Fallen Gods: Tainted Purity

by Lorie O'Clare

  Slowly her car drove out of the parking lot.

  Braze had said something about a coven. Witches had covens. They were magic, put spells on people. Braze read her mind, did things that she couldn’t explain. If he was part of some coven and believed that she was too, then she would have certain powers, right?

  Bridget knew next to nothing about witches. She slowed to the speed limit in the downtown area and started searching for a parking spot.

  “If I have powers, then I want a place to park now.”

  Right in front of the store she needed to go into was an empty stall. Bridget hit the brakes so hard she almost crunched into the steering wheel.

  “Shit.” Her heart pounded with a mixture of fear and excitement.

  Her hands shook while she parked, and her knees were wobbly while she unloaded her crafts to take into the store. How was she supposed to form coherent sentences to talk to the shop owner?

  Glancing down the street, she noticed the crystal shop the teenage girls from the day before had mentioned. Marlita wanted to see her. The girls had said that she needed Bridget’s help, or was it that Bridget needed Marlita’s help? Who was this Marlita person?

  Well she sure did need someone’s help.

  Images of Braze appeared in her mind. “You know I will help you.” His words seared through her.

  She turned suddenly, almost dropping her box. Several people walked along the large sidewalk, but no Braze. It definitely sounded like he’d just whispered in her ear though. His breath had warmed her skin. His nearness sent tingles clear to her toes.

  Bridget swore silently. It was bad enough he’d haunted her dreams, now he was haunting her during the day. And if he kept it up, she would be a walking nutcase. Already the warmth between her legs was more than a distraction.

  A low masculine chuckle filled the air around her.

  “Stay out of my thoughts,” she warned in her head.

  But if he heard her warning that meant he was reading her thoughts.

  “Don’t push me away.” Braze’s words again cuddled up next to her, spoken as if he were right behind her.

  The door to the shop opened for her as she approached.

  “See how much you need me?” The amusement in his words couldn’t be missed.

  “Go away,” she whispered out loud, and then looked around nervously hoping no one had overheard her.

  The door shut silently behind her but she knew Braze was no longer with her. He’d appeared out of nowhere, warming her with his thoughts. Her heart still pounded a beat faster. Yet she’d told him to go away, and he had. He’d disappeared when she’d ordered it this morning too. So did she have control over him? Or was he simply honoring her wishes?

  Bridget was more than distracted while filling out the consignment paperwork and chatting with the shop owner. Normally she would have spent more time, catching up on gossip and learning what was selling best for the store. But today she had other things on her mind. Predominantly one tall, muscular man who had invaded her senses as well as her thoughts.

  The most annoying part of it all was that as much as she wanted him to go away, she also couldn’t wait to see him again.

  Bridget had opened the door to the crystal shop before she realized that was where she had headed. The sweet smell of incense filled the air around her. Soft celtic music played in the background while the sound of running water came from a waterfall display in the window.

  She didn’t see anyone in the shop and took her time looking at the different merchandise. A large candle burning in the middle of the store with a crystal goblet holding it, caught her attention. The flame danced as she approached it, making her curious since there was no breeze.

  “So it is true.”

  Bridget heard a woman speak but saw no one. She glanced away from the candle, taking in the rest of the store. Crystals dug from the earth hung in different colors and formations on a rack next to her, catching the light from the candle and creating a beautiful glow. There were necklaces, earrings and knick-knacks.

  “I’m glad you have come to me.” A small woman appeared behind the counter. Her long gray hair had been braided and twisted behind her head. She smiled, her pale blue eyes appearing friendly. “Come with me.”

  Warmth washed through Bridget. A familiarity with her surroundings, the sensation that she’d been here before, done this already. Looking around she took in the contents of the store again, the burning flame, the display in the store window.

  “How long has this store been here?” she asked the woman, noting several artifacts on the wall over her head.

  “I opened this place earlier this year.” The woman caught her eye and then looked up on the wall too. A slow smile crossed her face. “I’ve always had a store, though. What else do you remember?”

  Bridget stared at one of the artifacts directly above the doorway leading to a storage area of sorts behind the counter. An odd shaped cross made out of straw hung above the door frame. It looked just liked the art project she’d made as a child and Maureen had saved.

  “Do you remember the cross? It’s a symbol created in your honor.” The older woman spoke softly, her tone soothing like a mother to a child.

  “What do you mean? Why do you ask what I remember?” Bridget reached for the counter, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

  The older woman rested her hand on Bridget’s. “My name is Marlita. Remembering is the only way you’ll survive.”

  The door to the shop opened behind her, a rush of cold air attacking her as several shoppers entered. But Bridget paid no attention to them. Scenes flashed before her eyes, the odd shaped cross, a large candle burning. Images of war, of buildings burning.

  So how did Braze fit into all of this? He came to her so strong, so in charge and telling her of a life she didn’t know. None of it made any sense. Somehow she had to sort through this mystery. If this shop owner, this older woman named Marlita, sought her out, knew about her, did she also know Braze? And if she did, then why wasn’t she seeking him out?

