“Don’t be so jumpy.” She glared at me and made a point of landing in Liam’s still upturned palm. “I don’t understand why the Emperor is possessing Arianne in the first place. He wants to be with her. Romantically be with her. He can’t do that if he is her.” She scoffed. “I doubt he wants her just for her mind.”
“He thinks he can change her from the inside.”
Iman’s voice was so weak, I almost missed it.
Iman continued in the same quiet tone. “He knows she despises him. That even if she didn’t find him repulsive on a personal level, she isn’t a lover of men. But he thinks he can ‘fix’ her.”
“It won’t work,” I said immediately. “You can’t change everything someone is with a few tweaks of their memory.”
“No, you can’t.” She looked out over the water, turning her face away from us. “But with enough time, brainwashing is possible. With constant reinforcement. Constant mental torture. He can’t change her, but he can manipulate her behavior. And I think that would be enough for him.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Liam said firmly. “We’re going to get her back. Tonight.”
“Starting now,” Peasblossom said grimly. “I can see the island.”
She was right. Liam and I both stood and moved to the front of the boat. The fog faded away as if it had never been there, and we were left staring at a rocky shore. It was getting close to midnight, and the darkness fought the full moon’s illumination in every nook and cranny, but there was no mistaking the lights of the boat tied to a long pier.
Iman shuffled up behind me. She stared at the boat, and her body trembled.
“We’re going to get your wife back,” I said gently.
The dark-haired woman looked away, but not before I saw the tears welling in her eyes, turned to liquid silver by the moonlight. I shared a look with Liam, but neither of us said anything else as we tied the boat to the pier on the opposite side and disembarked. There was only a short strip of land around the island, most of it rocky with patches of sand. A thick band of trees blocked whatever else might be in the center of the island.
From the water, you’d never guess there was a military-esque complex here.
Cold sweat prickled on my neck. “Peasblossom, can you tell if we’re being watched?” I asked under my breath.
“We’re being watched,” Iman confirmed. “Rue and her guard will have noticed us by now.”
“The leader of the island guard,” Liam said, recalling Iman’s earlier description of her plan when we’d first boarded the boat. “You’re sure she won’t sound the alarm before we can talk to her?”
Iman shook her head. “No one is more aware of the possibilities for deceit through mental manipulation or illusion than Arianne and I. Upon arriving on this island, she would speak to Rue first, and she would give her a password. Without it, Rue would know something was wrong. She’ll be watching. And waiting.”
“If Prower is in Arianne’s mind, won’t he know about the password?” Liam asked.
“I don’t believe so. Prower is weakened by how far he’s pushed himself, and Arianne is strong. I would be very surprised if he had enough control over her to dive that far into her mind. As I said, no one is more aware of these possibilities for infiltration than Arianne. She takes precautions. One of which is making sure that password is buried deep in her psyche. It takes her several minutes of concentration to remember it herself. A sort of self-hypnosis.”
“So where is this Rue?” Liam asked.
Iman waved a hand. “Don’t waste your time trying to find her. Go to the dogwood tree I told you about. The one anointed with lavender oil. Sit at the base of the tree and wait. Rue will find you.”
“Right.” Liam looked at each of us in turn. “Be careful.” He nodded to Blake and Sonar. “You two, come with me.”
Blake followed Liam without a word, but I could have sworn I saw his gaze flick between me and his alpha, a tiny furrow between his brows that was there and gone in a heartbeat. I shook off the thought and turned my attention to Peasblossom.
“All right, let’s get started.” I reached out a hand and the pixie landed on my palm. “Are you ready?”
Peasblossom scowled, but nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be. You’re sure she’ll leave me when it’s over? As soon as it’s over?”
“Yes,” I promised. Then added, “Be nice. She’s still not feeling well.”
Iman reached down to the belt around her waist and unhooked the small jar hanging from the strip of leather. “Echo, are you ready?”
Ready.
