by Bryce Evans
Nolan sat motionless as he listened to the little girl tell him he was going to die in the war. Not only die, but be burned to death by his mate’s brother. He made the mistake of looking up at Skylar. She had turned ghostly white. Apparently she was just as shocked.
“Now that Nolan knows this, we can prepare for it and change it.” MJ tried to make it sound better, but it didn’t help. Shit his death had been predicted, and Carina was never wrong. He couldn’t shake this feeling now. This was what he feared.
“Now let’s talk about the wicked witch, Carina. I know you’re scared, but what you say today will change the events in the future. And what you’re doing now will help us keep everyone safe. I know she scared you in the dream, but remember it all can be changed. Even what you saw about Bast.”
This seemed to help Carina. Bast was her mate; she knew it and he knew it. Bast was the king of Elves, and his body would never grow older until Carina came of age. It was touching to see them together. Bast always acted as a gentleman around her, and never once did any of them fear for Carina when she was with him.
Swallowing hard, Carina rubbed her hands down her dress. “Bast was fighting a lot of the magic people. They were trying to get to him, but his magic was too strong. He was winning, but then she showed up, and before I could stop her she shot something out of her hand. It was black like smoke and it got inside of him and pulled his magic out. He reached out to me before he collapsed to the ground. I tried to run after him, but I was held back. I…” Carina started tearing up again and collapsed on Bast’s chest. Her sobs were awful. They could all hear the agony in her cries.
“Carina, listen to me.” MJ moved closer and leaned over to her. “Are you listening? Remember, I said we were going to change this, but I need your help. Just a little bit more, honey, okay?”
Carina sniffed and ran her hand across her face. “You promise he will be okay?” Bast hugged her tighter, kissing the top of her head.
Glancing up at Bast, MJ smiled. “I promise. Now tell me everything you can remember about Claudia.”
Chapter Nine
Nolan sat beside the water, waiting for the others. He wished he was as confident as MJ was about changing future events, but he wasn’t, and neither were his friends. How could he mate with Skylar if he was dead? If something happened to him, it would make her vulnerable, and that would give Jamal all he needed to kill her too.
He shook his head, trying to stop the thoughts. She would need to live and go on with her life, even if it meant doing it without him. If they didn’t mate, she wouldn’t feel the pull, and when he died the grief wouldn’t make her vulnerable and she would be able to still fight. That was it, he couldn’t do that to her. She’d been through enough. They couldn’t mate. He had seen what it did to a mate when their loved one died. It crushed them, and they couldn’t control the pain they felt. It took his dad months to be able to at least talk to people again. They had looked for a witch who helped him. At least it helped him for a while because he had a child to raise.
Nolan stood up when Judd arrived. “Hey.”
“Hey, how are you?” Judd asked. Nolan could tell that he was worried too. They all cared about each other, and they’d all been through a lot since they were children.
“Dead man walking,” Nolan joked, but nothing was funny about it.
“Stop it, Nolan.” Judd grabbed his arm. “Nothing is going to happen to you. MJ is right, we can change all of this.”
“But what if we can’t change it all? What if there are still some casualties in this war?” Nolan asked.
“Come on man, we’re going to make doubly sure the big kitty will be okay and safe to continue growing his big fat head.”
Nolan laughed again, and kept laughing until he was bent over. When he finally leaned up he just shook his head at Judd. “That was cold, brother.”
“It was a joke, because you’re starting to believe that you’re already dead. Look, we’re all going to get through this together. I promise.” Judd’s voice was final. Nolan he knew he meant what he said, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread.
“Carina hasn’t been wrong yet,” Nolan said quietly. Even he could hear the fear in his voice.
“You’re right, Nolan, she hasn’t ever been wrong. That’s why we’re going to change things before they happen. MJ is working with Carina now, getting her to describe every person out there, down to where they were standing, and we’re going to do it different. Now that we know, we can prepare for it.”