  Something was expected of her. Only she could handle the matter. Bridget gripped the counter, everything around her seeming to spin. Nothing made sense. A nagging sensation ran through her that she needed to do something but she just couldn’t remember what it was.

  “Come back here. You’ll be more comfortable.” Marlita’s voice came through a cloud, distant yet right next to her.

  The older woman’s hand touched her, soft and comforting, a touch so familiar. She’d touched her just like that so many times before; Bridget knew it without giving it thought.

  This was too weird. How could a woman she’d just met be so familiar?

  Marlita walked her through the storage room to another door, which she opened from a key that hung on a chain attached to her waist. Bridget entered a room filled with burning candles, a mixture of herbs and other fragrances scenting the air.

  “It’s very important that we retrieve your memory. There isn’t much time.” Marlita guided her toward the middle of the room. “If I only knew what spell…”

  Her words faded, the sounds of people in the store outside distracting both of them. The flames on the many candles flickered, dancing wildly as if a gust of wind had just filled the room. Their light spread up the walls while long shadows moved slowly along the floor.

  Marlita pushed the two of them into the middle of the room where they were surrounded by at least twenty very large candles. All of them stood on gold candleholders, which had to have been very old. Bridget ran her finger over one of them, the top of it reaching her waist. The metal warmed her finger, vibrating through her, filling her with a warm rush of belonging—like coming home.

  The metal had been worked, painstaking hours put into creating the ornate candleholders that stood around her now. They had been kept polished, cared for by a loving hand. Warm satisfaction crept through her knowing someone had been considerate enough to see to their preservation.

  Wait a minute. She fon
dled the metal as if she had been the one who had created the fine art. The smooth surface, so perfectly made, was too familiar. She had made these. But how?

  Suddenly too many voices filled the room. Bridget couldn’t catch her breath. Her heart pounded in her chest while she looked around her, feeling caged in but at the same time knowing there was something she could do.

  It was right there. All she had to do was remember…

  “Helpless.” They vibrated the word through the air. “Forgotten and helpless.”

  Laughter coursed through her, wicked and hateful.

  “Who are they?” Bridget grabbed Marlita while she looked around her, fear grabbing her, pinning her in place.

  “Brigit!” Marlita screamed out her name, saying it in the odd way that Braze had. “Only you can stop them. Remember who you are! Remember Hedel! Remember the flame! The coven!”

  Something crashed out front, breaking with the sound of shattered glass. The loud sound made her jump, crying out.

  “What am I supposed to do?” Frantic images appeared before her.

  Voices sounded all around her. They were laughing, mocking her, enjoying her confusion.

  “You are dead, Brigit.” The voices taunted her. “They are too late in finding you.”

  “Stay in the circle,” Marlita screamed.

  The door to the room slammed shut, causing Bridget’s heart to explode. Then it flew open, hitting the wall behind it.

  Hideous screams. Flames dancing, gyrating out of control. Distorted images, growing and shrinking while they moved around the circle of candles that somehow protected them from whatever these creatures were.

  More items crashed out front. Whatever this was, it had every intention of destroying the store.

  Fear lashed through Bridget. She could barely breathe. Something terribly evil tried to penetrate through her, the sweet smell of the candles being doused by its stench.

  “No!” she cried out. “Get the hell away from me.”

  It receded, but swarmed around the circle, half the flames on the candles going out.

  “That’s it, Brigit. You are in control.” Marlita sounded so far away although she held on tightly to her.

  None of this made any damned sense. The door slammed shut and then opened again, banging loudly, the hinges screaming in protest. Voices chided her, mocking her, laughing and criticizing her.

  Marlita clung to her, crying out although Bridget could no longer hear her. Merchandise crashed in the other room, sounding like someone was having a great time ransacking the place.

  She was supposed to fix this. But what the fuck was she supposed to do? Frustration gripped her so hard she couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t fair. How could she handle something that didn’t make any sense in the first place?

  “Get the fuck out of here,” she screamed loud enough to hurt her throat. “Quit making fun of me! I’m fucking sick of it!”

  She shook uncontrollably, falling to her knees, pain rushing through her while the room began circling around her.

  “Be gone and stay away,” she cried, feeling hot tears tumble from her eyes, burn their way down her cheeks. “Leave me the fuck alone!”

  Chapter Eight

  She was going to throw up. There was no doubt about it.

  Bridget pressed her cheek to the cool floor, waiting for whatever might happen next. It was quiet. Too damned quiet. The demons were gone.

  “They were demons.” She knew that. But how the hell did she know that?

  “Yes. And there are more. Do you see them?” Marlita stood up slowly, walking out of the circle.

  Something in the store, beyond the open door, moved. Bridget jumped to her feet, the candles around her raging to life. Their flames raged, matching the fire burning inside her. She was getting real tired of the bullshit.

  “Leave her store alone!” She marched out of the room, entering the shop that moments ago had been filled with beautiful artifacts.

  It looked like a bomb had hit it.

  “And now you are Brigit again?” The gaunt man stepped over broken glass, crunching it under his boots while he approached her.

  She stared at the tattoo that coursed its way around his neck, then up into his fierce-looking eyes.

