Lotus (Spell Library Book 13)

by Nikki Jacks

  I hated when the voice pointed things out to me that were logical and right. I did know there was something magical at play between me and the guys, but I had willingly put blinders on.

  And, girl, let’s not forget the fact that you have been hiding something major from them! You told Evan the basics—that your parents wanted you to marry someone you didn’t want—but you didn’t tell him how controlling your parents are or how dangerous Marlon could be.

  Do you really have a leg to stand on about the secret keeping when you haven’t said anything to them? And the whole independence thing is a crock, and you know it. Being independent does not mean you get to be stupid. You could have told the guys why you were here. They would have been on the lookout and making sure you were safe.

  But I didn’t want anyone on the lookout for me! The whole point was me being able to take care of myself and stand on my own. Telling the guys about my parents and Marlon would have only made them want to put me in a bubble. I hadn’t moved to Silver Springs to trade a gilded cage for a comfy bubble.

  I was a hot mess and buzzing. It was time to go home and be the pragmatic adult I liked to think I was. I needed to express my feelings to the guys and hear what else they had to say.

  And tell them about your parents and Marlon.

  Shut up, self!

  Then we needed to discuss our future. I didn’t know where I was at with the whole mate thing, but the four of us needed to talk and make decisions. The open and honest communication we’d talked about in the beginning had been missing, and we needed to get it back on track.

  I paid for my drinks and made my way out the doors. The cold air helped sober me up. I wasn’t worried about driving, but I needed a clear head if I was going to have a serious discussion with Evan, Drake, and Lance. I was fishing my keys out of my pocket when I heard my name shouted. I looked up to see Lance running down the street. I turned and started walking the opposite direction.

  I couldn’t believe they’d come looking for me when I told them I needed time to think. Respecting each other’s wishes got added to the list of things to discuss. My plan was to circle around the club and then get in my car and head home.

  As I rounded the corner to the back side of Vee, a hand wrapped around my mouth and I felt a pinch in my shoulder. My eyes dropped and my head lolled. As darkness rolled over me, I heard chimes in my head and thought of my guys.

  37

  Lotus

  I woke up wondering which Mardi Gras Krewe party I’d been to and how Maryn had let me get so drunk. My parents were going to kill me if I was so hungover I couldn’t attend the evening’s events with them. I didn’t smoke, but my mouth felt like I’d decided to make my way through a carton of cigarettes. I felt disgusting. I must have danced the entire party. My clothes smelled of sweat and smoke. Speaking of clothes, why the heck was I still dressed?

  I rolled to my side so I could brush my teeth and drink a gallon of water before I showered. Except, I didn’t move. I tried to roll again and was met with resistance. I tried to lift my arms so I could clear the sleep gunk from my eyes, but stopped short at a sharp yank on my wrists. My breathing grew ragged as I pried my eyes open and saw an unfamiliar room.

  In a rush, I remembered that I didn’t live in New Orleans anymore and it wasn’t Mardi Gras. I lived in Silver Springs, New York, and had just opened an ice cream shop in the small town. I’d been dating three men, Drake, Lance, and Evan. I’d found out last night I was their mate, something they’d been keeping from me.

  After walking out on them, I’d driven to Vee and met Rose. She’d given me some advice and a couple of tasty cocktails. I’d done some soul searching and decided to go home and talk to the guys so we could decide what we were going to do next.

  I remembered turning to walk away from Lance, who’d tracked me to Vee, and then the hand over my mouth and the pinch in my arm.

  Realization hit me… I’d been snatched! Walking through small-town America! Okay, so I was walking along the dark side of a building at night, but still!

  Silver Springs was practically perfect. I’d quickly fallen in love with the small-town charm. I’d spent twenty-five years in New Orleans. I’d had to be on guard to make sure that I didn’t fall prey to someone who wanted to hurt my parents or use me as leverage against them.

  There had been a couple close calls in high school, but Maryn and I had managed to get ourselves home. And now, here I was, a so-called independent woman, and I’d been snatched.

