Ronan

by Teresa Gabelman

  One of the women mouthed, “Oh shit,” and he knew he’d found her.

  Kira was freaking out so bad she was shaking while trying to keep control. Magic was a fickle beast, and if she wasn’t careful, her emotions could set her magic into what she and Mira liked to call the wonky mode. She was very close to that right now.

  Just as they were reaching the car, she looked up to see the woman who she was impersonating staring at her. A smile spread across her face as she crossed her arms and then opened them wide. Everyone stopped moving instantly, except her.

  “Kira Grail.” The woman’s voice carried to her as she walked her way. “It’s finally nice to meet you.”

  “Who are you?” Kira walked around the car to meet the woman. If this was going to be a showdown, she didn’t want any obstacles in her way.

  “Name’s Bonnie.” She looked Kira up and down. “Good job. I can’t even see a shimmer. So what exactly were you trying to do by getting in the car with them?”

  “I think you know the answer to that.” Kira didn’t want to give too much away until she figured out who this was and what exactly her role or side was.

  “Yeah, you’re right. I probably do.” Bonnie smiled and tilted her head. “But that would have been a huge mistake. You’re not ready.”

  “And why should I trust anything you’re saying to me right now?” Kira was confused but trying not to show it.

  “Hold that thought.” Bonnie nodded toward Kira, then repeated her earlier motion. Kira glanced behind her as the guys she almost left with looked around, confused.

  “Where the fuck did she go?” one said, still searching then glanced in the car.

  “It’s Bonnie, who the fuck knows?” the one who held the wand on Ronan said. “Come on before those Warriors come out here.”

  Kira watched as the three cars pulled out, leaving her alone with the woman.

  “Okay, now where were we?” Bonnie twirled her finger back toward Kira. Kira knew she had made them invisible and just reversed it.

  “I asked why should I trust you?” Kira repeated.

  “Because you don’t have a choice. I’m the only one who can show you how to defeat the evil Orjyll,” Bonnie said with such confidence that Kira almost believed her, but not quite. “Actually, talking to myself is freaking me out a little bit. How about changing back?”

  “I think I’ll stay this way for a bit longer,” Kira responded with a smile of her own. “We both know that I can only change once within a certain amount of time. I may need this new look for just a bit longer.”

  Suddenly there was a roar of her name echoing through the parking lot. Both women turned. Kira saw Ronan glaring first at the real Bonnie and then her. Without meaning to, she gave herself away saying, “Shit!”

  Ronan’s eyes zeroed in on her and he stomped his way through the maze of cars. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “Her idea was really good, but not going to work, yet,” Bonnie answered for Kira.

  Ronan’s stare snapped toward Bonnie to the point she actually stepped back. “I was not talking to you.”

  “Well, you should be thanking me, hero,” Bonnie shot back. “I kept her from getting into the car with Orjyll’s idiots, in turn keeping her alive. A thank you would be fine.”

  “Hey, she’s not in there… holy shit!” Steve looked between the two women.

  “Steve, take that one to the front and wait for backup,” Ronan ordered, his voice barely controlled.

  “Listen, I—” Kira started, but Ronan harshly interrupted her.

  “Let’s go!” He grabbed her arm, but she snapped it away.

  “No!” Kira hissed, rubbing her arm where he grabbed her. “You don’t tell me what to do.”

  “The hell I don’t.” Ronan went to grab her again, but she backed away.

  “Oh man, he went there.” Steve cringed, glancing at Bonnie. “Hey, I’m Steve. We’ve been looking for you.”

  “Hold on, I want to see how this ends.” Bonnie held up her finger, watching Kira and Ronan expectantly.

  Kira ignored them as she quickly changed her looks because Ronan was going to see exactly who was talking to him. Once changed, she walked straight up to him and poked him in the chest. “You lied to me, you kept information from me.” She glared up at him, her heart breaking with each poke and each word. “That is a deal breaker for me.”

  With that, she turned and walked away. Glancing sideways, she saw Bonnie walk up beside her. Neither woman said a word as Kira walked away from her heart.

