by Kim Loraine
“That’s true, but my brothers gifted me with an immunity to the sun. It’s not my favorite time, but I can withstand it. I much prefer the cover of dark.”
Helena strides past him and toward the cottage in the distance. “Well, you’re not invited inside. You’d better run along back to your handlers. We don’t need anything from you.”
“Hel,” Gwen says. “He’s meant to be here.”
A frustrated groan leaves Helena and, though she doesn’t look back, she waves her arm in a come on gesture. Tamiel follows, seemingly not bothered in the least about Helena’s disdain. With a flick of his wrist, the glowing sword vanishes from his grip and he shoves his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. Are we destined to be constantly plagued by domineering men? At least he’s hot.
The simplicity of the cottage makes me long for my days spent in Ireland hundreds of years ago. I seem to always return here every few lifetimes. Ireland is in my blood. And though my heart calls out for Grant, I’m glad to be home.
Entering the house, I smile at the quaint setting. A small wood-burning stove is nestled in the corner, while a cozy couch and reading nook take up the rest of the living area. I can see the kitchen through the passthrough in the wall and know it’s as simple as the rest. We don’t need much, not when we can use our magic to satisfy our needs. Tamiel sighs and shakes his head before heading up the staircase. He stomps around up there for a short while before returning to us.
“So, who do I get to bunk with? If I have my choice, I want the feisty one.”
I can’t stop my bark of laughter. “Feisty? Helena is dangerous, not feisty. If you’re not careful, angel, she’ll have your balls.”
He winks. “Sounds fun.”
Helena grumbles and shakes her head, avoiding Tamiel’s gaze. “I’m making some tea.” She shoots a glare at the fallen angel. “Stay.”
He laughs and settles on the cozy couch. “Like I said. Feisty.”
“I’d watch out if I were you,” I warn, looking on in amusement as her cheeks turn red and she presses her lips into a thin line. “She’s not known for being able to hold her temper.”
“I think I might quite like being on the receiving end of her fire.”
Helena lets out a growl and spins on her heel, a ball of blue flame cradled in between her palms. I recognize this spell and know it’s not going to kill him. It’ll hurt like a bitch though.
“You can’t be seriously thinking that little ball of nothing is going to hurt me?” Without another word, she lets it fly. To his credit, the angel doesn’t even flinch as the spell makes contact and spreads across his chest. He should be writhing in pain. Instead, he absorbs the blue flame and lets out a laugh. “That tickled.”
“Ugh,” Helena groans. “Fucking angels.”
“Have we finished our bit of foreplay? I do have some wisdom to impart.”
“Of course you do.”
Tamiel turns his focus to me and sits with his elbows on his knees. “Izzy. You seem to have gotten yourself in a bit of a spot, haven’t you?”
I can’t meet his gaze. Not because I’m ashamed, but because I’m angry. “Enough nonsense, you said you had wisdom. Impart it.”
“Gabriel said your time here is short.”
“Our curse. We never live past twenty-seven.” He flicks his gaze to Helena and a pained look crosses his face. What’s that about? “We have to break the curse. And to do that, we need to kill Calista.”
“Damn witches,” he murmurs.
“Hey.”
“Sorry. No offense.” He shoots me a charming grin. “But you have to know the three of you have done your fair share of naughty deeds. Starting with helping Sariel begin his journey to falling.”
“I’m well aware. We’ve paid the price. More than once.”
“If you’re going to find Calista, you’ll need a vast amount of power. She’s hidden herself from angels, and you three know the magic that requires.”
Helena snorts. “Are you seriously sitting there telling us things we already know? What good are you?”
Tamiel grits his teeth and sighs. “But do you know about the black moonstone?”
“That’s a myth,” I say, knowing I’m wrong the moment the words leave my mouth. If an angel is talking about it, the thing is bloody well real.
“Is it?” His eyebrow rises in challenge.
