by KB Anne
Her forehead pinches into a V shape. “Balor as a relation to me? I don’t understand.”
“Well, it starts with the birds and the bees,” I begin, but then Scott casts his own dreadful glare at me with the promise of violence if I keep at it, so rather than create a rift in our trí cumhacht, I drop the sidebar commentary and shut my mouth.
As I wait for Alaric’s revelation to sink in, I glance around and realize we’re standing in the garden in front of Lizzie and Ryan’s cells, which are cloaked with invisibility and silence.
“Scott, you better sit down. I’ve got some more news.”
“Don’t tell me you’re pregnant,” he says, now casting his stony-eyed glare at Alaric. We’re fortunate Scott’s not the one related to Balor.
Alaric grins at me. “We haven’t had any alone time yet.”
Scott crosses his arms over his chest. “Nor will you with me around. Do we need to talk about practicing safe sex?”
“Brother, can we save the sex talk for later? I’ve got something much more important to share with you, but you better sit.” Scott and Caer had been otherwise engaged when I put Lizzie and Ryan back into their cells and cloaked them. He’d have a heart attack if he wasn’t sitting.
Scott squats down on the ground right in front of the invisible cells. He pulls Caer down with him. She doesn’t sit on his lap like many of his old girlfriends would have, but she sits awfully close to him. And to Lizzie and Ryan.
“Y’all might want to back up a bit. It’s about to get a little cramped in here.”
They shuffle back a few feet.
“Nocht,” I whisper to lift the cells’ invisibility.
The two werewolves lunge at us but crash into the “walls” of their cells. Apparently, they’d ripped off their crystals after I locked them in and had turned back into wolves. At first glance, Lizzie’s tan and white wolf looks like a dog you might want to cuddle up with on a sofa. That is until her eyes flash from yellow to red. The large gray wolf with giant canines warns us to stay away with a guttural growl.
The cells aren’t a fifteen-bedroom mansion, but they’re large enough for them to lie down and move around in. I’m not one of those heathens from Salem, Massachusetts who kept their “prisoners” in a cell that they couldn’t even sit in.
“I still can’t believe he’s alive. How is he alive?” Scott looks to me for answers, feeling guilty that he got distracted with Caer rather than immediately worrying about his friend.
Wolf Ryan watches him. I want to believe there’s recognition in his eyes, even in wolf form, but then, I’ve never been very optimistic. I never had reason to be until now.
“Breas, the stupid leech, switched out the silver bullets.”
Scott stares at me. He’s working through all the angles in his head. “But we saw him die. We saw his spirit leave his body with Lizzie’s and depart Gram’s house.”
His confusion reflects my own when I first discovered Ryan was still alive, but then, it was easier for me to accept it because Ryan was in his human form, and especially because of the way he carried me like a pigskin.
“I don’t know how it works. When Lizzie spoke to me in spirit form, she said she was in between living and dead. Maybe it’s a werewolf thing. Maybe they go to an in-between place when they’re ‘killed’ until they can rejuvenate.”
Alaric studies Lizzie. He’s searching for a family resemblance, though in wolf form it’s probably a lot more complicated. “Why are her eyes red?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been able to talk to her or work any of my magic.”
We watch Ryan pace around the cell. Though twice the size, he’s a lot less intimidating than Lizzie with her scary red eyes.
“I brought them with me after I escaped the cell at Breas’s prison, and then the world went to shit.”
Alaric grips my arm. “He imprisoned you? I’ll rip his throat out.”
I extract myself from his grasp. I don’t like it when Alaric’s alpha male testosterone takes over and tries to mark his territory. I am no man’s territory.
“May I remind you that you tried to kill me?” I leave out the did-kill-me part so Scott doesn’t lose his mind entirely. There’s only so much a reincarnated god can take.
Alaric’s face scrunches in pain. “I could never . . .”
Scott tenses, but I can’t worry about soothing my brother’s protective nature. I can, however, berate myself for lashing out at Alaric. My temper still sometimes gets the better of me.
