by R. E. Butler
She was surrounded on both sides by light weights. Lifting her head she found the swan on her left, her head resting on Hadlee’s stomach and her dark eyes peering at her. On her right was Osiris, curled up with his tail covering part of his face. She petted them both, the soft fur and smooth feathers, and felt a wash of answering power from them.
“I don’t suppose you know what time it is?” she asked the swan.
The swan squeezed her eyes shut and made a snorting sound.
“Anders?” Hadlee called out.
The bedroom door opened so fast it knocked into the wall with a loud crack. He rushed into the room and crashed against the bed, sending both animals scurrying to safety on the far side of the mattress.
She rose onto her elbows and smiled at her mate. “I love you.”
His mouth fell open and she realized that she’d said something meant for a more intimate time than just waking up after witnessing a guy kill himself and his friend and then getting all said guy’s thoughts bored into her head.
Anders leaned forward and kissed her. “I love you too, Hadlee. I thought I...” He leaned back and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “When you went down after he died...”
She nodded, tears springing to her eyes. “I’m okay. And you’re okay. And the threat against you is gone for good.”
“Well, we hope it is.”
“What do you mean?”
The animals returned slowly, and the swan butted her head between them, and laid her head on Hadlee’s chest.
Anders looked at the swan. “We don’t know if he was working with anyone else.”
“Oh, he wasn’t.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because when he cast that spell to end his life and Rumi’s, it released the spell that had kept their true auras hidden and also sent his memories into my head.”
Anders frowned. “You’ve got his memories? Like all of them? And how the hell did that happen?”
“Not all, just the stuff related to the spell and your curse. I’m not sure how it happened, but I think that maybe because I had cast that divining spell, when his spell was broken, I got the information I would’ve gotten if he hadn’t been hiding his nature.”
Anders scooted a little closer. “Do you want to tell me? Or is it too terrible to think about right now?”
“I do, but I think it would be better if I could tell anyone who needs to know about it all at the same time, instead of repeating myself. Then you, or whoever you want, could relay the information to the nest.”
He nodded and leaned in for another kiss. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I can’t imagine seeing his memories about wanting to kill me and almost succeeding. I’ll gather the people who need to hear it. Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
“I feel kind of gross, so I’d like to take a shower. After I share the story, I’ll probably be ready to eat.” Unless she was so put off by what she shared that she wouldn’t be able to stomach anything, which was entirely possible. She didn’t want to think about what Lars had done, let alone rehash it, but Anders and his people needed to hear it.
There was a knock at the open door and Kinsley smiled. Mother Gibson and Venice were behind her in the hall.
“You’re here!” Hadlee said. She sat up, her head swimming a little and then clearing.
“Of course.” Kinsley sat in the space that Anders vacated as he left the room. “How are you, babe?”
“I’m fine.”
“Delaney and Brody aren’t going to come,” Venice said. “Since you don’t need her to do any special spell, she said to tell you she loves you dearly and is glad you’re not dead.”
Hadlee chuckled. “I’ll call her after I tell Anders and his people what happened. But thank you guys for coming to help out.”
“I’ve called the Convention,” Mother Gibson said. “They’re on their way to interview you and should be here in a few hours. Once you share what you know about whoever gave that male the curse, they’ll apprehend the person and ensure they can’t curse anyone else ever again.”
“Good. I didn’t know people did that kind of thing. It was demonic.”
“Well, remember the warlock who came after Flora,” Kinsley said, talking about the cute little black kitten who had nearly gotten them all killed by a crazy warlock. “He’d tapped into the dark side and teamed up with demons. It happens.”
“True,” Hadlee said. “I wonder if Lars really understood what was going to happen.”
“It’s possible,” Mother Gibson said. “Some people don’t care where they get the power to do what they want. But it’s equally likely that the witch or warlock tricked him, and once he’d accepted the curse, it was too late to go back.”
Hadlee nodded. “So did you meet the swan? I don’t know what her name is.”
“She’s a familiar,” Kinsley said, her brows rising. “I didn’t know there were swan familiars.”
“Me either,” Hadlee said. “She helped me defeat Lars. She attacked him. It was pretty cool.”
“You’re taking this all in stride,” Venice said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Hadlee thought over the question and looked at the fallen angel. He’d been in Sable Cove for six months or so and had helped them when they’d needed a boat ride into the cove to help Zia and Cassian. Was she okay? She’d watched a male kill himself and another male with a spell. She wasn’t sad he was dead, but she wished he’d not taken his life. Although, knowing that the falcon laws supported capital punishment for killing the king? Maybe taking his life was his last fuck-you to the royal family, to not give them the satisfaction.
Either way, aside from his memories banging around in her skull, he was dead, and she and Anders were alive, which was a big win in her book and worth celebrating and not getting sucked into any kind of depressive state. There was too much to live for to let the events of the day weigh her down.
“I just realized that we keep almost dying lately. Did you notice?” she asked.
Kinsley made a face. “I don’t need the reminder.”
“Seriously, we’re plugged into some major bad mojo I think. We should get re-mojoed or something.”
“I don’t think that’s a word.”