Gwen has been silent all this time, but I’m sure she’s been taking it all in. She’s chewing on her lip and worrying at her cuticles. A sure sign she’s seen something and not shared the details.
“Gwen…” I start.
A guilty look crosses her face. “I…may have seen it.”
“Are you telling us you’ve left out vital information necessary to break the curse, Guinevere?” Helena’s words are a lash whip across the room. “How are we going to stop this from taking us again if you don’t share everything you see?”
Gwen’s posture stiffens. “I didn’t want to believe it.”
“Why the hell not?”
Tamiel speaks up before Gwen has a chance. “Because finding that stone means losing Izzy. Forever.” The angel stands and crosses the room. He looks so damned casual, carelessly inspecting his fingernails as though he hadn’t just dropped a huge piece of life changing information on us. “But, if you don’t. This will be your last life. The three of you will be sent to purgatory to await your punishment for your part in Sariel’s fall.”
“I thought the curse was our punishment,” Gwen says.
He shakes his head. “The curse was brought down by Calista. This is the punishment delivered by the archangels.”
“So, we have to help or that’s it? Sounds like you have us over a barrel.” Helena cocks one hand on her hip and frowns at him.
“I’d like to have you over something.”
She groans in frustration. “Enough with the smarmy pickup lines. You know what I mean.”
“You must earn your redemption. I have no doubt Calista will be on the hunt for the black moonstone as well. With it, she’ll be able to do terrible things.”
“Such as?” I ask.
He stares at me, all traces of ease, gone. “Releasing Lucifer from the prison you helped trap him inside.”
Grant
I’ve lost her. Damn me and my beast. Izzy’s been gone four days. Four. I’ve no clue where she is or how to find her. Even our mating bond isn’t working as a way to track her. Taking another long pull from my, now mostly empty, bottle of Glenfiddich, I frown at the nonexistent burn of good whisky on my tongue. I hold the bottle up and tip it over. Empty. Bollocks.
Witches. Aside from Izzy, I hate them all.
“Where is she?” I hear Lachlan before I see him and he’s the last person I want to be around. If it weren’t for him, I’d still have my beauty by my side.
“Gone. She’s left me.” My words are so slurred, even I can barely understand myself.
My alpha pulls up a chair next to me and takes the bottle from my hands. “You’ve been wallowing, then?”
“Yes. Wallowing. That’s exactly what I’m doing.” I turn toward him, the room swimming as I go. “But you wouldn’t understand. You’ve never had a mate, have you?”
He looks away, jaw clenched. “You’re a fucking arsehole.”
“I am. God, I’m such a fool.”
“What the hell happened? You say she left you. Why? She’s your mate.”
My head aches, matching the pain in my heart. “Goddamned witches. It’s their fault. They made her leave me.”
“Witches?” The instant he says it, I recognize my slip up. Fuck.
“No. Her…her sisters. They’re witchy women. They took her from me after I marked her. Said I’m a monster. They don’t understand.”
“So she’s a human, then?”
“Not anymore.” Stomach churning, I force away the memories of the moment I let my beast take control and ruined us.
“Good man.” He claps me on the shoulder, the force of his p
alm jarring my nerves. “You’ll get her back. The moon’s only a week away. She’ll need her mate to help her through the first change.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“I think you need a distraction from all this. Come with me to Ireland. The Dublin pack leader called me this morning to say their spies saw three women moving into a little cottage close to him.”
My heart nearly gives out with the force of the fear gripping it. Lachlan can’t be allowed to find them. I’ve made a promise to Izzy and I intend to keep it. I won’t let my pack harm her or her sister witches. No matter what she thinks of me.
“Get me the location. I’ll head out first thing tomorrow.”
Lachlan grins. “I’ll be coming with you this time. The last time I put you on the task, you found yourself a mate instead of doing your duty.”
