by Abigail Owen
“Sounds good.” With a cheerful smile, which appeared almost sinister given her one turquoise eye, she pulled open the fridge door, ostensibly to figure out her meal plan. “What’s the meeting about?”
Suspicion again crept up on him, tugging at his gut. “It’s Council business.”
Her shoulders stiffened, but she didn’t turn around. “I see.”
Damn. Now he’d offended her. “Sorry—”
She turned, holding up one hand, strange eyes wide and innocent. “I understand. Your work is very secretive. No need to explain.”
With that, she turned back to the fridge. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d better take stock and then go into town for groceries.”
Effectively dismissed—a sensation Greyson never encountered, especially with woman—he found himself reluctant to leave. “Can I help?”
She didn’t even bother to turn back, keeping her head in the fridge. “No thanks.”
Rather than push it, he headed back to his office, pausing in the doorway. “You will look…like yourself when they arrive.”
She chuckled as she poked her head around the fridge door. “We’ll see, but I’ll make myself scarce anyway. As the nanny, it seems more appropriate. I’ll eat downstairs.”
Like hell. Greyson refused to examine too closely why her assumption offended him, but everything in him rejected the image of Rowan playing the servant. “No. You’ll eat with us.”
Her mouth tightened, and he waited for the argument. But it didn’t come. “Fine.”
CHAPTER 12
At five o’clock, a demigod, nymph, and two alpha werewolves sat down on the couch and chairs in Greyson’s family room, without a single excuse or call telling him they wouldn’t come. All day he’d been waiting for his phone to ring. But instead, here they sat.
Leia was a petite honey blonde with sapphire blue eyes. Nymphs were known for their beauty, and she proved to be no exception. Beside her on the couch sat Castor, exactly how Greyson would’ve expected a demigod to appear: tall, dark, blue eyes, strong.
Quite familiar with werewolves, Tala and Marrok Banes were prime examples of those paranormal creatures, both tall with inherent grace and power behind every move. Marrok was dark, grey streaking his temples, where Tala was a pale blond.
As a warlock, attuned to the energy around him, the air practically crackled with the power the foursome before him brought into the house.
Greyson leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees. “I’m familiar with the whos, whats, and whys. However, I’d like to hear directly from you what went down the day a witch was used by the werewolf Kaios against you.”
Tala, Marrok, and Castor, all looked to Leia, who made a face. “I’m afraid this story starts over a millennia ago. When I was a much younger nymph, I refused Kaios’s advance. In turn, he manipulated the god Poseidon to destroy my spring, exiling me from my people. A failed nymph is looked on as a plague, something to be purged lest it affect you too.”
She choked on the word plague, and Castor reached for his wife’s hand, feeding her silent support. Greyson would have to be blind to miss the connection between the two.
Leia shot her husband a quick smile, and continued. “I had not seen Kaios until Tala and Marrok’s wedding. During the mating ceremony, I…” She flicked a glance at the alpha pair, who nodded. “I helped them fake a prophesy.”
Greyson raised his eyebrows. “A prophesy?”
Marrok leaned forward now. “One which has since come true. An ancient werewolf prophesy claimed two alphas—a male and a female—would unite our people in peace.”
Not following, and at a complete loss as to what this had to do with the witch, Greyson leaned back, arms crossed. “Okay?”
“The sign the prophecy was fulfilled would be a display of nature as has never been seen before,” Tala added.
Realization dawned. “I see. So you had a nymph, a being connected to nature, force a display that could be construed as a fulfillment of the prophecy.”
“Exactly,” Leia confirmed. “Only I’m afraid Kaios didn’t take it too well. He attacked my sisters and brothers—despite the fact I’d forced them—with the help of the warlock your people…errrr…took care of.”
Greyson knew exactly which warlock she spoke of. He’d killed the man himself, against the Council’s orders. “But that man willingly helped Kaios, and I understand most witnesses believe the witch did not.”
“Are you sure about that?” Leia questioned softly.
Grey scowled. “About which part?”
“The warlock being willing? None of us saw him in action, so we couldn’t say either way.”