  “Ya know.” Bonnie broke the silence as she looked behind her. “Sure you don’t want to give him a second chance…? He’s pretty hot.”

  Kira shot her a glance with narrowed eyes.

  Bonnie threw her hands up in the air. “Sorry!” Bonnie stayed silent for only a few seconds before she broke. “You know, Kira, he’s probably just upset that you put yourself in danger and you were in danger. If I hadn’t shown up, you’d be heading toward a future with one less Grail female, and that is not good for any of us.”

  Kira stopped, her anger still seething. “Why do you care? I don’t know you, and I certainly don’t trust you.”

  “Good.” Bonnie also stopped and placed her hand on her hip. “Don’t trust anyone. Less chance of dickwad taking over the world.”

  “We’ve been looking for you.” Viktor’s deep voice interrupted them.

  Bonnie looked up with a frown. “Glad I could help you find me.”

  Seeing Viktor, the badass Warrior, at a loss for words actually made Kira smile. She was starting to like Bonnie.

  “We got them all in the van.” Viktor looked over Kira’s head, and she knew Ronan was there. “We’ll grab rides with somebody to get back to the compound.”

  “You guys will be safe,” Bonnie added. “I put a binding spell on them.”

  “We would have been fine, but thanks anyway.” Viktor glared at her, but a commotion caught their attention.

  “Don’t even start with me, Slade.” Jill threw her hand up in the air, keys dangling with one hand.

  “Tessa!” Jared stomped after Tessa who looked fit to be tied.

  Katrina was glancing back at Blaze, who was staring at her with his arms crossed over his massive chest.

  “Katrina, can you do something about this?” Jill said as she headed through the parking lot. “Where in the hell did I park?”

  Katrina looked up, and soon the sky was swarming with birds that began diving toward Jared and Slade.

  “Son of a bitch!” Jared fought his way through, but there were too many of them, stopping both men from pursuit.

  “You coming?” Katrina looked over at them, and Kira nodded, who then looked at Bonnie.

  “Ah, yeah, I’m coming. I ain’t staying with the dudes.” Bonnie snorted, then looked around in awe as the birds parted, letting them through. “These guys are lame, bet none of them can do that.” She stared up at the sky and watched as the birds cut them off.

  Kira was also watching, but for different reasons. She watched the birds cut her off from Ronan, like an omen that she should have known was coming.

  Chapter 23

  Ronan walked toward Adam who stood beside one of the vans and grabbed the keys from him. “Get in,” he ordered, and no one argued. Ronan started the van and waited until he spotted a red Mustang coming toward the exit of the parking lot. As soon as Katrina had disappeared so had the birds. Her powers still amazed him, even though today they were used against him and the other Warriors.

  “Why are we trusting that woman with Kira?” Viktor asked as he got into the passenger seat and shut the door.

  He had thought the same thing, but his fear that he had lost Kira to Orjyll had overpowered everything else, and he couldn’t even think straight. He knew he acted like a complete dick toward her, but fuck, he had really thought he may have lost her. He realized within seconds how much she mattered to him and he’d reacted, but not in a good way. He knew that, and y
et, he was still pissed off that she didn’t even think of Mira, Drew, and yes, even him while making the decision to put herself in danger and it fucking pissed him off.

  He pulled out behind the Mustang, not even bothering to answer Viktor. His main focus was to follow the car and get to Kira. This was going to get settled without delay.

  “Looks like you got the sister who doesn’t listen to her man,” Steve said, with a little too much arrogance.

  “Bishop, smack the fuck out of him,” Ronan growled, then ran a red light so he didn’t lose Jill.

  “Ow! Fuck, man.” Steve’s yell of pain made Ronan smirk.

  “And remind me to tell Mira that Steve thinks she is a mindless girl who has to be told what to do by her man,” Ronan added, just because he was in a shitty mood. He took another turn quick, amazed that Jill had her driver’s license.

  “Done,” Bishop said, with a nod in the rearview mirror.

  “Hey, whoa now.” Steve practically climbed into the front seat. “I didn’t say that.”

  “Actually, you did.” Bishop pulled him back into the back seat.

