by Ruby Raine
CHAPTER 5
RILEY DEANE STOPPED pacing and scrubbed a hand through his untidy hair. The molasses scruff was looking as stormy as his dark eyes. He was asking himself the same damn question he'd been asking himself since he'd needed to come here.
Why?
Why him?
What was his part in this?
This was a Howard Witch thing, not a Deane thing.
And yet if he even thought about leaving his feeling would basically order his legs to stop moving and stay put.
He caught Annie leaning up against the cavern wall wearing a concerned for his sanity simper.
He shook his head and chuckled. "I'm a freaking mess, huh?"
"A cute one," she teased.
"Shit. I think William's detox was better than this." He plunked down and leaned his head back against the hard dirt and rock wall behind him. "What am I doing here?"
Annie joined him and patted his leg.
"Sorry, Bub. Can't help ya with that one."
"Bub? Wow. You've only been on the Isle for a few days and already with the local lingo?"
"This place grows on you fast," she admitted. "Everyone I've met has been very welcoming." Which she hadn't expected being a vampire. Yes, they were used to them here. In Sorcier too. But it wasn't the norm.
"Nothing like a trial by fire to get acquainted fast," Riley joked grimly.
"There is that. It is—exciting though. Probably not a good way to think about impending doom. I guess Jean was right, I needed to scratch my adventure itch. Burn some vamp energy."
Riley chortled at that and peered over at her with a question on his tongue, but he held back. They had enough proverbial shit on the plate today.
But Annie already guessed what he wanted to ask.
"Just because I like this place doesn't mean I want to take over for William. I'm still fully in the save his damn life whether he likes it or not, mode."
"I figured as much."
"How about you?" she asked. "How are you doing after—you know."
"The breakup. Yeah. That's um, going as it should. It wasn't easy to break things off, but it was the right choice. And really, I haven't had much time to dwell on it because—" he waved his hand toward the Power Source and the blob that was housing some sort of being it was trying to birth into the world.
Riley winced. Another magical energy wave was building. They'd changed. They were no longer pushing outward across the island, instead, they were coming off in soft continual waves that were growing stronger and steadier. It was like a constant low buzz in his veins. A minute later, however, Riley was back on his feet and standing over the pulsing energy blob.
"I'm here," he replied to the silent call only he could apparently hear. He placed his hand down on the surface of the blob and noticed how much cooler it felt than the last time he'd touched it. The hand from inside pushed up against his own, passing another slightly stronger buzz up his arm.
"Shit!" Annie swore with a snarl. Riley twisted his head to see the vampire bound upward and cock her head toward the exit.
"It's started, hasn't it?" His gaze returned to the hand pushing upward at him, but there was no longer just one hand, but two. And something had changed. The low buzz was taking on an urgent sort of panic.
"Riley?" Annie called out.
"Go," he told her. She needed permission to leave him and go help the others. "I need to be here. Not you."
Annie nodded, her demeanor slipping into a holy shit, war is breaking out focus.
"Be careful. Good luck, Riley."
"You too, Annie." They passed a grim exchange and weak smile, and Annie sped out to help in the fight.
Riley peered downward sensing the growing urgency and that's when it all downloaded into his brain like he'd been plugged into some learning device and had the information jacked into his head. His body started acting on its own accord and he didn't fight it.
He was here because his gift could tune into what the Source needed. But that still wasn't the only reason—but the rest was hidden from him. His focus now, on helping this person free itself of the magical cocoon. It needed help. It could not break free on its own. It needed to be set free. Willingly freed and brought into the world—by him.
Riley only hoped once he had done so, it wouldn't be to birth some terrible evil into the world.
THEY WERE TESTING THE boundaries around the Source, purposely setting off the alarm system. But just who was doing this was still a mystery.
A few cautiously thrown curses as the last of the light of day began to drift below the tree line, leaving the gully in front of the Power Source entrance a mass of eerie shadows and frayed nerves. William and Melinda popped out of the magical portal, Melinda with her palm raised and ready to strike, and the vampire poised to strike with a snarl biting through his lips.
A moment later Annie had exited and took up a spot close to William, after a curt nod his direction.
Mathew grabbed a potion bottle out of an extra belt he'd put together and broke it against a tree, releasing the spell inside. Silvery blue swirls caught the magical trails from the spells flying at them, branching outward and showing where the spells were sent from. The important part of it—they were surrounded. The silvery trails branched outward in every direction.
Courtney was about to offer to speed through and check it out when William shook his head at her and did it himself. She frowned, but held her ground. He had probably done this sort of thing far more than she had, but still-she was capable of basic recon—he was back before her thought even finished. So okay, he was way faster than she was.
"What are we looking at?" Charlie questioned, his voice low and anxious, his worries framed around the mate clinging by thinner threads with each passing minute. Just the fact that she wasn't part of the conversation or even remotely ready to fight spoke huge silent volumes to the discomfort and distress Lizzy was in this close to the moon rising.
"Feyk. And they brought a lot of friends," growled William. "But my guess is, they're only working together to get inside the Source, and then after—"
"It'll be a free for all on who takes the prize," Melinda finished. Evil didn't work together well and didn't share power.
