couch where she’d spent most of the day, and her vision grayed out.
A stream of sepia-toned images began flowing through her mind. It wasn’t a vision, but it wasn’t a dream, either. She was aware of her physical surroundings in a way that she hadn’t been during any of Phobetor’s attacks. The images slowed, and she realized what she was seeing. Every boyfriend or lover she’d ever had. Their faces flashed in her head, as though someone was looking through a flipbook of images.
One thing that made her heart sing was the fact that she’d yet to see Randall’s or Leonard’s faces. They were blessedly absent. The images began to slow, and she got to relive some of the worst sex of her life, inwardly cringing at the memories that surfaced. She hadn’t been a saint, but she wasn’t a whore, either. Finally, the one face who had been missing appeared.
Dem.
Everything about their weekend together and the time since blurred inside her, filling her with light and happiness. She’d known after their first night together that their connection was something special, and she wasn’t the kind of clingy girl who would make something out of nothing. Sometimes a one-night stand was exactly that, and she was totally fine with it. Dem wasn’t a one-night stand. It didn’t hurt that he was the best sex of her life.
His face kept popping up, until finally it hovered there.
The flipbook had stopped.
Did this mean he was the father? She prayed, for the first time in forever, that what she suspected was the truth. Then she prayed some more to some of the other gods she’d recently discovered were real, just in case they could help her. If Randall’s or Leonard’s face appeared at this point, she’d be crushed.
Nothing changed.
She stared into what she knew were the deepest midnight-blue eyes, even though they didn’t look like it at that moment. The smile that only she seemed to bring out in him was hidden behind his eyes, but she knew it was there. Her mind countered the image with a reminder of the vision Phobetor had given her, sending a shudder down her spine.
The world tilted on its axis, and suddenly she was in a real vision. She hadn’t had one in months, but she knew without a doubt this was the real deal. When the dust settled, she saw Randall standing on the island, right in front of Dem’s house. There were a few people with him. She assumed they were other members of the Order of Talos. He lit a match and threw it toward the house. As it landed, flames licked across the ground and up the sides, burning it to a crisp. Glancing around, she saw other smoke plumes in the distance. One for each of the main houses on the island.
It stuttered, and the vision backed up, the fire magically extinguishing itself and the match returning to Randall’s hand before going out and returning to the match box. She watched as they walked backward down to the beach and the docks. The brothers’ boat floated on the water, engulfed in flames, which went out, and the boat righted itself, reattaching to the dock. Randall and his cohorts got back in his boat and disappeared over the water.
A computer screen filled her vision, and she was bent over it, even though she’d never moved. She jerked back and saw him staring at the screen, the flashing dot appearing to travel across the map, over to Wales, where it stayed for a while, and then out over the ocean before disappearing. He replayed the recording multiple times, each time smiling gleefully when the dot disappeared.
She tried to look at where it originated. There was the curl of Massachusetts, but it was above that. Just above another little jut of land. She looked at the video as a whole once more and noticed the speed of the recording. It had been slowed down so much that she wasn’t sure how it could have recorded that fast.
Looking around the room, she was assaulted with the image of a dingy, rundown apartment. The couch that took up most of the space was stained, the wallpaper was peeling and torn away in some areas, and the carpet was all but threadbare. Somehow, with what she’d just seen, he’d been able to find the brothers’ island. If he attacked there? They’d be sitting ducks. They were all spread out and felt completely safe against the world, even against the gods. The idea that someone might be able to hack their way in? It had never occurred to them.
She tried to see out of the window, needing to know where she was, but the vision didn’t want to extend that far. Looking around the room for any kind of indication of where they might be, she saw next to the phone the notepad and pen that places gave out when they were trying to be fancy. Randall shot up out of his seat, calling someone on his cell phone.
“I’ve got them. Get anyone you can. We’re going hunting. Did you arrange somewhere to meet like I asked?” His voice was a low, menacing growl. After he received his answer, he hung up. No goodbye, no thank you, just a dial tone.
The notepad was almost too far away for her to see, but she could make out some kind of big swirly letter D. She tried to move, but there was only so much a vision could show her, and since Randall wasn’t paying any attention to the notepad, she couldn’t make out what it said clearly enough for it to be of any use.
“Give me this, Hermes! Don’t make me tell them they are going to die at the hands of an asshole!” she yelled at the ceiling, as though someone could hear her. Chiding herself for the waste of time, she could feel the vision starting to pull back, to drag her toward reality.
A scream of frustration howled through her as she made a desperate mental lunge toward the notepad.
The Drake.
