by Leela Ash
Eerie silence fell as they all digested that. Then all of a sudden, Palma screamed and fell to her knees clawing at her throat and gasping for breath. Everyone jumped to their feet staring at her in shock.
She seemed to be in a lot of pain; the whites of her eyes were showing clearly and she sounded as though she were hard-pressed for oxygen.
Marissa rushed to her, “Calm down, you’re going to be fine. Can you tell me what hurts?”
Palma’s almost white eyes sought for Marissa and she managed to breathe, “Talebearer’s Curse.”
Then her tongue exploded in a flash of roaring fire. Marissa sprang backwards staring in shock. Luke rushed to get a fire extinguisher.
It was useless. The fire spread down into Palma’s gut and she exploded into a million burning pieces. Everyone was still and frozen watching as the pieces of Palma turned into red, glowing coals reminiscent of the anger of the dangerous shifter pretending to be a witch.
Marissa’s shocked eyes met Luke’s over the ashes. Nabradia, or whoever the hell she really was, was out for war.
17.
“Kids, are you ready for an ice cream?” Kelly called at dinner the next day.
Caily shook her head, “I don’t like ice cream.”
Everyone froze and looked at the little girl. Marissa busied herself with her dinner, avoiding all eye contact with anyone.
“Why don’t you like ice cream, honey? I promise this one is very delicious,” Kelly said holding up the bowl.
Caily shook her head, “It kinda shocks my teeth, Aunt Kelly. Plus my stomach feels all swollen and painful after. Can I have a mango smoothie instead?”
Absolute silence fell around the table. Marissa didn’t bother looking up. She knew exactly why they were silent and she knew that everyone was staring at her. Luke hated ice cream too and he was lactose intolerant. If he did have an ice cream, he always complained that his teeth suffered small painful shocks consistent with sensitive teeth.
She wasn’t happy that her daughter had inherited those traits from Luke and she had pulled all the strings she could within the medical community to make it go away. But she had had to accept defeat in the end.
“Caily? Do you have any special um, dietary needs?” Derek asked carefully.
Marissa buttered a bread furiously.
“I don’t understand, uncle.”
“Um, well what’s your favorite dish?” he asked.
“Oats with a side of bacon,” she promptly replied.
The silence thickened. She knew why. Those were Luke’s favorite too. She felt suffocated all of a sudden and almost frightened. Was she really ready for Luke to discover that he was Caily’s father? Was her mother right that he would try to hurt Caily if he knew? It seemed more plausible lately that he would try to take Caily when he left, because she had seen him getting closer to the little girl.
Just two days ago, he had taken out his easel and painted a lifelike picture of Caily. Everyone had been shocked because ever since he started painting, Luke had never painted any member of his family, no matter how much they begged. The picture had been so beautiful that she had taken one look at it and tumbled the rest of the way in love with him.
She was hopeless, Marissa thought with a derisive snort aimed at herself. She should be hating him for being a possible threat to her daughter and yet her emotions kept panting after him.
Kelly wordlessly got some mango cubes and blended them tossing in a few nuts before handing the rich drink to Caily. Caily grinned and smacked her lips in anticipation.
Her heart twisted. Luke had done that that night after they had made love in London all those years ago. When she had ordered some pizza for them, he’d smacked his lips in anticipation. She’d howled with laughter and they had ended up making love again.
The pizza guy had knocked for an eternity before she’d been able to walk straight enough to open the door.
She snuck a look from underneath her lashes. Luke was studying her, his expression thunderstruck.
She averted her gaze and brightly turned to Joshua, “How do we find this Krilce’s Sobriety?”
Joshua was watching her almost dazedly too. But at her question, he blinked and began to map out their plan.
She decided. She would have to leave their home today before something else happened and Luke discovered that Caily was his daughter.
She stole a glance at Luke. He was watching her with a look of wonder on his face. She finished up her breakfast as soon as she could and grabbed Caily’s hand, ushering her upstairs to begin to pack.
A small knock sounded at the door and Megan walked in. “Do you have a minute?”
Marissa shrugged.
Megan looked at the clothes on the bed and she grinned, “After what happened at breakfast, I had a feeling you would be packing.”
Marissa feigned an innocent look, “My mother is getting lonely. Caily will go stay with her today while I go to the hospital.”
“What part of ‘safety in numbers’ don’t you understand?” Megan demanded, planting her butt firmly in a seat and stretching out her legs. She was glowing in that special way some women did when they were pregnant. Thankfully, her own pregnancy wasn’t bothering her.
“Caily? Go play with Tom. I’ll call you once it’s time to go,” Marissa ordered.
Caily nodded and bounded from the room.
“Caily is safer here, with all of us.” Megan opined.
“I doubt that. She’s a smart kid. And yes, Luke and I had a thing years ago, but can everyone stop with these insinuations before my kid picks up on something and starts asking me questions?”
Megan held up both hands, “I got that you were upset downstairs and I let them have an earful after you left. I mean, no way you would let Caily wander around not knowing her dad, if Luke was her dad. I mean, he’s right here.”
Marissa’s cheeks reddened in a guilty flush as she bent over her task.