"Nothing's getting through," determined Michael. "We just have to hold them off."
"Until when?" asked Lucas.
Answerless question of the night. Along with just how outnumbered they were. A fact that gnawed and both Charlie and Lizzy, because they were about to leave them with even less help.
"Is Stricker with them?" Courtney needed to know. Melinda had been about to ask as well.
"Not sure," William answered. "But I'd wager yes. Just not on the frontlines."
If he was, Courtney was determined to get some answers out of the bastard.
Mathew whispered something to Lucas and then faced the others.
"I have to leave, but I will return before the battle starts." With some help, I hope....
He had a plan hatching but needed to act fast, because the Howards needed help, and he wasn't permitted to interfere. However, he was allowed to defend himself and nudge others into action, as long as it was their free will to act, or not. Mathew popped out of the gully leaving the others casting wary glances at Charlie and Lizzy.
"You have to go Charlie," said Michael. "This isn't your fight tonight."
Melinda passed her brother a confident smirk telling they had it handled, but Charlie hesitated to leave them. Until a few seconds later when the last of Lizzy's resolve fizzled and she bit back a groan at her aching bones.
Charlie nodded at everyone else, no words for them. He was splitting down the middle. But they were right, as much as it hurt not to stay and fight alongside them, there was only one place he absolutely had to be.
With Lizzy.
Charlie gently picked up Lizzy and carried her in the comfort of his arms back through the magical portal and away from the war about to start. Away from one tension and into a new one. The fu
ll moon was on its way and even with his Guardian ring to protect him, he still felt the pull. Lizzy didn't have a ring to depend on. She had her mate.
"How long do I have?" Lizzy murmured against his chest.
"Less than an hour," he wagered.
"Don't take me down to the cell just yet. Give me a few minutes out here."
He understood why she needed it. She was suffocating in her own skin. She needed the air. The cool grass on her bare feet. To let the moon rise and not fear it.
"So much for thinking I was going to enjoy this," she laughed bitterly.
"The shift itself doesn't hurt. But fighting it hurts like hell. So don't fight it, Lizzy. I've got you, so you don't need to fight it." But he got that part of her was disappointed too, which she felt stupid for feeling. But with all the chaos going on, her stress level was far higher and would keep her from relishing this new experience, instead, just needing to survive it.
Because how could she allow herself to soak in everything about to happen, and even enjoy it, when her friends and family were at war? It dampened the entire experience and you only lost your virginity once.
Charlie chuckled at that idea. But he understood the feeling and wished he could change the circumstances, because he wanted this to be memorable for her too. And not in a bad way.
"What's done is done," she murmured.
The line that had made Charlie fall down the rabbit hole. It was one his mother had used often and he'd instantly seen Lizzy in a new light. A love light that ignited instantly and would never go out.
"I love you too," Lizzy whispered.
Charlie kissed her forehead. "You are my someone special, Lizzy. My only someone special. It's not been an easy road to get here, but whatever happens tonight, we have the rest of our lives together. We'll have lots of firsts. An entire lifetime of firsts."
"I like that. A lifetime of firsts."
When the gargoyles awakened for the night, it would be time to get to the cellar. The higher the moon rose the stronger the pull would become. Even though Lizzy wanted this shift to happen, the natural human urge was to fight it. He'd need to help her give in and let it happen. He hoped without having to go totally Alpha, and order it.
She saw the apprehension in his thoughts. The reasons why he didn't want to do that.
"It's noble, Charlie," she said as he snuggled them into the soft grass and held her close. "I know that's not what you want for me. To have to order me to do anything. But Charlie...."
"Yeah."
"You need to be ready to. If something goes wrong, or takes a weird turn, you have to be prepared to make that order. To stop me. Control me. Whatever it takes to keep me from doing anything dangerous. Do not let me hurt anyone."
"I won't let that happen, Lizzy." But his heart and mind didn't make her believe it. And she was fully aware that part of it was that he was so out of his element tonight. Letting his family wage a battle. Not knowing what was happening there, even at this moment, with them or the Power Source—something his family had been protecting for generations.
It was shit timing. But that was always her point to him—there was no amount of planning or preparation to be made that could predict all of these events lining up. There was no use in overthinking things because somehow, plans would always go awry anyway.
He growled in begrudging acceptance of that thought.
"I want to be there too," she told him. "But right now, I feel like there's a thousand tiny ass fire ants eating their way through my veins and trying to break apart my bones."
Charlie gave her lips a chaste kiss. "I'm here with you. Just don't fight it. And I promise, you'll feel a thousand times better once you're in your wolf skin." And stronger and freer and most likely a hundred times friskier, too.
It wasn't long later that the distinct sounds of gargoyles shaking themselves awake warned them it was time to head to the basement. Charlie got them to their feet and just as they started toward the backdoor, an odd sound caught his attention.
"What is that?" Lizzy sucked in a wince, but she'd heard it too.