“Thank you.” She sighed as the vision blurred around her and she returned to Thad’s office.
She gasped as she regained control of her body. Her eyes flew open, and Cin appeared in front of her. The fact that it was daylight once more registered in her mind, making her feel slightly disconcerted that such a short vision had taken so long.
“Did you—”
“We’ve got a problem,” she said, cutting her sister off. “I need to talk to the brothers. Is anyone here?”
“Thad! Alec!” Cin yelled, and both brothers burst into the room, eyes wide.
“Randall knows, or will know very soon, where your island is. He’s going to come here with a bunch of his Order buddies and attack.”
“How the hell would he know that?” Thad asked, looking genuinely worried.
“It looked like he was able to
track you somehow. There was a dot on a screen. It started north of Boston and then went to Wales before disappearing in the middle of the ocean. He’s staying somewhere called The Drake.”
Cin yanked her cell from her pocket and called Ben, telling him that they needed his help. She began tapping away at her screen while the brothers debated their next steps. “I’ve got a couple Drakes pulled up here. Both motels. One more that’s an apartment building. We could split up and search each one before . . .”
“Do we have anything of his?” Ellie interrupted. “If we do, then we could do a tracing spell, like you used to find me.”
“Good idea, love. Where did you say the dot moved?” Alec asked, narrowing his eyes at Aster.
He wasn’t as big as Dem, but he could be just as intimidating. Aster tried to remind herself that he wasn’t trying to intimidate her. He just felt threatened. As though her thoughts had conjured him, Dem appeared, followed shortly by Hal, who was holding Robin. His eyes locked onto her as though assessing for injuries. She could feel his hot gaze traveling over her body, her nipples hardening under his scrutiny. Mentally berating her body for responding like that in a time of crisis, she smiled shyly at him. She knew he was probably confused by her behavior today. They would talk about it soon. Just not right now.
“It, uh,” she started, and her voice shook a little. She glanced at Dem once more, and he nodded, his eyes warming her all over again. “North of Boston, maybe even Massachusetts as a whole, and then I think it went to Wales, or somewhere in the western UK, before disappearing over the ocean.”
“Show me where it disappeared,” Dem growled.
His phone was out and the map function was pulled up. He handed it to her, and as she took it, his fingers brushed against hers, sending a shiver of anticipation down her spine. She had to zoom out a ways, but when she pointed to the general area, all of the brothers blanched.
“Ellie, love, stand up for me,” Alec cooed.
She obliged, and he started patting her down, his hands running down the arms of her long cardigan before slipping underneath it. Finally he felt in the two big pockets that hung on each side by her hips. Aster saw his muscles tense as his body froze, the tendons in his neck standing out in sharp relief as he retracted his hand from the pocket.
He turned achingly slowly and displayed what was in his hand for everyone to see.
Ellie gasped and her cheeks flushed. “I don’t know where that came from!”
“I know, love,” Alec reassured. “Did you see anyone today?”
“There was a man who came by the shop.” She relayed what had transpired between her and the customer.
The brothers were all laser-focused on her, and Aster was momentarily glad that the attention was off her. At least, for a while.
“I’m not screaming, so I know none of you are going to die. At least, not yet. Some of your decisions could impact that, though,” Robin chimed in as she stepped forward. “Also, that is a bug that was designed by the tech branch of Eclipse. I had to teach myself how to recode the one in my room without raising suspicions. They can be used for a variety of purposes, and they can be magically souped up.”
“So it was Randall? I came face tae face with that wee scunner and didnae ken it?” Ellie’s voice was filled with rage, which combined with her suddenly thick accent and choice phrases, made her hard to understand. The general sentiment came across loud and clear, though.
“You couldn’t have known, love.”
“Aye, I could. I just dinnae want to know any more about that dobber than I had tae.” She reined in her emotion, and her accent lessened.
“Well, let’s split up. There are two Drake Motels within a decent radius of Boston, so my guess is he’s at one of the two,” Cin said, her knee bouncing with anxiety.
Ben appeared in the room.
“Who the hell invited him?” Dem growled.
“I did. He’s my brother, and he can help.”
Dem crossed his thick arms over his chest and looked like he could crush Ben in the blink of an eye, but Ben was a fury, so he was probably stronger than he looked.
“Can ye track it back to him?” Ellie asked, watching Alec examine the small, electronic bug in his hand.
“Maybe. It might not be personal enough to have any attachment to him, though,” he said before he began muttering under his breath.
