by T. M. Cromer
“What do you need me to do?” Winnie asked.
“Stand here,” Nash directed. “Alastair, you’re here.” He took a few steps to his right. “Autumn, right here.” He then moved to take the northernmost spot of the circle he’d created.
“What about me?” Spring asked. She needed to be useful. Needed to have at least a small part in the ceremony.
“You need to pull from the Earth from beside Knox. The rest of us will do our part to create the circle and pull from the elements.” He glanced around. “Everyone be ready. Spring, make a paste of the broadleaf, comfrey, and burdock. Then place it over the wounds in the front and back.”
Once she did as he’d instructed, she set the amulet into the paste. “Like this?”
“Exactly so.” He turned another page. His lips moved in time to what he read as if he was memorizing the words. With a short nod, he closed the book, and placed it on the ground at his feet. “Here we go. Repeat after me…”
Spring had no idea what was being said. She repeated the Old Norse spell with the exact pronunciation and inflection as Nash, trusting he knew what the hell he was doing. All the members of their circle joined the chant.
“Pull from your elements and direct it toward the amulet,” Nash shouted over the rising storm-force winds Winnie had created.
Spring placed one hand over the root of the oak and held the other about six inches above the amulet. “Odin, I trust in your magic,” she whispered as she drew the healing energy from the earth. The ground rumbled and lightning cut across the night sky. One by one, her cells fired within her until she felt as if she were a giant fireball ready to explode. Still she drew from her garden as her beloved plants gave their life source for her cause.
She stared so hard at Knox’s chest, she was afraid she imagined the movement she saw. His chest expanded a second time, and his mouth fell open. The light emitting from the amulet was now a blinding blue-white, and its heat seared into her palm. Although tears of pain raced down her cheeks, she held strong. Twigs, leaves, and dirt whipped around and stung where they struck.
The four elements were frenzied, circling and plunging into the disc beneath her hand. She wanted to scream her agony, but she bit her lip. If she let loose her tortured cry, she would kill the struggling garden around her.
The chanting stopped, and as one, the elements fused and slammed into the amulet. The light went out. For one terrifying moment, she thought they’d failed. When a guttural cry was wrenched from Knox’s lips, she bowed her head and allowed silent tears to fall. That life-affirming scream was the sweetest sound she had ever heard.
For the span of five heartbeats, her family looked on, but then they all surged forward. Autumn and Winnie wrapped her in their loving arms and cried their relief alongside her. Alastair clasped a hand on his son’s shoulder before he squatted beside Knox. “Welcome back, boy,” he said softly as he smoothed a hand over Knox’s head. “Welcome back.”
Alastair helped Autumn to her feet and hugged each sister in turn.
“I can’t thank you enough,” Spring said to him, her throat raspy and sore. “Can you help me transport him to my room so I can have Aunt GiGi take a look at him?”
“Of course.”
She faced Nash and hugged him. “My plants need help.”
He gently turned her palm over. The shapes of the runes were burned into her flesh. “So do you.”
“I can wait. Knox and my garden need the most attention right now.”
“I’ll take care of it.” He hugged her a second time. “Go on.”
“Thank you.”
26
Knox woke to the smell of cool mint and rolled toward the source. A sharp tug of discomfort pulled at the muscles on the left side of his chest and back. He grunted at the pain but continued to seek Spring’s scent. When his nose connected with her hair, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He wrapped an arm around her and drew her back against him, spooning her. She murmured incoherent words and wiggled her ass to get comfortable. Had he felt the least bit human, he’d have been aroused. As it was, he was content to hold her and wonder what the hell he drank last night that gave him this type of hangover.
A soft knock sounded at the door. He mentally cursed whoever was on the other side. It seemed whenever he finally had Spring to himself, someone was always interrupting.
The door cracked open, and Winnie peeked her head inside. When she saw him, awake and scowling in her direction, she grinned. “Welcome back.”
“Did I go somewhere?”
Her gaze turned somber. “You did. My sister was having none of it and pulled you back.”
“Would it be awful of me to say, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about?”
“I’d be surprised if you remembered anything, in all honesty.” She stepped farther into the room and approached the bed with the tray she held in her hands. “I brought you some herbal tea and a hearty breakfast. I’d hoped that after a thirty-two hour nap you’d be awake.”
“Thirty-two…” He jackknifed into a sitting position and grabbed at his chest. He glanced down to where the skin above his heart was slightly puckered and red. “What the hell happened?”
Spring rolled in his direction and placed a hand against his lower back. “You were shot.”
He stared down at her, aghast and unable to pick one question from the seemingly hundreds crowding his brain. One word stuck. “Shot?”
Tears sprang into her distraught eyes and leaked into the hair at her temples.
“Shot?” He rubbed his chest again. “Through the chest?”
“Through your heart,” Winnie said softly as she rested a comforting hand on Spring’s shoulder.
Wildly, with no thought for himself, he reached for Spring’s hand. “But you’re all right? You weren’t hurt?”
“No.” The sisters shared a glance.
“Who?” Had one of his cousins been injured? Or, Goddess forbid, died?
