by Cecy Robson
The sun had set when soft steps pressed into the snow behind me. I knew it was Genevieve even before my nose caught her scent. She moved like a graceful swan in water, despite the rough terrain of mountain. “May I sit with you, Celia?”
My jaw clenched tight. “You don’t have to ask. It’s not like I’m going to rip your arms off or anything.”
“Yes. Of course not,” she answered slowly if not nervously.
Genevieve used an elegant hand to tuck her long velvet skirt beneath her, though she kept a firm grip on her staff. When she saw that I’d noticed, she laid it beside the small boulder where she sat. It was a polite demonstration of trust, more out of courtesy than the actual belief that I wouldn’t eat her. I had frightened her. Hell, I had frightened myself. But sometimes a girl couldn’t help but to wig the fuck out.
“I want to apologize to you for what happened.” She sighed. “There’s been a tremendous upheaval within my coven since the war. By taking in more witches who have lost their Leaders, power struggles have caused a lot of needless bickering.”
“Like with you and Betty Sue?”
She quieted for a moment. “Yes, but I see now that Rosaliana had likely played a role in that, too.”
Yeah. She probably had. “Where’s Betty Sue, do you think?”
“She’s dead, Celia,” Genevieve answered. “Aric sent a team to her house. They found her buried in her garden. My guess is she discovered her old friend wasn’t her old friend at all.”
“So the real Delilah’s dead, too?”
Genevieve’s focus dropped to the stream. “She has to be. Rosaliana couldn’t have taken on her identity without killing her. And in taking a pure witch’s form, she was able to mask her own darkness.” She clasped her hands. “We don’t know when it happened. But it was definitely before she came across you the day of the shifter attack.”
I didn’t argue. Nothing with the supernatural was ever a coincidence. “They were working with each other from the start.”
“Yes. She must have created a spell to allow Tura to leave his form. I believe Tura meant to invade your heart and kill you, but the ability Rosaliana granted him allowed him access to Aric when Aric took the blow meant for you.”
In saving me, Aric had given Tura life, power, and access to all of us. At the very least, the asshole owed us a thank-you note. “Rosaliana showed up after the attack just to make sure I was dead, didn’t she?”
“That’s what we’ve concluded.” She looked at me then. “I’m sorry. I should have discovered Rosaliana regardless of the mask she wore long before you and everyone else suffered.”
I blinked a few times. She seemed sincere. “Okay.”
She raised her eyebrows elegantly, the same way she did everything else. “Okay?” she asked. “You can’t be serious?”
I fixed her with a hard stare. Although I suspected it alarmed her, she didn’t wince. “What else do you expect me to say? Until recently, I’ve tried to avoid the supernatural world. I don’t know the rules. Am I supposed to kill you?” Genevieve remained quiet, leaving me with the impression that maybe I had that right. I muttered a swearword under my breath. “You weren’t the cause of all this, Genevieve. I accept your apology, just leave things at that.”
She nodded. We sat in silence for a while. I stared at the peaceful brook, now illuminated by a full moon. I wondered how some places could always remain tranquil while in others chaos forever reigned. It surprised me when Genevieve’s delicate hand squeezed my shoulder. Her smile was small, pleasant, and that lovely sparkle had returned to her eyes. “You know, Celia. If your sister didn’t hate me, I imagine we could be friends.”
But she does, so we can’t. I gave Genevieve the once-over. At first glance, anyone in the mystical world would assume she was a vampire. Her skin was flawless, her body perfect, her face heartbreakingly beautiful. She was strong, intelligent, ethical, and kind. I couldn’t blame Taran for feeling threatened by her. On my best day, I couldn’t match her on her worst. And that annoyed the hell out of me. “You were homecoming queen, weren’t you?”
She grinned despite my irritated tone. “Prom princess, too. What about you?”
I scoffed. “Everyone hated me. I was constantly in detention for fighting.”
Genevieve hugged her knees and cocked her head slightly. “And yet here you are, engaged to the class president, the most valuable player, and the captain of the football team all rolled into one.”