I don’t have a retort to that. He’s more right than he could ever possibly know. “I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”
“I beg to differ. What happens when your mate comes calling? You’ll turn tail and go to her without another thought. It’s what mates do for one another. And if the moon brings on her heat? There’s no way you’ll be able to resist.”
The thought of Izzy needing me to serve her, to see her through her heat. A bolt of animalistic lust races through me. “Hopefully we’ll be done with our task before that happens.”
“Either way, I’m coming with you.”
Fuck. This is not what I want. If he finds Izzy with her sister witches, it’ll be obvious, no matter the fact I’ve bitten her. Lachlan has never walked away from a job. Not once. “Can’t you just leave this to me? Give me the location and the contact in Dublin. I’ll be in and out, do the job if the witches are there, and you can collect from the client.”
He shakes his head. “Not happening. The client is breathing down my damned neck already. I assured her we’re finishing this by the end of the week. If we don’t…trust me, she’ll rain down hellfire on us.”
“Goddammit, Lachlan, tell me who this client is. I don’t think you understand how important it is for us to find out all the information.”
“All I know is she’s a very powerful witch with a lot of money. She’s dangerous to be on the wrong side of.”
“What’s her bloody name?”
He frowns before sighing. “Calista.”
A sick twist turns my stomach. All this time I’ve been leading the coven leader straight to the witches rather than helping them find her. “Did she say why she wants them dead?”
With a slight nod, he stands and walks into the kitchen, opening the cupboard and pulling out a new bottle of scotch. “These three are a danger to the world. She says they’ll be the end of everything if they’re not taken down.”
Dragging a hand through my hair, I fight the drunken sway of my vision. “But they’re cursed to die in a year anyway. Why go to all this trouble?”
He cocks an eyebrow. “How do you know about the curse?”
A chill runs down my spine. I’ve just royally fucked this up. “Come on, everyone knows about the cursed witches.”
“No. Barely anyone knows. They know the legends of the sirens, the stories of their tragic loves who were actually men they preyed upon and ushered to their destruction. But the details of their curse aren’t widespread.”
“I may have been visited by an angel,” I say, hoping mentioning Gabriel will help rather than hurt. “He shared some information you seem to have been hesitant to dole out.”
“An angel?” he almost laughs.
“Yes. The angel Gabriel, if you must know. He came to me and said that it was of vital importance I find these witches.”
Lachlan leans against the counter and pulls the corked cap off the bottle before pouring himself a liberal serving of the amber liquid. “And did Gabriel tell you anything else? Did he share their previous dealings with Lucifer or the reason they were cursed in the first place?”
Lucifer? The idea of my beauty doing anything to aid the devil makes my skin crawl with the wrongness of it all. “Aye,” I lie. “He told me they helped with the fall of the angels.”
“Well, Calista needs to stop them before they gain enough power to free Lucifer from his prison. Their curse won’t kill them in time. If we take the bitches down now, they’ll have to start all over again and it’ll give Calista at least sixteen more years to build her defenses.”
He’s wrong. So very wrong, but I can’t tell him without revealing my connection to Izzy and the other two witches. “Then I suppose we’d better be off finding them. I’ll map the route if you give me the information.”
He tosses back his drink and smiles. “There he is, the tracker. I thought maybe you’d lost your touch.”
“Not lost it. Just questioning the merits of murdering women without knowing why. You can’t blame me for that.”
“I think being mated has made you soft.”
I offer a light laugh, not wanting him to know how close to murdering him I am. “Perhaps you’re right. But, she doesn’t want me. Give me the damned information I need so I can get the job done and work her out of my system.”
He pulls out his phone and starts typing. In seconds, I’ve got a text message with a contact and address in Dublin. Then, the man takes a pull straight from the bottle of scotch before staring me down. “We’ll have to be cautious not to give them the chance to catch us with their siren songs. They’ve been together longer than any other time they’ve found each other and their power grows with every day.”