My chest tightened. Echo’s voice was still so weak. So unlike her. I felt as if a stiff breeze would blow the spirit away, her voice lost to the wind. Maybe this had been a mistake. There was a reason we’d left her out of this investigation. I bit my lip as Iman pulled the cork from the bottle and held it out to Peasblossom.
“It will be easier for her if you come closer.”
The pixie still didn’t look happy, but she did as she was asked. Her wings beat the air as she flew to the bottle and leaned in.
Without my third eye, I couldn’t see Echo’s green glow, so I had to trust Peasblossom when she shivered and nodded. “She’s with me. We’ll see you soon,” she promised.
I nodded, mostly because I didn’t trust myself to speak. Every nerve in my body vibrated, the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up. There were too many things going on right now. Too many possibilities for complete and total disaster.
“You don’t like my plan.”
I jumped at the sound of Iman’s voice. “It’s not a bad plan,” I said quickly.
Iman swayed on her feet, and I held out a hand, silently offering support if she needed it. She smiled and waved me off.
“I’m fine. And I know this is not how you wanted to proceed.”
I took a deep breath, held it, then let it out. “It’s not ideal. Summoning Prower was risky enough when we planned to do it inside the wards at Suite Dreams. Out here, we have to hope he’s weak enough that we can blind his astral sight by flooding the Dreamworld with illusions. It’s just not how I would have preferred to do it.”
“This was the only way to make sure Arianne is safe,” Iman said firmly. “We don’t know what he’s doing to her. And I had no way to know for certain that she was even here.”
“I know, and that’s why we’re doing it this way. But I just wish we had the resources for two groups. One group at Suite Dreams to summon him, and one here to find Arianne.”
We’d already had this conversation in the truck on the way to the dock, but I couldn’t help repeating myself. Nerves, I guess.
“There was no time,” Iman reminded me. “We have to strike while he’s weak. If we had split our resources, we would only have given him a better chance. This will work.”
The sound of the water lapping against the shore did nothing to soothe my nerves. The rolling rush of waves would too easily hide the creeping progress of a creature from the water. It would be impossible to hear footsteps in the sand. Hear them climbing over the rocks as they left the lake to seek revenge…
I concentrated on the periodic pulses of determination I felt from Peasblossom and headed into the woods to set up for the ritual—
And entered the trees just in time to see Liam ditch his jeans.
I froze. For one blessed second, my brain abandoned its litany of everything that could go wrong with our plan. I forgot about the fact that Prower was a god, and he had all the power of a dream sorceress at his fingertips.
I stared at Liam’s naked back, the smooth expanse of skin kept near-perfect by a preternatural healing factor. Liam was at least eighty years old, but he had the body of a forty year old. A forty year old that didn’t get a lot of down time and spent a good quarter of his life running.
As a witch, I didn’t have quite the level of comfort with nudity that shifters did, but I wasn’t a prude either. And right now, I wasn’t inclined to look away. Not when the sudd
en heat in my cheeks was such a welcome distraction from the nightmare that lay ahead.
“You’re staring,” Iman murmured as she knelt on the ground to begin setting up the items we’d brought from Suite Dreams.
“I don’t care.” I let my gaze fall a little farther.
She chuckled and continued her task, unloading the small bag that had been all she could carry in her weakened state. I had most of the stuff we needed in my pouch, and I groped for the zipper without taking my eyes off Liam. Was it just me, or was the full moon deliberately acting as a spotlight?
Blake stood near his alpha, also in the process of undressing. He caught me staring at Liam, and paused. This time there was no doubt his gaze flicked from me to his alpha—his alpha who hadn’t looked my way despite the fact that he had to have heard Iman. Even with Blake noticing me staring, I wasn’t shamed into looking away. Sonar nipped at his naked hip and Blake jerked back.
Liam raised his arms over his head and stretched, arching his body in a way that showed off every sinew, every carved muscle. I grinned like an idiot.
