by Lisa Ladew
He heard Flint grumble a response, but couldn’t tell what it was. Shiloh’s voice was clipped and impatient. “Look, he belongs here. Or has Resperanza started giving you two magical shortcuts marked with baby’s breath?”
Riot sucked in a breath and held it, listening for an answer. Was that true? Was he the only one Resperanza did that for? Now Flint sounded offended. “She what?”
Riot’s curiosity got the best of him. He had to see what was going on. Two steps put him around the corner and in view of the atrium. Bags of potting soil were strewn around, and shifters and switches from Breath Coven, plus Shiloh, were pouring them into an oversized raised planter made of the same glazed terracotta tiles as the ones that held the citrus trees and berry bushes. Except Riot would swear this one hadn’t been there before. It was bigger, and positioned directly under the center of the glass ceiling.
Where’s Gemma? But even as the thought entered Riot’s head, she came into his line of sight, looking down at her cupped hand. “Okay, these are what Faith gave me, and Shiloh, you said half and half, right?” Next to her, the pale-haired female gave a nod.
As Riot watched, Gemma pinched something in her palm and held it over the fresh dirt. His sharp eyes caught sight of a tiny dot as it left her fingers and everyone watched it drop to the soil. What the-? But then he realized. Those were the seeds he’d used. For the plants for Baker’s oil. He’d given them to Faith in case something happened to him and she needed to grow them on her own.
Before he could stop himself, Riot stepped forward, his voice rising with the level of the threat he felt. “What the hell are you doing with those?”
Every head swiveled, every face pointed right at him. Riot hadn’t felt so scrutinized since he’d sat in court listening to people he’d loved give testimony, both false and accurate, about the choices he’d made. Somehow this was worse.
But Gemma’s face brightened and softened all at once, and she smiled in Riot’s direction. Smiling? After the way I left her this morning, and seeing Faith? But her amber eyes were lit up bright, and she looked as proud of herself as he’d ever seen. “We found a solution to your winter growing problem.”
Riot’s eyes darted to Shiloh, who shrugged in his direction with an expression that clearly asked, Why you still fighting it, Lio? And Riot discovered that he didn’t have a ready answer. But fight it, he would.
He turned on his heel and headed straight back the way he’d come, not sure where he was going but positive that he had to get out. Quick, light footsteps followed behind him. Riot moved faster, reaching the staircase and practically galloping down. He almost made it to the garage before Gemma turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs and called after him.
“Riot, where are you going? I wanted to tell you-” She stopped when Riot looked in her direction. Her face paled and her eyes took on a pain Riot didn’t want to be responsible for. Gemma looked at her shoes as she spoke again. “You’re angry.”
Damn right he was. Riot was pissed as hell about The Cause taking on more risk because of him. He was furious at the way his choices kept getting snatched out of his hands every time he turned around. And he wasn’t exactly pleased with the idea of his family business, not to mention anyone else’s, being common knowledge around the coven. But most of all he was angry because every damn thing he’d ever wanted was staring him in the face, and Riot wasn’t worthy of taking it. He would never be a Lio. Not to the people who needed him to be. So what good did it serve to bring him face-to-face with what a failure he was?
And not one damn bit of that is Gemma’s fault, you jerk. She’s as caught up in this as you are. Riot exhaled and ran his fingers through his flop of hair, his shoulders slumping with the weight he didn’t know how to shake. He walked towards Gemma, stopped right in front of her, and used his hand to raise her chin so he could look this incredible woman in the eyes and explain.
But the words wouldn’t come. All Riot could do was stare at Gemma’s full lips and wish there was some kind of magic that could make her understand why all he could say was goodbye.
He had to go. Had to get out of here and get his head right. But he couldn’t leave Gemma wondering if it was her fault, if she had pushed him away. Riot kept his eyes on her soft, warm lips as his own moved closer.