They waited to see if the estate's alarm system went off, but then Charlie recalled they'd turned off the alarm after the arrival of William and Annie, because they hadn't had the time to change it to not set off every time a vampire moved around the place. It had been pain enough just dealing with Courtney, but with three vampires running around it would have been going off constantly.
But when the gargoyles bounded around the corner in a huff, the message was clear—they were not alone. Something was attacking the estate. Evil wasn't leaving any rock unturned this time around. Although, they probably thought the mansion would be empty, which meant they'd hoped to steal something. But what?
And it almost didn't matter because they were two wolves that needed to get locked up, and four non-violent gargoyles who only sensed evil, didn't fight it.
Something splashed nearby. They swung around to see water from the fountain gurgling upward. A slimy webbed hand slid upward over the cement edge. These were not the temperamental mermaids Charlie had helped before.
"Sea hags," he growled through his teeth.
But it wasn't the slimy hags and their deadly harpooned strands of hair Lizzy had her eyes frozen on, but the rubbery eight-legged monsters climbing up over the backs of the hags, using them like a bridge from the depths of the sea into the backyard.
"Charlie...." more words escaped her.
They were vastly unprepared for this level of an attack. Yes, they'd expected one. But this was like the enemy had been preparing for ages. And how could they have? They could not have known some new magical thing was being born into the world any sooner than the witches did.
But freezing up and questioning the how's and why's was only going to lead to failure. Lizzy and Charlie aimed their palms and shot off a series of spells that held the spiders and hags off, but it wouldn't for long, especially when—Lizzy doubled over and spewed out a long line of obscenities.
They didn't have much time.
"We're just going to have to let them take what they came for," Charlie decided. They couldn't fight this and chance Lizzy shifting in the yard. When her legs gave out a second later Charlie caught her and slid his arms underneath her legs, picked her up and held her close. By the time he started to run, it was too late. The path to the safety of the basement cell was blocked.
They were surrounded.
The moon was bristling higher over their heads.
And Lizzy was pretty sure her skin was about to peel off, letting out another monster.
CHAPTER 6
MATHEW BISHOP LANDED at the Deane Manor just as Emily and her Aunt Lucy were climbing up the front steps to head inside.
"Mathew!" Emily let out in shock.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
Emily waved it off. "What's happening out there? Is everyone okay?"
"For now. Battle's about to start though, so I need to hurry."
Emily sighed in frustration. "I wish I could help in some way. But I'm afraid I'd just be in the way."
"Sometimes my own clumsy feet make me feel the same way," Mathew replied. He needed to word his next statement carefully, because he hoped to spurn Emily into action. Actually, he hoped to prove to her that she really did belong here too, even though she didn't quite feel that way yet.
Lucy patted Emily's arm in comfort.
"Perhaps us staying out of the way is the best way to help," she offered.
"Sometimes, that is best," agreed Mathew. "And a skill in itself. Knowing when to step back. However, I came here for advice. You see, as a Guardian I can't interfere with human affairs, but this battle is going to get bad. We are way outnumbered. We need help, but I'm not sure where to seek it from." Actually, he did. But he had a job to do too. "Do the Howards have any allies that would come to their aid? I would ask them, but I didn't want to get their hopes up if my quest failed."
Emily paced across the front porch. The Howards
didn't like asking for help. The last time they had was in the Deane war and that ended with some of their ally's dead.
"Wait..." she took a second to recall all she knew from the Deane war, and put together where Riley and William had been. "Sorcier. I've never met anyone from there other than Annie, but it's where William is from. It's where Riley just came from. And Annie. Wouldn't they help if they knew their friends were in need?"
Mathew smiled. "I think you're spot on, Emily. Only, I'm not allowed to ask them." Not actually true either. He could ask, it was free will to say yes or no. But he wanted Emily to remember what it felt like to help. To remember the confidence she once had in herself and her judgement before her terrible experience with the Feyk, and her murdered father.
Aunt Lucy narrowed her eyes at Mathew, a bright gleam indicating she was catching his line of thinking. It was just the swift kick in the ass Emily needed to get her confidence back.
"I'll go," Emily announced a second later. They didn't even need to coax her. "Only, it's in New Orleans. How do I get there in time to do any good?"
"That, I can help you with," Mathew said. "I can take you there, return to the battle here, and if you succeed, Sorcier can open up a magical portal just like when William returned home."
"Okay. Take me now. If I fail, I guess I'll just fly—" she stopped herself. "I won't fail. I won't fail my friends."
She ran inside the manor and Lucy deadpanned Mathew, then smiled.
"I think your plan will work. She was already so close to remembering this place as her home. She belongs here, and she'll remember it. Or I'll give her a swift kick in the ass if she gets stubborn again."
Mathew chuckled just as Emily raced outside pulling her arms into a light jacket, said a quick goodbye to her aunt, and faced the Guardian.
"What do I do?"
He grabbed her hand. "Close your eyes."
A blink later he had popped them off the porch, and when Emily opened her eyes she was standing in a strange place she'd never been before. Unbeknownst to her, the same alley Riley had parked his motorcycle in weeks prior.