“But I don’t,” Theo protested.
“Remember, we were sure in the beginning that she knew it was somewhere near or in our house. The vault is sealed with our blood. It would take someone with our blood to open the portal to the vault.”
“It’s not here, on this plane?”
“It’s in a kind of-pocket dimension-I think you could say,” John replied. “It is very well hidden. I don’t think she could find it. But she has proven that she is willing to try.”
“So, we will continue working with Theo and Marissa tomorrow morning,” Ciaran stated. Up till now the Fae had been quiet, watching and listening. “Tomorrow afternoon we will examine Mr. and Mrs. Thorndike, to make sure that they have not been affected. When the children come home after school tomorrow, we will examine them.”
“Is it safe for the children to go to school?” Marissa asked.
“They will be safe at the school,” Brendan replied. “I and the other teachers will make sure of it.”
“I will ask Shari-Beth to keep an extra eye on them as well,” Celine declared.
“I will have Josh and his friends do the same,” Tony added. “We will keep them safe. All of them.”
The back door slammed in the kitchen. Marissa and Malia jumped in their seats.
“I’m home!” Shari-Beth called.
“Come into the sitting room, dear!” Celine called back. Shari-Beth tossed her school bag towards the stairs. Her eyebrows climbed towards her hairline at the sight of the gathering in the sitting room. She looked at Celine. Celine quickly brought her up to date.
“Of course I will protect the kids!” Shari-Beth said. “Emma, Aidan and Christy will help as well. And so will Josh. What else can we do?”
“That is the best help you can give us, Sweetheart,” Celine said. Brendan cleared his throat.
“Actually, Shari, there is something else that you and your friends can do.” Everyone looked at Brendan in surprise.
“I think Shari-Beth can help spread the word that we need help. Remember, this town takes care of its own. I think we should use the phone tree. Warn everyone that Clarice is coming, and she may bring friends. It depends on how much she wants whatever is in that vault. She won’t be expecting the entire town to stand against her. It sounds like being part of a healthy community is not something that she has any experience with. The Shifters in town can all keep an eye out. Their senses are heightened. They will know if anyone smells wrong. The Witches and other magic users can scry and use their talents to protect everyone as well.”
“Remember, we want her to be able to get close to Theo,” Tony reminded him.
“True. But we need to protect him, and everyone else, as well. We need to warn everyone to be ready. Then, when we have her, we can spring the trap.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Mr. Thorndike said. “Will your community really work together on this?”
“Valerians’s Cove is special that way,” Brendan told him. “We protect our own. Many paranormals who live among humans have forgotten what it means to live in an all-paranormal town. We have not.”
John looked impressed.
“Good,” Celine said, standing. “Girls, let’s make the salads. Dinner is almost ready.”
14
Marissa and Theo had rested well. Having someone poking around in your mind was hard on the system. Marissa woke early, stretching as the sun sent beams of golden light in through her white lace curtains. She turned her head to the side. Theo lay sleeping beside her. Rolling to lie on her side, she watched him sleep. His golden curls had fallen across his face as he slept. Theo had always been on the lean side of strong, more wiry than brute strength. Working undercover, he had lost weight he really couldn’t afford to lose. He had been too thin when he arrived in Valerian’s Cove with Tony’s Uncle Ralph and Shari-Beth at the start of the summer. Two months of Celine’s cooking had taken care of that.
Marissa smiled as she watched him sleep. Under Clarice’s mind magery, Marissa had truly thought that she would never see him again. The suppressing of her Bond and the subsequent compulsions had left her confused and angry. Now, all that was gone. Marissa could feel the bond again, growing healthy and strong. She could feel the attraction, the pull to be together, between herself and Theo. They had begun to reclaim the closeness and synergy that they had had before Clarice had come into their lives. Marissa felt as if a part of her that had been broken was made whole.
Theo reached out an arm and pulled her against him. He tucked her up against himself. She turned so they were spooning, her back to his front. Theo nuzzled away the hair that had fallen across her cheek and kissed her.
“Mmm. This is nice to wake up to,” he told her.
Marissa turned her head and kissed him back. They were going to be late to breakfast.
Malia drove the twins and Shari-Beth to school. She waved goodbye as they ran into the imposing building, then turned the car back down the drive. The Academy was located towards the edge of the town’s boundary on the south side, near the cliffs overlooking the water. The Pack’s lands bordered the Academy’s on the eastern side. Malia drove until she had cleared the Academy’s borders, then took the turn towards the Valerian’s Cove Wolf Pack territory. She was going to have breakfast with Tony.
Pulling up in front of the Pack meeting house, Lia could already see an improvement. Clive and Caleb Gianetti had basically used the meeting house as their own personal clubhouse. It had become as rundown as the rest of the structures on Pack land. Peeling paint, cracked window glass. The inside had been in disrepair as well, dirty and scuffed. A few rooms had holes in the walls where fights had gotten out of hand, the damage never getting fixed.
