by Jones, L. A.
"What do you suppose is causing it?" Aradia asked as she folded her arms.
He gave a quick glance at her. He looked as if he was about to say something, but instead he just turned away.
Aradia, however, could sense this. "What? What is it Dax?"
Dax looked back at her and sighed. "The weather has been strange ever since...you pet the Unicorn."
Aradia's face went blank with confusion only to twist itself into anger and understanding a second later. "Are you saying I did this? I am the reason the weather is so strange. God! You know in the old days they blamed witches for famine and other things. Nice to see nothing has changed."
For the first time since they became a couple, Dax got angry. "Well pardon me for being honest with you Rai. I mean you preach about being honest with one another and yet you act like this. I told you not to go near the Unicorn, but you didn't listen to me! I love you Aradia, but you have to start listening to me! You have to stop being so selfish!"
"Selfish?" Aradia cried out in rage. "You think I'm selfish?"
"Yes I do! You always do what you want! You never think of the consequences so yeah I think you are selfish."
Dax looked more furious than Aradia ever seen him and as hard as she tried she could not stop the tears that gathered in her eyes.
Dax began to soften when he saw this, but when he reached out his hand she slapped it away.
"You know something Dax?" she spat, "Go to hell!"
She then turned on her heel and stomped up the stairs.
Chapter Seventeen
"I really hope you know what you are doing Jack," Kolton grumbled over his shoulder.
Jack was standing right behind him as he stared into a wooden box that contained none other than the unicorn's horn.
"You worry too much Kolton, and you will never be a leader unless you learn to be bolder in your actions," Jack snapped as he drew out yet another cigarette and lit it.
"My God! Don't you ever stop smoking?" Caiden practically shouted at him.
Jack didn't respond. He just blew out a long O of smoke and smiled smugly at him.
Kolton stepped in front of his brother to prevent him from leaping at Jack and tearing him apart. He cast one last look at Jack before he pulled Caiden into a corner.
"I hate that guy!" Caiden grunted while clenching his fist. "I still can't believe you are going through with this."
"Do you have any better ideas?" Kolton snapped.
"No," Caiden reluctantly admitted with a shake of his head. "But I still think it's risky to do what he is planning."
Kolton shrugged in agreement. "It's our only chance to make a permanent home for ourselves."
"But..." Caiden trailed off as he looked out into the dark sky roaring with thunder and lightning.
Kolton finished for him. "I know its crazy Caiden, but let's be honest with each other do we have any other choice?"
If the storm was not frightening enough the weather had tuned bone-crackling cold and snow as big as rocks had begun to fall heavily from the sky. Aradia could not believe it especially as she looked out the window and saw the entire neighborhood almost completely covered. Numerous accidents had already happened such as car crashes, roofs collapsing, and some people were even unfortunate enough to be found frozen to death. As much as she wanted to deny it, she realized that perhaps by touching the Unicorn she had brought on this supernatural winter apocalypse.
God! Dax was right. I never think about my actions. I never think things through. Aradia thought gloomily. But the question is what do I do about it?
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind burst into her room. She spun around and saw one of her windows open.
"Now how did that happen?" Aradia thought aloud as she shut it.
She turned around, only to jump a foot in the air once she saw Dax standing in front of her.
"Hello," he said casually.
"Hey," Aradia said after recovering.
Silence filled the room and became thick as smoke between them before Aradia finally asked, "What do you want?"
"The High Hidden council is meeting tonight."
Aradia raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"
"No," Dax admitted reluctantly. "You have to be there as well."
Aradia nodded her consent.
Once again, there was silence between the two of them until Dax turned to leave.
He stopped, however, as soon as he heard, "I am sorry Dax."
"What?" he asked while turning back around.
"I am sorry," Aradia, repeated, "You were right. I never think about my actions. I never think things through. Moreover, I believe you were right about the Unicorn. All this has been happening since that day. You tried to do something nice for me, but I screwed it up. I was being selfish."
She hung her head and stared at the ground. Dax stood in silent awe and then rubbed his hand across his face.
"What's done is done Rai," Dax finally said, "We just have to figure out what we do about it."
It was hard, but they finally succeeded in convincing her parents that she had to attend the meeting. After being bundled up by her mother, Aradia went off in to the thick blizzard night with Dax at her side.
Half way into the forest, Aradia noticed that Dax was not wearing a coat.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked him as she leaped across a wide creek without a moment's hesitation.
"Are you kidding?" was his response with a cocky smile to match.
Aradia couldn't help, but laugh.
In spite of using their supernatural speed, it still took them another hour to get to the lodge. The cold wind kept hitting Aradia's face full force, making her cheeks, and nose smart. She kept glancing at Dax as he ran with the snowy powerful wind against him. He wore his traditional dark blue polo shirt and khaki pants with his brown loafers. His pale skin with his wavy blonde hair almost blended perfectly with the snow in the background, but Aradia could still see his handsome features and sigh with desire.
