Woven Fates

by Brandy L Rivers

  “I hope she pulls through this, but even if she does, I wonder how she’s going to adjust to being free.”

  “Wasn’t she when she was young?” Valen asked.

  Cora shook her head. “You’re lucky you never met her parents. They made my skin crawl. I still think they were behind your father’s parents’ death. And they had been disappointed when he wasn’t in the car with his parents the night they died.”

  “But why?”

  She sighed. “They wanted more power. I don’t know what kind of power they sought, but I know they were the reason the doppelgangers came in the first place. I don’t have any idea what they thought they may gain, but they all but trained your mother to seduce Mark from the very beginning.”

  “Did everyone expect him to become the high priest?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, and he had been the only candidate. Only Germaine and Liliana changed their minds about stepping down when they saw the way the Churnskis were pushing everything the way they wanted them to go.”

  He groaned. “Why does everything have to be so convoluted in the coven?”

  She sighed. “Once upon a time I would have disagreed, but I saw firsthand how messed up our politics were. And the thing is, I don’t think there was ever a good answer to our problems.”

  “You mean how we never seemed to improve anything?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Most people refused to work outside of the community, but there was a limited amount of jobs. Which is why you noticed how much poorer we seemed than those around you in college.”

  He nodded.

  “Your grandparents all worked outside of the community. And at times were shunned for it. In fact, Mark worked outside of the community too, but nearby. I wonder what he does now. But he was a craftsman. He loved to build and worked on a construction team from the moment he got out of high school. He went to some night classes to learn more, but he didn’t seem to like it.”

  “How close were you two? Mom said you had a crush on him.”

  She sighed. “Who didn’t? Hell, I think my sweet Daniel had a crush on him too, at times. Anders was that guy everyone flocked to, everyone trusted. He was so attractive and caring, and it was hard to find a fault in him. It was never serious, though. And I loved Daniel with all my heart. But yeah, I was a little miffed when she got him first. But only because I wasn’t sure she truly felt anything for him.”

  “Did she? Do you think?”

  She nodded. “I think she wound up seducing him and falling in love in the process. But maybe it was never as pure as what I had with Daniel, because her parents orchestrated it from the very beginning. But I can’t really see her with anyone else now. I don’t know, Valen.”

  He sighed. “Well, I’m not giving up on Melanie or my child. So if my mother does something stupid, I can’t follow her. I won’t. I wish I knew how to make her see that there is something beyond what she thought she had. The coven certainly didn’t help her. I saw how my father went to others for help, and everyone shut him down, like they thought he was crazy.”

  “They didn’t want to believe we could fall so far. And there is no other way to explain what happened to us. I just hope we can find them soon.”

  Chapter 33

  Gina woke feeling refreshed and recharged. Everything seemed brighter. Mark pulled her closer, nuzzling her neck.

  “We should get up, see if they figured out anything. It’s been a few hours and I’m anxious to end all of this.”

  He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “I wish we didn’t have to deal with all of this.”

  “You say that now, warm in our bed, but I know you want to ensure your son’s safety and end the problem now, before they have a chance to do anything.”

  He winced. “Unfortunately, you’re right. I have a feeling if they come here, they’re going to find out real fast how much our town won’t fall like the others. A part of me wants him to try, while the other part fears the worst.”

  “We have a lot of smart people who are too in tune with one another to let that go on long.”

  He nodded. “You’re right. The moment Gerard tried impersonating me, Clint would rip him apart.” He smiled then and climbed out of bed. “Think whoever Robert sent to get the coven out of town has had time?”

  She shrugged. “We can hope.” She didn’t admit that a bad feeling had crept in and she worried how things were going to play out and his reaction. She had no doubt they would come out all right, but it wasn’t going to go well.

  Sighing, she blew out a breath and hurried into clothes. As long as the confrontation with the doppelgangers was as fast as the pregnancy, she would have no problem.

  Mark massaged her shoulders. “You want me to call Robert, don’t you?”

  Gina nodded. “Sooner we’re done with them, the faster we can get on with our lives.”

  Nodding, he moved away, grabbed his phone, and headed downstairs.

  Shaking her head, she headed downstairs. She found Mark on the phone in the kitchen.

  “Yeah, you can talk to her,” he said and handed the phone over.

  Gina’s head tipped. “Hello?”

  Emily came on. “How are you feeling?”

  “Great, believe it or not.” She winked at Mark.

  A smile lit his eyes as he shook his head and headed to the fridge. He glanced back and winked.

  “I’m glad. I just wanted to check. How is he doing?”

  “Oh, Mark is good. Hopefully your brother has an idea or two. We want to get this going…that is if Badb is up for it.”

  “Is she okay?” she asked.

  “I assume so, but she is sleeping. She was probably four feet tall before we all took a nap.”

  “That’s incredible. I wonder how tall she is.”

  “I assume somewhere around her sister’s height when she’s done growing. Mark is making something to eat. I’ll probably head up to see if they are awake. Her sister stayed with her.”

