by Karen DuBose
She throws her hand in the air. “Fine! Just for the record, I did not want to do this.”
“Noted! Now help us find her. Dariya doesn’t have much time left. She has been trying to reach me. I can’t ignore her much longer. I’m afraid we have run out of time.”
The candles are already set up from when Gracen and I tried earlier to find Naya. We gathered in a circle holding hands. The power that washes over me is a welcome feeling. Reaching out to Naya again, I felt her. It is faint, but enough for me to know where she is. I didn’t even say a thing to the other two before I transport us to Naya.
Opening my eyes, I know where I am. I should have known she would be here. The lush garden is as far as the eye could see, with so many beautiful flowers in full bloom. Colors ranging from the brightest yellows to the deepest reds. It’s a sight to see. Looking to the left there is a tiny cottage sitting back inside the forest surrounding us. There are flower boxes under the windows with dragon lilies. Their deep midnight purple and blue colors are so beautiful. Their petals look like dragon wings. The welcome mat that lay at the base of the door is waiting to greet people.
When I walk to the door leaving Gracen and Bexley where they are, I knock on the door. As I wait for her to answer, I look around again. To the left of the cottage is a small pond with seal fish. Their colors were bright green and blue, some were pink and white.
The door swings open there stands a haggard-looking Naya. Making me go on high alert and my magic shimmering to the surface on my skin.
“What happened?”
She swipes at a few strands of hair out of her face. “Oh, you know. Trying to run from the Elders and other witches. Same old, same old.”
I let my magic go back deep down inside me before I ask. “Is that why you came to the one place no one would have thought to come?” I raise my hands to our surroundings.
“Yes, they were hot on my trail. Coming to Niko’s cabin was the only place I could think to go. He would never look for me here.” She looks up at the sky then back at me. “I take it its time?”
“Yes, It’s time. Grab what you need and meet me outside, we need to hurry. She doesn’t have much time left.”
She nods letting me know she understood. As she went back inside, I walk back over to Gracen and Bexley.
I point my finger at Bexley. “You better be nice. This isn’t about you or her. This is about saving the world. Do you understand?”
“I’m not a two-year-old. I know what needs to be done,” Bexley says with a huff and rolls her eyes.
I shake my head, I know this is going to be a long journey. Those two will need to be separated more than I liked to admit. I just hope they can be nice long enough to get this done. Gracen and I are just going to have to be in between them at all times.
The door slams shut behind me. I turn to Naya with a smile. As soon as I see her, my smile fades. Naya heads straight for Bexley. Gracen and I get between them just in time.
“We do not have time for this. If you want to go at each other it can wait after we save the world. Let’s go now,” I say, holding my hands up in defense.
“Fine! Once this is over, we have some unfinished business to attend to you fribble,” Naya says.
Bexley yells where she is being held back by Gracen. “Who you are calling a fribble, you scamp! You just wait until this is over!”
I raise my voice to get my point across. “Enough! I don’t have time to deal with your squabbling right now. We need to go.”
I’m met with silence. They are still giving each other the death glare. At least it’s better than them fighting. I reach out to Dariya for the first time in four days. I sure hope she is ok. I know she is suffering, I plan to stop that suffering as soon as I get there.
“Dariya, I’m coming. We will be there in a few minutes. Hold on, dear girl.”
I’m met with silence. The link is extremely weak. We don’t have any more time to waste. I grab their hands and transport us to Mountain Hollow. I look around to find her. My heart sank at the sight I see. Running to her side, I push them out of my way. Kneeling down, I grab her hand. She is so weak. Her heartbeat is barely there. I can’t fail her.
I didn’t even have to say anything. Gracen, Naya, and Bexley Formed a circle around us. Each putting their hands on her. I let the magic of my sisters wash over me, letting my own magic mingle with theirs. Gracen is the one to take control. My emotions wouldn’t let me speak.
“By the power of Holy Light, and the power of Holy Source, please cure this suffering shifter. Don’t let her die or suffer any longer. Please cure her, no matter good or bad. Cure her with all of your power. Fight the fear. Let the light flow. Killing darkness in its path. Let the dark die, leaving only the light. As I will it, so mote it be! Blessed be!”
The power flowing through us to her is pure. As I watch the darkness leave her body, I let out a sigh of relief. Thank the Source we weren’t too late. Leaning down I give her a kiss on her forehead.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to come back. I swear it was not my intention to be gone for so long. You may rest now, dear girl. We will be here at all times.”
She doesn’t even have the energy to speak. She gave me a weak smile before she closes her eyes. I know I’m going to need to explain myself to Kiernan, Eimear, and Isobel. It’s my fault for not being here sooner.
I stand up and turn around to face them. To my surprise, they aren’t angry at me. They are relieved to see me. I don’t understand why they aren’t mad at me.
“I’m sorry it took so long. It took longer to find Naya than expected.”
Bexley steps to my side. “I am sorry it was my fault. If I would have just helped Oceana find her sooner, we would have been here sooner.”
Eimear nods her head at me. “I am upset that it took so long, but I am also glad you made it in time. Our spells were not working anymore.”