Megan’s eagle eyes widened, “Oh. My. God. Is she Luke’s kid?”
“Stop it!” Marissa spat and grabbed her suitcase as she started towards the door.
As she headed towards the door, Megan grabbed her, “Stop. I understand that you’re probably hurt by something Luke did, but do you really think it’s fair to your kid to stop her from knowing her dad?”
“You have a lot of nerve,” Marissa growled. “Get your hands off me,” she insisted.
Megan dropped her hands promptly and Marissa wrestled her small suitcase down the stairs, calling for Caily as she went.
Luke appeared in front of her, his gaze going to the suitcase, some unnamable emotion moving in his eyes before he carefully blanked his gaze.
“What’s going on?”
“I have to go home,” she said.
“So I see. But you’ve been avoiding me. Before you go, we need to talk,” Luke said.
Her heart thudded in her chest. “We still need to oversee the repairs at Coyana Waters, plus we lost twenty people today at the hospital from whatever Nabradia —the shifter— is doing.”
Luke leaned down and took her suitcase, “Run away if you want to but we have to talk first.”
Marissa sighed. Whenever Luke got like this, he was going to dig in his heels and be stubborn until he got whatever he wanted.
She caved in ungraciously, storming out of the house and heading for the gardens. It had been their favorite spot as kids. The swing-set hung in the corner but she ignored it, and instead sat on a small bench in the gazebo, her face set.
Luke sighed and sank onto the seat beside her. He clasped his hands in between his knees as he began, “First of all, I need to understand why you made that wisecrack comment in the library the last time we made love.”
She sighed, “What did you expect? It wasn’t like it was a lie.”
He turned to her, “Is that how you see me? You were the one that moved on and had Caily.”
She ground her teeth. His jealousy was a sore point. “Are you seriously jealous of my chil
d? What gives you the right?”
“I loved you okay? I loved you as I had never loved anyone else and it meant nothing to you,” he grated.
Marissa stared at him, “Well, your actions when you heard I was pregnant kinda negated that claim.”
He stared at her. “What actions? You were the one who—”
Whatever else he had been about to say was cut short because Caily chose that moment to launch herself straight at her mother. She lifted her arms to hug Marissa around the neck and for the first time, Luke noticed a small u-shaped scar under her right arm. His eyes almost jumped out of his head. He had that exact same scar in that same spot; it had been a birthmark.
His gaze returned to Marissa’s face in shock. Was it possible? But she had already been pregnant when they made love. He had seen her fiancé in the video Sara showed him and he had seen her at the upstairs window, her silence a damning admission.
She flicked her eyes at him, “I have to go now Luke. Please get my suitcase.”
His gold eyes bored into hers letting her know without words that he knew she was stalling. Then he stood and went indoors to get the suitcase.
Marissa rubbed her nose against Caily’s laughing at the girl’s expressions as they waited for Luke. An arrow zinged past her head and she looked up in alarm. The Archstone Warriors were here?
She looked around wildly for a place to hide Caily but it was too late.
With a high-pitched whinny, she changed into her white wolf form, barricading her daughter with her body. Caily crouched behind her mother’s shifter form, holding onto her neck. Good girl, Marissa thought approvingly.
She snarled, barring her teeth as the two Archstone shifters came closer. Then she let out a high-pitched howl guaranteed to reach anyone inside the house. One of the shifters aimed a low kick at her face and she dodged easily and pressed her teeth into his shin. His scream was so satisfactory.
She heard Caily scream and in that split second when she turned her head, she saw a tall burly man hauling her daughter away. She started to go after him when the shifter behind her tossed a rope over her head. It landed around her neck and he began to draw the rope. Marissa howled, trying to go to her daughter but the man with the rope tugged all the harder.
She could pass through solid objects but not in her shifter form, she thought.
Marissa changed back to her human form in the blink of an eye and used her ability to pass through solid objects. She passed through the rope and it came out harmlessly in the man’s hands still in the form of a noose. The sudden loss of pressure made him stagger backwards as he lost his footing.
Marissa aimed a vicious kick at his balls and he screamed and went down. Her second kick went to his head and knocked him out cold. She started to run towards the man that had her daughter when an arrow shot into her right shoulder and she went down.
As she started to pass out, she heard Caily’s screams and then Luke’s voice as he ran out of the house towards her prone, still form.
18.
“Marissa? Open your eyes,” Luke yelled shaking her urgently.
Marissa tried to obey but his voice seemed to be coming from miles away and her eyelids were as heavy as though they had been weighted down by concrete.
“Luke, take it easy. She’s been hit by that poisoned arrow,” Kelly whispered, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Marissa, goddammit open your eyes!” Luke yelled.
“Where’s Drake?” Joshua screamed.
“He’s five minutes out. Hold on Marissa,” Derek muttered.
A gentle hand ran through her hair and she tried to open her eyes again. She heard Drake’s voice then as he burst into the room. She felt his hands on her and a warm light flooded through her.
As sleep started to envelope her, she muttered, “Luke?”
He grabbed her hand, “I’m right here baby. I’m here.”
“Caily,” she whispered.
“It’s okay. I’ll find her,” he promised.
