Unearthed

by Sara M Zerig

  “Traumatic experience?”

  “She would not say what and would not share it with me. It was too much for her. It distressed her physically to speak of it.”

  Aidan sighed, taking his chair again. “She has not been trained to manage her talent.”

  “Now that she is home, she will be.” Cara moved on. “I expect that the shifters will assert Chloe as a citizen, by virtue of her being mated to Ritt.”

  “They already have.”

  Colton had sent a bold message the night Delia brought Chloe home, asking to arrange for Ritt to stay with Chloe in the Coven Realm until she was well enough to return home. Those two words sent Aidan through the roof. Cara assumed that Colton had drafted the message without counsel from Dane; Dane was too experienced to send something that presumptuous. She and Aidan had elected not to reply.

  “Dane this time?” Cara guessed that Dane would have taken lead after Colton’s blunder. The old shifter was assertive but diplomatic.

  Aidan nodded. “I have spoken with the other council members, and they are all of the opinion that Chloe’s well-being supersedes the claim that she is—” Aidan grumbled through the words “—mated to a shifter.”

  “Excellent, then let us go with this.” She summoned a new message with her fingertips and drafted it verbally.

  Dane,

  It appears that Chloe has not fared well in the Shifter Realm. She is still dehydrated and distressed. Clearly, the Shifter Realm is not a suitable or safe residence for her.

  We would welcome a visit from Ritt, once she is fully recovered. We will be in touch.

  Aidan and Cara St. Cyr

  Aidan steepled his fingers as he regarded her. “Is it fair to say that Chloe’s condition is a result of being in the Shifter Realm? Or did she bring this upon herself?”

  “She felt she had little choice,” Cara said simply. “She did ask to see Ritt. I think it is reasonable, once she is healed.”

  “And then?”

  “Then he should be welcome to live here, or we should be prepared to let her return there.” She stood, ignoring the stirrings of protest from her husband on her way out the door. “I know which I would prefer.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Kimi fixated on the wild plain before her. It was lovely. The climate was perfect. She was not far from where she and Ritt had hunted with Dane and the others a few days before. She could hunt on her own. Maybe the cat could give her a fresh perspective.

  What a difference a few days could make. Chloe was, reportedly, seriously ill, and Kimi was at least partly responsible for that. Kimi could not have predicted all this would come of it, but it was foolish to think she could keep the truth from Ritt—or from Dane—forever. An odd sense of peace had settled into Kimi’s bones once the rape was no longer a secret. Unfortunately, that peace did not extend to her son or her relationship with Dane.

  Ritt was a veritable mess. The dark truth about his father wasn’t even the worst of it. He had hardly slept since Chloe left, and they had heard nothing from the Coven Realm for days.

  Today, they received a generic update on Chloe’s condition: dehydrated and distressed. The St. Cyrs blamed the Shifter Realm for her condition. Kimi wanted to grab fistfuls of witch and warlock hair and knock some heads together when she learned of the message.

  It was cruel to be unresponsive for so long and then send such a vague and accusatory message. Did these Coven Realmers have any clue what they were putting her son through? Probably not. They didn’t have mates.

  Dane was trying to help, Ritt had told her, but there wasn’t much he could do. Kimi invited Ritt to shift with her, but he wanted to stay close to Colton’s den in case there was any more news on Chloe’s condition. Kimi and Dane hadn’t spoken of the situation directly. They weren’t speaking at all, since his bull-headed speech about the necessity for the Shifter Realm marking.

  Despite the rape, it wasn’t the idea of becoming intimate with Dane that was the problem. She relished being in his arms and had been daydreaming of what it would be like to be in his bed. Kimi would take her time getting there, but it was something she looked forward to.

  It was the marking she couldn’t get past. Violence was common among shifters in the Earthen Realm too, but it was odd that violence would be associated with this ritual. The marking affirmed the mating; it was a symbol of love and commitment. Yes, even the Earthen marking was technically a bite, but the difference between the two was significant, like the difference between a splinter and a fourth-degree laceration.