Spring sat up and scooted to rest her back against the headboard. “Coop was shot in the shoulder and in the leg when he tried to get to me.” She swiped at the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand. “GiGi and Summer treated him. He’s going to be okay. I promise.”
Although the proof could be felt beneath his fingertips, Knox found it difficult to wrap his mind around what they had told him. He tried to clear away the fuzz clouding his brain and remember the night in question. The last thing he recalled was teasing Spring. “You called me rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.” Rubbing the place between his brows, he tried to recall her next words. “I can’t remember what else you said.”
Color lit Spring’s face, and she slid a quick, sidelong glance at her sister before she cleared her throat. “I asked your place or mine.”
A bubble of laughter tried to work its way free. Her embarrassment in the face of the fact that he was lying naked in her bed was—wait! He glanced down and secured the covers tighter around his hips. Goddess! He was naked in Spring’s bed!
Winnie cackled, wicked and knowing. “I was wondering when he’d realize his beautiful backside was showing.”
He gave her a pointed glare. “You’re engaged to be married. You shouldn’t be salivating over another man’s backside.”
Both women giggled.
“When did he become so uptight?”
Spring bit her lip to hold back her laughter and turned over-bright eyes toward him. “I can’t be certain, but I suspect always.”
“Go ahead and laugh it up, ladies. But I’d better never catch you admiring another man’s backside in this lifetime, Spring Thorne.”
“Only yours, my darling man.” She gave a tug of the covers at his hip. “Now give us a little peek.”
“You’ve both had all the peeks you’re going to get for the time being,” he growled.
“Does that mean we’ll get more peeks later?” Winnie asked, the mischief clear in her blue eyes.
“You! Leave the food and get.�
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“I don’t know…” she hedged. “I feel like I need some type of payment for all the hard work I’ve put into making your breakfast.”
“I am not going to flash my ass!”
“How about your front?” Spring suggested.
“I’m not hearing this right now.” Knox swirled his hand and closed the door of the ensuite bathroom. “You two are incorrigible.” With a simple snap of his fingers, he teleported into the bathroom. Their hysterical laughter could be heard through the wooden panel door. The sound was music to his ears. Knox smiled, even as he leaned heavily against the counter for support.
With a flip of the light switch, he stared at his pale complexion in the mirror. Christ, he looked bad. Dark circles rested heavily under his eyes, and his cheeks had taken on a hollowed out appearance. His gaze dropped to the closed wound on his chest. Shot through the heart. How had Spring brought him back? He didn’t know a single witch or warlock that powerful.
Other than body aches and a serious need to relieve his bladder, he felt physically fine. No weakness in his arms or legs. No overpowering fatigue. He wouldn’t question the blessing bestowed upon him. But if his cousins hadn’t already found out who ambushed their group on the alley, he would make it his mission, even if it was the last thing he did. For now, he had to take care of his most pressing need.
* * *
Spring picked at the food her sister had left them. It had been a relief when Knox finally moved this morning. When he’d remained in the same position for the entire duration of his sleep, she’d become worried. And when she refused to leave his side, her sisters were kind enough to bring her food at regular intervals.
The bathroom door opened to reveal Knox dressed in a T-shirt and loose pajama bottoms. He padded barefoot to the bed and sprawled next to her.
“You okay?” he asked, resting a warm hand on her knee.
Wasn’t it just like the Knox she’d come to know to worry about her? “I’m not sure. It all happened so fast, and I freaked the fuck out.” She stroked a finger down his scarred cheek. His glamour spell had fallen away upon his death. Spring didn’t feel the need to hide his old wound from the others, although now that he was awake, he might not be too happy she hadn’t. “I didn’t think to hide your scar.”
Knox captured her fingers and kissed the tips. “I don’t care. What can you tell me about the shooting?”
She outlined coming out of the club, their saucy teasing, and the second-by-second details of the incident itself. There were times she had to stop and center herself, but she managed to relay the whole night.
“I’ve heard other witches and warlocks talk about visiting the Otherworld after they’d died. I don’t remember any of it.” He shook his head and snagged a hunk of bacon from the plate. “What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember my time there either.”
“True, but Isis said you’d experience a reset and that was to be expected. But I still remember everything leading up to the shooting.”
“Did you want to forget?” It had never occurred to her that he might want to start over as she had done. Maybe what had happened to her was a detriment to their relationship? Was it possible Knox viewed her as damaged despite what he’d told her?
He glanced up sharply. “No. I’d never want to forget you or a second of our time before or after your… memory loss.”
She was certain he intended to say death. “I think the universe has it in for us.”
“It would seem like, huh? I’m glad we have powerful magic on our side.”
“Here.” She handed him the tray. “Eat up. I need a shower.”
“Need someone to scrub your back?”
The hopeful expression on his face made her laugh. “You need to rest. You’ve only been back in the land of the living for a day and a half.”
“Spoilsport.”
“You know it.” She stroked a trembling hand over his thick hair. “I was so scared.”
Knox set the tray aside and tucked her against his chest. “Hear that?” His heart beat a steady rhythm. “I’m fine. Thanks to you, sweetheart, I’m alive and well. Thank you.”
