by R. E. Butler
Lars made an impatient sound. “We’ll knock her out and toss her body in the water. She’ll drown and it will look like an accident. Then we’ll strike Anders when he’s cowed with grief.”
“If you go after him in public, the nest will see that it’s no accident like it was with Lennon,” Rumi said.
Darla’s stomach felt like it was filled with lead. Her mate Lennon had died during a hunt. Everyone had said it was an accident. Tragic and terrible, but an accident. She’d been worried for Anders’ safety after that, but only because she’d believed that an accident had taken her mate. Not that someone had gone after him. And now Lars was planning to take out Anders and Hadlee.
There was only one reason for someone to kill the king and that was to take over.
Anders and Hadlee were in grave danger.
The males moved again, walking away from her hiding place. When she could no longer hear their movement, she quietly let out the breath she’d been holding and made a mad dash for the mansion. She had to tell Anders that Lars was behind his near-death experience and was going to try again.
* * *
Note to self: Swans make excellent bodyguards. And cats aren’t so bad after all.
Hadlee liked the beach. Sable Cove had a really great beach, but it was a bit of a drive from her house, so she didn’t go as much as she had when she was younger. Tanning on the beach in a cute bikini had been a fun way to spend the summer. But then they built the rescue and took in familiars who needed care and protection every day. Her days of lying on the beach were few and far between.
She wiggled her toes in the sun-warmed sand. Osiris was next to her, going into stealth mode as he stalked toward a patch of dry grass where small butterflies hovered. She saw three swans swimming lazily a few feet from the beach. She’d seen the mated pair before—Sasha and Steven-—and figured the third was the one that Anders had told her about that didn’t have a name. She wasn’t sure if the new one was a male or a female, but of the mated pair, the male was clearly larger, so she figured the new swan was a female. She was lovely, with snowy feathers and a bright orange bill.
“I’m going for a walk, kits, don’t eat anything pretty,” she said to Osiris.
Her walk took her toward the swans as she mulled over the situation. She had to think of it rationally. Who would benefit from Anders dying? The person who was next in line. It made sense that Lars was the next in line from a family standpoint because Anders didn’t have a child to pass it to. But if someone wanted to take over the nest and wasn’t part of Anders’ family, then taking him out of the equation and taking over by force was also a possibility.
But why the hell hadn’t her spell revealed the bad intentions of the culprit? It was baffling.
Was she wrong? Could someone not part of the nest have cursed Anders and tried to kill him?
Her phone buzzed in her pocket as a tickling warning made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She pulled out her phone and saw Kinsley’s number. Osiris bumped against her leg and hissed.
Swiping her thumb to answer the phone, she looked at the sand and saw a shadow behind her. It looked like someone was lifting something in the air.
Ducking and spinning, she narrowly missed being brained by a baseball bat.
She rolled to the sand but sprang back up, shouting a quick protection spell. Osiris was at her side, his eyes glowing and his fur prickling.
Lars and a male named Rumi were standing together. Rumi was holding something behind his back, and she bet it was the bat that had almost taken her out. His knuckles were white, and he was fuming.
She’d dropped her damn phone so she couldn’t call Anders.
Lars’ upper lip curled like he smelled something foul.
“Hi guys,” she said. “I didn’t know there was a game today.”
She glanced around but didn’t see anything she could protect herself with. Except for spells. The protection spell would help out, but if they were determined to take her out, her best option was to run. She’d never thrown a punch in her life.
“We came to find you,” Lars said. “Anders is in trouble and he needs you.”
Hadlee stared at Lars, looking at his aura. It was clean. Positively glowing with good intentions. But there was no mistaking that something was off about the whole thing.
Osiris yowled loudly, angrily.
She looked down at him.
Rumi took a step forward, his one arm still behind his back. “You’re required. You must come with us.”
“I’ll just call Anders myself,” she said, taking a step toward her phone.
“You will do nothing of the sort,” Lars said. “Time is of the essence here. Don’t you trust me?”
Not the hell as far as she could throw him.
But the aura!
Her mind cleared suddenly, and she remembered what Kinsley had said—that there were spells that erased the evidence of themselves. If he’d gotten the curse from a warlock or witch dabbling in black magic, then the spell itself could mask his aura. It was like a glamour, changing something but only on the surface. Like turning a brunette into a blonde, or a dress into pants.
His aura was only good on the surface.
Rumi took another menacing step toward her, drawing the bat from behind his back.
Dread pooled in her stomach.
They flanked her, and she had nowhere to go but the water, which was probably where they wanted her to go anyway.
“I’ll just scream for help.”
“You could,” Lars said. “But Anders is in the office with his males, and he wouldn’t be able to hear you anyway. No one else is here but us. So scream away, but it won’t do any good.”
“Why are you doing this?” She took a step back and her foot sank into the sand.
“Because I can. It’s my right to lead the nest. My duty. And I’ll not have it taken from me by Anders or your half-falcon offspring.”
Rumi lifted the bat.