She tried to give me a compliment, but her words only made my eyes sting. I glanced at my nails, still stained with blood. “Yes…but sometimes I don’t know how.”
She placed her hand over mine. “I do,” she said softly.
About a hundred feet away, the almost silent footsteps of a predator treaded through the darkness. From behind a stand of trees the class hunk stepped out. I rose and hobbled toward him, noticing for the first time the bloody footprints I’d left behind. Yeah, I might have been a tad easy to track.
As I limped, Shah appeared in my hands. He’d left me when Aric had embraced me during Rosaliana’s big reveal. Genevieve followed, noticing Shah almost instantly, but failing to reach for him. I stopped directly in front of Aric and showed him that Shah was with me. He stroked my cheek with his hand, although that was probably still bloody, too. I couldn’t stop my voice from shaking. “I’m tired, and he’s not mine to keep. Will you come with me so I can hand him to Makawee? She’s the only one I trust to look after him.”
Aric bent and kissed my lips. “Nothing could keep me from your side,” he whispered.
—
Emme rushed to me after I handed Shah to Makawee, but not before I told him goodbye. He’d helped me realize how to lure Tura out of hiding, and as much as he could, he’d been my friend.
Emme healed me, but my filthy condition and demolished clothing kept us at the Den a little longer. Aric led me to his new quarters and into a hot shower. We took our time bathing and holding each other before we finally stepped out.
The mystery behind my parents’ death and the bull’s-eye we’d been marked with had left me raw. I needed the intimacy and security that only time alone with Aric gave me. When he and I made our way down the grand staircase and into the foyer below, I was wearing the spare set of clothes Shayna had brought me from the room assigned to her and Koda. They were there, and so were Bren, Emme, Taran, and Gemini, although once again, Gemini appeared to be keeping his distance.
He sighed as he left Taran’s side and approached us. “Shah’s power has abandoned him. He is no more. The Leaders of the Alliance would like a word with Celia.”
Aric narrowed his stare. “Why?”
“Why do you think?” Taran hissed. “They’re convinced you took their last wish.”
At once the Leaders piled out of the room to our far left. Aric met them with a growl that shook the room. “You insult my mate and the woman who saved us by calling her a thief!”
Uri, Misha’s master, stepped forward, his phony gentleman persona absent in his rage. “We don’t fault Celia, after all, with so much power in her grasp, temptation was surely hard to resist.”
“And yet I did,” I countered. Misha met my stare with a sharp expression clearly meant as a warning. He didn’t want me to offend Uri, the other grandmasters, or the were and witch elite who had arrived. But I did, my sisters’ gathering presence driving me to do so. “And where were any of you, when your clans, covens, and Pack members were out there dying and trying to bring back Shah? You didn’t want to get your hands dirty. Then again you never do. All you wanted was to reap the rewards like always.”
Aric wound his arm around my waist and gripped my hip in a show of unity, just as my family closed in the circle they’d formed around us.
“Despite our lack of involvement, you owe us the truth,” an unfamiliar head witch ground out. “Shah’s last wish was proclaimed to be the strongest and most significant of all. The one that could tip the scales on either the side of good, or in the dar
k ones’ favor.”
“Are you deaf, Broomhilda?” I shot back. “I didn’t wish for anything!”
What seemed like Aric’s entire Pack appeared in front of us, shielding us from the encroaching supernatural elite. I thought Aric’s growl had summoned them, but it wasn’t until Martin stepped forward that I realized it had been him. “You know Celia speaks the truth—you can scent it, you can feel it. And now that you know you may evacuate our premises.”
Everyone piled out slowly, leaving only my closest allies in the spacious foyer. I exchanged brief glances with my sisters. Their shattered expressions and silence demonstrated their pain. They were seconds from breaking down, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to spare them from their misery.