  “That’s good. I’m sure you two need a bit of alone time,” Emily teased. “Let us know if we can do anything, okay?”

  “We will. Thank you for the help.”

  “I’m glad Mark had the foresight to call and send me over,” she admitted. “Waking up alone would have been scary, I’m sure.”

  “I think I could have managed. Besides, she was talking from the start.”

  Emily giggled. “That was strange. I’ll let you go.”

  “Talk to you soon.”

  She took the phone to Mark. “I’m going to check on Badb and Morrigan.”

  He dipped his head.

  She hurried up the stairs and knocked on the door.

  Badb answered, now tall enough to stand eye to eye. “If Robert has had time to get the witches out of Brightwater Bay, I’m ready.”

  “Me too. What about your sister?” she asked.

  Badb nodded.

  “Hungry?” Gina asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Come on down. Mark’s cooking.”

  * * * *

  “So, how do we find them?” Preston asked.

  Robert looked up. “My guess is Badb can either pull them here, or we can get to them. She knows more about them than we do.”

  “We can hope,” Preston muttered. “I wonder if Toryn knows someone who can tell us where the doppelgangers started. I bet we find where they currently are.”

  “I’d rather pull them here,” Robert said. “At least somewhere we know.”

  “Yeah, but what can they really bring to the table?” Preston asked. “Aren’t they in the fading mode?”

  Robert lifted the folder Brent had given them, then pointed to the one Draecyn gave him. “Nope. Not necessarily. The powers they gained from the last incarnation are fading away, however, all the powers they’ve gained in the past rise. We have no idea what we’re truly dealing with.”

  “They were Fae to begin with too, and Fae can have a whole array of talents.�
� Preston rubbed at his head. “Think Mark’s up yet?”

  Robert’s phone rang. He smiled when he saw the name. After hitting speaker, he said, “Hello, Mark. How are you?”

  “Good, and Gina is anxious to deal with the doppelgangers. Badb is on her way down. You want to come over so we can discuss it? Or what?”

  He rubbed at his chin. “Yeah, we can do that. See you soon.”

  “There’ll be food.” He hung up.

  Preston smiled. “At least we’ll have a free meal.”

  “I hope we can finish this tonight. I want to stop thinking about what they could do to Edenton if they managed to infiltrate like they had in so many places, in communities that should have caught it.”

  “What, like Mark’s?”

  “No, like Badb’s kingdom. The coven had been falling apart for ages. They were in a perpetual loop of holding onto the same values and beliefs when the world around them was changing. They’re more like a cult than an actual coven, and I’m not sure how well they’ll do when they move on from Brightwater Bay. Because Christian sent me pictures.” He pulled up the messages and a picture of the park. Every color was some faded version of what it should have been. He slid the phone to Preston. “But at least Christian convinced them all to leave.”

  “That means we can end it if we can find them.”

  * * * *

  Badb was ready. She wanted to take Gerard’s life. She knew the story behind the doppelgangers, and how none of the others knew the whole story. Gerard didn’t even know the whole story.

  He missed one important key fact. Emrette had descended from the Sylvan Fae Gerard had not only betrayed, but slaughtered. He’d sent her a journal while he was fading away.

  Emrette didn’t put it all together, though. No, she did. She spent several years watching Gerard and his people. Emrette had told her how Gerard had led his people to feed off the Sylvan out of jealousy. They stole power, so the survivors had cursed them to fade away, only they had the ability to steal power and became the doppelgangers.

  They became so good at slipping in and taking over, and raising up whole communities before they came crashing down. She wanted it to stop. She needed to end it for Emrette.

  Morrigan touched Badb’s face. “You’re thinking of him, aren’t you?”

  “Emrette? Always. He was the love of my life. All those years, centuries, everything without him. We had fifty amazing years and made two wonderful children. I’m going to stop the cycle for everyone, but dedicate the victory to Emrette.”

  “You can find love.”

  “So could you,” she said. “At least I had a great love in my life. You haven’t. You need to find that more than I do.”

  Morrigan snorted. “You were always the more romantic one.”

  “Probably why I found my man when you never could.” She winked and headed downstairs.

  Gina rushed past them to get the door. In walked Preston and Robert.

  Robert blushed and diverted his eyes from Badb.

  She couldn’t help laughing. “Sorry you came in at such a strange time.”

  “It’s good to see you grown.” And probably dressed, but he didn’t say it. “Are you ready to help form a plan?”

  “I have one,” Badb answered. “Though we’re going to want somewhere isolated. Doesn’t have to be a rift, though one would help when I open a portal that will pull them into where we are at the time. I will warn you, it will get ugly. His core group are all trained well with magic and weapons, and likely have enchanted or cursed weapons at the ready.”

  “And we have someone who can counter nearly any ailment. I’m not concerned about that.”

  “You may need to be. Either way, if Kindra is to have a chance, we have to take her, and Valen.”

  Mark nodded, though he didn’t look up.

  “Don’t fear. I have no worry for your son. It’s Kindra I’m not sure about,” Morrigan answered. “She’s a mess.”