  I am a survivor, Kimi told herself, a survivor, not a victim. The words made perfect sense. So why did it anger her so much when Dane had said them? She should be angry at her attacker, not her mate, but she wanted to gouge Dane’s eyes out when those words came out of his mouth.

  This was the way of the world for her mate, she reminded herself. The Shifter Realm would not change for Kimi. It was his world, but it was her body, hence the impasse.

  Kimi slipped the straps of the shifter dress over her shoulders. The garment slid to her feet, and she stepped out of it gingerly. Shifting to cat form, she ran the path to the drinking pool. The larger prey were not gathered here now, but birds were plentiful, and mindless stalking was her cat’s preferred activity.

  Her earlier dissection of her own feelings dissipated, having no relevance to her cat’s mind. She crouched low in the grass, just behind a wide-based tree. Two birds sat perched on a low branch. They were on the small side for prey and would ordinarily be safe from a hungry shifter. But Kimi was hunting out of sport tonight, not hunger.

  She leapt to the branch, crushing the necks of each bird beneath her paws before dropping back to the ground. It was a quick kill: merciful but pointless. She moved toward the drinking pool.

  Tension filled the air. A formation of large birds glided overhead, shifting their course at the sight of her. Kimi made one lap around the edge of the water, sending the smaller birds scattering from even the highest branches of the sparse trees as she went. She climbed a tree and stretched out on a thick branch. This was her turf now … her turf and her rules.

  Ritt paced in Colton’s den while Dane and Colton sat at the table. It had been a few hours since the St. Cyrs sent a letter that told him almost nothing. The real message was that Chloe’s birth parents had all the power to grant or deny access to Chloe.

  The legality of the St. Cyrs keeping Chloe from her mate was questionable, Dane said, but they had left the door open for a “visit” once she was “fully recovered.” Ritt wanted to know when they expected that would be, but Dane wanted to put more thought into his next message. It was political now; even elders who originally opted to stay out of it were concerned. The idea that anyone could keep a shifter’s mate in an unreachable realm had rattled them.

  Ritt didn’t care about the politics. He had no desire to get into a pissing match with Aidan St. Cyr. He just wanted Chloe back.

  “I don’t understand this. The witches and warlocks know about us, know about mates. They have to know that being away from me will only make it harder for her to recover.”

  Dane gave a slight shake of the head. “They know we believe that. They may even believe it is true for two shifters. But they may not believe Chloe is truly your mate. A witch and a shifter … this never happens.”

  “What about a Shifter Realm shifter and an Earthen Realm shifter? Does that ever happen?” Ritt tossed back at him.

  Dane looked at him sharply, and Colton stepped in. “No one here doubts you and Chloe are mates. If the St. Cyrs could see you together, they would likely see it too. We just have no way of getting you there.”

  “Oh, but there is a way, silly wolf.”

  The three shifter males turned as one to the miniature old shifter female who had arrived in the den unannounced. Dane and Colton stood from the table.

  “Ritt, this is Wisp,” Dane introduced.

  “Well, this is an exciting time, isn’t it?! Awesome powers and inter-rea
lm matings and the like. And this is just the beginning!”

  Ritt turned questioning eyes to the elders. Dane attempted to bring Wisp back on track. “How can we get Ritt to Chloe?”

  “You can’t, but there is one who can and will. Powerless they say, but no, I am not convinced of that. No one with so big a heart is powerless.”

  “Delia.” Dane and Colton said at once.

  “She’s absolutely darling, that one. Oh so sweet but a tad mischievous at times. She just can’t help herself!” The old shifter chuckled.

  “Delia? Isn’t that the witch who took Chloe in the first place?” Ritt questioned.

  Dane nodded. “She is.”

  “Why would she help us now?” Ritt wanted to know.

  Dane’s expression softened. “She is … idealistic. If she believes you and Chloe are mates, she will help.”

  “But we will not be able to get her alone. Witches do not travel unescorted,” Colton pointed out.