“Show off,” I murmured.
I thought I heard him laugh under his breath, but I couldn’t be sure. A moment later, he shifted, a beautiful example of grace and power. Blake followed suit, albeit a little slower than his alpha. Then the wolves vanished into the trees.
“Are you two seeing one another?” Iman asked casually.
I knelt to help with the preparations, reaching into my waist pouch for the rest of the things we needed. “No.”
Iman arched an eyebrow.
“I only ended my apprenticeship just under four years ago,” I said, ignoring the defensive tone in my voice. “I’m trying to start my own PI business. But things…haven’t exactly gone as planned.” I shook my head. “If I’m perfectly honest, I don’t have time for a relationship.”
“No one has time for a relationship,” Iman said dismissively. “It’s something you make time for when you decide it’s worth it. And if you choose right, then you’ll find someone who fits into your life. Fills in the small moments.”
She glanced up at me. “It would be very fitting for you to choose someone who shares your desire to pursue justice.”
“Maybe.” I peered into the pouch. “Bizbee, could I have the amethyst bowl and that vial of blood scrapings? And— Ouch!”
I yelped as Peasblossom collided with the side of my head. There was a tiny grunt as she bounced off of me and hit the ground.
“Get her out!” she demanded, both hands clutching her head. “We’re done, now get her out!”
“Did you find Arianne?” Iman asked, her voice breathy.
“Yes! She’s in the big house, just like you said. In the soundproof room. Echo went inside and saw her. Now get her out!”
Iman held up the jar and murmured something under her breath as she put her free hand on Peasblossom.
Echo’s voice sounded more tired than before, and if I hadn’t leaned closer to the bottle, I might have missed her words. Thank you.
“Thank you, Echo,” Iman said sincerely. “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
It worried me that Echo didn’t preen at the compliment. The spirit was usually bubbly and perhaps a bit arrogant. I made a mental note to take her home with me for a while so I could keep an eye on her while she recovered.
Peasblossom would love that.
The confirmation of Arianne’s presence on the island seemed to lend strength to her wife. Iman worked feverishly with me to set up for the ritual, finding rocks and placing them in a neat circle, painting the runes we needed onto the stones. I set the bowl in the center, letting the moonlight catch the veins of gold and silver that had been used to create the special bowl.
Liam returned as we were finishing. At first glance, I didn’t see the pixie. Then her wings twitched, and I caught the silvery sparkle against the grey of Liam’s fur. She rose into the air when she saw Iman, and I saw that her skin was the color of the night sky, her eyes a beautiful silver that matched her wings.
“Rue, it is so good to see you again,” Iman said. She wrung her hands. “How did Arianne seem? When you saw her arrive?”
“Not herself,” Rue replied, her voice deeper than I would have expected from a pixie. “I landed on her shoulder and she shrugged me off.”
“She wanted you to know something was wrong,” Iman said.
Rue nodded once. “As I suspected when she failed to provide the password. The wolf told me what is happening. I am in accord with your plan. My people are spreading out now.” She smiled, revealing sharp teeth. “It will be much like the old days.”
Peasblossom rose into the air, and she and Rue circled one another a few times, sizing each other up.
“What are those?” Rue asked, pointing to Peasblossom’s feet.
Peasblossom grinned. “Chargers.” She scuffed her feet together a few times, then touched her pointer fingers together. A flicker of electricity zapped between them.
Rue made a soft sound of awe.
“Later,” I reminded them. “Everyone to your places.”
Iman stood and approached the wolves, placing around each of their necks a leather thong holding a piece of amethyst from Arianne’s stash. The stones were darker than usual, throbbing with the energy of the illusions they held. Pieces harvested from nightmares—not unlike what Arianne had once done to me. The runes we’d painted on them gleamed, winking at me as if to reassure me that everything was going to turn out all right.
“Okay,” I said, standing up. “Time to be scary. Everyone spread out. We want a show of force.”