As if he could hear her thoughts in spite of the loud conquering wind that beat against the two of them, Dax looked at her and smiled.
Eventually, they saw a huge dark brown spot in the snow. As they got closer, it predictably grew bigger until Dax and Aradia stood outside its dark wooded walls. Aradia shifted her eyes as easily as she possibly could consider how wrapped up she was in her thick red winter clothing. Still she could not see a way in until Dax cleared his throat and Aradia saw him leaning against the opened side door. He titled his head while Aradia rolled her eyes in sarcasm.
Dax shut the door behind them the moment they went in. He looked around while Aradia brushed snow off her person.
"How on earth were you able not to get snow on yourself?" Aradia asked as she pulled off her hat and shook it.
"Body heat attracts snow I suppose," Dax said without looking at her. "And since I am a vampire, I have no body heat."
"Lucky," she muttered.
"That's one way of defining it," Dax mumbled.
It seemed like he was impatient to get to the meeting, but Aradia was still struggling to get her coat off.
Finally, he groaned exasperatedly and his hands went to the top of Aradia's coat.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I would say it out loud," he said, "But it's far too inappropriate."
Aradia threw her head back laughing, which Dax joined in as he helped pull off her coat.
Aradia's red hair then fell back onto her shoulders like a curtain of polished bronze. She stared up at him as he hung the coat up. With difficulty, Aradia undid her snow pants and then pulled them off her legs one by one. She had to bend down to do this and stare up at Dax whose sweet smile was unwavering. She pulled off the last leg but stumbled and would have fallen completely down if Dax had not grabbed her by her elbows. Slowly, he pulled her back up, but not taking his hands off her arms.
Despite all the time, he said he was cold, Aradia felt warmth in his touch and especially in his eyes as they gazed
at each other. She didn't even break his gaze when she dropped the snow pants to the side. For a few delicious moments, Aradia and Dax just stood close together with the sensuality between them thick in the air. However, as Aradia felt that Dax was going to kiss her they heard someone cough behind them. Instinctively, they turned to see who it was and predictably, they frowned when they saw it was Tristan.
"Does the term 'snooping' mean anything to you mate?" Dax snapped.
Tristan just laughed. "Oh please! Why the hell would I want to watch the two of you? Everybody knows you don't do anything."
"What do you mean?" Aradia inquired.
"Never mind what he meant Rai," Dax interrupted. "All that matters is what the hell does he want?"
Tristan chuckled softly and shook his head. "I am just here to tell you that the meeting is about to start."
"So?" Dax asked.
"So you and your girlfriend better haul your asses to the council table A.S.A.P before we decide your presence is irrelevant."
Tristan then turned but not before adding, "Not that we didn't think that before."
Dax sighed and ran his fingers through his thick blonde hair. "Remind me again why I never beat the crap out of him?"
Aradia chuckled and then paused.
A few moments passed before she said, "Because to strike him would be stooping to his level and you are above such things."
"In other words," Dax concluded, "You have no idea."
Aradia shook her head. "Not in the slightest."
Chapter Eighteen
Aradia was used to seeing somber faces whenever she saw the Hidden Council. However, this was the first time she had ever seen them all look so depressed.
Or worried, Aradia thought.
At the sound of her's and Dax's footsteps, the council turned to look at them.
Upon realizing it was them, their expressions changed and not necessarily for the better.
"So glad of you to join us," One of the three alpha wolves said sneeringly.
Aradia just nodded and quickly made her way to her spot at the council table, only to pause where she saw there was no chair for Dax.
"Why is that?" Aradia asked.
Most of them shifted uncomfortably in their seats, avoiding Aradia's gaze.
It was Tristan's father, the Seelie fae king, who finally broke the silence. "Although we agreed to give you an official position on the council, we never agreed to do the same with your boy toy."
An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
Aradia then said proudly, "Dax Dayton is my boyfriend or to be more accurate and precise he is my consort. A consort that your son insisted I have. Therefore, you will pay him the same respect that you pay me."
She smiled at him, looking for encouragement.
Although she didn't even get a smile from Dax in spite of her defense of him, Aradia continued. "Furthermore, as the consort of the Witch Queen he holds equal political power as mine and therefore he deserves a similar spot on the council and at the table."
"Says who?" Tristan's father argued further.
"Says Aradia the Last Witch and Witch Queen!" Aradia said fiercely while folding her arms and standing with her feet apart.
For a while, she continued with her gaze until finally Tristan's father sighed heavily.
"Alright!" He conceded, "Alright! If you insist..."
"I do," Aradia interrupted sharply.
Tristan's father looked up at her swiftly and with anger dawning in his eyes.
Aradia supposed he would have said something else until the shape-shifter leader cleared his throat.
"Look," he interjected, "Right now we have got more important things to worry about."
Aradia nodded as she motioned for Dax to sit next to her in the new chair provided for him by one of Tristan's fathers followers. He did so, but Aradia couldn't help but notice the reluctance in his step.