  “And yet she has been for a few weeks now.” Dane had considered alerting Aidan to Delia’s brazen traveling, but with the discovery of Chloe, he had forgotten all about it. “If the St. Cyrs haven’t specifically restricted it, she may show up on her own again. We will put all dwellings on notice. If Delia Kincade makes an appearance anywhere in this realm, we will know.”

  Wisp spoke to Colton. “I would send that message now if I were you, young elder.”

  Colton reached for the correspondence box, and Ritt studied Wisp. By magic realm standards, Ritt thought, she had to be a thousand years old. He could only hope age equated to wisdom in this case. She turned from Colton and winked at Ritt as if knowing his thoughts.

  “You really think she’ll take me there?”

  “Oh, I do.” Wisp gave a broad smile. “Fear not, Earthen shifter. Your unlikely heroine is on her way.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  It was mid-afternoon when Delia arrived at the edge of the Sixth Dwelling with a single design in hand, although she did not imagine she would sell anything today. Cara had specifically directed Delia not to transact business in the First Dwelling until the matter with Chloe and Ritt was resolved. Cara should have restricted trips to the Shifter Realm altogether. Dane had probably put all dwellings on watch for her.

  She was glad for the technicality. Having heard Chloe’s account to Cara, the hopeless romantic in Delia wanted to help. She had been puzzling over how a shifter could declare Chloe as his mate—something no shifter took lightly—and then leave her to fend for herself in the desert in the middle of the night. The more she thought on it, the clearer it was that he wouldn’t.

  Two youths wrestling in the dirt just outside the massive red-rocked entry stopped short at the sight of her. Delia recognized the brothers as the sons of one of her customers. The young shifters darted back inside. Delia waited in the shade.

  It wasn’t long before Dane and Colton arrived with another shifter she assumed to be Ritt. He was dressed like the other shifters, in tan linen trousers and no shirt to cover his leanly muscled torso. His eyes smoldered with that heightened intensity all shifters had. Except for being smaller than the others, she might have mistaken Ritt as belonging to the Shifter Realm all along.

  Ritt stepped forward. “Is she all right?”

  She chose her words carefully. “Something has put a strain on Chloe. She is resting now, but she is weak.”

  “I need to see her.”

  Delia shook her head sadly. “I can bring her a message, but I cannot take you there.”

  “You can,” Colton argued.

  “Aidan and Cara would not allow it,” she told Colton before addressing Ritt again. “Even if I could manage to get you there, she is never alone.”

  Ritt’s hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. She did not need Chloe’s gift to know that being away from his mate was agonizing for him. Dane’s voice was calm and controlled. “Delia, if there is any way to do this, it must be done. There is too much at stake here.”

  “I know,” Delia said understandingly. “The St. Cyrs want to protect their daughter, and the shifters want to protect their rights to their mates. I understand the ramifications.”

  “I’m not talking about the politics,” Dane corrected. “Mates should not be separated when they are ill. It can only be good for Chloe to see Ritt.”

  Dane’s face was earnest; Ritt’s was tortured. And Chloe was still quite ill. Delia swallowed hard. I am not the one to make this decision, she thought. But then she reconsidered.

  In truth, she had the least to lose. Aidan and Cara might be angry with her, but they would forgive her in time. Anyway, what could they do? Bind her nonexistent powers? Banish her to a realm where she was more popular than her home realm anyway?

  Delia caved. “All right. I will help.”

  Dane debated if he should be the one to tell Kimi that Ritt had decided to chance a visit to the Coven Realm uninvited. As her mate, he should be the one to do it, but he needed to give her the space and patience he had promised. Colton could tell her, he thought, hating the idea.

  How had they been derailed so fast? Just days before, he had felt like a new person. Dane thought he had been granted a reprieve from his seemingly mateless fate, only to suffer a monumental setback.

  The sight of Kimi standing at the archway of his home halted Dane in his tracks. She had never been here before. Dane appraised her posture: hands on hips, chin lifted defiantly, and eyes focused. She was prepared to fight. He’d prefer it wasn’t with him, but he was glad to have a glimpse of this Kimi back over the cowering kitten she had revealed the night before.

