by Lauren Dane
“Why are you mad at me?”
“You. Could. Have. Died. I was pinned down and you looked all right. You didn’t even fall, hell, you didn’t even register pain at first or I’d have felt it through the link. And then you were gushing blood and I couldn’t get to you fast enough and fuck fuck fuck, Helena. I can’t even think about how scared I was.”
“I’m sorry.” And she was. She could only imagine if it were him who’d been shot and how that would have made her feel.
“I know you are. But you’d do it again.”
“Well, next time I’d shield myself better. Obviously.”
He muttered something in his language and she caught a few choice words about crazy women.
Lark burst into the room at that moment and threw herself at Helena, who screamed at the feeling of her leg and hip being jostled. Faine lifted Lark up and off and there was some snarling when Simon came in and saw this happening.
Lark barked orders at them both as a nurse rushed in and, undeterred by the two giant men and the blue-haired woman, gave them all a lecture about jostling, alarming, or disturbing Helena in any way that was detrimental to her recovery.
“They attacked four enclaves. They killed kids, Hellie. Little ones.”
“I thought we agreed this could wait?” Simon sighed.
“I told you not to say anything.” Faine inserted himself between the sisters.
“She needs to know. She’d want to know.”
“It’s too late anyway. I do know now. Tell me the rest.”
“There are riots in Seattle, Bakersfield, Miami, Cincinnati, Boston and Chicago. The Others are on the warpath and every time the humans push, we push back harder. It’s a bloody damn mess. The data sticks you brought back were full of stuff. Plans to attack different cities and groups. Information about the purchase of large amounts of explosives. Biological weapons! They had this silver stuff, like from a damned movie, it exploded and sent tiny shards of silver into the air. They tried to use it on some Vampires up in Alaska. But no one ever heard from them again.”
Ha. She bet. Vampires didn’t mess around.
“What’s going on in DC?” Her tongue was thick and felt two sizes too big for her mouth. Whatever substance they had her on really did a number on her. But the horrible pain in her leg and hip when Lark had come in had settled back on a far distant shore so she was all right with that.
“Those plates you sent? On the trucks that attacked the enclave? One was registered to a bigwig in PURITY. PURITY and Humans First have been tied to multiple attacks. Tosh is urging the president to finally make a stand. He and several others on Capitol Hill have demanded an investigation into what part Senator Hayes played in all this. His name is all over that data. Bastard. There’ve been some pings from the spells you laid at his office and at PURITY, but there’s not a lot we can use legally. We did find the location of a few of the turned witches and a mage or two who escaped. The wolves are handling that for us.” Lark’s smile was vicious.
“Good. But what’s wrong with the president? The country is on fire and she hasn’t spoken yet?”
“Her chief of staff did about two hours ago. He announced she’d be issuing a statement later today. The governors of the states involved have spoken out, urging calm. Right now it looks like humans, most of them anyway, are coming down against PURITY for this mess.”
It was hard to stay awake. Faine took her hand and squeezed gently. “Rest. You’re doped up, alamah.”
“I have stuff . . .”
He smiled and kissed her. “You will have stuff when you wake up again. Until then, your sister and her big mouth will have things handled.”
* * *
TOSHIO had had enough with waiting. He’d been standing around in an anteroom of the Oval Office for the last hour. And before that, another hour earlier in the day. He’d left and given multiple press conferences demanding an investigation of Marlon Hayes.
He’d been kept apprised of Helena’s condition as well as the status of the thousands of Others and humans who’d been injured in the riots. Insanity, all of it. And the president had remained silent and unreachable behind closed doors with the attorney general and White House staff for most of the day.
But he was totally and completely done with this nonsense. When the door opened and the attorney general came out, Tosh simply swept past the secretary and into the Oval Office.
“Madam President, I’d like a moment of your time.”
Those sharp green eyes of hers landed on him. “Senator Sato, I’m really quite busy.”
“Pardon my bluntness here, Madam President, but you’ve been too busy to meet with me for months as this situation has grown worse and worse.” He tossed multiple newspapers and sheets of paper detailing all the riots onto her desk. “How much longer will you remain silent on this? How many more children will die because you’re afraid to anger PURITY? They didn’t vote for you to begin with, they’ll never be all right with a female leader. But millions of Americans did. You won this office. The nation is starving for leadership right now. Be a leader. Do your job.”
He knew he was going too far, but someone needed to say it.
“Senator Sato, I’ve got this.” She stood. “I wanted the people of this country to work this out. I wanted them to have a national discussion on this so we could move forward without large segments of the population feeling they’d been ignored or steamrolled. I waited too long. I know that. My biggest mistake was in trusting those in the House and Senate to manage this in an appropriate way.”
“Senator Hayes has betrayed his office. He’s got to be dealt with.”
She raised a brow his way. “You’re not unbiased in this matter.”
“I don’t need to be. I didn’t truck with terrorists and aid them in attacking American citizens. He did.”
She shrugged. “You’re right of course. The attorney general has sent people over to have him picked up and brought in for questioning. He’ll be investigated, as will others who worked with PURITY. You know, of course, that a lot of the evidence we’ve been given is inadmissible.”
