Throne of Oak (Maggie's Grove)

by Dana Marie Bell

  An aura that hadn’t been there the last time they’d fought in the Throne.

  She needed to tell Selena, to warn the witch doctor. Something was desperately wrong—

  Mina screamed as agony rocked through her, her thoughts scattering like leaves on the wind.

  Oh, gods above. Where were Ash and Greer? If they had been here, none of this would have happened.

  But her protectors had been hunting the witch with Dragos, Amara and Parker. Too bad none of them had thought to look closer to home. Mina was now paying the price for their inattention. Terri had been hiding, like a spider luring its prey, waiting for Mina to be alone. For Ash and his silver blade to be elsewhere, distracted by the vicious attack on Amara and Parker. For Greer’s sharp senses to be distracted, unable to sense the danger in the Throne.

  They’d all thought Terri was near the pair, considering her obsessive need to lay claim to Parker. Mina had fallen slightly behind the others, something, some tingling awareness that she was in danger, slowing her flight through the forest.

  Terri had taken her, thrust one of those damned spikes into her, used her own power against her. The witch had entered the Throne neat as you please, literally attached at the hip to Mina. The Throne, sensing Mina’s power coursing through Terri, had let her in. Mina had been in so much agony she hadn’t put up much of a fight.

  Now they were all going to pay the price for Mina’s inability to sense Terri’s presence. She’d never know how the witch had hidden within the seat of Mina’s power, but the mistake had been costly. She hung spread-eagle from the branches of her oak, her head down, her limbs trembling with the effort to break free. Her feet brushed the top of the carved-stone throne that sat high on its roots. Lesser thrones sat before the Oaken Throne, one each for Greer, Ash and Iva.

  Where the fuck was Iva? If she had been here, Mina wouldn’t be crucified. Terri would have been found and dealt with long before. But Iva was missing, and Mina was beginning to fear the worst.

  “Hello, sweet.” Parker’s British accent was thicker, his voice mellow, nonthreatening. Mina bet he could charm the birds from the trees if he wished. “Where’s Mina?”

  Terri paused. “Mina?”

  “Oak, Terri. Where’s Oak?”

  Terri shrugged. “Her? Where she belongs, of course. In her tree.”

  Mina bit back a groan as one of Terri’s vines writhed against her skin. It burrowed under Mina’s skin, twisting inside her like a giant parasite, and for a brief moment she wished with all her might that Dragos was there. If the mayor had been present when Terri did this to her, Terri would already be dead.

  Where was he? He should have been with Parker and Amara, but they’d come alone. Mina could feel the echoes of a battle being fought not far away, but the sensation was dulled, filtered through the pain and the witch who held her captive. Blood trickled down her skin where the vines and thorns kept her pinned to her tree like a bug.

  Mina coughed and felt blood dot her lips. “’Bout time you got here, Amara.” Her voice was husky with fatigue and pain, but it took everything in her just to say the words.

  Mina was dying, and unless they freed her soon they’d be looking for a new queen. The Oak mourned, its branches twisting in an unseen breeze, unable to free itself from the clinging vines that held them both fast.

  “We were delayed.” Amara stepped into Mina’s line of sight. The hamadryad was frightening in her protective form, well over eight feet tall and covered in nearly impenetrable bark. She was tough, stronger even than a vampire, faster than a werewolf, and she had the entire forest at her beck and call. “Hey, bitch. Did you know that’s my man you’re messing with?”

  “He’s mine!” Terri shrieked. Weeds sprung up around Amara, trying to block her in, and there was nothing Mina could do to stop it. “I will kill you.”

  “And my dog too?” Amara pushed at the weeds, appearing startled when they didn’t give.

  Parker snorted. Apparently he was no longer under the witch’s control. “Really, Terri. Bad form. Let the women go, and we’ll have a nice chat, hmm?”

  “Come here, Parker.” Terri wiggled her fingers, her stench invading the grove with a poisonous perfume that dulled the senses.

