A vow like that did seem believable, but these witches were capable of murder. Danielle’s bottom lip slid between her teeth. She had no way of knowing if this witch was telling the truth or not, and she couldn’t risk their lives to find out.
Red grabbed her by the arm and tugged her free of the ropes. She stumbled, but regained her footing. The brunette pulled Nadia in the same direction. Her eyes caught onto Nadia’s with concern as they were led forcefully toward the fire, its flames flickering cheerfully. The welcome heat invited her to draw closer, but inside she felt cold. Instinctively she had the urge to attempt a physical defense. As she reached for Red’s arm, the witch’s blue eyes landed on hers. “Go ahead, try it.”
Swallowing, she dropped her hand, backing down. Danielle had to be careful. She decided to remain on alert for any opening she could find that wouldn’t put their lives at risk, and openly fighting would.
“They’re here,” muttered Blondie as the circle of witches linked hands, including her and Nadia.
“Dance, or they’ll die.”
“And make it convincing,” added the brunette.
When she tried to look back at the woods to see Ethan, her hand was jerked forward. “Eyes on the fire, Danielle.”
Singing out a beautiful melody, the witches began dancing with the rhythmic tune. The bewitching sound filled the night air and brought goose bumps to every inch of her skin. Danielle and Nadia were forced to join them. Her eyes stung with emotion and she closed them, her chin dropping as she moved to the music filling her ears. Moments passed as she began her third loop around the fire, and she hoped Max and Ethan would leave, or come up with a different plan from what it seemed they had.
Her eyes sprang open when she heard Ethan’s, “What the hell?”
Somehow she knew he’d recognized her dancing, and he would naturally wonder why she was. Over the witches singing she could hear his approach, his boots scuffing over the lawn. “Danielle, what are you doing?”
The witches stopped singing and they dropped her hands, their movement also coming to an abrupt halt. She knew they were allowing her to face him. Taking a calming breath that did nothing to calm her, she turned to face Ethan. At the sight of her husband, her soul whimpered. Bunching her fingers into fists, she barely resisted the urge to hug him. He looked a little tattered around the edges, like he’d had a rough time of it trying to find her, and she wanted to ask so many questions. Mentally shaking herself, she kept her thoughts on what she needed to do to keep him safe.
He tightened his scraped-up fingers around the rifle he had trained on the women standing behind her. Of course Danielle noticed he still wore the same clothes he’d been wearing when she and Nadia were taken by the pixies. To her it proved that it was the same night. It also proved that he was still mortal. She adored him for actually finding her so fast because she didn’t even know where she was at the moment. By the witches’ accents she knew it was somewhere foreign, but that was all she knew. Danielle felt her shoulders slump, her hero had found her, but it was too late.
Her heart broke like it had been pierced by one of the witches’ poisoned arrows. It felt like they’d been separated for centuries instead of hours. More than anything, Danielle wanted to latch onto him and never let go, but she was afraid of what might happen to him if she tried that. Observing the scene, her eyes touched on Max, who stood just to Ethan’s left, his rifle also aimed at witches, and their surroundings—the woods. It certainly seemed like he and Max were alone.
Ethan cocked the rifle. “What are you doing here? With them...” he repeated with a betrayed note of confusion ringing in each word.
Seeing the violent set of his mouth, she realized if she was going to make this convincing, she had to protect them. With caution, she schooled her features into the calmest expression she could find and slowly reached for the end of his gun. She pressed down. “Don’t hurt them.” Her voice cracked, and she winced internally.
“What?” he asked, anger at the witches thinning his lips, the fire reflecting off his glasses.
She swallowed, but she couldn’t seem to find any moisture in her mouth. “Back away, Ethan.”
His eyebrows hitched up right before his eyes narrowed.
“Please,” she added, stepping toward him. A moment of fear made her check with the witches behind her to make sure she wasn’t provoking them. Red beamed a bright smile at her and nodded, making a cheerful “go-ahead” motion with her hands. Danielle turned back to her husband.