The warlock had done more than attack a group of nymphs. Greyson didn’t give a damn if the man had been willing or not. He had signed his own death warrant when he’d killed Maddie, ripping the triplets’ mother away from them before they’d barely drawn breath.
“Either way,” Castor interrupted Greyson’s dark thoughts. “Leia, with Tala and Marrok’s help—and without telling me—” He sent his wife a dark glare, receiving an unconcerned shrug in return. “—set up a trap. Leia pretended to stay alone in a cabin on the other side of the range. I found her there, unaware she was bait and Tala and Marrok lay hidden, waiting to protect her. Kaios appeared with the witch, who turned off our powers—just mine and Leia’s.”
“The other nymphs’ in the area as well,” Leia added.
“She mouthed that she was sorry,” Tala said.
All four nodded their agreement.
Castor continued. “During the ensuing fight, I knocked her out, restoring powers to those she’d taken them from.”
“If she was unconscious, how did she get away?” This was the crux of the entire issue.
The four exchanged a glance before Marrok spoke up. “After everything was over, I’m afraid we were all busy with different things. I’m not sure who had the witch or who didn’t. Or how she got away.”
Greyson allowed silence to fall over the room as he took in their words. With a release of breath, he ran his hand over his jaw, his evening stubble scratching at his palms. Not that he wasn’t convinced, but he needed to be sure. “The Council wanted me to use a truth spell on you.”
All four stiffened. “But you didn’t?” Castor asked.
Greyson dropped his hand. “No. But, with your permission, I’d like to cast a spell to review your memories of the event.”
A window behind him slammed open as a gust of wind assailed the house. For the smallest of moments, Greyson would’ve sworn a woman shouted, “No.” A cold chill skittered up his neck, similar to the one he often experienced over by the fireplace. However, as he jumped up to close the window, none of the others commented.
“Sorry,” he apologized as he resumed his seat. The wind could be rough up here. It was nothing to worry about, and there happened to be more important things to focus on. “Old house. Anyway…Not that I don’t trust you, but seeing your memories will allow me to corroborate your stories. Plus, I might be able to see through your eyes what happened to her, accessing a memory you can’t.”
Another exchange of glances, before Leia straightened in her seat. “You can start with me.”
“Thank you.” Not every powerful creature in the world would allow such an invasion.
Grey moved to sit on the coffee table in front of her and took her hands. “I want you to think of that day, picture it in your mind.”
“Okay.”
“Can you see it?”
“Yes.”
The lights flickered as he whispered his spell, and a tug pulled through his body as his energy depleted in order to feed the complicated spell he attempted.
Closing his eyes, immediately he was transported inside the memory, seeing a new scene as if he were Leia—experiencing every sense as she did, every emotion, every nuance, exactly how she’d lived it. She stood facing Castor in a flat field. Mountains rose all around them. Behind her a tiny cabin stood, tucked in the middle of
the wilderness, one that smelled of the pine logs from which it had been hewn. Leia had just come from there when Castor had unexpectedly appeared outside the home where she hid, bait for Kaios. And now she was desperately trying to get him to leave. Greyson watched the entire scene from Leia’s perspective….
“I’m a good assistant, but Delilah can find you another,” Leia said.
Castor took her by the shoulders and gave her a shake. “I’m not talking about losing my assistant.”
“I’ve only been something…more…to you for a few days.”
Leia’s desperation and an overwhelming love for Castor flowed through Greyson.
Castor rolled his eyes heavenward. “You’ve been more to me for months. Perhaps even a year.”
Through Leia, Greyson experienced her doubt and hesitation. She stepped back, crossing her arms. She was convinced Castor’s wife was the “more” in his life, as proven by his track record with dating the last year. “All those other women would agree, I’m sure.”
Leia wanted to pull the words back the second they were out of her mouth. Where had that jealousy-ridden question come from?
“Every woman I’ve dated since I met you can tell you things never got past kissing.”
She frowned her disbelief.