  “I don’t think so.” Parker took a step back, toward Amara.

  Mina screamed as the weeds began writhing inside her, blinding her to everything else. It seemed like an eternity passed before the weeds ceased their movements. Mina’s screaming dissolved into sobs, her tree shivering as they shared their pain. Terri’s pull on the oak’s power, her attempt to corrupt the Throne, was causing the great oak to experience an agony it had never before experienced, and Mina shared in that horror.

  Gods, where the hell was Dragos? The need for him nearly crippled her. She wanted him to make it stop.

  “Do you want them to suffer even more? Feed from me, Parker. Feed from me, and the others may go free.”

  Don’t do it, Parker. She mouthed the words, unable to say them. Not for me. Not for anyone.

  “Even Amara?”

  No! If Parker drank from Terri, there would be no stopping them. They’d take over the whole forest, Maggie’s Grove, and it wouldn’t stop there. Mina had to get free, had to—

  “Even Amara. She won’t matter to you once the spell is complete. Our suffering will be over, Parker. We will be together forever.” The raw joy in Terri’s voice nearly made Mina vomit.

  “And Mina will be set down, unharmed?”

  “I can’t promise she won’t be damaged. My friends can be enthusiastic when I give them a task.”

  Mina watched—her vision bleary with misery—as Amara rooted her feet into the earth, drew back her hand and slammed it into the weed with all her strength.

  The weed bent, and Mina took a deep, shuddering breath. If Amara got free, she would save Mina.

  Parker leaned back, probably trying not to breathe in Terri’s overwhelming stench. “And what task did you give them?”

  She heard the faintest cracking sound. Amara was breaking free, and Mina barely managed to contain her joy. Connected as she was to Terri, the witch might sense her hope and prevent Amara from coming for her.

  “I needed the forest pliant. This was the fastest way.” Mina closed her eyes, unable to watch as Terri ran her hands down Parker’s chest. There was not enough hand sanitizer in the world to get that off you. “I have to admit, I’m enjoying the taste of power. It’s so deep and rich and dark. The things I could do with it are endless.”

  Damn it. Mina could feel Terri in the back of her mind, tapping into her power. If she held too long, Terri would poison the forest, but if she died...

  If Mina died, the forest would be free. A new oak would arise eventually, taking Mina’s throne and her power.

  “I don’t think so. You didn’t think I’d give up that easily, did you?”

  Mina opened her eyes to find Terri practically nose to nose with a still-imprisoned Amara.

  “Hello. You must be Terri.”

  What remained of Terri’s eyebrows crookedly rose. “And you are?”

  “Let me think. You’re the bat-shit crazy bad guy.” Amara’s smile turned evil. “Guess that makes me the hero.”

  Up from the earth sprang a huge rocklike formation that batted down the weeds like bugs and knocked both Terri and Amara off their feet. It also shoved the weeds deeper into Mina’s sides. She couldn’t even muster a scream.

  Terri jumped to her feet. “How?”

  Amara rose and punched the woman right in the nose, sending her sailing across the Throne. “It’s good to have friends.”

  Terri howled, and her weeds answered, lifting from the ground and writhing around, but the ground rebelled against the invader. It heaved and moved in a quake that would have destroyed a lesser place.

  The mountain did not like having Terri there and was showing her in the best way it could, with a little help from Rock. The huge park ranger strode into view, batting weeds aside with massive fists. He
’d called on the powers of his element, armoring himself against the thorns that tried to rip into his flesh. The deep, grating sound of stone grinding against stone accompanied him as he stomped across the Throne, decimating everything in his path. Almost half the wolf pack fought at his side, their claws and teeth ripping and tearing with deadly accuracy, their alpha at the front of the battle.

  Rock and the wolves entered the fray, and all hell broke loose. Terri’s hold on Mina loosened, but there was little Mina could do except silently cry for help.

  With all her being, boosted by the power of her oak, she called for Dragos.