  “I’ve always been Bridget.” Raising her hand to stop him, she heard his thoughts and experienced his hatred. “Get out of here.”

  He sneered at her, but his hesitation coursed through her making his bluff all too obvious.

  “You are nothing,” she yelled.

  He disappeared.

  Bridget choked, her throat swelling shut while her mouth went dry. Her heart raced, the intense pulse throbbing wildly inside her rib cage, making it hard to think.

  She was in charge. All of this, she could control it. For some reason, she’d just forgotten that she was supposed to take care of things.

  “Marlita,” she sobbed, the tears rushing anew while she stared through blurred vision at the destroyed shop. “I could have stopped this.”

  She turned quickly, looking at the older woman, surprised when Marlita chuckled.

  “You have restored my merchandise many times,” Marlita said.

  “I have?” Bridget took in the store, her heart heavy at how the precious items lay in crumbled ruin on the floor.

  Shelves were overturned, artwork ripped from the wall. So many beautiful items destroyed. She closed her eyes, picturing how the place looked when she first entered.

  “Return as you were,” she ordered, squeezing her eyes closed tightly.

  She suddenly felt dizzy.

  “See?” Marlita said.

  Bridget was scared to open her eyes. There were no sounds, nothing whizzing past her, no movement around her. If the place went back to the way it was, wouldn’t she experience items floating through the air, reassembling and returning to where’d they’d been on the shelves?

  Daring to open one eye, she almost lost her balance. She managed to grab the counter while she looked stunned at the quiet shop around her.

  Not one item was out of place!

  “I’m magic.” And she was insane, absolutely out of her fucking mind.

  Marlita laughed, walking behind the counter and restacking several papers. “Magic is a human word, a simple term offered that hardly begins to describe what you are.”

  Bridget turned to face her. “Then what am I?”

  “You’re Brigit from the coven of Hedel, an immortal, an ancient.” Marlita smiled, her tone calm.

  Bridget knew she had stared into that reassuring expression a million times. The urge to go to the woman, hold her and be hugged, the way a mother would hug her daughter, distracted her for a moment.

  She chewed on her lower lip accepting that there had to be truth in Marlita’s words but not understanding for the life of her what they meant.

  “That is what Braze said.” She glanced toward the door, half expecting him to walk through it at any moment.

  “You have seen him?” There was worry in Marlita’s tone.

  “Well, yes.” Looking toward the older woman, something in her expression made Bridget hold her tongue.

  “He is a rebel, Bridget, a worry to the rest of the elders.” Marlita’s motherly tone turned stern. “You were smart when you left him on Hedel.”

  “I left him?” She searched her memories, her dream coming to mind.

  She had flown from the altar right after he’d fucked her. At least that was how it happened in her dream.

  Glancing around the store, the thick smell of incense in the air, she wondered if maybe it hadn’t been a dream. Maybe her memory had been struggling to awaken in her sleep.

  And maybe she was a prime candidate for a loony farm.

  “How do you know about me?” Her thoughts still lingered toward Braze, an ache growing inside her to once again run her fingers over that powerful body, feel him pressed against her, his cock buried deep inside her.

  “I’m your watcher.” Marlita moved around the counter,
her actions slow as she walked to the front door. “Since the days of Hedel I’ve kept an eye on you. I’m not allowed to interfere with your life, just watch and report to the coven. Of course when you lost your memory, quit using your powers, I lost track of you. But now that I’ve found you, and you’ve regained your memory, I can answer your questions, which will help restore you to who you really are.”

  “But my memory hasn’t returned.” Bridget felt a headache coming on, none of this made sense.

  “You can’t deny that you took care of the demons. Your memory will come back to you the more you use your powers. I’m sure of it.” Marlita smiled like it all made sense. “The demons found you. And that was their downfall because once again you will rid Earth of them.”

  She couldn’t deny that she’d made the demons go away. The store had been destroyed, and now appeared calm and in order.

  “It would help to know the spell you were put under, but for some reason your powers have returned. Your strength as an immortal is once again yours.” Marlita ran her fingers over the leaves of a plant growing near the display in the front window. She kept her back to Bridget. “Have your memories of Braze returned?”

  Bridget’s heartbeat quickened. “I’m not sure.”

  If dreams counted then she’d never forgotten him. A flush of heat ran through her and she licked her lips, not sure what to say to Marlita.

  “Is he important?” she asked, hoping for more information about Braze.

  “I guess it depends on who you ask,” Marlita said quietly, but worry now swarmed around her. She turned around slowly, meeting Bridget’s gaze with her watery blue eyes. “When you were very young, you took Braze as a lifemate. But this infuriated the elders and brought the end of Hedel sooner than its time.”

  Bridget pushed her hair over her shoulder, letting the long strands fall down her back. Her dreams were memories. Memories of Braze. She had left her body, left him, left her home.

  But why?

  Especially since right now she wanted him so badly her body ached all over. Just bringing him up in conversation was enough to make her pussy throb. She wiped her hands on her jeans, trying to take the dampness away. Somehow she needed to force herself not to crave Braze before she knew more about him.