However, she had no time to dwell on this because the shape-shifter leader spoke again. "The weather is becoming more and more unstable. It may seem natural to the humans, but such a change with no scientific explanation can only mean one thing."
He paused for dramatic emphasis.
"The disturbance in the weather means that there has been a great shift of power in our environment. Something has happened and it is most likely the fault of a hidden."
"How can you tell?" Aradia asked.
She ignored the sarcastic stares and the rolling of the people's eyes.
The shape-shifter leader shrugged impatiently and said, "The humans and the hiddens may be different species, but since we still share the same environment we both have an influence on how it operates. For example, when the humans invented nuclear power we hiddens too feared the worst and we were prepared to do something drastic to avoid such a fate."
"Nuclear power can kill you?" Aradia asked aloud.
"We maybe immortal and very strong, but even we are capable of dying you know?" the shape-shifter leader pointed out.
He didn't wait for her to respond; he just cleared his throat, and went on. "Anyway, a sudden disturbance of this magnitude can only be accumulated as the result of a hidden's actions."
Aradia didn't dare to look at Dax.
Ironically, he spoke next. "Okay so we now that know this are something we have done. The question is what do we do about it?"
"I believe I can answer that question for you Dax."
Everyone, from the council to the rest of the people in the lodge, turned towards the voice that had just spoken from the darkness.
A tiny flame was shown before they actually saw who it was that spoke.
Dax's jaw tightened.
I knew it, he thought, I knew he had something to do with this.
Chapter Nineteen
"Who the hell are you?" Tristan shouted as he shot to his feet.
Jack lit his cigarette before raising his eyes to look at Tristan sarcastically.
"The name is Jack," he finally said. "And I know exactly what is going on and how we can solve this."
"Oh?" Tristan's father said while raising an eyebrow. "And how do we do that?"
Jack laughed softly under his breath.
He then marched smartly over to the crowd, grabbed a chair right out from under someone, and dragged it to the middle.
Sitting backwards on the chair, with his elbows over the headrest, and one hand still holding the lit cigarette Jack started to explain. "Several months ago someone contacted me and told me that he was offered a very generous reward if in exchange he were to take the last witch as his wife."
Aradia's eyes grew wide with shock while Dax took her hand.
Jack, however, just chuckled. "Anyway, I figured that there was no way in hell you would turn her over just like that."
He snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.
"So I decided that the only way to get you to turn over the last witch willingly would be to hold something of equal value hostage."
Tristan, amazingly, laughed at Jack's statement.
"And what on earth could be more valuable than her?" he said, ignoring the stares of Aradia and the others.
Jack grinned wickedly. "Your home."
"What?" Aradia asked.
Jack glanced towards her and grinned.
"The last witch I presume? Or should I say the Witch Queen?" he snickered sarcastically, "I have to say that you are not at all what I expected you to be."
He paused as his gaze flickered over her. "I expected someone...prettier."
Dax shot up from his seat, but Aradia pulled him back down.
Looking back at Jack, Aradia asked. "What exactly have you done?"
"I took the unicorn's horn," He said sneeringly.
The silence in the room was almost frightening.
It was only broken by Roy's alpha who said, "You did what? Are you out of your mind? Such a thing could cause huge devastation to all of Salem!"
"Then I guess it's a good thing I don't live in Salem then huh?"
Jack said as he took another long drag. "Well it's good for me maybe not so for you."
Everyone stared at him in stunned silence.
He, however, decided to take that as an opportunity. "The thing is there is a chance to fix all this. All you have to do is turn over the last witch, only then will I return the unicorn's horn."
"What good will that do?" Aradia demanded.
Jack rolled his eyes. "It is common knowledge (at least to normal hiddens and not human raised freaks like you Rai) that even after cutting off a unicorn's horn the Unicorn can still lives. If the horn is returned by the next full moon and placed back onto the unicorn's forehead then the Unicorn will return to its full power and life. Thus restoring the balance and bringing back order blah, blah, blah."
"When is the next full moon?" Aradia asked.
"About two weeks from now," Jack said.
The grin on his face was almost too much to bear.
Nevertheless, Aradia did bear with it as she asked, "those are the terms?"
"Yep," Jack replied as he got out of his chair. "So if I were you, I would start packing."
He then threw his head back laughing as he turned on his heel to leave.
Although Aradia tried to stop him, Dax followed Jack and looked out into the cold blustery night. Amazingly, Jack had gone into this weather and now seemed nowhere to be found.
"Pompous ass," he muttered and slamming the door behind him.
Chapter Twenty
For a while, nobody said anything. The room just filled itself with awkward intense silence.
"So," Roy began, "What do we do?"
Aradia didn't know whether this was in sarcasm or a cheap attempt to make her feel better.
Titania, groaned, stood up, and then spoke in a loud voice, "I think it's kind of obvious what we should do."
When no one answered her, she groaned again. "We hand over Aradia duh!"
Aradia scoffed and said, "And you wonder why Tristan puts off marrying you?"