  “Don’t know about you, but I’m glad I’m not in that car with Jill driving,” Viktor mumbled to Ronan, as they both cringed when she slammed on her brakes at a walkway. A man was throwing his hands up in the air yelling at the car. Jill rolled down the window and yelled back, her arm waving all over the place.

  Ronan had thought the same exact thing and made a mental note to never get in a car when she is behind the wheel. Soon they were pulling up to the compound. The Mustang zoomed toward the gate.

  “She’s going to go right through it.” Viktor actually grabbed the dashboard, sitting up in his seat.

  The Mustang stopped. Jill didn’t key in the code, but sure enough, the gate opened, allowing them to go through. Just before Ronan was ready to go through himself, the gate started closing. He had to stop and back up to keep the gate from closing on the sides of the van. He glanced up in time to see Jill throw her hand out the window, flipping them the bird.

  “Jill’s a pistol when she’s pissed.” Steve snorted while Ronan cursed and keyed in the code, but the gate remained closed.

  “Shit.” Ronan keyed in the code again, but it still wouldn’t open.

  “You putting in the right code?” Steve rolled down his window, watching Ronan key it in once again. “Yeah, that’s it. You don’t think witchcraft has anything to do with this, do you?”

  Every Warrior behind him began beeping their horns. Ronan couldn’t help the grin that formed on his lips. She was a little firecracker; he liked it. Not the putting herself in danger part, but thinking she was putting him in his place…. Yeah, he was going to enjoy those moments they would have.

  Steve hung out the window yelling at everyone behind them, but Ronan wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he started to back up, in turn making everyone else scramble to back up so he didn’t hit them and cause a chain reaction. He pulled up off the street, got out of the car and then jumped the wall.

  Once he landed and stood straight up, he heard the female laughter. His eyes found her instantly, her laughter dying and smile slipping. He cocked his eyebrow at her, giving her a smirk as if asking her “You wanna play? I’ll definitely play.”

  The ride back to the compound was scary, and it had nothing to do with the angry Warriors following them. No, it was Jill’s driving, her screaming at other drivers, and at one point threatening a pedestrian who was giving her shit about her stopping skills. Silently, Kira agreed with the pedestrian.

  As they approached the gate, at a speed that had her gripping the dashboard, she used her magic to open it and then with the urging of the rest of the women, she used it to close the gate on the Warriors.

  Once they were out of the car and heard the beeping, because she made sure the code wouldn’t work, she began to laugh.

  “Did you do that?” Jill chuckled, then gave her a high five.

  Before they could go inside, Ronan was flying over the wall, his eyes finding her, and she swallowed hard at the look he gave her. Soon all the Warriors were jumping. Sloan was one of them, and he didn’t look happy.

  “Office!” He pointed at the compound. “Now!”

  “I take it that’s Sloan Murphy,” Bonnie whispered toward Tessa, but they all heard it.

  “The one and only,” Jill answered since Tessa was too busy glaring at Jared, who was marching her way.

  Kira glanced at Bonnie with a thought that made her a little nervous. “Any trouble or if you try anything with them…” Kira nodded toward the Warriors. “…I will take you out.”

  Bonnie stared at her for a long moment, then slapped her on the arm. “Now that is the attitude you’re going to need to defeat saggy ass.” When Kira just kept staring at her, Bonnie smirked. “Orjyll, that’s just a nickname. I have tons of them.”

  “You’re going to fit in just fine.” Jill chuckled, totally ignoring the bitching and growling the Warriors were making as they climbed the steps. “That is if you’re found to be trusted.”

  “Well, I’m on the inside now, so I’d say if I really wanted to do anything, you’d be screwed,” Bonnie shot back, but stopped when Jill, Tessa, Katrina, and even Kira stopped, blocking her way.

  “Oh, honey.” Tessa grinned, but it wasn’t friendly. “You have so much to learn.”

  “You are here because the Warriors wanted you here. They’ve been looking for you,” Katrina added, without a grin.

  “Let’s get one thing straight. Don’t think for one minute that you’re here because you want to be here.” Jill took a step toward Bonnie. “You’re here because we brought you here to answer questions.”