“You didn’t, and everything’s fine now, but we’ve got to figure out what to do with them. We’ve still got a couple hours before dawn.”
Maddie walks over to stand with us. He’s overheard the entire conversation. “Why did they take off the crystals?”
“I don’t know . . . Both you and Alaric wanted to wear them. Maybe it’s because Ryan’s brainwashed to work for Breas, and Lizzie is all Team Clayone.”
Scott grabs me. “What do you mean Lizzie is Team Clayone? And why the hell did Alaric try to kill you? We still need to address that shit.”
I push calming energy into him. “Scott, there’s a lot you missed, and I’d like nothing more than to fill you in on what happened . . .” Alaric’s eyes meet mine. He doesn’t want Scott to know every detail about our time in Brigit’s shrine. He needn’t worry. I am not telling Scott everything—he’d never trust Alaric again. “. . . But, we don’t have time for the ‘What Happened While Scott Was Gone’ quiz show. We’ve got to figure out what in the hells happened that allowed Balor to enter the Land of Shadows and kill Gallean, and how long before he can make his way to the mainland, along with what to do about Breas, Witch Kensey, Carman, and the infestation of werewolves—no offense, Alaric and Maddie.”
“None taken,” Alaric says.
Granda appears within our cluster. The way he manages to move so discreetly at his age is miraculous. “May I suggest we discuss everything over tea?”
“Tea?” Caer says. Her forehead furrows. “You want us to drink tea when there’s an impending battle?”
I follow Granda toward his cottage. “I agree. Whiskey would be much more appropriate given all we’ve been through.”
“Come on, Caer,” Scott says. “Some tea is just what we need. Although if Gigi drops anymore mind-shattering doozies on us, I’m taking a shot.”
I knock my hip into him. “That’s the brother I know and love.”
We shuffle past Anna, Sam, and the rest of the coven. Some stare at us with open-mouthed wonder. Others, including Anna and Sam, narrow their gaze when they see us. In their minds, we caused all the havoc they’ve been through so far, including the death of Clarissa. In a way, they’re right. Gallean and Clarissa’s deaths were our faults, but sometime this evening I finally realized that everyone I love and care about didn’t die because of me. They risked their lives to protect me, but it was Carman who caused their deaths. She’s the one who has made it her life’s mission to kill me. She released Breas. She orchestrated the release of Clayone. She may even have been behind opening the door to the Otherworld for Balor, or at the very least has been in communication with him.
It’s always been Carman, and that bitch needs to go.
* * *
Granda pulls out the teapot and begins filling a tea bag with a variety of herbs. There’s chamomile and lavender for calming and sleeping, along with what appears to be salvia. He wants to open our minds so we can find answers. He also adds some honesty-inducing herbs—the same ones he used on Maddie when Scott and I first brought him home. He didn’t use it on us, but we witnessed the magic of those herbs.
As the tea steeps, Granda brings over six cups. A seventh one remains on the counter as a reminder of the person we lost this evening.
“Now,” he says, placing the teapot in the middle of the table, “we need answers. The first being, how Balor and his army were able to penetrate Gallean’s mist shields around the Land of Shadows.”
Alaric isn’t familiar with t
he Shadow Realm, but he’s spent enough time with a powerful witch to keep his mouth shut and observe. Considering he stalked me for weeks before I realized it back in Vernal Falls, he’s very good at it.
Caer’s fingers curl around the teacup. Any one of her fingers is capable of crushing it if pushed to anger. “The night before the battle, I left Gallean’s keep prepared to return to my realm at Lake of the Dragon Mouth.”
Granda eyes her. “By yourself?”
Her eyes slide over to Scott before returning to her cup. “Yes.”
As the lone mind reader in the room, I know exactly why, but I’m sure everyone else would like to hear it, and Scott should be smacked around for trying to use Caer to get to me—the big doof. “Why, Caer?”
Scott interrupts. He senses I’m pissed and that I’d like to make a spectacle of the situation. He’s not wrong. “It’s not important why, but I left to find her.” He glances at me with a grin. “I shifted into a swan.” Take that, sis.