Aric escorted me into a small parlor when he sensed my rising anger. He knew damn well that after everything that happened, and all that my sisters and I had discovered, my tigress and I needed space to keep from attacking Uri, that witch, and anyone else who had the nerve to question my loyalty.
He shut the door for privacy and led me across the room and out to a small terrace. “It’s okay, sweetness. They’re just angry because they never had the opportunity to use Shah for their own selfish gains.” His deep timbre remained calm, yet I could sense his angered beast looming within.
I knew he was right, but his warmth and support did little to settle the frustration tearing its way through me. I was about to ask him to take us home when someone entered the room.
Makawee carefully shut the door behind her and walked toward us, her steps causing only a whisper of sound. She stopped just in front of me, the edges of her deep brown eyes crinkling when her thin lips curved into a smile. “What did you wish for?” she asked me quietly.
Her question surprised me. “Makawee, I’m telling the truth, I didn’t ask Shah for anything.”
Her stare traveled down the length of my body before returning to fix on my face. “May I?” she asked, extending her hand.
I hesitated before nodding, unclear and wary of her intentions. She placed her hand tenderly over my belly, barely grazing the surface of my blouse. Her gentle smile widened the longer her hand remained in place. “You may not have asked him, Celia, but in exchange for showing Shah kindness, he gave you what you most wanted.”
Aric’s grip to my hip tightened, otherwise he failed to move. I couldn’t move at all.
Makawee nodded. “You’re pregnant, Celia. You’re carrying Aric’s child.”
Epilogue
The feel of the powdered sand between my toes brought me a sense of calm, as did the aroma of the salty sea air and the spray of roses and Fijian flowers that made up my bouquet. “It’s time, Ceel,” Shayna said, her eyes and those of my sisters shiny with tears.
When Bren began to thrum the first chords of “Into the Mystic” on his guitar, I knew she was right. One by one, my sisters left me to walk down our makeshift aisle, looking stunning in their simple slip dresses that matched the turquoise ocean water.
In the bright clear sky, werehawks and wereeagles patrolled, beating their powerful wings against the current in a majestic aerial dance. Heidi was in charge of security and had arranged to have weredolphins and weresharks patrol the waters. I never knew any sort of were marine life existed. And although I found it bizarre, I refused to complain. If it took Flipper the Dolphin and friends to ensure that Aric and I could exchange vows without chaos and bloodshed, I’d gladly accept their help.
My hand stroked my belly. I thought the simple appliqué of rosettes cascading from the bodice and to the A-line skirt of my strapless wedding gown would camouflage my pregnancy, but although I was certain that I wasn’t far along, my scars had vanished and I’d begun to show.
Only two weeks had passed since learning that Aric and I had conceived, but he refused to wait any longer to marry me and that was fine by me.
Bren’s deep voice reached a crescendo, my cue to step out from the small stand of palm trees and onto the beach. The small group assembled rose, temporarily obstructing my view of the groomsmen: Bren, Danny, Koda, and Gemini, the best man. But as much as I adored them, there was one wolf in particular I couldn’t wait to see.
The breeze swept my long hair and my cathedral-length veil behind me in time for me to catch my first view of my groom.
Aric wore light tan tuxedo pants with a crisp white shirt and nothing else. He didn’t need anything else. I didn’t think it was possible for any male to look more spectacular. His eyes were smoldering, his body strong, his face handsome.
And he had chosen to be mine.
As I smiled at my mate, all the fierceness he normally carried as a Leader of his kind couldn’t compare to how he watched me then. He held my gaze as if my life and that of our child depended on it. I wanted to run into his arms and never release him.
Aric was my destiny; more than ever, I was sure of it then.
He bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose as I neared. When he looked up at me again, a single tear streaked down his face. I smiled through my own tears when I reached him.
“Hi, sweetness,” he said quietly.
“Hi, wolf.”
I passed my flowers to Taran, allowing Aric to take my hands in his.
Makawee stepped forward. “You may begin your vows,” she said.