  The whirr of air conditioning let me know I wasn’t up north. I knew I wasn’t in my parents’ house; this room was way too gaudy for my mother’s tastes. This room had gilding on all its surfaces. There were mirrors all over the room as well. The heavy scent of incense lingered, but underneath it, there was a smell I thought I knew but couldn’t place.

  I thought about calling out but realized it was a stupid idea to let my captor know I was awake. I wanted to clear whatever drug they’d pumped into my system. I’d need a clear head if I was going to get out of this.

  Lance

  She’d been right there! Lotus heard me call her name. I saw her straighten herself up before she turned around and walked the other direction. I’d been running full out to catch up with her, but she’d turned the corner before I could catch up with her.

  By the time I’d gotten around the corner, I’d seen her limp body being loaded into a Town Car that hightailed it on the road out of town. I’d tried to tail them. I’d even shifted into my snow leopard so I could see better, but I couldn’t keep up.

  In those few seconds of seeing my life being stolen away, I’d scented that odd shifter from near Jewels. Thinking back, I realized I’d gotten so caught up with Lotus and our playing with her coffee that I’d forgotten to tell the guys I’d scented him. I’d known the scent, if not the person, and just thought I’d been picking up traces from around Jewels.

  Now I knew I’d been wrong. I should have gone after Lotus when she stormed out of the shop. We should have brought her back and made her talk to us then. She could have yelled and thrown stuff—we wouldn’t have cared. We’d hurt her badly and deserved the anger she gave us. I raced back to Lotus’s apartment to tell the guys what happened. We had to find our mate!

  Drake

  I couldn’t believe Lotus had walked out on us. I knew we deserved it. She was hurt and pissed. Looking back, we were wrong to keep the fact she was our mate from her, but at the time we thought it was the right move.

  Now? Now we were staring at the abyss of life with no mate. Lotus might decide that she didn’t want any of us, and who could blame her? We’d betrayed her trust. But I couldn’t lose her. She was a kitten just coming into her own, and she was mine. I needed Lotus more than I needed air. Life would be over if she decided that she didn’t want us.

  Evan

  I truly was going to kill my sister. My mother would have to mourn the loss of her youngest child because, after the chaos she caused, I was not in a forgiving mood. I knew Phoenix didn’t act out of maliciousness, but she also didn’t think. She didn’t think about the consequences of her words and actions. It was why she was hiding in the Human Lands with me.

  She was a successful children’s fantasy author, but what I didn’t know until I made her tell me was that her stories were real. Phoenix had capitalized on her fae heritage to tell secrets we kept from other supes. Phoenix didn’t tell other supes our histories, she printed them for the humans to see. Word had gotten back to the Fae Lands, and now Phoenix was being hunted. She was hiding in Silver Springs while she tried to figure out her next steps.

  Phoenix’s announcement to Lotus, with no realization that she’d just turned my mate’s world upside down, was typical of her. While I longed to be at my house berating Phoenix, I needed to find my fe’yanil. I’d watched the light die in her eyes when each part of our deception was revealed. Lotus hadn’t been able to see past what we’d omitted to hear the love and devotion in our voices. She couldn’t see the fear
we carried that she would reject us.

  I’d already made peace with what would happen if Lotus rejected me, but I knew that Drake and Lance would suffer greatly. We had to get Lotus to come back so we could talk. I wanted to give her space and time, but a sense of foreboding was settling over me, urging me to find my mate and make sure she was safe.

  Drake had been pacing the back room of the shop when Lance declared he was going to find Lotus. He couldn’t wait for her to decide to come back. Neither of us had tried to stop him. He was only acting on what we were all feeling. I’d just turned from the back door to start another lap when Lance burst in the door wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants.

  “Somebody snatched Lotus off the street! She was coming out of Vee and was walking toward the parking lot when I shouted her name. By the time I got around the corner, someone was putting her in a car. She was unconscious. I tried to catch them, but I was too far away.”

