by Dianna Love
Not now when she was so close.
With Adrianna’s power joined to Ragan’s, Veronika’s Witchlock powers would be greater than that of any KievRus coven leader in the past.
Veronika sent out soothing comfort to her family and thanked them for their love and support in guarding the host of the Witchlock power.
She sent them assurance that she would deal with this threat.
They rose to their feet, one at a time, and came to her with heads lowered in a show of confidence. Jafnan Mir had been formed with anticipation that one leader would rebuild the KievRus coven and make it so strong it would never fall again.
All of this had been created for the day a leader would rule over all others.
Veronika lifted the sphere, raising her hand high and pointing it toward Ragan. “Hear me now, Ragan of the Sterlings. You were traded in a fair deal. I have kept my word, and now you must fulfill your part.”
She pointed her index finger at Ragan, and a bolt of energy shot from the sphere in Veronika’s hand to strike the center of Ragan’s sphere. Power sparked inside around Ragan, and huge fissures fingered across the outside, spreading and emitting loud cracking sounds as the sphere hissed and came apart.
Ragan’s screaming sounded far away, slipping through the cracks until a huge chunk of sphere fell away and her screams shook the forest.
Veronika focused her power on the small sphere she held, as it spun faster and faster until it was only a white blur.
The bolt of energy still connecting the two spheres roared with the flood of moving power.
White-hot streaks spewed through new breaks in the giant sphere and more chunks of the translucent white globe burst apart, falling from the sides.
The arc of energy exploded and a cloud of white-gold sparks shot through the air.
Power poured out of the giant sphere, gushing into a roaring wave that rolled toward Veronika.
Halfway to her, the power twisted and twisted, narrowing into a tiny, spinning tip the size of a fat needle by the time it reached the globe in Veronika’s hand. The tip shot inside and energy funneled into the sphere. The globe sucked it in at a rapid pace.
When the last snap of energy had spun through the tiny opening, it smoothed over, sealing the sphere.
Energy hummed through Veronika’s body. Yes. This would magnify a thousand times over when the time came for her to receive Witchlock.
When Veronika lowered her hand to eye level, she said, “Hello, Ragan.”
A very small Ragan scooted and crawled around with her hands on the inside of the sphere, acting much like a trapped, blind rat in jar. Panic rode her face, a tiny version of Adrianna’s. She banged on the inside of the sphere and opened her mouth, surprising Veronika when Ragan’s voice came into her mind.
I hate you, Ragan screamed.
Veronika replied as a thought. How are you in my mind?
Ragan stopped hitting the wall of the sphere and sent a smug look up at her. You didn’t expect that, did you, bitch? I’ve heard your thoughts the entire time. I can tell where you are even though I’m blind.
Veronika lifted a finger and tapped on the round surface.
Ragan cringed and backed away, hugging her arms around herself.
We are not done yet, Ragan. I had intended to leave you in the realm until the last minute, but your sister changed that plan. I can’t risk her attempting a second time and being successful. Now you and I are going to take a trip across the ocean. You’d like to see your sister again once more, wouldn’t you?
Ragan made no motion to agree or disagree.
But Veronika had managed to wipe that smug look off of Ragan’s face.
Of course you want to see Adrianna again. I would not deny you the chance to watch as I burn her from the inside out.
Chapter 24
Evalle rushed from the elevator when it deposited her and Storm in her underground residence. Her hurry had nothing to do with wanting to see that rat bastard Sen or face a Tribunal of deities determined to make her life miserable, and everything to do with helping Tzader.
He’d sounded worried.
It took a lot to bother a man who dealt with monumental problems every day as the top Belador Maistir in the world.
Storm followed, as silent as he’d been on the way back from her and Adrianna’s disastrous attempt at rescuing Ragan.
Fear and frustration coming off him had rushed across her skin the minute she regained consciousness after traveling back to this world.
Then he’d shut his emotions down faster than turning off a water faucet.
Was he shielding his anger, his worry or what?
After surviving Jafnan Mir and realizing what they may be up against with Veronika, worrying about where Storm lived shrank in comparison to facing a life on the run, hiding and trying to survive.
Still, until they could formulate a plan or got more information about Witchlock, they were here and she wanted everyone in her world happy, starting with Storm and Feenix.
They’d made headway earlier in the evening, but Storm was hiding his feelings from her now and Evalle had no experience with managing that. She had no experience with male-female relationships, period.
Nicole always gave Evalle good advice. Her witch friend had said to talk to Storm honestly. Evalle would do that just as soon as they had a quiet moment.
Normal couples had quiet moments. They walked on the beach and watched sunsets.
Would she never have a normal time with Storm?
She opened the door and took two steps inside to find Feenix on his beanbag, curled up with his stuffed alligator. She never came home and found him sitting still.
His abandoned toys were in the same pile they’d been this morning.
He looked up and smiled, rising from the beanbag.
Storm entered right behind her, pausing at her back with his hands settled on her shoulders.
Feenix took one look at Storm and dropped back into his chair, turning his gaze away.
Her heart sank to her feet. She didn’t have time right now, but she couldn’t leave him like this.