  “We need to talk,” Kimi said.

  “Come inside, then.”

  “No, we’ll do this here,” she asserted. “You’re right about me. I am a survivor, not a victim. But I am the one who survived, not you.”

  He started to speak, but Kimi raised a hand to cut him off. “Your being my mate does not change this. You will not dictate to me how or when or even if I am able to accept the marking of your realm.”

  If? “Kimi—”

  “It is not up for debate, Dane.”

  Dane stood slack-jawed a moment. “And our mating?”

  Her tone softened fractionally. “I’m still your mate, Dane, even if we haven’t confirmed it with the marking. I want the same future you want, but I have more to overcome before the marking ritual. And that will be on my terms, not yours.”

  Dane said nothing. What more was there to say? His wildcat was back and knew exactly what she wanted. All he really needed to know was that he was still on that list.

  Dane took Kimi into his arms and sent a silent thank you to the ancestors that she let him. In that moment, Dane couldn’t care less about the marking. If that was all that was keeping them apart, he would find a way around it for as long as necessary.

  Delia sat with Chloe on her own this time, taking over for Cara. Chloe had been up a few times over the past few hours, Cara had said. Each time, she drank some water, asked about Ritt, became upset, and fell back asleep. She was not progressing as Cara had hoped she would, but she was not declining, either.

  Delia waited until she was sure Cara was downstairs. Transferring to the Shifter Realm, Delia found Ritt standing with Colton at the entryway of the Sixth Dwelling. They had agreed to meet there, since Delia had promised to avoid the First Dwelling; a silly technicality at this point, but she clung to it anyway. Delia brought Ritt a warlock-style cotton tunic to wear with his shifter-style linen pants. The two materials were not a match, yet the outfit was perfect for the occasion.

  Delia moved before him, an amulet in hand. The design was somewhat experimental, made of multiple Coven stones that had been separately charged with a tried and true cloaking spell. She had arranged the spelled stones in a circular pattern and set them in pure silver. She then cast the cloaking spell over the pendant as a whole before attaching it to a black leather cord. Ideally, the pendant would be charged by a protector and reinforced with Elven du
st. But a protector would want to know what the amulet was for, and Elven dust was a precious resource to be used at the Coven Council’s discretion. This was not a sanctioned mission.

  Ritt bent so she could slip the necklace over his head. “Chloe is alone now, but we must hurry. No one can see you.”

  She took Ritt’s hand and nodded a farewell to Colton as she transferred them directly into Chloe’s room. There was an insistent knocking outside the door as they materialized. Delia hopped before Ritt, and the bedroom door opened wide.

  Max Lachlan stood in the doorway. “Delia?”

  “Max?!” Delia shrieked.

  Shockingly, the warlock glossed over the fact that Ritt was standing directly behind her, even though Ritt was several inches taller than Delia. Max looked from Delia to Chloe’s prone form in the bed. He can’t see Ritt, she thought. No cloaking spell was so powerful as to render complete invisibility, yet here they stood in a well-lit room, and Max, somehow, did not see what was right in front of him.

  Max stepped back as Delia pushed him into the hall, whispering, “She is sleeping.”

  “Ah,” Max replied, “I hope my knocking did not disturb her, but you did not answer right away.”

  A few inches taller than Delia, Max was a couple of inches shorter than most warlocks, including his own brother, Cy. The brothers shared not a single trait. Cy was a perfect mix of their mother and father, while Max was a carbon copy of his great-great-grandfather on his father’s side. There was a slight golden tone to his fair skin. His jet-black hair was neatly trimmed except for his bangs, which were either slicked back or falling into his black and ice-blue eyes.

  “Did I not? I must have been lost in thought. You know me, always daydreaming,” she rambled, unable to stop herself.

  Max regarded her with that icy stare of his. The warlock’s expression was virtually the same all the time: serious and assessing, like his parents. He was polite and just social enough to get by. He rarely smiled, and Delia could count on one hand how many times she had heard him laugh over the past two decades.