Aric grinned, the gesture lighting his magnificent eyes. “The first words I ever spoke to you were in the form of a question. I asked you what you were.” He laughed. “You growled at me and made it clear that you didn’t owe me an explanation.”
Those in attendance busted out laughing. “Not my Celia,” Bren muttered.
My cheeks reddened, although I held on to my smile as he continued. “What you should have told me was that you were my sun that rises in the morning and the moon that makes me howl at night. That you were more than I ever wanted, needed, or desired in a mate.” His deep voice lowered. “That you would take my heart every time you’d leave my side, and that your smile would bring me to my knees. That’s what you should have told me, because that’s precisely what I’ve known from the first moment I saw your beautiful face. I love you, Celia. And I will love you for eternity.”
Tears slid down Aric’s face. He’d stolen my breath with his words, but somehow I managed to speak from my heart.
“You weren’t supposed to love me,” I told him, my voice shaking. “You were never supposed to come into my life. Demons, weres, vampires, and traitors aside, you have turned my world upside down from the first moment I met your gaze.” I tried to steady my breath. “You catch me when I fall, and have risen with me from the ashes of death and despair. With a touch of your fingers, the scent of your being, a look from your eyes, I am whole. You weren’t supposed to love me,” I said again, my own tears falling. “But I am blessed because you do. I love you, Aric, and I will love you for eternity.”
We finished our vows as the sun began to set. Aric bent to meet my lips, one hand curled around my waist, the other traveled to my belly. In his kiss and gentle hold, he swore to protect me and our child from harm. As I realized the fate that awaited our little one, I prayed we would both be enough.
Something was coming. And the world was counting on our baby to save it.
Reader’s Guide to the Magical World of the Weird Girls Series
acute bloodlust A condition that occurs when a vampire goes too long without consuming blood. Increases the vampire’s thirst to lethal levels. It is remedied by feeding the vampire.
call The ability of one supernatural creature to reach out to another, through either thoughts or sounds. A vampire can pass his or her call by transferring a bit of magic into the receiving being’s skin.
change To transform from one being to another, typically from human to beast, and back again.
chronic bloodlust A condition caused by a curse placed on a vampire. It makes the vampire’s thirst for blood insatiable and drives the vampire to insanity. The vampire grows in size from gluttony and assumes deformed feat
ures. There is no cure.
claim The method by which a werebeast consummates the union with his or her mate.
clan A group of werebeasts led by an Alpha. The types of clans differ depending on species. Werewolf clans are called “packs.” Werelions belong to “prides.”
creatura The offspring of a demon lord and a werebeast.
dantem animam A soul giver. A rare being capable of returning a master vampire’s soul. A master with a soul is more powerful than any other vampire in existence, as he or she is balancing life and death at once.
dark ones Creatures considered to be pure evil, such as shape-shifters or demons.
demon A creature residing in hell. Only the strongest demons may leave to stalk on earth, but their time is limited; the power of good compels them to return.
demon child The spawn of a demon lord and a mortal female. Demon children are of limited intelligence and rely predominantly on their predatory instincts.
demon lords (demonkin) The offspring of a witch mother and a demon. Powerful, cunning, and deadly. Unlike demons, whose time on earth is limited, demon lords may remain on earth indefinitely.
Den A school where young werebeasts train and learn to fight in order to help protect the earth from mystical evil.
Elder One of the governors of a werebeast clan. Each clan is led by three Elders: an Alpha, a Beta, and an Omega. The Alpha is the supreme leader. The Beta is the second in command. The Omega settles disputes between them and has the ability to calm by releasing bits of his or her harmonized soul, or through a sense of humor muddled with magic. He possesses rare gifts and is often volatile, selfish, and of questionable loyalty.
force Emme Wird’s ability to move objects with her mind.
gold The metallic element; it was cursed long ago and has damaging effects on werebeasts, vampires, and the dark ones. Supernatural creatures cannot hold gold without feeling the poisonous effects of the curse. A bullet dipped in gold will explode a supernatural creature’s heart like a bomb. Gold against open skin has a searing effect.