“One thing became clear to me; I don’t want to go on without you.”
“I felt the same way, you know.”
She lifted her head to gaze into his serious face but remained quiet, waiting for him to elaborate.
“When you died…” Knox inhaled deeply, and Spring understood the urge. “When you died and Isis told me you didn’t want to come back, I begged her to take my life.”
“Ohmygod! Knox, you didn’t tell me that!”
“I wasn’t proud of my weakness.” When she tried to sit up, he pulled her back to him and rested his cheek on the crown of her head. “I never want to be without you. I know it’s a lot to lay on you so soon, but there you have it.”
“No, I get it. It’s like the other night. When I couldn’t bring you back on my own with the amulet, I was devastated. The future was suddenly so bleak. How was I expected to go on?”
He gave a harsh chuckle. “We’re a sad pair.”
“We should probably make a pact to not die for at least a good eighty years or so.”
“Sounds like a great plan.”
They held onto the other in silence. The growling of Knox’s stomach drove them apart.
“I’m going to inhale all this food and conjure a whole buffet to fill this empty pit of mine while you grab a shower.”
“Coop is across the hall if you want to conjure your table of food in there. I’m sure he’d be happy to see you.” She leaned in to kiss him again.
“I adore you and your clever ideas.” Knox paused in reaching for the remaining bacon. “I thought you were a vegetarian? Why did Winnie bring meat?”
She paused on her way to the bathroom and spun back to face him. “She’s been bringing it with every meal in case you woke up. What can I say? My sister is an optimist.”
“Maybe I should have rewarded her with a look at my ass.”
Spring snorted as she backed toward the bathroom. “Yeah, believe me, she got an eyeful.”
“I’m going to die of embarrassment now.”
“Nope! No dying remember? Besides, you can trust me when I say, you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Your ass is a world class, Grade-A, prime cut.”
“You’re rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. And when I get back from checking on Coop, we can decide on your bedroom or mine.”
Happiness filled her, and Spring laughed all the way to the shower.
27
Knox knocked on the door across the hall and entered when Coop’s voice boomed out a greeting.
“Hey, man.”
“Hey.”
He studied Coop and noted his cousin looked as healthy as ever. “You don’t look like someone who’s been shot.”
“I can’t say the same about you, cuz. You look a little pale. How are you feeling?”
“I literally just woke up for the first time a half hour ago.”
Coop’s face went solemn. “Yeah, well, you scared us all.”
Because Knox was still a little sore, he sat at the foot of the bed and rested back against one of the four posters. “Any clue as to who was behind this?”
“Not a one. It’s terrifying to think we’ve attracted another enemy.”
“Is it possible this was just a random shooting, like the ones sweeping the whole nation?”
A frown and shrug was Coop’s answer.
“If we have attracted another enemy, so to speak, the questions remain: who, why, and when?”
“I don’t know, but now that you’re back with us, we need to call a family meeting. I’m hoping the big cheese himself might know more.”
“Alastair?”
“Yeah. He’s always had an in with Isis. Maybe he can tap into her wealth of knowledge.”
Coop’s idea had merit. Knox wanted payback. Whoever had put Spring and her sisters in suc
h terrible jeopardy needed to face a reckoning. Preferably soon. “Do you think I was targeted specifically? Or at least Spring and I were?”
“Yes.”
He cast Coop a sharp glance and met his steady regard head on. “Explain.”
“I wasn’t shot until I went to help her. I think you, and possibly Spring, were the targets, and I got in the way of the bullets meant for her.” Coop rubbed his shoulder. “It makes me wonder if someone from Esteban’s camp survived.”
“I don’t see how they could have. I obliterated that whole organization in the days following…” Christ, he still couldn’t say the words. Even the image of Spring lying there on the floor cut through him like a damned knife. “This feels different somehow. More personal. If I had to guess, I’d say it was someone attached to Lin.”
Coop’s head came up from where he’d been probing his healed leg wound. “I hadn’t thought of that. I’d just assumed everyone hated him as much as we did and they might be happy that rat bastard is gone.”
“I could be off base, but like I said, it feels personal.”
“Then we definitely need to talk to Alastair. He’s the expert on all things Zhu Lin related.”
Knox nodded and slowly rose to his feet. “I’d intended to conjure a buffet of food for us. I’m craving a steak so badly; I feel like I could eat an entire cow.”
Coop laughed. “It’s close to lunchtime. Let’s call Keaton and Zane to join us. Should we meet here or at our place?”
“Here is fine. I can’t imagine the Thornes will want to be excluded from the conversation.”
“Yeah, Summer would skin me alive.”
“You have it so rough.”
Coop grinned, and it was clear to see how much he adored his girlfriend.
“When are you going to stop milking your gunshot wounds?”
“Never. Do you know what kind of TLC I’ve been getting? I—”
Footsteps sounded outside the bedroom door, and, without warning, Coop grabbed his shoulder and moaned just as Summer sailed into the room. Coop, the damned faker, played it up as she fluttered about, fluffing pillows and touching his face.