There was an angry honking sound, and the new swan appeared, wings spread wide as she went into attack mode. She moved gracefully, like a feathery snake, striking at Lars and Rumi, flapping her wings and rising up then diving down and clawing at them with her webbed feet. Rumi swung the bat wildly but missed the swan.
Hadlee felt something swell within her. It was like her power had grown exponentially.
She reached out with her power over plants and sent her magic deep into the ground. With a war cry straight out of Viking folklore, she brought up ancient tree roots that broke through the sand with an earth-shaking boom.
With her magic, she twisted and twirled the roots around the two males, anchoring them to the sand and covering their bodies until they couldn’t do anything but blink.
“You bitch!” Lars shouted.
“Don’t call me that,” Hadlee said. She moved forward, twisting the roots with her magic and making them hold the males tighter. They both groaned.
She paused and picked up her phone. Kinsley was calling.
“Hey,” Hadlee said when she answered.
“Are you okay? I just had a terrible feeling that something was wrong.”
“I almost got killed.”
“Seriously? Who? I’ll kill them.”
“I’ve got it handled. I took a page from Zia’s handbook and used my power to secure them with roots. I just need to get Anders here. And something weird happened with a swan.”
“A swan? Wait, you’re okay though?”
“I am.”
“We just left the docks, so we’ll be there in a few hours.”
“I’ll be here. Thanks for calling.”
“That’s what besties are for.”
She ended the call and opened her contacts to find Anders number when she heard shouting. She scanned the area and found Anders, Darla, Phoenix, Westlan, and several other males rushing toward her.
Lifting her hand, she said, “I was just going to call you!”
Anders leaped down to the sand and rus
hed to her. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m good. I made a new friend. And some enemies.”
The swan pecked at Lars between the roots who grimaced and tried in vain to move away.
“How did you know where I was?” she asked.
“I guessed. You told Dretti you were going for a walk. And I’m totally not going to tell you that you shouldn’t have done that without an escort.”
“Sorry,” she said. “It was just to the beach and I kept the mansion in view the whole time. I thought it would be okay.”
“It’s okay because you’re safe.”
She shuddered, thinking how close she’d been to not being safe at all.
“Come here, girl,” she said.
The swan gave another peck at Lars and then waddled to her, folding her lovely wings down and settling at her side. She knelt and put her hand on the swan’s back and felt a spike in her magic, the same as when she was with Osiris. “Are you a familiar?” she whispered.
Honk!
“Well, that sounds like a yes to me,” she said with a chuckle.
“Tell me what happened, sweetheart,” Anders said. “And how on earth you covered these two with roots.”
Chapter Fourteen
Anders had never been so furious in his life. One minute he’d been talking to Westlan and Phoenix about the situation, and the next his mom had rushed into the room and said that he and Hadlee were in danger. It had taken longer than it should have to find Hadlee, but he had. Thankfully, she’d been able to defend herself with her magic.
As he listened to her story and saw how it dovetailed exactly with what his mom had overheard, he knew without a doubt that Lars was behind the curse that nearly killed him.
And he was also behind his father’s death.
“Kinsley and the others are on their way here,” Hadlee said.
“We found who was behind the attempt on my life. We don’t need their help anymore.”
“That’s not true, though. We need to know where Lars got the curse he used on you. I can’t do that on my own, I need more witches to get through whatever he’s surrounded himself with so that no one would figure out what he was doing. And since he dabbled in magic, we can call the Witch Convention and they can imprison him.”
“He will be tried by our people and imprisoned here,” Anders said. Westlan and Phoenix nodded vigorously.
“So you’re going to keep him in prison forever?” she asked. “Here?”
“It’s according to our laws. He’ll be tried and punished, but he won’t be in prison forever. He killed the king which means he will be put to death.”
She shivered. “I still want to know who helped him do this, and who was working with him. Obviously Rumi, but there might be others.”
“Then let’s go talk to him,” Anders said.
She took a step away and he grabbed her arm. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
Smiling, she stepped to him and gave him a kiss. “The feeling is one hundred percent mutual.”
The swan and Osiris came with them as they joined the root-wrapped males. “Tell us who gave you the spell that killed my father and tried to take me out, and tell us who else helped you in the nest.”
Lars glared at him but said nothing.
Anders moved closer and grabbed a handful of his hair. Wrenching his head back, he leaned over and stared into his eyes. “Trust me when I say you will tell me all you know or you will suffer.”
“I will tell you nothing.”
Lars’ fingers curled and talons came out, dark and deadly looking. Anders felt dread wash over him. Lars’ eyes went red, and he said a few words that Anders didn’t recognize.
“No, stop him!” Hadlee shouted.
At the final word, Lars and Rumi coughed blood and their eyes rolled back in their heads. They slumped in the roots’ hold.
“What the fuck?” Phoenix demanded.
There was a booming sound and Hadlee screamed, falling to the sand and pressing her hands to her head like she was in pain.