I scrunch my eyebrows. “What spells?”
Isobel came over to Eimear and places her hand on her shoulder. “Energy spells. We gave her small doses of energy, just to keep her awake. We didn’t give her anymore after the last one. We feared it would harm her and Runes.”
I let out a deep sigh. This is all my fault. “You were right, it would have harmed them both. Her body and mind need rest. She probably won’t wake up for a few days. Can you tell the others that she is fine? I don’t want them to freak out if they can’t get in touch with her.”
Kiernan turns to Bexley and he is pissed. “Yeah, I will tell them in a minute. I just want to know one thing. Why is it your fault it took so long to get here?”
“Because we,” Bexley points to herself and Naya, “Don’t get along. I refused to help find her. I see it was a mistake. I do apologize for being childish. It won’t happen again until this is over. After that, I can’t take the blame for my actions.”
“Let me get this straight. My mate almost died because you two!” he points to Bexley and Naya, “Can’t get along? Are you fucking kidding me! How selfish could you two be?”
I nudge him toward his mate. I need to defuse this before it gets worse. “Kiernan now is not the time. Take Dariya somewhere more comfortable. She needs you right now more than ever.”
There is no way I can calm him down with him anywhere near those two right now. Things are not going as I planned and It’s very frustrating.
He picks her up carefully and takes her to the waterfall. As I watch him duck under the water with her, my tension eases a bit. “Please source give me the strength to deal with all of this without killing the wrong person.”
I turn back to Eimear. “What have I missed?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Not a lot. Oh, wait! That’s right we have been trying to keep Dariya, alive.”
She isn’t even looking at me. She’s giving Bexley and Naya the death stare. I don’t blame her at all. She almost lost her daughter because of them. I have been wanting to fix whatever happened between them for years. Neither of them are willing
to tell me what happened. I wish they would just fix them themselves. At this point, they will never fix it themselves.
“Bexley, why don’t you and Gracen figure out where the witches are.”
I watch the two of them walk away heading toward the lake.
Naya grabs my arm and turns me toward her. “Witches? What witches?”
I rub my temples. The headache that was forming earlier is getting worse. “I didn’t have time to tell you anything. We needed to get here.”
I tell her all about the three sisters. How we need to figure out what to do with them. Plus, what happened in Dariya’s dream that killed her. I know it wasn’t the witches. They want her to kill the Elders. I’m still puzzled as to who could be that strong to do something like that.
While we were healing her, I took some of the darkness that was surrounding her inside me. Not enough to harm me, but hopefully enough to find the answer.
Naya sneers. “Well, well, well. They finally came out of hiding did they.”
I give her a questioning look. “You know the sisters I am talking about?”
“Yes, they are my cousins. They used to be good until Jaelyn dated Niko. When he dumped her, she became angry and now all she wants is revenge on him. Which caused them to become evil. Little did she know, evil could never beat the Elders. There is no turning back once you became pure evil and their hearts are pure black.”
I’m in disbelief. “How did I not know this?”
Naya throws her hands up in the air. “I don’t talk about them. They are the past, something I don’t talk about. Why would I? ‘Oh, hey by the way my cousins are pure evil isn’t that cool!’ No thanks, I rather not even be related to them. They have shamed my family. Once the four of us took the blood oath to be sisters, I never even thought about them again. They are not my family. You are my family. I would do anything to get my families pride back. Even if that means killing them.”
Naya wasn’t the kind of person to talk about killing anything let alone anyone. They must have done something really bad to her for her to even consider it. I need to keep my eye on her. That kind of thinking will turn her heart evil. Revenge is not to be messed with.
“I don’t think we need to kill them. But we do need to do something with them.” I pace back and forth thinking what we can do to them. I stop in my tracks when an idea pops in my head. “Oh! I got it. Dariya doesn’t want to kill the Elders if she doesn’t have to. If we can capture Niko, we could bring Jaelyn in his prison with him. If they kill each other, well then our hands are clean.”
Naya stares at me with an are you kidding me scowl. “You know as well as I do, she will need to kill all the Elders. There is no other way around it. Besides evil can’t kill evil.”
I roll my eyes at her. I’m hoping to save some of them. I hope. “I could still wish, can’t I?”
She puts her hands on her hips and glares at me. “You can wish all you want. I am here to make sure you don’t get lost in those wishes.”
I hate to admit she is right, but she is. I hate death more than anything. I know people need to die. I’d rather let nature take care of it. I hate when someone gets killed. It goes against everything in me. I’ve seen enough murdering when I was the Elders prisoner.
Instead of arguing with her, I went to check on Dariya. The pureness that comes out of her is addicting. It brings the light back into my lifecycle. Something that I thought I lost forever. She will be the best leader there has ever been.
I get into the water expecting it to be cold. To my surprise, it’s warmer than I thought. I let myself emerge into the warmth letting it relieve some of my stress, I close my eyes and enjoy it for a few seconds more.
I open my eyes and take a deep breath before I go under the waterfall. I will have to come back here when I get done checking on her. My body needs to be rejuvenated as well.