From the first touch it was different. As if Gemma had an internal electromagnet that had suddenly switched on, and Riot was made of iron, strong enough to do anything but break their bond. A pleasant sort of shock started in his lips and moved throughout his body, and with it came Gemma. Her bold green and her sweet, sharp fragrance filled him, stretched him, seeped into Riot’s being as easily as oxygen, and twice as necessary.
Shit! Shit shit shit! He knew what was happening, recognized the heartbound kiss from things he’d heard, but he was powerless to stop it. Riot dug his fingers into Gemma’s soft curls, tilting her head to go deeper, while the other hand grappled at her hip, pressed her as close to his body as she could go. This bliss wouldn’t last much longer, and it was going to have to keep him. Maybe forever.
After another minute of tangled tongues and emotions the green glow started to fade, and Riot felt capable of pulling back. Don’t want to, though. More than ever. But what he wanted and what he was built for were two different things. It was time to be honest about that.
Riot still couldn’t say a word to Gemma. Not even goodbye. He just gave her one more tender kiss and thanked the Great Cat for whatever was keeping her words at bay. Maybe I have a prayer of getting out of here clean.
As he pulled away, wrenching open the door to the garage and putting one foot out, it was all Riot could do not to beg Gemma to settle for the love he offered, pathetic as it was. But one look back at her stunned eyes, at her fingers pressed to her trembling lips just like that first night in the forest, and Riot knew he couldn’t ask it of her. He was too much and not enough all at the same time, and Gemma deserved so much better.
So what are you doing still staring at her? Riot straightened his back and clenched his jaw, and with one last look he was gone.
Chapter 30 - Basic Human Riots
The three switches of Breath Coven met the next morning to figure out what kind of ceremony they were going to have. They all agreed with Carick, it was time to make this sisterhood official, but as for how they were going to do it? No idea. But Gemma’s solution to almost every problem was to read a book, so she made herself a little nest on the living room sofa with the Keeper’s Book and her notebook, and got started. Goldie and Cora sat nearby, doing their own things. Darby wandered through every once in a while.
Gemma struggled to keep her mind on the task at hand. Where is Riot? He hadn’t slept in the tree outside her room last night, and she could feel the result of her ruined sleep in the way her foggy mind wanted to drift off into daydreams. She ruthlessly dragged it back. I can worry about Riot anytime. The coven was on a time-crunch, looking for a way to level-up their power before they launched an attack on the nest at the gold mine. Gemma got back to work.
“Hey, listen to this,” Gemma said after a while, with one eye on the Keeper’s Book and the other on her translation. “Anna drew a picture of a ceremonial spot in the forest where all the covens would meet for important stuff. There was this spiral on the ground and something in the center, and then seats for the lead switch and shifter of each coven.” Gemma held the book up so that the others could see it, then replaced it in her lap. “I wonder if we could make something like that.”
Goldie scrunched her nose. “Lead switch and shifter? What’s that about?”
Gemma flipped around, looking for anything else that might explain the hierarchy of the covens. “I don’t know. Seems like Anna was in charge of all the switches, and each coven had their own leaders.” She looked up at Cora and Goldie. “I guess we need to pick who’s going to be in charge.”
The petite blonde shook her head firmly. “Not me. I’m not mean enough to order people around.”
Cora laugh
ed. “I am.” Then she got serious, her expression uncertain. “I don’t think we need to do that, though. There are three of us, let’s just work things out as they come, and if we can’t agree then we vote.”
All three women nodded their heads. Gemma was relieved as hell. I may have been the last Breath switch to find her coven, but I’ve got opinions and an independent streak as wide as my ass. Taking orders doesn’t work for me. Even if she was one hundred percent sure that neither of these women would ever knowingly do her wrong. “Things could always change when there are more of us.”
Darby, sitting at the dining room table with her face in her phone, made a little ‘mmmhmmm’ noise that Gemma ignored. The pink-haired pinup had been a one-woman peanut gallery all day as Cora, Gemma, and Goldie had discussed plans. Frankly, Gemma was tired of it. No doubt Darby was just feeling left out of the hubbub, but still. Just ‘cause you’re not in on the crazy doesn’t mean you gotta fake it.