Granda waves his hand back and forth, not impressed by Caer and Scott’s transformation and disappearing act at all. “What was Gallean’s state of mind when you left? Did he appear weak?”
Caer frowned. “Actually, he wasn’t as powerful before that.”
“He wasn’t as powerful? He kicked my ass,” Scott says, rubbing his butt as if it still hurt. Given the beating I witnessed Gallean give Scott in the seomra de rúin, it actually might.
She whirls around to face him. “Did he? Soon after my arrival, you bested us both.”
“You beat a girl?” I tease.
Caer’s shoulders straighten. “I am a powerful woman.”
“Oh, believe me, I know. But Scott never liked to play against girls during football games. He always took it easy on them and got yelled at by the coach.”
He puffs out his chest. “I am a reincarnated god. It was an unfair advantage.”
I roll my eyes. “You didn’t know that at the time.”
“Enough, you two.” Granda sighs as he pours himself tea. “Banter time is over.”
“We haven’t even gotten started,” Scott says.
“We’ve been away from each other for a while,” I add.
Granda takes a long drink of tea without offering any to anyone else. “Apparently not long enough. Now, Gallean’s power was weakened—is that correct?”
“Yes,” Caer says.
“So, it would stand to reason that his mist shields weren’t adequately strengthened. It also explains why Caer was able to open a portal within his keep.”
As the mild hallucinogen begins to take effect, Granda’s mind opens to me. I begin to understand what he’s getting at.
“Just before the Oak Moon on winter’s solstice, there was a solar eclipse. It could explain how Balor and his army were able to depart their Otherworld purgatory and penetrate the mist shields of the Land of Shadows. What happened after Gallean turned to stone?”
Scott and Caer exchange a long look before he answers. “Just before his death, Gallean cast a powerful shield encapsulating all of us, protecting us from Balor’s death stare.”
“Then I opened a portal for my people to return us to our realm. I do not know what happened to Balor after.” Her voice was tinged with both remorse for Gallean and regret for not being able to eliminate Balor when she’d had the chance. This mind-reading stuff really comes in handy.
“You’ll get your chance,” Scott whispers. He squeezes her hand before turning back to the rest of us. “Caer passed out from the exertion. When she came to, her people had already raised a shield to protect her.”
Granda isn’t unsympathetic to Caer’s state following her creation of the portal, but he needs the facts. “Did Balor return to your realm?”
Scott shakes his head. “No. Not while we were there. But there’s something I don’t understand. Why would Caer’s people worry that he’d return there if we were in the Faerie Realm and Balor was stuck in some purgatory in the Otherworld?”
Granda sighs. “The Faerie Realm is part of the Otherworld. He can move easily between realms if he possesses the means.”
“Like an evil Fomorian witch?” I offer.
“Like an evil Fomorian witch,” he agrees. “She might be using a vessel here, but her body is fully intact in purgatory.”
Scott glances at Caer in fear. “Will Balor be able to come here? I need to keep her safe.”
She glowers at him. When will my dimwit brother ever learn? “I will keep myself safe. I have all my life.”
Granda temples his fingers, lifting them to his chin. “If my suspicions are correct, and I believe they are, Balor and his army were jettisoned back to their purgatory . . .”
All of us sigh in relief.
“But . . .” he says.
“I despise buts,” Scott groans.
“But at the Storm Moon, there will be a total lunar eclipse.”
I hold up my arms like an air traffic controller. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We already had a total lunar eclipse during the Super Blue Blood Moon on Samhain. I didn’t think there could be another one so soon. Aren’t they every six months or so?”
Scott raises his eyebrow. “Geek much?”
“I had a lot of spare time when you were incarcerated. I did a lot of research.”
He winces at the memory. It was a low jab, but he deserved it.
“You are correct, Gigi, but every two hundred years there are three total lunar eclipses in one year.”
Three. Why is it always three?