Storm leaned close to her ear and said, “Get cleaned up and give me a minute to talk to Feenix.”
Good idea or bad idea?
She trusted this man with her life and her love. She had to trust him not to upset Feenix. Evalle nodded, but stepped over and leaned down to kiss Feenix’s head between his horns. He cut his eyes at her and that wary look gripped her throat.
Feenix might not trust her with his love at this point.
She said, “I promise we’ll spend time together as soon as I come back. But I have to go help Tzader right now. Okay?”
He lifted his pudgy fingers and patted her cheek, but his big orange eyes drooped with sadness. “K.”
“Storm wants to visit with you. Is that okay, too?”
Those orange eyes turned a deep shade of suspicious. Feenix didn’t have shrugging down, but he lifted his shoulders, which was as good an answer as she’d get for now.
With a quick look back at Storm, who smiled and winked at her, she raced away to clean up. She tossed his coat on the bed and dashed through a thirty-second shower, then pulled her wet hair into a slick ponytail and stepped into jeans and a spare set of boots. She finished buttoning a clean BDU shirt before walking back into the living room.
Feenix had left the beanbag and was playing with his toys, his back to Storm, who had squatted down to talk to him.
That didn’t show much promise, but she had to look at the bright side. No one was yelling or squawking.
On the way out, Evalle said, “See you later, baby.”
Feenix gave her his lifted hand goodbye that meant he was not in the mood to talk.
She stepped through the doorway and waited outside. Storm finally emerged and shut the door. He didn’t say anything, so she shoved the Feenix and living together conversation to the back burner yet again.
She’d like to say it was because she wanted the p
erfect time to talk, but that would be a lie.
The longer she procrastinated, the longer she had with Storm before they faced that the only solution would be keeping separate residences. She’d been so happy at the idea of living together that the thought of him moving out now left her feeling as if she’d lost something before she had a chance to actually have it.
Much the way she’d felt after losing her ability to be in the sun almost immediately after gaining it.
The elevator spit them out into the dark area outside her apartment door, which was one level below today’s street level. This area had been a gully back in 1869, then train tracks were laid and it became a new depot when Atlanta rebuilt after Sherman torched the city. The city gradually built bridges over the area to relieve congestion, and eventually the whole rail area turned into the famous Underground Atlanta.
Evalle started across weed-infested pavement that had once been a parking lot for the brick building above her home, and Storm stepped toward the passenger door of his truck. He always opened doors for her, and it made her heart flutter every time.
Tzader and Quinn were the only men before Storm who had ever treated her as anything but a weird anomaly.
She suggested, “Let’s walk. That way you won’t have to leave your truck up there. We’re ten minutes away.”
He fell into step with her and sent a sharp look her way. “What’s wrong?”
She opened her mouth to say, “Nothing,” but that lie would disappoint him. Instead she said, “I’m concerned about Feenix,” which was true.
“Why?”
“It’s clear he’s unhappy. Maybe even depressed. I’ve never seen him like this.”
Storm’s jaw flexed then he said, “He’s upset that I’m there.”
Hadn’t she just decided this was not the time to have this conversation? So why’d you bring it up?
“You’re just new to him.” That could be the truth.
“He likes Lanna. She told me Feenix knows Tzader and Quinn. You’ve left him with Nicole before. They were all new to him at one time. He knows who—and what—I am to you and doesn’t like it.”
“I can’t do this right now, Storm. I know moving in with me has been difficult, but–”
Storm moved fast, swinging her into his arms. “Don’t you dare apologize for anything. That’s your home and I’m the reason there’s an issue, but will you trust me to fix it?”
That sounded like Storm was asking for permission to work things out with Feenix on his own.
She knew she could trust him ... but would she be able to let go and let him handle Feenix?
She kissed him on the chin. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“I never doubt it and I don’t want you to doubt us. I love you enough to do whatever it takes to make this work.”
The tight muscles in her chest relaxed a little, and she hugged him. Just like everything else since she realized she wanted him in her life, she had to be able to meet him half way on this, or it was never going to work.
Tzader’s voice came into her mind. Sen will be at Woodruff in ten minutes.
Evalle backed away and took Storm’s hand. “Of course I trust you and whatever you do.”
“Thank you,” Storm said. His smile sent a thrill through her every time and now was no different. She hated to leave when they were finally talking, but forcing Sen to wait would probably end with being teleported the way Dorothy had traveled to Oz.
Plus Storm had never been to a Tribunal meeting and she needed time to give him pointers.
When they emerged on Marietta Street, Storm took her hand, walking them at a fast clip. “Tell me about the Tribunal.”
“Tribunals are made up of three deities. They could be all gods, all goddesses or a mix. I’ve only faced a mix. We’ll be taken to a place in what’s called the Nether Realm, where they’re on a dais and we stand before them on...kind of a ground-like area that falls off at the edges is the best way I can explain it. The sky is dark, filled with stars and reaches all the way from side to side. It makes me feel like I’m inside a snow globe, sans snow.”
“I’ve sensed your concern from the moment you told me Tzader requested my presence. What are you worried about?”
One of the deities zapping you into the ether. “The Medb are accusing the Beladors of killing their coven members without provocation.”