Obviously surprised by the friendly gesture from the witch, Ethan blinked, but his feet carried him back a few steps. Danielle could hear Nadia behind her, and she could see that Max was also moving backward.
Ethan’s keen gaze scrutinized the witches before he finally lowered the rifle and a sigh of relief slipped free of her lungs. She could hear that the witches had resumed their singing, and she looked back because she couldn’t understand why. The only thing that made sense was that they resumed their dance as part of their act, part of their distraction to keep the men from seeing the arrows aimed at them. It was working. Inside, her heart withered at what she was about to say to him.
Unable to hold his gaze because it was killing her, she looked into the forest. Danielle’s eyes found one of the archers, her pale complexion glowing in the moonlight, her deadly arrow drawn and trained on Ethan’s back. That witch wasn’t the only one, there were nine more in the same pose, their attention divided between Max and Ethan. Letting the coldness inside make her go numb, she again looked at Ethan but she couldn’t get any words out, because being this close to him awakened every cell of her body—every fiber of her being reached for him, craved his touch, and wanted him surrounding her with his warmth. In his presence, she couldn’t go numb even if she tried.
The pain of it was so debilitating she lifted a hand to her chest. A tear she couldn’t stop leaked out and slid down her face. How was she going to do this? How could she lie to the love of her life, and the father of her child...? Danielle fought to keep her knees from giving out. He slung the rifle over his shoulder from its strap and his arms came around her as though he understood how close she was to collapsing; his thumb swept away the moisture on her cheek. “Don’t be sad, we’re here to save you.” Silhouettes of the dancing witches moved over the glass of his lenses. “If you aren’t their prisoners, will they let you leave?”
Danielle had no idea what to say because the answer was no. She tried feebly to push away.
He didn’t allow it, and he frowned at the attempt. They stood in tense silence staring into each other’s eyes. His fingers curled around her hand. “Come with us.”
“No.” Again, she tried to push away from him, and again he stopped her. “We’re staying here,” she added, watching his expression closely to see how he was going to take that.
Stunned, his jaw tensed. Waiting for what he was going to say next, she checked past his shoulder to make sure his embrace wouldn’t draw arrows. Apparently they feared hitting her, and they wanted her essence more than they wanted him dead at the moment. As her brain tried to figure out some way of using that knowledge and shielding him so he could escape, his fingers touched her chin when he drew even closer.
Too close. She pushed back another time, but he didn’t allow her to create more distance between them. “I’m serious. You and Max have to go.”
Like her request was a silly one, Ethan chuckled softly. But it was a nervous sound. Obviously he could already sense something was very wrong. “I can’t leave you.”
He wasn’t listening, and she knew she had to cut deeper with her words for him to understand. “I can’t take this anymore,” she tried, knowing the topic was a sore spot for him.
His hopeful expression fell, a muscle jumped along his jawbone. His arms tightened around her. “What do you mean?”
It seemed like the words scraped her insides as she forced them out. “I need our child to be safe.”
His smile was enough to haunt her soul
for the rest of her life. “So it’s true?”
Nodding, she went on, “I can’t bring a child into this life of running and danger, Ethan. They’ve promised to keep us and our babies safe from everything. I’m leaving you.”
Air whooshed out of his lungs like she’d punched him in the gut. That anger that she’d seen directed at Lucas many times blazed in his narrowed gaze. “They’ve threatened you.” His gaze again checked the enemy. Still they danced, seeming to ignore them. The illusion probably made him confused, but also gave him a false sense of security.
“No.” Yes. For a moment she considered telling him the truth, that his life was in danger and that he needed to leave for that reason. He could come back later, better prepared, but when she opened her mouth to tell him this, her gaze caught onto a flash of red. The red-headed witch stood behind him, close enough to hear what Danielle was saying, but far enough that he hadn’t noticed her. Danielle also noticed that the archers had simply found another angle to strike so they didn’t hit her while he held her in his arms. There was no possible way she could wrap herself around Ethan and protect him from every angle. Letting the reckless thoughts slip away, she looked down to gather her senses.