He did. Damning though it might be, the collection of the data couldn’t have been legal. But there were enough people whose lives were on the line at this point. He’d been a lawyer long enough, he knew how it worked. Someone would roll first and that would lead to more people doing the same.
“People will turn on one another. We’ll get him that way.”
“The attorney general agrees with that assessment.” She grabbed her jacket and put it on. “I’ve got a statement to make to the American people. Come along if you’d like to watch.”
He most certainly did.
* * *
FAINE turned the television in her room on and everyone gathered to watch.
The president walked to the podium, looked into the camera and spoke.
My fellow Americans. The last six months have been revolutionary for not only our nation, but for the entire world as we thought we knew it. With the revelation of the Others, we realized our world was far more complicated than we’d imagined.
And the Others, our neighbors and friends, were reeling from the unexpected and horrible deaths of those in their communities. We struggled as a nation to understand this new reality. To find a way to balance our beliefs and social rules with what we now knew.
I have held off speaking during this time because I wanted a national discussion to take place. An honest exchange of ideas. And I want to say how proud I’ve been of most Americans in that department. Most of you, no matter your personal beliefs, have been able to talk about these issues without harming anyone else.
Minds have been changed through something as simple as a conversation. And that’s why I tried to remain out of the fray. Real change can be complicated and emotionally painful, and you have put in the time and effort. I’m proud of that.
But the insidious facts are that some Americans were not satisfied by the free exchange of ideas. They wa
nted to use violence to silence those who were different. This has, I’m sad to say, been part of our history too. But we have attempted, time and again, to be better people. Better Americans. And so during the debate on the Domestic Safety Act, my office, along with offices all along the Hill, was inundated with calls and emails and letters, the overwhelming majority opposed to this legislation.
But some are never satisfied with the will of the people. Some, like those terrorists who have been attacking Other communities for months, will never stop. And so, while this national dialogue continues, I want something to be completely clear.
An hour ago I signed an Executive Order extending the status quo to all Others. What this means is that if you were an American citizen before the revelation, you are an American citizen now. The same rights and responsibilities you held before the revelation are yours.
There will be no more discussion as to whether or not you are Americans. You are. You were before and you are now.
There will be no concentration camps. No GPS chips. No roundup of Others. Go about your lives, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy the bounty you have as a citizen of this great nation.
We face challenges in this new reality, yes. But they do not need to include violence. I’ve declared a nationwide curfew until the unrest has ended. Those not employed in jobs or mandated activities taking place after seven in the evening will keep to their homes until five the next morning. There will be an increased military presence in the cities where rioting is taking place. Looters and rioters will be arrested and prosecuted under federal law.
Lay down your arms. Go home and accept reality. You don’t have to like the werewolf next door, but you are not allowed to kill him or harm his family. Be better people.
Our national dialogue on this issue will continue. I look forward to hearing from you as we move ahead into this new and fascinating future. Thank you.
The president nodded once and turned, walking away.
Epilogue
Six months later
“THIS is the first vacation I’ve had in years.” Helena watched her husband swim in long, bold strokes, cutting across the lake.
“The weather here will be good for you.” Lark adjusted her bathing suit top. “Mom will finally calm down a little. Maybe.”
Helena had needed a hip replacement of all things. The bullets had shattered the bone to hell and so there she was, not even thirty, with a brand-new hip. But the real problem had been the secondary infection that had kept her in the hospital an additional two months.
She’d been pissy about it. Had felt like, hey, with this new strength from the binding and all her magick and being in such good shape, she should have been out and running around in days.
Then they’d found out the bullets had been treated with biological agents and a normal person could have died. One of the guards shot that day at the enclave had died from a terrible infection. The one shot with regular ammunition had been in the hospital for two weeks and was now back to work.
Tila came out and smiled when she saw them. Her mother-in-law was just as pesky as Rain when it came to making sure Helena was taking care of herself. But it pleased Faine to see it, and Helena liked Tila so it wasn’t really a trial to be here in Lycia, soaking up the sun all day as she healed up.
The violence continued on and off, but after the riots had ended and the country faced a death toll that numbered in the thousands, humans and Others alike had sobered and resolved to work things out better.
The humans finally understood that the Others could and would defend themselves and quite ably. But they also seemed to realize that while the Others had a great deal of power, they hadn’t used it in all the time before they were outed, and so maybe they weren’t the monsters some had said they were.
Of course it wasn’t all peace and love. There were several counties and towns that had declared themselves independent Other-Free zones. Others weren’t in any hurry to move to any of these places and there’d been a general feeling of, well, at least they’re far away from here, so while the states and federal government weren’t pleased, they had enough on their plates to deal with.
In the meantime, she and Faine were going to spend the next two months in Lycia. He had a house there and had been making it into a home for both of them. Their days so far had been filled with lovemaking of the gentle sort. He spent endlessly creative hours on her body and she had no complaints. He helped with her physical therapy with the new hip, as did Tila.
Lark and Simon had joined them the day before and they’d stay for a few weeks as well.
“So when were you going to tell me?” She sipped her juice and looked over her sunglasses at her sister.
“Tell you what?” Lark then burst into giggles, blowing her act.