Nolan shook his head hard and whispered, “But…but what if history doesn’t want to be rewritten, and it still happens?” He asked the one question that Judd wasn’t expecting; or maybe just didn’t want to hear.
Judd pulled Nolan toward him and said through a clenched jaw, “All we can do is try and change it, Nolan. None of us are guaranteed to go on in life, but dammit we’re going to anyway. You can’t lose the faith, man. You have to stay strong. I won’t loose anyone else that I care for, and that includes you, big kitty.”
Nolan smiled. “Aww man, you love me. That’s so sweet.”
Judd nodded. “I do, Nolan, and that’s why we’re going to work this out until we make sure we all come home. Brother, please don’t lose the faith on me now. We have too much to live for. You have too much to live for now. She’s arrived for you.”
Before Nolan could respond, they heard Ryder, Kayden, and Brody running up in their animal forms. They all shifted and looked around.
“Nobody is here, I checked.” Nolan’s voice was lowered as he sat down on the rocks. He staggered, and then caught himself. He hadn’t wanted to hear the words Judd used. Skylar was his mate, and his best friends knew it. But he couldn’t let it happen. His history had already been written, and she wasn’t going down with him. He would have to make sure that she would go on without him. Everyone would consider this as him giving up but he wasn’t. He was a realist and Carina was never wrong in her visions. They relied on them to guide them to show them the way. Yes, he may survive, but what if he didn’t? What if he was the Alpha that wasn’t meant to have a mate and he was going to die. Skylar already meant the world to him. The mating pull was making it impossible to be around her. She had already saved him once, there wouldn’t be another time. She was meant to live and he was going to make sure that happened. He knew Fisher would take over the pride if he was gone, but if he mated Skylar and then killed in battle it would hurt her and that would give Jamal the chance he needed to kill her. No, he would come up with something to make her realized they were not mates. He already hated himself for what he was going to do, but he couldn’t see a another way around it.
The rocks were still warm, from the sun’s heat and that comforted him. This was familiar to him. This was home. He and Judd used to come here as young boys to talk and figure life out. This was where they made promises to each other and became blood brothers for life. It always helped them think, but now they had a lot to talk about. They needed to change some things before it was too late. Now it was time to call in those favors from everyone they’d helped before. It was time for retribution, and a lot of prayers.
Claudia paced the room. “No, no, no! I won’t change these plans. This one, this one will open the book, and soon it will be mine.”
“You mean ours, right?” Jamal lay on the couch with his legs crossed, throwing a ball up in the air and then catching it. The dragon had only one use for her, and now after seeing his sister he wanted to change the plans.
Stopping her pacing, Claudia turned toward her lover. “Are you scared of your sister?” She watched as the ball was disintegrated in midair by Jamal’s fire. He could do that without even shifting.
Jamal jumped up and stared at her. “Never say that again. I’m not scared of my sister, of all people. When it comes down to it she will always choose to help them. It’s her way, and her weakness. She protected the tiger, and she will again when I set my sights on him. Skylar messed up my plans before, but she won’t
do it this time. I’ll wait until she’s preoccupied and then I’ll take her and the Alpha tiger out. My sister will know that we’re coming at night, so we need to do things differently. They’ll be waiting for us and take a lot of our people out.”
“We have more than enough to take Alpha City. Burning the city down will get them moving exactly where we want them. They’ll have nowhere else to go except the mountains. With all the reinforcements we have coming, we’ll outnumber them. No, the plan stays the same.” Claudia had waited for this moment for years, and she was so close she could taste it. She would take every one of the Elves’ power, and she would rule the world.
She just needed another innocent Seer to open the book. Thoth’s magic would be so powerful that not even the Elven magic could compare.
A knock at the door drew her from her thoughts. “Enter.”
The members of her coven all entered, dressed in their robes. She narrowed her eyes. What were they up to? “What?”