  She wanted Dragos. Where was he?

  Why hadn’t he come for her, saved her?

  Her consciousness was fading fast, lost in the pain and the battle at the very heart of the forest...

  * * *

  Mina woke with a scream, barely hanging on to her sanity.

  They’d come, the powers that be in Maggie’s Grove, and they’d saved her from Terri—healing her physical wounds and as much of her spirit as they could. But nothing could change the fact that Dragos had come too late, had barely been there.

  He hadn’t saved her, and Mina was having a hard time letting that go.

  Oh, he’d seen to it that she healed, at least physically. He’d hovered over her, fed her and pampered her, but he’d bowed to her hysterical demand that she be returned to the Throne. She’d ignored his arguments, his attempts to persuade her, even the bribes he offered her. The only thing that she wanted was her tree, and for the nightmares to end.

  If anything, they were worse now that she’d left Dragos, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it to anyone but the other ruling dryads.

  “This is getting really old.” Greer Berkley was leaning against his tree, sweat dripping down his brow and darkening his pale blond hair. The orange streaks looked like fire. The singer had an unusually serious expression was on his face, the strain of trying to heal Mina’s psychic wounds showing in his creased brow and pale lips. Usually he had a smile for everyone and a carefree laugh that lightened every mood.

  She expected that kind of expression from—

  “And it isn’t the end.” Ashton Ward, the other male of her court, was also leaning wearily against his tree. The emerald green of his eyes had dulled to olive, his bright green hair mussed, as if he’d been running his fingers through it repeatedly.

  Only Iva was absent, her yew growing weaker by the day. His sword, the symbol of his guardianship of the forest, appeared in his hand. He still felt guilty about what had happened to her, as if he was personally responsible for Terri getting her hands on Mina. Unfortunately, as his position was that of the forest’s protector and defender, he was right. Nothing Mina could say would take that guilt away from him. “There’s something more at work here, something I can almost taste.”

  Greer straightened slowly. When Ash called his weapon, the heart of the forest was in danger. “Ash?”

  Ash shook his head, but he was glancing around, alert, ready for danger.

  “C’mon, man. Give me more than that.”

  Ash stared at Mina and sighed. “We need Selena.”

  Greer snorted. “You need Selena. The rest of us need to stop hearing about how much you need Selena.”

  Ash rolled his eyes. The tension between the two men was growing. Both were in love with women who were resisting their advances, and Mina feared they would go to drastic measures to get the women to acknowledge them. “I meant, there’s more going on here than Mina’s inability to heal.”

  Mina stood and stretched. Her tree shivered behind her, both letting go of the remnants of the dream. “I should be over this by now.”

  “You were viciously tortured. I don’t think a latte and a smile are going to ‘get you over it.’”

  “The others are becoming restless. They want to come to you, see that you’re well.” Ash was staring into the forest, his expression grim. “We won’t be able to hold them back indefinitely.”

  Greer grinned. “We told them they’d be allowed back into the Throne only when you said it was safe.”

  Mina winced. She wasn’t surprised that the town’s dryads were becoming agitated. She’d ordered them to stay away, used her power over them to keep them from coming to her. She’d had Greer and Ash tell them that she wasn’t certain Terri’s taint was completely gone, and until she was certain her people were safe, they were to stay away.

  In other words, she’d lied her ass off, but at least her people didn’t have to see her so weak and helpless. Better that they thought she was fighting the remnants of Terri than that she’d developed a horrendous case of agoraphobia. “Thank you for running interference for me.”

  Ash smiled wearily. “That’s a given. You’re not just our Queen. You’re our sister.”

  Greer examined his nails. “Speaking as a brother, you could let Dragos in. Maybe he could help.”

  Oh, hell to the no. No way was she letting Dragos know she was so vulnerable, especially in the Throne. It was bad enough Amara was keeping him apprised of her progress. If she had to deal with him one-on-one, she’d...she’d...