  At Lance’s words, Drake and I surrounded him. When he was done, Drake fired off questions like he was cross-examining a witness.

  “What kind of car? Did you see who was driving? Did you notice anything unusual? Think, Lance! This is important!”

  While Drake spoke with his brother, I flashed myself to the parking lot at Vee and then walked to the building. I walked around the building, my eyes scanning the ground to see if I could pick up some clue as to who had taken Lotus.

  I noticed the smell of sick dog, and then I caught a glint. I stepped up to the object and noticed Lotus’s keys and cell phone on the ground. Her screen was cracked, but with luck, it would still work. I picked up my fe’yanil’s belongings and flashed back to the shop.

  Lance and Drake were still going back and forth. “I’m telling you, Drake, I didn’t recognize the guy who had her or the guy driving!”

  “Come on, you had to have noticed something. The smallest thing could be crucial.”

  “I noticed a shifter scent from a couple days ago. I was coming out of Jewels Café when I caught scent of a shifter I couldn’t place. It was like some kind of dog, but there was a sick smell to it too. I smelled it around where Lotus was taken.”

  I quickly spoke up before Drake could ask more questions. “I smelled it too, Lance. I found Lotus’s phone and keys on the ground, but I noticed the scent you just described.”

  “Okay, let’s see if we can get into Lotus’s phone. There might be some clues. We can try talking to her friend Maryn. She might be able to help us.” Drake sounded sure, but the look in his eyes said he was barely holding on. I was afraid that if we didn’t find our mate soon, the Anders brothers would be letting their leopards take over.

  38

  Drake

  Thankfully, Lotus didn’t have a passcode on her phone. We’d talk to her about security when we got her home. Right now, I was thankful we weren’t going to have to try and hack her phone.

  I opened her text messaging app and didn’t see anything unusual. There was her group thread with us and then her individual messages with each of us. It was tempting to see what she discussed with my brother and Evan, but this was not the time and I’d already screwed up enough.

  Lotus’s messaging with her friend Maryn was pretty regular. It looked like they had conversations almost every day. Maryn asked lots of questions about us, but Lotus deflected a lot. I didn’t notice any messages from her parents, but that was to be expected.

  I checked the call log and saw that Lotus and Maryn spoke at least once a week. I was glad she was able to keep in such close contact with her friend. I know Lotus wanted to make some friends here in Silver Springs, but until she did, her connection to Maryn was important.

  Taking a deep breath, I pushed the phone icon next to Maryn’s name and waited for it to connect. I put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter so Lance and Evan could hear.

  A throaty, Southern drawl answered, “Lotus, you heifer, why are you calling at this hour? You could have waited to tell me about your opening. Don’t you have some hot men to be celebrating with?”

  My eyes widened at her last question. “Um, Maryn? Hi, this is Drake Anders, one of the hot men you were referencing? Lotus’s boyfriend?”

  “I know who you are, Mr. Office Sex. Why are you on Lotus’s phone?”

  “Well, Lotus was taken a few minutes ago and we need your help.”

  “She what? What is wrong with you assholes? She finally gets the courage to get away from her parents, gets to what could only be Lotus paradise, and meets you three. You’ve got her falling for you and trying to figure things out, and she’s all scared because of the sickly jackal, and you have the nerve to call me on her phone to tell me she’s been taken and you need my help? What you need is for me to kick your collective asses to get you in line! What happened to my friend, and what are you doing to find her?”

  We all blinked as her tirade wound down, and then Lance explained what happened and what he’d seen. Lance and Drake both described the scent to Maryn who burst out, “That slimy motherfucker! Just wait until I find out where he has her. I’m going to feed him to the marlin. No, not the marlin, he’s gator bait. We’re going out deep in the swamp and I’m going to cut him good to get the gators to come and munch on him. They’re gonna eat good real soon.”

  I cleared my throat at Maryn’s blood-thirsty claims. “Um, Maryn, do you know where Lotus is or who has her?”