He pulled her to the edge of the sidewalk, away from three guys huddled together against a building they passed.
She lifted her eyebrows at him. “They were human.”
He huffed a noise of irritation, but he did it in jest. “You’re gonna have to get used to it, sweetheart. It’s a natural reaction for a man to protect a woman, even if she can take down Godzilla with a flick of her kinetic fingers.” He grinned at her.
She shook her head at his teasing. She’d missed that during the six days he was gone.
He must have noticed how close they were to Woodruff Park, because he turned serious again. “Is there any chance a Belador would just kill a Medb without reason?”
“Only someone suicidal.” She spoke quickly so they could finish before Sen saw them and popped in to ruin her moment alone with Storm. “We swear an oath to Macha that includes a code of honor with stiff penalties. And if we wrongly take a life or act without honor, everyone connected to that Belador, be it husband, wife, or any other family will suffer the same consequences, even death.”
“Seriously?”
“Oh, yes. That’s why Tzader needs help proving the Beladors are not killing warlocks or witches in the Medb coven, but above all you must tell the truth.”
“What if I scent something that points at a Belador?”
“Doesn’t matter. If you lie in a Tribunal, you’ll light up as red as a signal flare and they’ll hand you over to Sen—if they don’t vaporize you on the spot. But handing anyone over to Sen would be as bad.”
When Storm didn’t reply, Evalle said, “Tzader and Macha want the truth. They’ll deal with the fallout, but no one will blame you. I know Tzader. He’ll request this be a closed meeting and that Sen be forbidden from sharing a word about it. If a Belador is at fault, they won’t be able to retaliate against you or me.”
He squeezed her hand as they crossed an intersection of five roads, which was the reason this area of downtown Atlanta was called Five Points.
The city had remodeled parts of Woodruff Park, adding planters along the short wall between the sidewalk and the park. With the temperature dropping into the forties, Evalle noted only two people meandering down the street away from the park.
Good thing, since the minute her foot touched the corner near the bronze sculpture of a woman releasing a bird, titled Phoenix Rising From The Ashes, Sen appeared.
Storm stepped up beside her and without a word of greeting, her world spun into a blur of colors.
Sen had some crazy abilities. Even if there were few people around, he still had to shield their blinking out of sight from Five Points. She had no idea how he managed that and didn’t care.
Two trips to two different realms in a short span of time were playing worse havoc than normal with Evalle. Her stomach was doing a great imitation of a washing machine on spin cycle.
Storm’s arms came around her from the back and the blurred colors receded. She inhaled deep breaths, fighting her nausea, and his scent flowed over her. When her feet touched down again, she couldn’t have been more relaxed if she’d been in a spa on the way here.
If Sen had realized that Storm prevented her usual vertigo reaction, he’d have sent them separately.
A mist surrounding her and Storm dissipated, revealing just what she’d described to Storm. This Tribunal was mixed. The goddess wore a blindfold and held scales. Evalle guessed her to be Justitia. Then there was some guy wearing a wreath on his head and strumming a golden instrument. A lyre? Could that be Orpheus? Was he even a deity or had he been dragged in for entertainment and to show how little respect the deities had for Bela
dor and Medb issues?
She recognized the last god immediately and held back her groan.
Loki. She’d thought he was on her side the first time she’d faced him in a Tribunal meeting, but she’d learned first hand how he’d earned one of his nicknames. Trickster. She’d landed in a South American jungle in the middle of an invisible, spelled cage that held another Alterant who wanted to kill her.
Good times.
Tzader stood four feet away and said under his breath, “Don’t use telepathy.”
She nodded. She’d used it with Brina during another Tribunal meeting, but everything felt tense here. Maybe Tzader wasn’t allowed that leeway. She hoped like hell that Storm didn’t pick up a Belador scent on whatever the Medb produced.
Sen appeared on the other side of Tzader and stood, looking bored, but he sent a cold look her way, then he smiled.
Her skin puckered with chill bumps. Good thing she’d picked a long-sleeved shirt so he couldn’t see her reaction to his appearing happy. Sen happy could only equal bad news for her in this meeting.
The deities were speaking among themselves and glancing around every so often, which had Evalle thinking someone else was coming to this party.
Energy charged the air between Evalle’s group and the dais.
A man materialized and announced, “I am here to represent the Medb.”
Who was that?
Loki boomed, “Welcome Cathbad the Druid, representing the Medb.”
Evalle glanced at Tzader for a sign that this was nothing unusual. The gut-punched look he sent her dashed those hopes.
Chapter 25
Evalle didn’t show any reaction to Cathbad’s presence, but she had no doubt Storm had picked up on her spike of anxiety.
She sent Storm a quick smile she hoped would convey that everything was okay so he’d think her emotional fluxuation was normal for facing a Tribunal. There was some truth to that, but she sensed the Medb had something up their sleeves that Tzader was not expecting, and that concerned her.
Loki stepped forward, playing with a feather. “We are here to settle grievances the Medb bring against the Beladors. Tzader Burke, Belador Maistir, will speak for the Beladors and should note that this Tribunal is displeased that Brina of Treoir is not present as expected.”