“I haven’t been a saint since my wife died,” Castor admitted. “My interest this past year was just hijacked by a blonde, blue-eyed nymph. In fact, the last thing Pamela said to me when I ended it was, ‘I should marry you and put everyone out of their misery.’”
Greyson’s heart pounded at the memory of how Leia’s heart surged. But before she could respond or even gather her thoughts, a deep voice interrupted. “How sweet.”
She and Castor both whipped toward the sound of Kaios’s voice. The ancient werewolf stepped out of the cover of the dark woods.
“This is what I was trying to keep you out of,” she hissed at Castor.
“Trying to protect a demigod?” Kaios, whose keen ears had picked up her comment, pulled his lips back in a sneer of derision as he advanced toward them. “You always did have an overblown sense of your powers, nymph.”
Behind him, out of the darkness, a line of werewolves, already shifted into their animal form, advanced upon them. There had to be at least thirty. A low growl rose from a few, while others pulled back their lips, baring their teeth in snarls meant to terrorize. As far as Leia knew, Kaios wasn’t an alpha, so where had they come from, and why were they helping him?
Castor stepped closer and took her hand, presenting a united front. Above them, the skies darkened with the warning of his wrath, swirling with dark clouds.
“Oh, I have a way to deal with you.” Kaios turned to signal someone over his shoulder. A woman with deep red hair stepped out of her hiding spot. She raised her arms, and whispered words Leia couldn’t catch. The clouds cleared in an instant, returned to the blue skies of moments before.
Castor’s hand twitched in hers.
“What’s she doing?” she asked under her breath.
“Best guess is she’s a witch.”
The woman closed her eyes, her face a study of regret. Leia got the impression the woman would rather be anywhere than here right now. If the witch could control nature, could she keep Leia from using her own powers? Being located near a large body of water hadn’t been coincidence. Closing her eyes so Kaios couldn’t see them glow, she reached for her powers, and slammed into a mental wall. Her eyes flew open.
“I’m sorry,” the woman mouthed at her, misery pinching her face.
The woods were eerily quiet—no bird chirped, no animals scurried through the underbrush. They’d all gone into hiding.
“Your brothers and sisters will be no use to you now, Lyleia,” Kaios sneered.
“Why don’t we make this fight a tad more even, first,” Marrok’s voice boomed. Together, he and Tala stepped out of the line of woods behind her, along with their own contingent of werewolves—at least fifty.
Kaios’s smug smile fell. “You’d fight one of your elders?”
“We’ll kill you if we get the chance,” Tala snarled.
At an unseen signal, both sides of werewolves burst into a dead run, straight at each other. Before her eyes both Tala and Marrok shifted, the action immediate, rending their clothes and accompanied by their twin yelps of agony as their bones realigned. In seconds chaos reigned all around them.
Castor grabbed her and slung her onto his back. “Hold on tight.”
Before she could even squeak a protest, he took off. The glen, then the forest, blurred around her as his phenomenal speed took them down to the pond. He deposited her at the edge of the water.
She tugged on his hand. “You have to knock the witch unconscious.”
He leaned down to plant a quick, hard kiss on her lips. “I know.”
And he was gone.
“We can’t use our powers.”
Leia spun around to find Calliadne and ten other Naiad sisters standing hip-deep in the pool behind her. “There’s a witch.”
Calli scowled. “I swear the Mages are asking for a war.”
“I suspect this one is being forced to cooperate with Kaios against her will.”
“You always were a smart girl.” Kaios stood at the edge of the trees, not ten feet from her.
Done with the memories involving the witch, as far as Leia knew, Greyson watched as she killed Kaios. Frustration shot through him as, fighting ended, she returned to the cabin with no trace of the witch to be seen.
Releasing her hands, Greyson opened his eyes to find the others watching in silent curiosity. “Right. Marrok, you’re next.”
Castor’s perspective would be too much like Leia’s. He’d still check it, but first he wanted a different viewpoint.
Repeating the steps he had taken with Leia, an even stronger surge of energy was required to access the alpha werewolf’s memories. Spelling a person who possessed powers or abilities always took more.