Aster had never actually seen the brothers do magic like that before, and she was intensely curious about what he was saying. Maybe she could get Dem to tell her later. The thought pierced her heart, or maybe he’d never talk to her again once he knew what was going on. She sighed inwardly, wishing she could rewind time, redo everything since she got back. She wouldn’t have waited so long to talk to Dem, to try and push his buttons.
Alec spun in circles before shaking his head. “It’s no good. He must have a million of these things or something, because there’s not even the slightest vibration coming off it.
Dem huffed as though he thought Alec’s experiment had been a waste of time. “Thad, you and I can go to one of the hotels, Alec and Hal to the other?”
They nodded at each other.
“And what about us?” Cin said, putting her hands on her hips as she stood next to Ben.
Chapter 24
Eventually they had decided that Cin would go with Thad and Dem, and Ben would go with Alec and Hal. Aster had the sneaking suspicion that if Ben had gone in Thad and Dem’s group, then he may have met with a fist or two, whether Randall was there or not. Right before they had left, Alec had received a text from the woman who now stood in front of her.
Vivienne.
Alec had brought Vivienne to the island for a consultation with Aster before his group left. She’d drawn the eyes of all the men, even Alec, who never usually saw anyone other than Ellie. Her curvaceous body, combined with hair that was neither red nor brown and her mismatched eyes that were rimmed in thick black lashes, made her seem exotic, and Aster could understand why the men looked. Hell, she looked. The gorgeous woman now stood in front of her with a white doctor’s coat on and a medical bag propped open beside her.
For a moment, Aster wished Ellie was still in the room with them, but the thought of calling her in from the hallway seemed odd. They didn’t know each other that well, and she didn’t know what the doctor was going to do, so she kept her mouth shut. The thought of doing this alone was terrifying, but she reminded herself that she had a sister and two mothers, and they all loved her. The thought calmed her, but not as much as she wanted.
Brushing a wavy lock out of her face and tucking the short strand behind her ear, Vivienne said, “So you’re pregnant, hum? And my mother sent a potion for you to figure out who the father is? Did it work?” Her voice was melodic and soft. She was the most soothing doctor Aster had ever met.
Aster had been nodding along with the questions until the last one. “How would I know?” The question came out more tempestuous then she’d intended.
Vivienne crossed her arms and settled her weight back on one leg. The posture made her look younger and more headstrong. “Of course Mother didn’t tell you how you’d know,” she muttered before continuing. “You should have seen a single face toward the end. The one who is the father should have risen above the rest.”
“Then I think it did, yes.”
“Good. Now, let’s talk about your family history and abilities, and then we can decide how to proceed.” She pulled a notebook, a sleek black tablet, and a weird object out of her bag, along with a number of syringes and a cuff for checking blood pressure, before sanitizing her hands and snapping on some sterile gloves. “I’m going to do a quick blood draw, if that’s okay with you? It will check for a number of different things, including your hemoglobin levels.”
Aster nodded her consent, feeling slightly dizzy at how quickly everything was happening now. She looked at the little packages. Everything was wrapped up in its own paper and plastic container, keeping the germs out but making it all loo
k scarier than it was.
“Can you go over your lineage for me?”
Aster explained about being adopted and who her birth parents and grandparents were while the needle pricked into her skin. She glanced down and saw the ruby liquid filling the syringe. A wave of nausea rolled over her, and she tried to breathe through it.
“What are your abilities?” Vivienne asked as she changed the syringe.
Aster wondered how much blood she was going to take, as her right arm currently felt completely drained. “I have visions and can astral project, but that’s pretty much it.”
The other woman made a noncommittal noise that sounded vaguely interested. “Do you know anything about the father? His lineage? Abilities?”
“Um, he’s one of the siren brothers. I know he can fly, teleport, and has some control over the weather surrounding him, but that’s about it.”
Dark auburn hair bobbed in front of her as she had Aster hold a cotton ball over the wound and taped it down. The blood pressure cuff came next on the opposite arm, and Aster was a little worried about the number. It wasn’t like life had been easy recently.
“If you’re okay with it, I would like to perform an ultrasound. It’ll help give me an idea of how far along you are.”
Nodding once more, Aster was beginning to feel like a bobble-head doll. She lay back on the couch at Vivienne’s gentle instruction, while the woman pulled up her T-shirt and unbuttoned her jeans. She didn’t pull them down, just moved the flaps out of the way.
The weird object was then plugged into the USB port on the tablet, and after a few taps, Vivienne spread some cold goo on her belly, before putting the object down and running it over her skin. The wide end moved lower and lower on her belly. Finally, it seemed to begin circling a small area.