  “Yes, Mr. Office Sex, I do know who has her. I don’t know where yet, but you three are going to get on a plane to the Big Easy and we’re going hunting. I’m going to reach out to some friends, and by the time you get here, we’re gonna go get your mate. Yes, I said mate. When Lotus told me about you three and her feelings, I figured she’d found mates when she moved up there. What I can’t believe is that you are colossal enough idiots to mess this up six ways from Sunday. Lord, quack a duck, these fools done gone and let Lotus get snatched by the sickly jackal and come to me for help. I’m gonna help them all right.”

  There was more to Maryn’s rant, but I hung up the phone so we could get started on travel plans. I looked at Evan, and his eyes were cool with determination and retribution to come. I understood why he was a warrior lord. I looked at Lance. He immediately started howling with laughter.

  “She called you Mr. Office Sex!”

  “Yeah, Lance, grow up. We’ve got to save our mate. From the sounds of it, the guy who has Lotus is bad news. What the fuck is a sickly jackal, anyway?”

  “I would imagine that this Marlon is a jackal shifter who has some kind of illness.”

  I looked at Evan. “Makes sense. Come on, guys, let’s get moving. We need to find a flight to New Orleans and get moving.”

  Evan took a little pressure off us with his next statement. “No worries. I’ll charter a private flight. This will allow us to get in the air faster. Go home and pack bags. We’ll meet back here in half an hour. That should be enough time. And, gentlemen? Make sure your clothes are easy to shift in. This is our mate; we will not show mercy.”

  Evan

  Two sets of feline eyes blinked back at me as the Anders brothers nodded and left the shop. I flashed home and walked into my office. I was logging into my computer to pull up the charter information when Phoenix walked into my office.

  “You will turn around now, and if you know what is good for you, you will leave my house. I am not in the mood for you, Phoenix.”

  “What do you mean? I thought we were eating dinner here and I was going to meet Lotus’s other mates.”

  “That was the plan until you so callously told Lotus we were her mates. Something she did not know. We hadn’t told her because she wasn’t ready to hear that information. Thanks to your little bomb, Lotus left after the shop closed and then was taken by some jackal shifter from New Orleans. We are leaving to bring her home now. You will be wise to make sure you are not here when I return. If you are, I will let our queen know where to find you.”

  “Evan, you wouldn’t! She wants to put me in prison for the rest
of my life, if she doesn’t kill me outright!”

  “You should have thought of that before you started telling the humans our histories. Now get out! I am done with you!”

  Phoenix knew I could tolerate no more of her and turned to leave. “For what it’s worth, Evanore, I didn’t mean to upset Lotus. I’m sorry someone took her. I wish you fair speed and true aim as you bring her home.”

  I couldn’t reply and instead dialed the charter service. By the time I rejoined the Anders brothers at the shop, the plane was ready for us. We had a thirty-minute drive to the private airport and wasted no time heading out. The plane took off as soon as we were buckled in and were prepared for the flight. We were all consumed with thoughts of Lotus and what if?

  Not able to stand it any longer, I cleared my throat. “We need some sort of plan for once we arrive. Obviously Maryn will meet us and lead us to this sickly jackal. From there, what will we do? If he is a shifter, it is safe to assume that he has other shifters working for him.

  “I recommend you shift into your leopards. I assume you are able to fight better in those forms? Okay. I will move through the location looking for Lotus. Once I have found her, I will flash her to a safe space where we’ll have Maryn waiting. Then I’ll rejoin you and we will end this filth. He does not get a second chance.”

  The brothers nodded and then laid their heads back. Taking their cue, I tried to rest my body, but worry for my fe’yanil consumed me. This sickly jackal would pay for taking her.

  Lotus

  Quack a duck, Marlon had snatched me! I didn’t know how he’d found me, but one of his lackeys had come in to release my bonds and let me go to the bathroom. I didn’t try to make a move; I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere. I didn’t know which of Marlon’s houses I was in, and making a move without good information was dumb. After securing me to the bed again, I was locked in the room, but at least I was sitting up.