I come up on the other side, wiping the water from my face. Kiernan is holding Dariya. He’s whispering to her. I can’t hear what he’s saying from here though.
I clear my throat to let him know I was there. “I came to check on her.”
He doesn’t even look at me. “I was wondering when you would. It took longer than expected.”
“I wanted to give you time to get her comfortable. Here let me give you guys some blankets.”
I let the magic flow, giving them enough blankets to make a soft bed and one to cover up with. I don’t like to use my magic like that. There is no purpose good or bad for it. I tend to use my magic for good only. At least I try my hardest to.
I can see he is still upset. “Thank you.”
Getting out of the water, I let the wind dry me before I get closer. Once I’m dry, I go over to them and kneel down putting my hands on her head and chest. The peacefulness that I feel is welcoming. I wish I could feel that right now. I look deeper to find anything that could set us back. The colors that flow through her were bright and happy. There aren’t any dark spots at all. That’s a huge relief.
“Have you tried talking into her mind while she sleeps?”
He gives me a weird look. “No, I didn’t know I could do that.”
“Try it. You will be able to see what she is dreaming as well. I can tell your bond has grown stronger.”
He looks at her wistfully. “How do I do it?”
“Grab your link to her and let it flow into your mind. Don’t yank it, or you will wake her up.”
As I watch him try, I start to wonder what it would be like to be mated like that. I never even dreamed it would happen to me. It probably never will. I’m just happy to see others with true mates. I was fated to die alone. I have seen it more times than I like to admit.
Bringing myself out of my thoughts to watch Kiernan, I could tell he is talking to her or at least in her dream. He had a huge smile on his face. I take that as my cue to leave. I’m ready to go back into the warm water, then get some much-needed rest.
Chapter Three
Kiernan
I didn’t even give Oceana a second look while gently grabbing our link making sure I didn’t yank it. As I hold it, I wonder what I need to do. Without realizing it I’m yanked into her mind. When the rush stops, I try to get my baring’s to figure out if it worked or if I did something I shouldn’t have. When I’m able to focus, I’m indeed in her head. The scene in front of me brought me to my knees.
Dariya is holding a little youngling. Rocking and singing to her. The pure happiness I felt from her made my own happiness flare. Watching her hold our youngling is more than my heart could stand. I didn’t think my heart could grow any more than it already did when Dariya agreed to be my mate.
Dariya’s eyes lift from the youngling long enough to realize I’m there. The smile that is on her face about broke me. I have never seen her so happy before. Tears of happiness streamed down my face. I crawl over to them, placing my hand on the youngling. I look into Dariya’s eyes again. She nods her head telling me it is ok.
I brought the blanket that is covering her face away from me to see her for the first time. When I did, she turns her head toward me, looking me in the eyes. The breath left me and knocks me backward. Her eyes are just like her mother’s except one is ice blue and the other midnight purple. Her sapphire black hair has a purple streak in the front. She is perfect.
I reach for her, taking her from her mother. I felt a jolt of energy wash through me. I give Dariya a stunned look, she just smiles at me. She knows why I’m looking at her.
What does this all mean? How is she this strong when she isn’t even born yet? What is she? Will she be in danger? How will I be able to protect her while she grows up? So many questions and no answers.
I wasn’t going to waste my time thinking about that right now. I don’t know how long I have with her. Crawling on my knees over to Dariya’s left side to sit down on the floor next to her, I am being gentle as I can to not jolt Runes.
“I can’t believe I am here. Holding our daughter. How is this even possible?”
Staring at my little girl brought me joy I never thought I would ever feel. I really thought the contentment I had before I held her was true bliss. Dariya is my happiness, now they both are. I will do anything to keep them safe.
I still couldn’t get this nagging feeling that something bad is going to happen to go away. I know I should be worried, even scared out of my mind, but I just don’t have those feelings at the moment. I can worry about them another time
Without looking away from Runes, I grab Dariya’s hand. “There are a lot of questions swimming around in my head, but for some reason, I don’t even care about them right now. I can’t believe how beautiful she is. She’s perfect.”
I couldn’t stop looking at Runes. She is amazing. When I finally brake my gaze from her to look over at Dariya. The joyful bliss radiating from her is awe inspiring. I felt it deep down just by looking at her.
I shake my head in disbelief. “How is this even possible, Love?”
“I am still trying to figure it out, babe. But when I’m here all I care about is spending time with her. Learning her little personality. All my worries just go away.”
“I can see that. I’ve never seen you this happy before. I love it on you.”
“Why can’t we have this life now? I wish the Elders would just drop dead and all of this would be over.”
“As much as I wish I could answer that, I can’t. I don’t know what the future holds.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just going to enjoy this for now. Did Oceana say anything else to you before I came here?”
“Not really. She said she was sorry for taking so long. I’m not happy with her sisters. Two of them are fighting and that is why it took so long.”
“Hmm! Well, that is their problem. We have enough to worry about.”
That I can agree with her on. Runes starts to squirm in my arms. I look down at her and her beautiful eyes were open. I’m mesmerized by her. Dariya is right, looking at her brings peace and happiness.