“It might be. You don’t know,” Hadlee said.
Kinsley snorted and then laughed. Hadlee joined in. The two hugged, with the swan and Osiris between them. “I’m fine, Venice, thanks for asking,” Hadlee said, answering his question. “I mean, it sucks that I had to go through so much to be with Anders, but I’m not sorry that he’s mine and I’m his.”
“Good.” Venice nodded. “I’m going to head down to the office and meet with Anders and his people.”
“Thanks.”
The fallen angel left, closing the door behind him. “Can I make you some tea?” Mother Gibson asked.
Hadlee hadn’t really wanted anything earlier, but Mother Gibson lifted a pouch from the folds of her skirt and Hadlee knew it contained special tea leaves. “Yes, please.”
“I’ll be right back. I saw Anders’ mother in the kitchen, I’m sure she can point me to a teapot.” The older female left.
Hadlee swung her legs around and rose slowly to her feet. She had a little bout of lightheadedness, but it passed quickly. “I’m going to clean up.”
“I’ll braid your hair for you if you like,” Kinsley offered.
“I’d love that.”
The hot water felt heavenly as she stepped under the spray. It was tempting to stay in there until the heat ran out just because it felt so good, but she didn’t want to waste water or time. Telling Anders and the others what she saw in Lars’ memories needed to happen soon so she could stop thinking over what he’d done and push the memories away to the deep recesses of her mind and never think about curses or crazy uncles again.
After she cleaned up, which took two scrubbings with soap in order to make her feel normal again, she dried off and dressed in a casual tunic and leggings. Kinsley rubbed her hair until it
was mostly dry, and then braided it, tying the end with one of the scrunchies she always wore on her wrist, because you never knew when you might need to put your hair up.
Mother Gibson and Darla joined them on the balcony where Hadlee sipped herbal tea sweetened with honey. She knew it was a special tea blend from Mother Gibson’s garden and could pick out notes of cherry, chamomile, and thyme. With each sip, she felt more relaxed, more like herself. When the cup was empty, Hadlee looked into the bottom at the few leaves that had settled.
“If I could read tea leaves, I hope these would say nice things about my future.”
Mother Gibson leaned over and said, “They do.”
“You read them?” Kinsley asked.
She nodded. “I don’t do it often. We shouldn’t know too much about our future. But I see a long and happy life for you here, Hadlee, although I will miss seeing you around town.”
“I’ll be there for the ceremonies, though. And it’s just a boat ride away.”
“True, but it’s not the same as you being next to me,” Kinsley said. “Man, I need to find my mate. I’m the only one not mated, it’s a terrible injustice!”
“You’ll meet him when the time is right,” Darla said. “And it’ll be perfect.”
Kinsley smiled. “I’d like that. But I hope perfection shows up soon.”
Hadlee stood and lifted the cup. She looked again at the leaves and wondered if there was any truth to readings. But she decided she’d take it. There was something sweetly wonderful about looking forward to a good, long life, especially with Anders by her side.
“I’m ready,” she said. “Thank you all for being here with me.”
“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Kinsley said. “That’s what besties are for.”
Chapter Sixteen
Anders pulled a chair next to him for Hadlee when she joined them in the office. His mother and Hadlee’s three friends sat nearby. Across from him and Hadlee were Phoenix and Westlan, as well as two elders—Johann and Trell. Lars had been an elder. It was an honorary title reserved for older males who knew their laws well and were willing to serve in an advisory capacity to the king. Johann and Trell had been elders for his father, and he’d promoted Lars himself when he took over.
He felt like a fool.
But he pushed that thought aside and focused on his beautiful mate. Through their connection he could feel that she was nervous. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. She smiled at him gratefully and then cleared her throat.
“I don’t know who knows what about Lars so I’m going to just share what I learned when he broke the curse and his memories flooded mine. Lars’ father Van—who was also Lennon’s father—had a one-nighter with a female from another nest and Lars was conceived. By the time Van learned about the pregnancy, he was already mated to Denise and she was pregnant with Lennon. Van told the female that her child would not be a legitimate heir because he’d been conceived out of mating and would be entitled to nothing. The female passed away when Lars was a young adult, and he came to the island. By then, Van had passed away and Lennon had taken over the leadership of the island.
“Lars believed he was the right male for the leadership because he was older than Lennon, but the laws are very clear—only the true heirs of the mated king and queen can become king.”
She paused for a moment and looked at Darla. “When you mated Lennon and had Anders, Lars knew that he needed to get rid of Lennon before Anders was old enough to take over. He tried to take him out a few times over the years but never succeeded and no one suspected him. And then he went to the mainland and stumbled into a psychic’s shop and met with a female who told his fortune.”
The female, who Hadlee said was a witch who’d clearly crossed into dark magic, said that a demon could be summoned who would be able to help Lars with his problem. The cost would be high: his soul.
“Are you kidding me?” Phoenix asked. “He wanted to be king so bad that he was willing to give up his immortal soul?”
“People do terrible things in the name of power,” Darla said quietly. “He may have believed his soul was of no value, or that he could get out of whatever contract he entered into.”