Cora got a funny look on her face as she replied to Gemma. “There are definitely going to be more of us.”
Goldie laughed and shook her head. “Of course there will be more of us. We have four more covens to fill, and we need to do it fast.”
But Cora didn’t budge. She just looked back and forth between her two magical companions and smiled slyly. “I’m doing my part. Give me about eight more months.”
Two beats of silence, and then Gemma and Goldie were both up and rushing Cora to hug her, to congratulate her, to tell her how radiantly beautiful she looked. Cora smiled back with so much excitement and love in her eyes, it got hard for Gemma to take. But she was happy for Cora. Of course she was.
But she couldn't stop herself from wondering. What would that be like, to love and trust a man enough to want to have children with him? Gemma had always known she wanted kids, but she’d been so busy slingshotting around the world for stories that she’d never spent much time on romance. It would be nice, though, to have someone to share parenting with. Not to mention having someone who loved her enough to care for and protect her and their child as well or better than Gemma could already do on her own.
An image invaded Gemma’s mind, of a green-eyed, sweet-cheeked baby at her breast. She could see him, or her, so clearly, with their shock of black hair sticking up on top of their head, their fat marshmallow arms swinging with glee as Riot nibbled at tiny toes.
Whoa, now, pull it back. He doesn’t want babies with you, Gemma. Hell, as far as she could tell, Riot didn’t want anything from her. Not her help, her friendship, or her love. In fact she hadn’t seen or heard from him since he left yesterday after finding the rest of the coven and Shiloh upstairs planting a winter crop of cannabis and hemp.
And all she’d wanted to do was to help him! To pay him back in some small way by maybe solving a problem, taking a weight off his shoulders so he didn’t have to carry so much more than any man, even a shifter, should have to take.
But the way he’d looked at her. Oofta. Like he couldn’t wait to get away from her pushy ass. Fucking steamroller, that’s what you are. She always had been, from day one, like having those older brothers around her made Gemma think she was just as grown and powerful as they looked to her. Obstacles in her way were just endurance courses. Crawl through the mud? Fine. Swing over a swamp of man-eating crocodiles? She would handle that shit like a boss. But that’s not how love works, genius.
She felt horrible about how on-the-spot she’d put Riot. Truth be told, she’d been so excited after Faith told Jameson and Shiloh her story that Gemma had lost track of time and forgotten all about their dinner plans. She just wanted to show him that everyone in the coven - well, everyone except Flint, who was still grumbling his disbelief this morning at breakfast - accepted the choices Riot had made and wanted to support his efforts. Instead she’d invaded his privacy and sidestepped what she’d known were some heavily defended walls.
Because Gemma didn’t see walls, she saw mazes, winding labyrinths that surely must have something beautiful at their center. Something worth taking the time to find. But only if the owner wants it found, she scolded herself. And Riot doesn’t. So drop it.
She shook off the feelings and tuned back into the celebration happening beside her. Cora’s going to have a baby? The news was wonderful but surprising, and Gemma’s curiosity overruled her tact. “What does J think?” He and Cora were bringing a baby into an epic battle. That had to up the parenting stakes.
Cora rolled her eyes. “That I should lay in bed and not move for the whole pregnancy, going by how protective he’s being.” But then she smiled, cutting her eyes to the side as she stage-whispered, “Don’t you dare tell him, but I love it. All the fights we had about him letting me do my job, and these stupid pregnancy hormones make me want that big, burly man to protect me from everything. So fucking annoying,” she finished, laughing softly.
Gemma laughed, too, moving to sit next to Cora. “Have you always wanted to have kids?”
Cora shrugged. “I didn’t really think much about it until I met Jameson. I just wanted to find the right man.” She smiled wryly at Gemma. “Wouldn’t have mattered, anyway. Switches can’t get pregnant until they’ve had their first Undoing.”