Anders rushed to her side and cradled her close. She screamed again and shuddered like she was having a seizure, and then she went limp. His whole body went cold from the inside out as he pressed trembling fingers to her pulse.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the steady pounding against his finger.
“Hadlee? Sweetheart?”
She didn’t stir. Osiris and the swan moved in close, the cat climbing onto her lap and letting out a worried meow.
“Is she okay?” Darla asked.
“I think so, just unconscious.”
“They’re dead,” Westlan said.
Anders looked up at him and blinked. “Who?”
“Lars and Rumi. He must have had some kind of suicide spell.”
“Damn it,” Anders said. “Now we won’t know who was helping him.”
“Maybe it was just the two of them,” Phoenix said.
“What do you want us to do with them?” Westlan asked.
“They tried to kill me. They killed my father. They get no proper burial in our cemetery, so we will bury them at sea, far from the island where the current will take them away for good and their souls will never be at peace.”
The males nodded and got to work hacking at the roots that had sprung up from the depths of the sand.
“Hadlee? Please wake up.”
His mom knelt on her other side and took her hand. “I was so worried she’d be hurt before you could get to her. She’s a special female. Very capable. Our people deserve such a powerful queen.”
He nodded and then smiled at his mom. “You were a wonderful queen.”
“My time is passed,” she said. “I’m happy to hand the mantel to her. You deserve to be happy.”
“Why do you think he did it? Killed Dad?”
“Jealousy maybe. I remember hearing rumors that he thought he should be king, but he was your father’s half-brother and the line passes to the legitimate son of the king and queen and he wasn’t that male. When your father died—was killed I mean—Lars told the elders he should be king and not you, and they dismissed him. I thought he put it out of his mind, but I guess not.”
“Every time I thought about who would benefit from my death and his name came to mind, it was like something prevented me from thinking of him. I wonder if that was whatever the curse was. The reason that Hadlee couldn’t see his intentions was because something covered them.”
“It makes sense.”
“Do you want us to handle the burial, or do you want to be part of it?” Phoenix said.
“I want to be part of it,” Anders said. “We can leave at dark when the tide is going out.”
“We’ll be ready.”
“I’m going to take Hadlee home and hope she wakes up soon.” Anders took Hadley in his arms and rose to his feet, turning toward the house. The cat and swan followed him.
“Where is this bird going?” Darla asked, following along.
“I guess she’s coming home with us too,” he said.
And she did. She waddled all the way to the mansion and hopped over the threshold, stretching out her wings and letting out a curious honk. Osiris butted his head against one of her wings and the swan nuzzled his neck. Anders shook his head. “This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“For sure, ” Darla said. “Let me know when she wakes up.”
“I will. Thank you for coming for me when you heard what Lars was planning.”
“Of course. Right place, right time. I’m Johnny-on-the-spot today. Or Jilly-on-the-spot, rather.”
He snorted, quietly glad for his mom’s humor even in difficult times like this one.
Up in their room, he laid his mate on their bed, chuckling as Osiris and the swan hopped onto the bed and settled at Hadlee’s side.
He scratched the cat behind the ears and rubbed the swan’s head. “Welcome to the family I guess,” he said to the swan. “Thanks for helping my mate.”
Honk!
Note to self: Swans are surprisingly cuddly.
Hadlee had never had a vision, like an honest-to-goodness, real, balls to the wall vision. She’d never seen inside someone’s mind. Witnessed their past in a way that made it feel like she’d lived it.
Sure, she’d had glimpses of things. Had a passing glance of a person in distress that was wholeheartedly supernatural.
But she’d never had a vision.
Until Lars spoke the spell that simultaneously killed himself and revealed everything that had been covered by the curse he’d levied against his nephew.
She felt like her brain had been invaded by an encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge in two-point-six seconds flat and she’d simply overloaded. Dropped into a deep unconsciousness that was not restful in the least. She’d been tormented for however the hell long she’d been passed out by all she’d seen of Lars’ past. His aura wasn’t just dark from evil, it was all the way to the center of his black soul. Not that he had a soul anymore. Or, more likely, his soul was burning in some eternal hellscape that she couldn’t even fathom.
He’d essentially sold out his eternity for the falcon nest throne.
It wasn’t just foolish, it was impossibly stupid and short-sighted. Life on earth was finite. A hundred years? Maybe. Eighty? More likely. But eternity? That went on forever. Literally. And here Lars was, thinking the best in life was on earth and not in the afterlife, whatever that might be. His soul wasn’t his own anymore; it belonged to whatever demon had corrupted him through the curse. That was the funny thing about curses. They didn’t just affect the person who was cursed, but the one who did the cursing.
Hadlee opened her eyes and looked at the bedroom ceiling. It felt like home to her already, and they’d only been together for a couple days. She’d never felt so at home somewhere so fast before. Home had always been her little house in Sable Cove. The coven. The rescue. Her friends. But she was experiencing this comforting home because she’d found the other half of her heart. Nothing said home like love. Real, holy crap I’d kill for you, love.