“He wouldn’t have been able to,” Kinsley said. “Demonic contracts are no joke and are unbreakable. Forget what you heard about the devil and fiddle contests. A contract is a contract, period.”
“So he signed over his soul to take my father out?” Anders asked.
“Yes.” Hadlee sighed deeply and rubbed at the space between her eyes with her thumb. “He was told that once he took someone’s life in this way, that he would never be the same. The very fabric of his being would be saturated with evil and he’d always seek more power at any cost. He didn’t care, he wanted to be king.”
“I don’t understand why, though. He could’ve started his own nest or something. Shit,” Westlan said.
“Not without my father’s blessing, and I don’t think he would’ve given it to him,” Anders said. “Go on, sweetheart.”
Her story continued with Lars making a contract with a demon and accepting a cursed oil. He had to cast a spell over the oil before using it, and then simply placing a drop on the skin of the person he wanted to die was enough to kill.
“The spell worked two-fold. First, it activated the oil so it would be deadly, and then it covered up Lars’ intentions so that no one would be able to tell that he had evil intentions. That’s why—although I did feel kind of weird around him, like something was off—I couldn’t see anything, and the divination spell failed to work.
“Lars had taken out his father, hoping that Anders wouldn’t be able to take over the nest. But although Lars told the elders that Anders wasn’t ready to be king, he was crowned. It took two years for Lars to have an opportunity to take out Anders. He had to wait long enough so it didn’t seem like a pattern.”
“We didn’t know that your father had been poisoned by this cursed oil,” Darla said, accepting a tissue from one of the elders. “He’d fallen from a great height like you, but he was over a mountain range. His body was badly bruised and broken, and he’d died on impact, so no one noticed any other out-of-place bruises like Hadlee did for you.”
“I’m sorry,” Hadlee said, her voice cracking.
Anders put his arm around her and drew her close. She clung to him.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head. “You saved my life, and you gave me and my mother closure.”
“You’ve given closure to the entire nest,” Johann said.
Trell nodded.
“You gave the information about the psychic to the Convention?” Kinsley asked.
“Yes,” Hadlee said.
“What will they do and who are they?” Phoenix asked.
“They’re a governing body for witches and warlocks,” Mother Gibson said. “They mainly step in for cases of abuse of power or dangerous people like this. This psychic is most likely a witch masquerading as a psychic in order to avoid detection by the Convention. Dabbling in dark magic is a strict no-no for our people. It’s dangerous and destructive, and fully addictive. They will pick up the psychic and bind her from using her powers or doing harm to others, and then they’ll investigate. Suffice it to say that she won’t be seeing the light of day with her powers again.”
Hadlee nodded in agreement. Anders was glad that someone so dangerous was going to be off the streets. He had no idea there was a group like the Convention, but he was glad for it. He wouldn’t want to tangle with someone capable of summoning a demon like she did.
“You saw that it was only Rumi helping Lars?” Trell said.
Hadlee nodded and accepted a tissue that Anders grabbed for her. She sniffled and dabbed at her eyes. “Rumi idolized Lars and he used it to his advantage. I don’t think Rumi knew that Lars was going to kill him too, but since the punishment was death anyway, it seems like they made the choice to take their own lives instead of waiting for death.
”
“He got desperate,” Venice said. “It’s clear that when Hadlee saved Anders, Lars knew that he’d be found out eventually.”
“Right, which is why he’d decided to kill me and then strike down Anders in his grief.”
“We would not have allowed it,” Johann said. “A male can’t benefit by killing. He wouldn’t be eligible to take the throne.”
Hadlee shivered. “I think he would’ve continued to kill until he took over. It was his ultimate goal, and he wasn’t about to let anyone stand in his way.”
Anders rested his head on hers for a moment and closed his eyes. He’d lost his father and nearly his own life at the hands of a male intent on being king. That crazed nature had nearly taken Hadlee from him.
Honk!
Hadlee jumped and then giggled, tears slipping over her cheeks. “Come here, girl.”
The swan waddled over and rested her head on Hadlee’s thigh.
“She knows you’re upset,” Mother Gibson said.
“I have some questions about that,” Hadlee said.
“Hold that thought,” Anders said. He looked at his friends and elders. “We’ll bury Lars and Rumi after sunset when the tide is going out. We’ll follow the protocol set in place by our laws. The funeral by water for our people is for those who’ve been disgraced and do not deserve a proper burial in our nest’s cemetery.”
“We’ll be ready,” Phoenix said. He rose to his feet. “I’ll call a meeting for the nest so you can share what happened. Is an hour good?”
Anders nodded.
The four males left the office, and Anders leaned back with a sigh, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “I feel like I won’t be able to relax until he’s physically gone from the island.”
“I feel that way too,” Hadlee said.
“It’s been a long morning,” Darla said, standing. “I’m going to make sandwiches for anyone who’s hungry.”
“Count me in,” Venice said.
“Me too,” Kinsley said.
Everyone left the office but Hadlee, who stayed next to Anders, absently petting the swan’s head.
“I think she’s sticking around,” Anders said.