Now, the windows in the meeting house were all unbroken glass. A fresh coat of paint covered the outside of the building. Entering through the front door, Malia saw that the inside had received a fresh coat of paint as well. The holes were fixed, and new flooring put down. There was a young woman working as a receptionist at a new open office area to the left of the entrance. Small potted trees and other plants decorated the entrance hall. There were beautiful prints of nature photography on the walls, as well as several beautiful abstract paintings, all in colors reflecting the natural world.
Lia walked up to the front desk. “Is Tony in?”
The young woman in charge of the desk looked up from what she had been reading. She smiled when she saw Lia.
“He’s in his office. Shall I call him for you?”
“No, thank you. I know the way.” Lia smiled back at the eager face before her and headed around the corner and down a short side hall. Tony’s office was behind the front office. He had enormous windows on the outside wall that let in plenty of natural light. He had his desk set up, with a phone and a computer. There was a printer on a table off to the side of the room. Bookshelves lined the opposite wall. There wasn’t a lot on them as of yet. A bound copy of the Pack genealogy, a listing of all the American Packs and not much else. Three crystals, threaded onto fishing line topped with brightly colored beads, hung in the window and cast rainbows as they spun.
Tony was on the phone as Lia came in. She sat in one of the two chairs in front of Tony’s desk and waited. He looked up briefly and smiled at her, holding up one finger to show that he would only be a minute. Lia watched him as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line.
“That’s great, thank you, Luke. I appreciate it. Talk to you soon.” Tony put down the phone and smiled at Lia.
“Hey, Beautiful.”
“Hey yourself. How’s it going?”
“It’s going remarkably well, actually. Given that my father and uncle had just about run this Pack into the ground, and alienated every other Pack in the process, those other Packs are being incredibly kind and generous in helping us get back on our feet.”
“That’s awesome, Tony.”
Tony stood and walked around his desk. He pulled Lia to her feet.
“Let’s take a walk.
”
Putting his arm around her waist, Tony led the way back towards the front desk. He paused to talk with the young receptionist for a moment.
“Lexy, this is my mate, Lia Casey. She and her children will be around quite a bit.”
Lexy smiled at Lia.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “Are you a Casey Witch? You don’t smell like a Shifter.”
Lia nodded. “Earth, and Empath. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“Lexy, Luke Broadman from the Seattle Pack will be sending down a few young wolves who are looking to join a new Pack. Three brothers and their sister. Please make sure that rooms are made up for them, and someone is available to talk to them about the benefits of the Valerian’s Cove Pack?” Lexy nodded. That would be Remy’s job as Third. Lexy had a bit of a crush on Remy. She was thrilled to have any excuse to call him, officially.
Tony led Lia outside. Taking her hand, they walked down the Main Street of the Pack village. The buildings were primarily housing. An auto shop was a few doors down, across the street from the meeting house. Where before, the buildings had all been falling down from neglect, they were now in various stages of being fixed and remodeled. Fresh paint, new porches. New windows. It was amazing what a difference a little care could make in a place.
“Everything is looking so much better,” Lia said.
“We are really working hard on it,” Tony replied. “There is a lot to do. It is really important that the Pack have a sense of pride in our lands and in our homes.”
He stopped walking, and turned to Lia. Rubbing his hands down her arms, he took her hands in his.
“I know I have been really busy lately. I haven’t been able to give you the time you deserve. Things are settling down here a bit, finally. Everyone who wanted to leave has done so. Those that remain are actively involved in helping to make the Pack healthy again. You can see how much the shift in attitude is changing the community.”
Lia nodded. She was impressed.
Tony took a breath. He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them, one at a time. Then he got down on one knee.
“Lia, I have loved you my entire life. Having you come home is the best thing that could ever have happened to me. Would you please consider making our Bond official, and living with me here on Pack lands as my mate, and my wife?”
Lia nodded. Her eyes were awash with tears. Tony stood. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her. Howls and shouts resounded all around them, echoing throughout the Pack’s lands.
“I never would have believed I could be this happy,” Lia whispered. “I am so glad we came home.”
“I am glad you came home, too,” Tony replied. He kissed her again. Putting his arm around her waist, he started walking again. They walked to the edge of the village area. There was an open area there where a house had been burned to the ground. The ground was still black from the fire.
“The house I lived in when I was little was one of the first to go,” Tony said. “Remy and I took extreme pleasure in watching it burn. The thing is, the Alpha’s house really should be in the center of the land. Ralph and Remy will have homes here as well. Do you think it would be possible to cleanse this ground where the fire was and build something beautiful here?”
Looked at the scorched earth. Some pretty strong accelerants had been used to make sure that there was absolutely nothing left of what once had stood there. Reaching out with her Gift, Lia let her magic flow into the soil. The earth still held the memory of blood and anger. Mother Earth was a fast healer, though. With a little help, Lia thought she could indeed envision something beautiful there.
She nodded, looking up at Tony. He smiled down at her. “What kind of house would you like?”
Lia grinned. “A smaller version of my parents’ house, I think. We need room for the kids. I want a rooftop seating area, too, and window seats. I need a studio here as well, you know.”
“I can build that one all by myself, after helping your dad with the first one,” Tony bragged.