Knowing she’d almost made a fatal mistake, she returned her gaze to his and managed to say, “Does it look like they’ve threatened us? We were dancing and having fun.” Danielle nearly choked on that lie. Red smiled.
Ethan’s tactics changed, just as she should have known they would. Bending down, he nudged up on her chin and fed his breath into her. Unable and unwilling to resist, she parted her lips, letting his essence fill her lungs. So delicious and so perfect ... and if this was the last time she’d ever see him, then she needed this. Ethan carefully kissed every inch of her face. His hand traveled the length of her spine, as he awakened hope in her heart. They were supposed to be together, they belonged together. Vivid memories of their life together filled her thoughts—images of him dressed as a Victorian hero taking her to a ball flashed in her mind. The shared dreams of their forgotten past replayed before her eyes ... their wedding ... their time with the fairies.... Danielle latched onto his clothes and pulled him against her. The skilled and gentle fingers of his hand left her back and curled around her nape, pressing in and massaging her in the exact way she loved. He was the only one that made her soul content, gave her mind peace, and soothed her when the world turned against them.
It was a mistake for her to think he wouldn’t be able to affect her and enchant her. It was so easy for him to make her forget everything else in the world, making him the center of it. Just as his mouth connected with hers, but before she’d lowered her lashes, movement in her peripheral snapped her out of it and she remembered the danger he was in. Using all of her strength, along with every ounce of her will, she shoved him back. “Don’t!” Danielle shoved again and he stumbled back a couple of steps before regaining his balance. The command had come out so sharp, she’d surprised herself. But he couldn’t know it was panic for him, and not anger at him, that drew the tone from her. “Please, Ethan, I’m begging you to let me go.”
Bewildered and extremely annoyed blue eyes settled onto hers. “I love you and our baby more than anything. I can’t let you do this. If you keep arguing with me, you know I’ll just pick you up and force you to come with me. We’ll discuss this later—”
Danielle’s eyes widened in panic because she knew he would, and then what would the witches do? “Don’t make me throw you,” she threatened back.
His eyes narrowed a split second before he discarded the cumbersome rifle and launched forward. To her utter surprise, Ethan was able to avoid her defense and lock his arms around her waist. Once she was on his shoulder, he announced, “You’ve thrown me enough times, darling, for me to avoid it if I want to by now.”
Dang it! She’d taught him too well! Terrified she’d see arrows land in his back, she kicked and scanned the threats surrounding them. The archers advanced and the brutal eagerness to commit murder in their eyes made her blood run cold. “No! No!” she screamed at the witches while hitting Ethan, pounding as hard as she could on his back. She had to make him let go.
Ethan wouldn’t let go.
The last thing Danielle expected was for Max to walk up to them and belt out an order, “Ethan! Let her go!”
“Have you lost your mind?” he asked, not obeying.
Being stronger, the knight pulled her from Ethan’s shoulder and set her aside. “They’re right. Living with us is too dangerous. We have to let them go.”
What? Gaping in surprise, she looked at Nadia. How had her friend done a better job of convincing them to leave than she had?
The battle between the men drew her gaze. Max captured Ethan by the arms and gave him a shake. “We’re leaving. Now,” growled the knight.
An aggressive anger twisted Ethan’s features. “I’m not leaving her!” Ethan shoved Max off and started back toward her.
Max caught him again and stopped his forward momentum. Desperation overtook his tone when Ethan looked at her, the shoving match between the men growing violent, and he shouted, “Danielle! I’ll keep you safe. Don’t give up on us. I’m begging you.”
“Stop this, Ethan. We’re leaving,” said Max, winning the shoving match because he was able to force more distance between them.