  Gina looked at Mark and back at Morrigan. “We have to try to convince her.”

  “Valen will,” Mark answered. “I hope. I can’t offer her anything. If she can pull through this and prove she’s not that person who chose another man over me, and tried to kill me, then I can forgive her, but if she can’t fight him now, I can’t. I need to wait and see.”

  “No one blames you,” Badb said. “And if it wasn’t for your son, I would expect you to want her head on a pike.”

  A laugh burst from his lips. “Honestly, as long as she stays away from me, I’m fine with her living.”

  Morrigan smiled. “You’re a better man than most. I saw what she did when I searched for his taint on you.”

  “I know a place we can go,” Robert said. “It’s not a rift, but that would require two people to join us who don’t need to be there.”

  Preston shot Robert a glance. “Why leave them out?”

  “The smaller we keep this, the better. We need to be sure we can stop them. The more people we have with us, the more chaos can be caused. If we contact Slater like he wants, he’ll bring the enforcers. If we contact some of the other people, they’ll want to come. Smaller, the better. We’re only dealing with five. And Christian has already promised to make an appearance.”

  “And you can’t stop him?” Preston asked. “Tremaine could keep him out.”

  “They’ll be fine. Besides, there will be ten of us against five of them. And if Kindra does something stupid, nine against six is still plenty.”

  “All right,” Mark said. “What about Cora?”

  “I’ll take her to where the coven went. She’s not tied to them.”

  Morrigan nodded. “It’s her best chance of survival. They should all be fine, but there is no way to know when we kill all of them.”

  “They’re far enough away, and the curse will end. They should be fine, all of them,” Badb assured. “Now, if you can, take us where you want to.”

  Robert rolled his shoulders and slid off the jacket. Give me a moment to take Cora to safety. Then I’ll take Valen and Kindra once they’re ready. Just a warning, we’re going out to North Carolina, to an old park we used to go to. There’s nothing out there now, just in case we run into problems.

  Preston sighed. “I hate that park.”

  “Yeah, but we won’t need to go back once we deal with them. And it’s protected by Council wards still,” Robert answered.

  “Well, there’s one plus,” he muttered.

  Robert disappeared, leaving his jacket on the chair.

  * * * *

  Kindra wiped at her eyes and managed to pull on clothes. She’d meditated on the predicament and came to the only solution she could. She needed to ensure Valen made it through the fight, which meant proving Gerard no longer had a hold on her in any way, shape, or form. Not an easy task considering a part of her loved him, no matter how fucked up that was.

  She was broken, damaged, and it was at least partially her fault. But she needed to see her son through the ordeal that ultimately was her doing. If she hadn’t fallen under Gerard’s sway, he would not have been tainted.

  Then…well, after all was said and done, would she have anything to live for? Of course. Her grandchild. But first, she needed to make sure her grandchild kept their father.

  Robert touched her shoulder and she managed a smile. “Is it time?”

  “Yeah, you okay?”

  “As long as my son comes through this, I will be. I can’t change the past, but I can ensure the future.”

  Robert nodded. “You can indeed. I’m going to take you and Valen to a park, far from here, and far enough from anyone to make a difference. The confrontation will happen there. Are you ready?”

  “Yeah.” She wasn’t, but she wasn’t sure anything could prepare her for what she needed to do.

  Valen took her hand. “I love you, Mom. And my boy or girl will love you too. Don’t give up on me. Please.”

  “I’m not. I’m fighting fo
r you.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek. Robert touched them both and they were standing in an empty park with rusted swings. “We’ll all be here soon.”

  She nodded.

  Robert disappeared.

  “Mom, you’re scaring me.”

  “I’m sad because I gave up a good man. I don’t even know why I did it.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’ll prove you learned from the mistake.”

  “I will,” she answered. “Then I need to figure some things out.”

  “Like?” he asked.

  “Like where I belong.”

  “Close to me. We’ll figure this out.”

  * * * *

  Mark shook his hands out when they appeared in the park. Kindra looked terrified, and he knew Gina wanted him to say something. He could feel it in his bones.

  He pushed away all the shit and walked to her. “You did all right by our boy.”

  A real smile broke across her face, chasing away the utter sadness. “Thank you. You would have done better, though.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Can’t worry about that right now. We need to focus when Badb completes the ritual to bring Gerard and the rest of them over.”

  “You’re right. I need to be strong. That was always my problem.” She looked down at the ground. “I’m not going to let Valen down. Or you, and not because I think I can fix what we had, but to prove I regret my weakness.”

  “Don’t, Kindra. It wasn’t all you. Just, don’t let Gerard sway you this time.”

  Badb moved to the empty field and knelt in the grass. She held her arms up and started to chant in a language that felt familiar. Too familiar.

  Magic hummed through him and he almost joined in the chant. It didn’t make sense. He certainly didn’t know Fae magic. His parents were witches.

  But why would Draecyn have met his parents when he was just a child? Weird shit happened around the former magister of the Silver Council. He was supposed to be dead, but he didn’t question it for the simple fact that anything was possible.