Lia laughed. “I’ll hold you to that!”
“We can talk to the architect whenever you like,” Tony said. “I think we can have it ready to move into by Christmas. Would that be okay? We could get hand fasted at Yule? Or we could do it sooner, and you and the kids could live in town with me until our new house is ready.”
Lia looked at the lot where her new house would stand. “Let’s talk to the architect this week,” she said. “Would it be okay for my family to come out and help me cleanse the land? Once we have a floor plan for the house, I want to start planning the gardens.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t want to wait until Christmas to be hand fasted, Tony,” Lia said. She turned to him. “But I am not ready to move out of my parent’s house yet, either. I want our first house on our own together to be this one, that we build together. Would you consider living at my parent’s with the children and me until this one is ready? I know it’s a lot to ask. I’ll understand if you don’t want to give up your house in town to live in the madhouse.”
“Lia, I don’t want to wait, either. It’s been driving my Wolf crazy to have you so close and not be with you. Ralph and Josh can stay in the house in town. We can stay with your parents until this one is ready. That’s fine with me. I’ve been thinking about what to do with the one in town, anyway. I think I will keep it as a house for single Packmembers that want to live in town. I will have someone who lives there full time and keeps the rest of them in line. Maybe we can house visiting Wolves from other Packs there as well, if there is no one living there at the time. We can think about that more later.”
Standing on her toes, Lia kissed him again. Tony wrapped his hands in her curls and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. More howling erupted around them. They broke apart, breathless.
“How soon can we do this hand fasting thing?” Tony asked. Lia laughed.
15
Nathaniel and Ciaran swapped patients, Nathaniel taking Marissa, Ciaran taking Theo. They were working outside again. The day was a bit cooler, so Theo and Marissa were each dressed warmly and had blankets wrapped around themselves.
Ciaran talked the pair down into a trance again, then glanced at Nathaniel.
“Ready?”
“Of course.”
Ciaran dropped into a trance himself, allowing his consciousness to blend with Theo’s. Starting with Theo’s upper awareness, Ciaran searched for any signs of a foreign mind or compulsion. There was nothing on that level. He hadn’t expected there to be, Nathaniel was too good as his work. Still, it was always better to have a second opinion, especially in cases such as these.
Dropping deeper into Theo’s mind, Ciaran continued to search. He found two hooks buried deeply within Theo’s psyche and cleared them, then continued on. He was about ready to pull out when he sensed something just at the edge of his awareness. Looking deeper, Ciaran found it. Entwined so closely with Theo’s mind that it almost looked like an extension of it was a strand of sickly yellow-green energy, a parasite feeding on Theo’s emotions. From how deeply it was merged with Theo’s energy, it was obvious that this parasitic strand had been there for a very long time. Gently, very, very gently, Ciaran began to unwind it. It resisted his efforts, trying to weave itself deeper into Theo’s mind. Grounding himself more deeply, Ciaran called upon the Goddess for help.
“Lady, your Healer has been corrupted against his will and without his knowledge. Bless us with your Light-guide me in removing this parasite so that your Healer may be free to do your work in this realm. Bless him with your Healing, that he may bring healing to others under your Will and guidance. In Love and Light, so mote it be.”
Ciaran’s body warmed as he saw in his mind a gentle yet blindingly bright white light enter Theo’s mind. It hovered, waiting. Deftly, Ciaran took it up and directed it at the sickly colored parasitic energy curled around Theo’s own healthier light. The Lady’s light burned away the sickening energy as soon as it t
ouched it, healing Theo’s mind as it went. Just to make sure, Ciaran envisioned the Light expanding and filling Theo’s entire Being, burning out anything attached to him that could bring harm. Anything foreign, that was not there with his Highest Good in mind. Then Ciaran turned the Light on himself. It was always wise to make sure that the parasitic energy had not shifted from Theo to him. It would not do for a power-hungry human Mage to be able to compel or control one of the Fae. Sensing the healing was finished, Ciaran thanked the Lady again and let go of her Light. Withdrawing from Theo’s mind, Ciaran sat back on his heels. Resting his hands on his thighs, he took several deep breaths, centering himself back in his own mind and body.
Nathaniel had finished as well and was watching Ciaran. Nate was sitting in a chair next to Marissa, a cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie in his hands. Marissa had curled her feet under her and was sipping her own cup of tea as well. Nathaniel raised his eyebrows at Ciaran.
“I found one hook in Marissa, deep down, and what looked like the beginning of something deeper, a means of energy binding or control. Possibly allowing the one who placed it to control or drain her energy from afar. We made quick work of it. I don’t think that it had been there for that long. A year at the most,” Nathaniel said.
“I found a much older version of the same thing in Theo. I would say that it had been there since he was an infant, it was so well developed and entrained with his own energy. It was definitely draining his energy to whoever placed it. Not all at once, but a steady stream that would leave him feeling tired and a little more lethargic than normal. Like constantly feeling a little run down. I’m sure that Theo never knew there was anything wrong, it had been there so long. He would never have known a difference.”
Broken Bonds (Valerian's Cove Book 2) Page 10