Marrok’s memories of the same scene started from within the trees. Kaios’s appearance and the start of the fight up until Castor disappeared with Leia, were similar. Again, the witch’s contrition and reluctance appeared genuine and obvious.
Experiencing the memory from Marrok’s perspective, the were’s heightened sense of smell caught the trace of the witch’s scent, and Greyson jerked. The light floral, wildflowers and honey reminded him of someone.
Rowan.
But it couldn’t be.
Shock clawed at him as he took a closer look at the witch standing miserably behind Kaios. No. He would’ve recognized her sooner. The witch in their memories held some similarities, the same dark red, curling hair, similar height and build. But her face appeared nothing like Rowan, and her eyes were green instead of grey.
Relief surged through him, and he continued watching from Marrok’s point of view.
Marrok gave his head a shake. He’d gotten his bell rung pretty good when he’d slammed that grey wolf into the tree. Damn thing went after Tala, and his wolf went a bit nuts, applying more muscle than was needed. Before Marrok could get to his feet, a warning bark split the air. Fear for his mate sharpened inside as he turned his head to see Tala leap onto the back of a wolf intent on taking him out while he was down.
She sank her teeth into the scruff at the back of his neck, mostly getting fur. Before Marrok could intervene, she pulled off an impressive flipping maneuver and pinned the wolf to the ground. The creature, in desperation, made the change. With a yell of pain as the bones snapped back into their human size and alignment, he held up his hands. “Don’t kill me!”
Tala gave a snort, then jerked her head. Her message loud and clear. “Get out and stay out.”
A loud cry came from the woods around them, and suddenly a handful of nymphs were in on the action. Leia had told them a Napaeae wood nymph lived there. Had she called them? Marrok searched the trees for the red-headed witch who’d been holding Castor’s powers at bay. Had she done the same to the nymphs? If so,
what stopped her now?
Sure enough, Castor stood over the witch’s limp form. Lightning sprang from the demigod’s fingertips, blinding in brilliance, crackling with power, the scent of burnt ozone rancid in his nose, overpowering the earthy scents of werewolves and underlying metal of blood. The electricity in the air had Marrok’s fur standing on end. With a boom of thunder, Castor fried the wolf closest to him, but he left the witch unharmed, beyond knocking her unconscious. Good. Marrok’s impression was the woman had been forced to use her magic against them.
Further searching revealed Kaios had disappeared. Damn.
With a toss of his head, Marrok indicated Tala should follow him. Together, with little resistance, as their pack of wolves was now winning the fight, they ran to where Castor continued to light up opponents.
Marrok made the change as quickly as his body would allow, knowing Tala would stand guard, protecting him while he was vulnerable. He panted in agony until the last shard of pain left his body. Blood coated his mouth with its copper-tasting stickiness—not his blood, though.
From where he knelt on all fours, he glanced up at Castor. “Where’s Leia?”
Panic filled his friend’s eyes as he searched the fighters. “By the pond. Where’s Kaios?”
“Gone.”
Castor took off for the pond at an inhuman sprint, faster even than werewolves could move. Tala and Marrok followed. They skidded to a halt at the sight of Kaios standing out of the reach of the water. Leia stood waist-deep in the pond, facing him. Castor had stopped at the edge of the trees, unnoticed. At his signal, Marrok and Tala remained hidden just inside the tree line.
“Do you want to know why I rejected you?” Leia asked.
A snippet of emotion passed to Marrok through the mating bond. Tala was impressed with the nymph, who appeared calm given she faced her worst enemy.
Kaios turned a bored expression Leia’s way. “No. I want you to die.”
Without warning he held up the gun Marrok hadn’t seen in his hand, pointed it at her, and pulled the trigger.
Castor and Tala both tensed to leap at the wolf, but stopped abruptly, as a wall of water surged up in front of Leia and turned to solid ice in an instant. The bullet lodged in the block. She dropped it into the pond with a splash. Before Kaios could react, she and her nymph sisters, now visible behind her, worked together. They tossed a wave up around him, and tendrils of water lilies wrapped around his legs and arms.