“There’s no bloody way in he—”
Ethan’s words were cut short when Max punched him in the face and the force of it knocked him out. Spinning, he slammed into the grass and went still.
“Is he hurt?” she asked, stepping forward.
Nadia caught at her arms. “This is what we wanted, right?” her tone soothing, “Let them go.”
“But he could be hurt—”
The knight hauled Ethan to his shoulder and started to leave without looking back.
“I’m sure he’s fine.” He didn’t look fine. His limp arms dangled down Max’s back. His broken glasses lay in the grass. Danielle felt the quiver in her bottom lip.
Reality sank in. They were going to die tonight and she would never see Ethan again. Tears streamed down her face as she watched the men go, and a sob tore past her lips. The emotions surging through her were so intense, she finally collapsed. Nadia’s arms came around her. The witches were also there, lifting her. “Bring them inside,” said one of them.
Held up by Nadia and one of the witches, she wasn’t really surprised she was dumped roughly on the hard stone flooring in what looked like a cozy family room. Nadia was pushed down next to her. When the witches bent toward them with ropes, Danielle instinctively resisted, but was punished with a sharp smack across her face. Momentarily stunned, Danielle watched in a shocked daze as their wrists and ankles were bound.
Of course she was glad Ethan would be okay, but now she was going to die without him knowing the truth, and guilt twisted her insides into knots tighter than the ones binding her.
“What if they come back?” asked one of the witches. Danielle didn’t care enough to lift her head and look to see who the speaker was.
“Maybe we should lock them in the dungeon until the next full moon,” suggested another.
“We can’t risk that,” was the reply.
Ignoring the witches, she turned to Nadia, and asked, “How?” How had she convinced Max, who was a hundred times more stubborn than Ethan, to leave?
“We have a word,” whispered her friend, like that explained everything. After speaking, Nadia’s green eyes darted around as though she feared she’d been overheard, but Danielle couldn’t see the point of that when she couldn’t even comprehend what Nadia had meant anyway.
Danielle frowned. “What?”
“A word.” Her friend wagged her sable eyebrows at her.
Just as she was starting to think Nadia was a bit mental, it hit her. With eyes widening, she muttered softly, “Oh.” A code word that told him they were in danger, and Max the knight, would be sharp enough to change their plans. Danielle rolled her eyes. Why didn’t she and
Ethan have a code word? That would have made that intense exchange so much easier.
Nadia squeaked and she gasped in surprise when they were suddenly seized by the arms and dragged back outside.
Air was forced out of her lungs when her back connected with a solid surface. Looking around, she decided this might be the altar where the witches sacrificed victims like her and Nadia, and performed their demented beauty ritual. When the witches began another chanting dance encircling them, the two knives being waved above their heads, she felt like their words were sapping her strength and that drove her actions with desperation. Frantic to escape before they finished their chant, she tried to pull her hand loose of the ropes. A thin layer of skin scraped off against the rope as Danielle managed to get one hand free.
Before she was able to do anything more, the sound of a howling wolf rent the air. The witches froze, their eyes going wide with terror.
Chapter 13
Werewolves, Vampires, and Witches
Silhouetted against the orange flames of a fire, Ethan took in the feminine forms making up the circle of witches dancing around it. If he hadn’t looked away, he might have been entranced by their liquid and seductive movement. His eyes scanned the area as he sought any signs of Danielle or Nadia. A large and dark structure stood to the left. Between that and the building was a dark shape he believed to be shrubs. Near the back of the property was a very large and very old tree. The tree was obviously special to these witches because it was decorated with lights and glittering stars. When his gaze landed on ropes at the base of the tree, he raised an eyebrow at Max. “What do you think?”
Nestling the butt of the rifle he held against his shoulder as he looked through the sights, Max scowled at the dancers around the fire. “I think I’m going to murder a witch.”
Forever (Book #3 in the Fateful Series) Page 20