I can’t tell him their spells don’t work on me. That the mating bond between Izzy and me works as a sort of shield. “That’s why you should let me go without you. I’ll be careful. I’ll get them alone. Then I’ll take them out one at a time. They can’t bewitch me with their songs because I’m mated. My heart can’t be taken hostage by magic when it’s already owned by my soul mate.”
A pensive expression furrows his brow. “You might be right about that.”
“I know I am.”
“Another piece of sage wisdom from your winged friend?”
“Sure.”
He sighs and pushes off the counter. “Fine. One last chance. But you check in each day by moonrise. We can’t let this go on much longer.”
Nodding, I stand and walk him to the door. “I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure, but I can’t. Tell your witchy boss we’ll have it managed soon.”
I watch as Lachlan shifts into a hulking wolf bigger than any of the others in the pack. His russet coat gleaming in the moon. The moment he’s out of sight, I let out the breath I’d been holding. Blood humming with stress, I rush up the stairs, arm myself with every piece of weaponry I have, and pack a bag.
I’m heading to Dublin tonight. I’ve got a witch to find.
19
Grant
I’m fairly sure I’ve been here before, at least once in my life. The winding roads are oddly familiar, and if I’m not mistaken, there’s a castle just around this bend. Following the road, I see it plain as day, the relic of a castle standing alone at the top of a hill which overlooks the beautiful cliffs. Bloody hell, I have been here. But when?
Memories flash before my eyes. Things I’d long since buried. My mother and father standing in front of the same castle, my baby sister in Ma’s arms. A picnic in the sun, a walk in the evening light, my parents tending to the baby while I roamed the edge of the woods. The wolf grabbing my leg, stealing me away. The screams of my family mixed with vicious growls as they were killed. What is happening?
Pulling to the side of the road, I close my eyes and breathe slow and steady, working to calm my raging pulse. If I let my reaction get a hold on my control, I’ll shift here and now for any passerby to see. I’ve never been able to remember the attack that left me a shifter. I’d always attributed that to my six-year-old brain having to protect itself, and now that I’ve relived it, I’m certain that’s exactly what had happened. Lachlan had always told me he found me with their bodies. That h
e’d almost given me up for dead until I started to shiver. But now I know that’s not the truth. I was taken and they were murdered. Why would he lie?
An ache takes hold in my chest, but I fight against the need to change. I’m here for my beauty, not to reopen old wounds of my past. Starting the car, I return to the road and focus on my goal. Izzy.
The local pub is bustling as the sun sets and people begin filing in from long hours of work. I just want to find her, but I need a meal, a room, and a shower before that happens.
“What can I get you, handsome?” The barmaid sizes me up as she takes my order.
“I’ll take a pint of bitter and whatever your special is for supper.”
She grins and leans forward, her bountiful cleavage on display. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, a room. You know of an inn around here?”
As soon as the question leaves my mouth, I know it was the wrong thing to ask. Her eyes light up and she smiles wide. “I’ve got one you can share.”
The thought makes my skin crawl. Not because she’s unattractive. She’s not Izzy. There will never be anyone other than my beauty from now on. “Sorry, lass. I’m married.”
She looks at my left hand and frowns. “Don’t look like it to me.”
“Is there an inn in this town or not?”
“Yeah. Toward the end of town. You’ll see it on your right.”
Thirty minutes later, I’m settled into my room and itching to shift. The moon is high, but not quite full. Three more days. Lucky for me, this quaint little inn is settled on the edge of town with neighbors spread wide. I can run as a wolf without much worry of being spotted. Unless a farmer decides to take me out because he thinks I’m after his sheep.
As soon as I step foot on the soft grass behind the hotel, I remove the rest of my clothes and tuck them away for safe keeping. My beast pushes and fights for control, but even as my body changes from man to wolf, I hold tight to my consciousness. The wolf isn’t in charge this time. He’s done enough to damage my relationship with Izzy. If she’s here, I’ll find her, not him.