  “Hey, I get it.” Bonnie held her arms up. “We’re all on the same page. Witch’s honor.”

  Kira had watched Bonnie through the whole exchange to make sure her feelings about the woman were on track, and she felt that they were. She knew it. But one thing was for certain, if she was wrong, she would be the one to take the bitch out. “Some witches don’t have honor,” Kira added, before turning and walking in the door Katrina held open. “We shall see which you are.”

  Kira stepped aside, letting the Warriors, who were definitely upset, stomp in and head toward Sloan’s office. She glanced down the hallway thinking of getting her things and just leaving, but she was curious about what exactly was going on. Plus, she already had everything she owned in her bag. There was no reason to go any further than Sloan’s office.

  “Kira, don’t make me manhandle you into my office.” Sloan frowned down at her as he passed. “Because I will do it.”

  She had no doubt about that. Maybe locking them out of their own compound wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had, but it felt damn good. She looked away from Sloan’s back to see Ronan standing in the doorway looking at her. He was pissed. Good for him. She didn’t really give a bat’s ass. She found a spot in the crowded office and stood next to Jill, Katrina, Tessa, and Bonnie.

  “Hey.” Nicole walked in, glancing at Tessa, then the rest of them. “The gate not working? Is that why all of you parked outside the great Warrior wall?”

  Jill snorted, then smothered it with her hand. Sloan’s eyes slammed into Kira. “So it was witchcraft and not the gate malfunctioning?”

  “It was,” Kira replied with no explanation.

  “Oh, this should be good.” Nicole walked toward Damon, but whispered as she passed Kira and the women. “Stay strong.” She gave them a wink.

  Kira met Sloan’s stare with one of her own. Finally, he looked from her to Bonnie.

  “Who are you?” Sloan’s voice clearly indicated he was already done with this situation before it even began.

  “Bonnie,” Bonnie replied as if bored out of her mind. When Sloan remained silent with just the glare, Bonnie sighed. “Sorry. Hi, I’m Bonnie. I’m a witch, oh, and a Leo. I like unicorns, long walks, and puppies. I’m allergic to cats, hence the like of puppies.”

  “Are all witches smartasses?” Sloa
n growled, his eyes narrowed so much it was hard to see if they were even open anymore.

  “Eh.” Both Kira and Bonnie bobbed their heads back and forth.

  “Always,” Viktor answered for them, his arms crossed as he stared at Bonnie. “Who sent you, witch?”

  Bonnie looked around, then pointed to herself. “Oh, you mean me? I’m sorry. I thought vampires had excellent hearing.” She cleared her throat. “My. Name. Is. Bonnie,” she said slowly and very loudly.

  “Adam.” Sloan sighed, then nodded toward Bonnie. “Can you read her or do you need to touch?”

  “He touches me, and everyone in this room will regret it.” Bonnie’s whole demeanor turned.

  “In turn that will be your regret.” Kira turned to look at Bonnie. “No one in this room will be harmed by you. We’ve already had this discussion. Are you the one with hearing problems?”

  “You may be powerful, especially now that you have Emilia’s powers, but you don’t know how to use them… yet.” Bonnie had turned toward Kira.

  Kira laughed, her confidence growing because she saw something in Bonnie’s eyes, something new that she hadn’t seen an hour before. Fear. Of her, and she’d use that to her fullest advantage. “You have no clue what I’m capable of.” Kira leaned toward her. “So unless you want to find out, then I suggest you answer the questions so we can get this over with and take care of what really matters.”

  The room was totally silent as the two witches had a stare down. Bonnie finally looked away first, but instead of looking at Sloan, she looked straight at Viktor. “I’m Bonnie Emilia… Grail”

  “Wait, what?” Kira glanced at Viktor to see the pain that briefly crossed his face, before it was replaced with the emotionless façade he always wore.

  “I’m your second cousin.” Bonnie looked from Viktor to Kira. Using her hands, she changed her appearance, and Kira was looking at a younger version of her cousin, Emilia. “And I’m here to make sure you have the tools my mother gifted you to kill my father.”