  Okay, she didn’t know what she’d do. But for now, she needed to stay far away from Dragos.

  She had to be strong enough to save herself.

  * * *

  Dragos opened the door of his mansion, weary to the bone. He was so ready to retire for the day it wasn’t even funny. Parker had managed to relieve some of the doom and gloom he’d been experiencing, but once the younger vampire had returned to his home the depression had returned full force.

  How was he going to get through to Mina?

  “Good evening, master.”

  He shook his head as his young Renfield, Edward Warren, did his best Igor impression. Dragos smiled, but his heart wasn’t in it. “That was terrible, Eddy.”

  “I try, master.”

  “Smart-ass. Your father was a great deal more respectful.” Eddy’s father, Aaron, had retired, leaving his only son to become Dragos’s Renfield. The boy had been practically isolated on Dragos’s estate ever since he’d been born. His unique gift had caused the boy untold problems when they tried putting him in public schools. Eddy had remained safe and secure in the mansion, under the watchful eyes of Aaron and Dragos, learning how to become a Renfield along with his normal lessons.

  No one could be as proud of Eddy as Dragos was, not even Aaron. Eddy had taken to being a Renfield, his Renfield, like a duck to water. As he’d gotten older and learned to control his abilities he’d made some friends, good ones.

  Dragos found he enjoyed having the group of teens messing up his mansion and blasting music all over the house.

  He’d missed the laughter of children over the years. Eddy had brought that back.

  “And boring. Don’t forget boring.” Eddy straightened up, his brown eyes twinkling, his hair flopping in his face. He looked like a juvenile delinquent, but was probably one of the smartest people Dragos had ever met. “Did I mention he called while you were asleep? He says, and I quote, Hawaii rocks.”

  “More like you paraphrase.” Dragos sauntered into his office and settled behind his desk. “Correspondence?”

  “In the mail.”

  Dragos eyed the brat.

  “So are the bills, and may I say it impresses me every single time I have to write out the electric bill. You are one seriously rich Methuselah.”

  Methuselah? Oh, that stung. “And you are one bite away from no longer being a Renfield.”

  “No way, no day. I ain’t ready to be coffin bait, thanks.” Eddy held the back of his hand to his forehead. “I’m far too pretty to die.”

  Dragos cocked an eyebrow at the brat. “Besides, only the good die young.”

  Eddy stuck his tongue out, and Dragos laughed. If it wasn’t for his Renfield, Dragos would have sunk into despair. But Eddy’s laid-back attitude and fearlessness in the face of his anger had kept Dragos from giving in on more than one occasion. It helped tha
t Eddy had grown up around him, was familiar with the way Dragos acted. And Dragos’s beast recognized Eddy as its own, and protected him as if he were Dragos’s child.

  Dragos was seriously contemplating changing him. He would be one of the few Dragos had changed, and none of his children currently lived in Maggie’s Grove. One had died in the Civil War. Another had taken up with a Spanish vampire and currently lived in Madrid, happy as a lark. She still sent him Christmas and birthday cards. The third...

  Well. The third had chosen politics, and was currently in Europe, acting as the American vampiric ambassador to the European Council of Supernaturals, the ruling body whose laws and enforcement arm kept their nature hidden from the human world. Dragos was so proud of his son it wasn’t even funny.

  If, and it was a big if, Eddy accepted the Kiss he would be a delight in the centuries to come. But that was something to discuss for the future. Eddy was still so young, barely twenty-one years old, and still had so much life ahead of him.

  Dragos would make the boy his son in truth rather than just in his heart the moment Eddy said he wished for it. But Eddy had to want it, and Dragos refused to pressure him.

  “By the way, you got one really weird piece of mail I think you should look at.”

  “Oh?” Dragos often got “weird mail,” mostly from other vampires or older supernatural creatures who refused to use email. “Where did you leave it?”

  Eddy pointed toward a silver tray on his desk. “Fair warning. It reeks.”