I called my magic and raised my hands to the sky. “Formidulosus.”
Energy spiraled upward inside me, arcing out farther and farther until it passed out of my body and solidified beside me. Shadows blossomed around it as it grew in density, took on more detail. It was me, but not me. More terrifying, with paler skin, darker eyes, and sharper teeth. The hair of my double floated around her like the tentacles of a sea monster, and her eyes glowed with a sickly green that reminded me of Scath’s eyes. As I poured more magic into the illusion, she grew larger, swelling upward to tower over the trees.
I held the image in my mind until it was substantial enough to stand on its own. I stood beneath it and tilted my face up, using a new spell to amplify my voice. My words boomed from the illusion’s mouth, shaking the leaves of the trees around me until birds and small wild animals fled in shrieking terror.
“Richard Prower!” I called out. “Come out and suffer the consequences of your insolence! I am Shade Renard, apprentice to Baba Yaga. I have come to show you what happens when you threaten what is mine!”
I felt like the villain on a Saturday morning cartoon, but I also knew that the older an Otherworlder was, the less over the top you were likely to sound to them.
Beside me, Iman added a drop of water to the amethyst bowl in the center of our stone circle, mixing it with the flakes of blood. She murmured the words of the spell, then stepped out of the ring of rune-painted rocks. She touched one of them with the tip of her finger, giving it a small zap of her power.
I held my breath, concentrating on maintaining my illusion. Iman stood next to me, her eyes wide, so still I almost couldn’t make her out in my peripheral vision. Without my third eye, I still couldn’t see energy. Still couldn’t see the other planes.
And so it came as a great shock when Prower’s voice came from the circle in front of me.
Well, not in the circle.
Beside it.
Outside it.
“Hello, Mother Renard.”
Chapter 27
I knew what I was seeing was an illusion. Without my third eye, I couldn’t see Prower for who he really was, his true astral form. The man I saw before me with the smooth white skin was only a projection. His starched white shirt and black dress pants no more than a picture he wanted me to see.
It made the fact that he wore so much gold around his neck a
ll the more gaudy.
“I hope you appreciate the illusion,” Prower said, gesturing at his body. “I know how frustrating it must be for you, your sight limited as it is by our unfortunate first meeting in the garden.” He tapped his forehead, and the grin spreading over his mouth suggested he was not, in fact, sorry.
“You know,” I said slowly, “at first I wondered how Stavros managed to fool you so completely. I mean, granted he used to make his living with blackmail and bald-faced lies, but still. You’re a sorcerer. You’ve lived to be centuries old, I thought you must have gleaned at least a little wisdom along the way.” I eyed the gold around his neck. “But now I see it. It’s pride. You really think you’re that great.”
The sorcerer-turned-god ignored the jab. He looked down at the circle beside him, the stones we’d so carefully etched with runes. Iman knelt in front of the circle, her eyes closed, her lips moving in prayer.
“Pathetic.” He shook his head. “Pray all you like. I discovered your little plan to summon me when I saw into my bride-to-be’s mind. I’ve taken precautions. Nothing you can do will get me into that little circle.”
Iman raised her voice, just loud enough that Prower could hear the words. I studied his face, not daring to breathe as I waited to see some flash of recognition. Of understanding. I had a strong suspicion that Prower did not speak Arabic. I would bet Peasblossom’s last honey packet that when he needed to speak or understand it, he used magic.
My suspicions were confirmed when he failed to react to Iman’s taunting, her suggestion that he was an… Well, her unflattering remarks.
Prower shook his head and returned his attention to me. “I’ll admit, I had hoped she’d be dead. Arianne was quite insistent I leave her alive, and it seemed a small price to pay for her to bring me here.” He gestured around him, another grin spreading over his lips. “Can you believe this? Arianne did this. She enchanted an island.” He paused. “But you are only a witch. It’s possible you don’t understand the significance of this?”
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