“When are you due?”
“I just got the plus on the stick yesterday. It’s early days. You’re the only one other than Simon who knows.”
She squeezed Lark’s hand. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. I’m excited and freaked the hell out.”
“Gonna be an auntie. I like that. A whole new world coming up for them to be raised in.”
“Scary.”
She shrugged. “Exciting. This is a beautiful thing, Lark. Imagine how gorgeous this kid will be. How powerful. How loved.”
“You’ll have to give him or her cousins.”
Helena laughed. “Not for a while. But yes. That will happen someday.”
They looked out at Simon and Faine, who’d stopped swimming long enough to shove each other and enter into some sort of brotherly dunking and splashing thing. Two more Leviathan brothers jumped in and joined the fray.
“A girl could get used to watching hot dudes splash around all day. I think it’s got to be part of your recovery. Good for the heart to see it.” Lark nudged her with an elbow.
“Hell yes.”
Glossary and Characters
WITCHES:
Clan—an official organization of witches run matrilineally
Clan Gennessee—holds territory from parts of Mexico up to Southern Oregon. United with Clan Owen. Same origins tracing back to the original Owen witches who traveled west with the gold rush.
Clan Owen—largest and most powerful clan of witches in the United States. Holds from middle of Oregon up into Canada.
The Owen—The witch in charge of the Owen Clan. Currently Meriel Owen (see also The Gennessee).
Hunters—The law enforcement arms of witch clans
Dominic Bright—married to and magically bonded to Meriel Owen. Runs the Owen Clan at her side. Co-owns an Other nightclub called Heart of Darkness.
Edwina Owen—Deceased. Meriel’s mother and former head of Clan Owen. Was killed by human servants of the Magister.
Gage Garrity—Witch. Hunter for Clan Owen. Involved with Molly Ryan.
Helena Jaansen—Witch. Hunter for Gennessee Clan, mated to Faine Leviathan.
Lark Jaansen—Witch. Hunter for Clan Owen. Sister to Helena. Mated to Simon Leviathan.
Meriel Owen—The Owen, a witch living in Seattle. Married and magickally bonded to Dominic Bright.
Molly Ryan—Witch. Head of media relations for Clan Owen and the Council of Others. Involved with Gage Garrity.
Rebecca Gennessee—Witch. The Gennessee. Runs the Gennessee Clan of witches. Related to Meriel Owen.
LYCIANS:
Lycia—a world on the other side of the Veil where large packs of shifters rule
Faine Leviathan—Lycian prince. Helena’s guard and mate.
Simon Leviathan—Lycian prince. Co-owner of Heart of Darkness. Mated to Lark Jaansen.
Leviathan—the name of the ruling pack in Lycia. Simon and Faine’s pack ruled by their oldest brother, Pere.
OTHERS:
Cade Warden—Werewolf. National Supreme Alpha.
Carlo Powers—Human. Runs PURITY.
Delilah Sperry—Werewolf. Senator. Romantically involved with Tosh Sato.
Franco Pendergast—Vampi
re. Spokesperson for Vampire Nation.
Gibson de La Vega—Jaguar shifter. Bringer (chief law enforcement officer) of de La Vega Jaguar Jamboree. Mate to Mia de La Vega.
Lex Warden—Werewolf. Alpha of Cascadia Werewolf Pack. Mate to Nina Warden.
The Magister—a being of old magicks. Nearly manifested in Chaos Burning. Stole the magick of thousands of Others worldwide. Was defeated by Meriel and Edwina Owen.
Marlon Hayes—Human. Senator who sides with PURITY and other hate groups.
Mia de La Vega—Jaguar shifter. Pilot used by the Others as they travel the country. Mate to Gibson de La Vega.
Nina Warden—Werewolf. Alpha of Cascadia Werewolf Pack. Mate to Lex Warden.
Toshio “Tosh” Sato—Human senator. Former JAG. Advocate and supporter of Others.
TERMS:
Alamah—means beloved in Lycian. Faine’s pet name for Helena.
The Font—the magickal bank where all the magick of a clan is held once it’s used and dissipated back to the collective. Any witch who is a member of that clan has access to the magick held there.
Heart of Darkness—a nightclub in Seattle owned by and catering to Others
Ne’est—Lycian word for key. It’s the name for a forever mate a Lycian takes.
PURITY—main anti-Other hate group. Run by Carlo Powers.
The Veil—the wall between our reality and other realities where the Fae and Lycians live.
Turn the page for a sneak peek at the first Bound by Magick novel by Lauren Dane
Heart of Darkness
Available now from Berkley Sensation!
Chapter 1
MERIEL sat, taking notes as her mother spoke from the head of the table. The pale, late autumn light spilled through the windows of the seemingly normal conference room, casting shadows on the far wall. The tastefully expensive clock and nondescript black-and-white framed photos made the space look like a law firm instead of the headquarters of a witches’ clan. A boring, non-offensive space that seemed to lack any point of view at all. This was most likely a deliberate choice, but Meriel thought pretending not to have a POV when you were someone as opinionated as Edwina Owen was absurd. But it wasn’t her place to make decorating choices. Not yet anyway.