“Marissa, try to stay awake for a minute. Who has Caily?” Bo asked urgently.
“Archstone,” she managed before the darkness swamped her. She was asleep in an instant.
Luke looked at his brothers, his unspoken plea in his eyes. He already loved Caily as though she were his own and he would give his very life to save her.
“Let’s suit up,” Derek said.
“Who’s gonna stay back just in case?” Joshua asked.
They had developed the strategy of never leaving the house completely empty. At least one person out of the five had to stay back.
“You should stay Luke,” Jack suggested. “You’ll be torn between worrying about Marissa and getting Caily to—”
“I’m going,” Luke decreed. “I’d like to see anyone try to stop me.”
Derek whistled while others fought down grins. Luke was in love with Marissa even though he had been too stubborn to admit it.
Jack stayed back to watch over the house while the others went over to the Archstones.
Luke was antsy, eager for a war as he led the way towards the Archstone Tribe dwellings. It was time to bury this age-long feud and as far as he was concerned he intended to bury that hatchet in the collective heads of all five of the Archstone Warriors’ leaders. Why had they kidnapped a little girl who had never harmed anyone in her life? He was frightened, whether he admitted it or not. Caily was the light of Marissa’s life and his too, for that matter, because he had grown to love the little girl with every fiber of his being.
A small sound up ahead warned him and he cut his gaze to his brothers, signaling. He could really use Marissa’s tunnel vision now, he thought. She could see for miles at a time.
He looked at Drake and his brother grinned, and blew a great gust of fire in that direction. Several yelps said the fire had met its mark and some Archstone Tribers stumbled out of the underbrush, brushing off flames and howling in pain.
The brother surrounded them immediately. “Hands!” Luke snarled.
The three men and one woman held up their hands their chests heaving.
“Where are the rest of you?” Luke demanded. “Where is the little girl?”
The four exchanged a glance, then the woman told them, “We had nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, we recognize a pure-bred Weirna shifter when we see one. We were running away because we had a feeling you would descend there in wrath.”
“And Nabradia?” Derek asked.
The woman spat. “That bitch is no more the Queen of the Salem Witches than I am. She is an impostor, I tell you. I don’t know why she has the men so wrapped around her finger that they do everything she tells them.”
“Where do we find her?” Luke asked.
Once they had described her tent, the brothers let them go. They reached the Archstone Tribe, surprised to find it eerily silent.
Suddenly a loud shout went up from one corner of the settlement and the brothers crept there. They were shocked to find Ronan Veer, Jake Riley, Sam Vanderbilt, Robin Krossings , and Chirhiss Rolaj, all five of the leaders of the Tribe, tied up in a straight row while the Archstone Tribers looked on.
Nabradia was screaming at them. “These men are traitors and we burn traitors at the stake.”
Her eyes were wild and crazed. The brothers shared a shocked glance.
“I can’t see Caily,” Luke mouthed.
“There she is,” Derek said and pointed.
The five men who were tied were on a pedestal-like stage. A carved out space underneath it contained a chair and a weeping little girl, tied up with a piece of cloth stuffed into her mouth.
Derek bent to whisper to Drake and Drake nodded in understanding.
Nabradia hadn’t seen them. She continued to yell, “These five stupid men actually rebelled against me, your leader, for a little girl from Weirna. This child is the daughter of that Luke Summers. He was the one who burned down your fields. He poisoned your wells. He attacked the senior citizens among you the other day in the
ir home and now, he is changing the Coyana Waters to make it a death trap for you. He and his girlfriend have managed to destroy so many of you and he has also managed to prevent me from finding Krilce’s Sobriety to save you all. This girl holds his heart. If she is dead, he won’t be able to do any of these things anymore.”
Luke couldn’t hold back. He stepped forward, “You crazy bitch. Why are you lying to these people and justifying your actions?”
Several spears were immediately made ready to be flung at him, arrows were hoisted up and the warriors of the Archstone Tribe swung into position, ready for battle.
Luke looked at the people. “How gullible can you be? Do you think your five leaders went against her for nothing? She isn’t who she says she is. She isn’t Nabradia the witch. She’s a shifter and a bloodthirsty liar.”
Almost at once, Drake appeared in the air right above Nabradia in his dragon form. She screamed when she saw him but before anyone could react, he opened his mouth and emptied poisonous contents onto her head. She screamed as the herbs and potions Marissa had concocted from her research did their work. The poison from the Dragon’s blood activated the potions and as she screamed, her entire skin started to fall away.
Everyone from the Archstone Tribe was frozen in place watching, until the real person, Antiope Nagara stood before them.
Shocked gasps rose from the crowd.
She snarled in fury at Luke, “How dare you? How dare you?”
He started towards her but she collapsed immediately turning into a blade of grass.
Derek was livid. “Burn the whole grass,” he shouted up to Drake.
Drake opened up his mouth and poured a relentless flow of dragon fire at the grasses beneath them.
Jack went up the stage to loosen the five men who had been tied, while Luke ran and caught up Caily in his arms. He kissed her neck, her forehead and her cheeks, inhaling the sweet baby scent of her.
“It’s okay Princess. You’re safe now,” he told her hushing her tears.