“We brought you a present,” Robby smirked and moved to the side, and there stood her daughter.
“Metilda?” Claudia whispered.
“Mother, it’s me.” Metilda ran up to her but stopped before she hugged her.
“But how?” Claudia reached out and picked up a piece of her hair. “Your hair has gotten longer.”
Metilda smiled and nodded. “I thought I would never see you again, Mother. I…I was so—”
“If you’d done what I told you then you would’ve won. Now look where we’re at!” Claudia looked over her shoulder and said, “Get her settled in her room.”
“Mother, I…I…”
“Excuses, Metilda that’s all they are. Get settled in your room and I’ll talk to you later,” Claudia said, dismissing her.
One of the coven members pulled on her arm. If she looked back at her daughter, she would appear weak in front of the others. She had to stay strong.
Jerking her arm away, Metilda hissed. “I don’t have any magic, Mother.”
“Then what good are you?” Jamal said from the couch.
Metilda sneered at the dragon, then turned around and walked out of the room.
“Hmm, so that’s your daughter.” Jamal was lying on the couch again with his arms behind his head.
Her expression hardened. “You leave her alone. I will deal with mine.” Claudia started to walk out of the room, but stopped. “If I catch you sniffing around her, I will kill you. Maybe you should be worrying about your own, King of the Dragons.”
Jamal’s laughter followed her out. She meant what she said—if he touched one hair on Metilda’s head, she would kill him.
Chapter Ten
Skylar walked around outside, waiting for Nolan to return. She had to tell him that he was her mate. The moment she saw him she knew he was important, and now she understood why. When she’d dreamed as a girl of meeting her mate one day, she thought for sure he would be a dragon shifter from another country who came to the United States and killed her brother, making her his queen. But that was just a dream.
Her reality was that she would have to kill her brother herself. And now she was part of a secret society, which was under attack from a witch who practiced dark magic and had released her brother from Hell. She couldn’t make this stuff up. It was her reality. Now, they were trying to figure out a way to survive a war that was coming in only four days. Oh, and her mate wasn’t a dragon shifter: he was an Alpha Tiger and one of the leaders of Alpha City. She was scared to death of what he would say. Would he open his arms to her?
She walked around to the back of the house and watched as Thea sat on the ground on the edge of a garden. She was leaning off to the side, because her belly kept her from bending too far. Xavier and Fisher were in a small storage building, getting shovels and other gardening tools out.
She gasped at the look on Thea’s face. She was smiling and content. Her head was tilted back, and her eyes were closed. Skylar could hear the birds singing to each other, and the scent of lavender flowed through the air. This was home, here on Nolan’s land. Thea was obviously in heaven with the gardens.
They had vegetables already growing, and off to the side were flowers and roses. Juicy tomatoes were hanging from the vines ready to be picked sitting inside a small greenhouse, and the flowers were in full bloom, getting ready to close for a cold winter day. She loved how peaceful it was here. No wonder all the rooms had fresh flowers in them; they had their own supply growing in the backyard. Glancing around, she saw a bigger green house and she could see all kinds of trees growing inside.
If they didn’t stop her brother and Claudia, then all of this would be destroyed. For the first time in her life, Skylar felt vulnerable. She was scared that she would fail and Thea and Xavier’s baby would be killed by Jamal. She shook her head. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to make sure they were safe, and able to bring Sin into the world without worrying that his life would be forfeited because Jamal didn’t want him as future competition.
Tears sprang forward, and Skylar covered her mouth with her hand before the sob could be heard. They had to win, or baby Sin, Thea, Xavier, and all of her new friends would be dead. Claudia and Jamal would never let them live. All of the Order would be killed and made an example of, used as a way to control everyone. Blinking hard, Skylar turned away and saw Fisher standing against the side of the house.
She walked back around to the front porch and sat down on the bottom steps. Something had to be done. She had to come up with a plan to help them. Jamal had a weakness somewhere, and she had to use it against him. But what was it?