Gemma’s eyebrows ended up somewhere in the stratosphere. Nobody thought to mention this? It wasn't an issue for Gemma; she'd handled her own birth control for years, and beyond that, she trusted Riot, but still.
Her eyes bounced from Goldie to Cora. Even Darby was paying attention now. Her flawless lips popped open and her voice sounded like a wisp of steam. “Not ever?”
Cora shook her chestnut waves. “Nope. Not ever.” Her eyes turned sad. “Makes me feel bad for any switches out there who are trying to get pregnant and can’t and they don’t know why.”
That shut Gemma up and brought tears to Goldie’s eyes. Darby, on the other hand, slammed her phone down and stood. “I can’t take this anymore!”
All eyes on her, Darby set her jaw and looked at Goldie. “I need to know.”
Gemma’s gaze swooped to Goldie, who was looking back at her sister with a worried expression. “But your wrist-”
“Is fine.” Darby broke in. “I want to start training. Now. Today.”
Goldie wasn’t letting it go. “But your stalker, and we don’t even know if you’re a switch!”
Darby snatched it right back, out of her sister’s hands. “And we won’t know until I get near a vampire. And you won’t let me near a vampire until I’m ready. So I’m getting ready.” She grabbed her phone off the table and swiped the screen. “I’m calling Shiloh.”
Darby put the phone to her ear and stalked through the kitchen to the courtyard, Goldie following her. The tiny blonde looked as determined as Gemma had ever seen her. Cora looked after them for a few seconds before turning to Gemma with a smirk. “And I was always so bummed about being an only child.”
Cora pushed herself to standing and headed toward the kitchen as well. “Baby wants a snack.” Her voice turned cutesy as she approached the archway and looked at her still-flat belly. “Green olives and peanut butter crackers? Is that what my baby wants?”
Gemma smiled and shook her head. Things were bound to get crazy around here with a pregnant switch. Crazier, she corrected herself, as she stood up and stretched, ready to do something other than read and translate. But there wasn’t anything to do.
Jameson had told her last night that Aven was already surveilling the gold mine and had seen movement he suspected was the vampires clearing out. They might have to strike in the next day or two, or risk losing the nest altogether.
And Gemma could work on her article, but what would she write? Hey, loyal readers, I know I usually come at you with solid journalism backed up by evidence, but what do you say we do things a little different this time? We'll start with the Victory Party and how they’re all vampires bent on world domination, then move on to the woman in the mental hospital who said I look like a bug…
Gemma had never had so many mysteries to unr
avel at once, and with so many strings that might be tied together. Jinelle, the TSK, vampires, the Victory Party, Auntie the old switch. Gemma was going to have to think on how they all fit. And she did her best thinking when she had a task to keep her busy hands busy. So what can I do? She could cook something, but she wasn’t hungry. Shit stays this crazy I may have to take up knitting.
Then her brain lit up and Gemma headed for the stairs down to the barracks. I know something that needs cookin’. Gemma had seen all those bags of weed that Riot had stuffed in his closet, and Faith had told her how he infused it into oil to make medicine for Baker; she would just do that for him.
And yeah, there was a little voice in the back of her head telling her she was bound to make things worse by overstepping Riot’s boundaries again, but really, what was there for him to be angry about? Everyone already knew what was going on, so it wasn’t snooping. Gemma would just be making it clear they were all serious about backing him up. Right? Right, she answered herself, and turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs to aim for Riot’s room.
Chapter 31 - Snoopy Switch
Gemma knocked on Riot’s closed bedroom door, just in case he had come home without her knowing. No answer. Because that wasn’t the longest of long shots. She tested the knob, letting go of the breath she held when it turned easily in her hands. Gemma poked her head inside. “Riot?”
Silence, except for her heart hammering.
She closed herself in Riot’s room and crossed to the closet, holding her breath again as she opened the door. There was the cooler. Gemma pushed the lid back.