The storm is coming, the Witch scraps across my mind.
5
Nighttime Noogies
Daylight breaks on the horizon, casting brilliant shades of purple, blue, orange, and yellow across Granda’s oak table. Soon sunbeams work their way into the front window of his cottage.
“We all need some sleep because we have much planning to do,” he says, rising from the table with a quickness that surprises me, especially given the fact he almost died. Perhaps Granda will live forever. With only three of us left in the family, I’ll do everything in my power to keep the other two safe.
Why is it always three? Stupid cosmic forces.
The rest of us rise from our seats. Alaric pulls me into an embrace when we stand. I nestle into his chest, feeling at home and at peace.
“Let’s discuss sleeping arrangements,” Scott says. He doesn’t like our closeness at all—especially after he made the pregnancy joke a few hours ago and Alaric admitted we hadn’t had the chance yet rather than acting bashful. I knew Alaric was just being sarcastic, but Scott didn’t, and his protective brother mojo is working overtime.
I break away from Alaric. “Scott, honestly, we aren’t going to do anything this morning.”
“Speak for yourself,” Alaric whispers into my ear.
I put my head back on his shoulder. “Not helping . . .”
Caer and Maddie stand awkwardly around the table. Caer and Scott have kissed at least twice that I’ve witnessed—both times were pretty hot—but they aren’t as comfortable with each other as Alaric and I are, and Scott doesn’t want to push Caer into anything that makes her uneasy.
I look up at the ceiling. “Fine. Caer and I can share a room, and the three of you can.”
Maddie approaches the sofa. “No, I’ll sleep here. It’s totally fine. There are only two twins in Scott’s room. Scott’s been away, so he needs his bed, and Alaric hasn’t slept on a bed for weeks.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Are you sure, Maddie? It’s been your room while Scott was gone.”
Scott glances over at him. “You’ve been staying here? Why?”
Alaric stiffens, suddenly realizing the reason. “Because he left the pack and doesn’t have a home now.” He walks over to Maddie and bows before him. “Thank you for remaining loyal to me when I was gone. Thank you for your sacrifice.”
Maddie shuffles his feet, completely uncomfortable with his former alpha’s submissive pose. “It was nothing. You would have done it for me.”
Alaric lifts his head to face him. Tears prick his eyes, making him vulnerable and even more drool-worthy. “Yes, I would have. You’re my brother.”
The two lock in a giant man hug. Those warm fuzzy feelings in my stomach that keep erupting every time something good happens escalate into hyperdrive. I’d like nothing more than to join in on the hug too, but I’ll let them have this moment.
When they finally break apart, Scott pretends to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes. “That was beautiful, but I’m about to collapse from exhaustion. Caer and I killed—” He stops, realizing how callous he sounds, how like a serial killer. “Caer and I haven’t slept in days, and it sounds like the next few weeks are going to be a test of all our abilities. We need to be rested.” He shyly walks over to Caer and takes her hand. “May I?”
She nods. Her chest rises in a sharp intake of breath. Scott’s aware of the effect he has on her, and he plans to use it to woo her. He bends down to kiss her hand before letting it go. “I will bid you good night and see you soon.”
Caer shifts her weight. She’s so unsure around him, which an outsider would not expect given her leather pants, the giant sword and iron spear strapped to her back, and the numerous daggers in holsters around her waist and ankles. In short, armed to the teeth.
“You two are kind of adorable.”
The heat springing between them ices over as they glare at me.
“But also very intimidating.”
Caer smiles in agreement.
Scott suddenly remembers Lizzie and Ryan. He gestures in the direction of the garden. “Should we check on them?”
Alaric shakes his head. “After shifting on a full moon, they’re exhausted. They’ll be out for hours. But they will need to rebuild their reserves later.”
I latch on to hope. “Maybe that will be the best time to try and bring them back to our side?”
He pulls in his lips and breathes deeply. “Maybe.”
He’s not sure we can bring them back to us. He thinks they’re lost forever.
I sidle up to him. “I changed your mind.”