“Why don’t you join us?” Fisher asked. Skylar twisted around to look at him.
“Nah. but thanks for helping them out and letting them plant some things. We didn’t get a chance to see anything they planted grow to its fullest. We were on the move so much. And Thea loves it. She can make anything grow. She has a green thumb.”
Fisher walked over and sat down beside her. “What do you like to do?”
Skylar smiled. “I love to make pottery, but it’s so heavy, and we left so quickly from the last place that we had to leave it. I think Thea needs this right now. It will keep her mind off what’s coming.”
“And what’s coming?” Fisher asked.
“Hell.” Skylar turned and stared toward the driveway. Her voice was low and filled with sadness.
“But I believe you’ll be able to handle him. I have a good feeling that everything will work out, and I’ve never been wrong,” Fisher teased.
“I hope you’re right.”
“Waiting for Nolan to get back?” Fisher asked.
“Yes. I need to talk to him about something.”
“Well, here’s your chance.” Fisher looked toward the top of the hill and they watched as Nolan’s tiger ran toward the barn.
“Thanks.” Skylar got up and walked toward the entrance. This was it. She was going to tell him she was his mate. When she opened the door, Nolan was pulling down his shirt. He didn’t have his usual smile when he glanced over at her; all she saw was sadness. Something was wrong.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Sure. Just got a lot to do. Is Fisher making sure you have everything you need?” Nolan asked without looking her in the eyes.
“Nolan, you’re my mate.” Skylar blurted out, but he didn’t react like she’d thought he would. Was she wrong? He tensed up as she watched as he closed his eyes, then turned around and faced her with no emotion on his face.
“No Skylar, it’s just a very powerful attraction we have. I realize that now. You saved my life, and that would understandably make me feel some attachment to you. I…I need to keep my eye on the plan and get my pride ready for this war. We have a lot to accomplish, and I think we should just push our attraction aside and think about what we need to do. Plus, you heard Carina: I could die in that battle, and you sure don’t want to be mated to a dead man.”
“No. I feel it, and it’s not just attraction.” Skylar
put her hand on his arm. “You are my mate, Nolan.”
She watched as his expression hardened. “Look, Skylar, I don’t feel that way about you. Don’t you get it?”
“No…no, I don’t. I feel it.” Skylar put her hand over her heart. “Here. I feel it here.”
Nolan held up his hand to her. “Look, if we were mates then I wouldn’t have slept with someone else today.”
Skylar backed up so quickly she nearly tripped. She turned away so he couldn’t see her face. He’d been with someone else today. That’s where he had been. How could she have been this wrong? If the Gods had made them mates, he wouldn’t be able to touch another woman. Dear God, she’d just made a fool of herself. She felt like she had been slapped in the face. She needed to leave before she made it worse by doing something foolish like crying.
She went poker-faced instead. “Okay, yeah, that must be it. I’ve got something I need to do.” Skylar bolted out of the barn and shifted. Her clothes disintegrated from her body as she flew up in the sky.
Nolan ran after her, regretting his words already. He couldn’t do this to her; he couldn’t stand hurting her like this. What the hell have you done? He could have told her something beside that. If he did live she would never forgive him for that comment. God what an idiot he was. She was his mate, and he’d just told her she wasn’t. Hell, he’d told her he’d been with someone else, and any shifter knew that once a mate found their own they could never look at another. And he never would touch another woman, or even look at anyone but her. He’d hurt her tonight, and his heart shattered as she stretched her wings up into the air. He could feel her pain, and he had to make it right. She may still hate him but she had to know the truth. He had to be the most stupid person in the world. Please, please, god let Skylar forgive me for being the biggest jackass ever?
When he walked toward the house Thea and Xavier were sitting on the swing watching. “Why did you lie to her?” Thea asked. The frown on her face said it all. They had been listening and she was pissed at him, and he deserved it.