“If they attempt it, fire your magick at will, my mate.”
With a solemn nod, she slipped her hands down his chest. After circling her palms like a fae seductress, she kneaded him through his shirt.
Her caresses made Zol wild to devour her with licks, nibbles and kisses. Instead, he molded his palm on the nape of her neck, and stroked for several moments. Threading his fingers through her hair, he lifted the airy, but heavy weight from her back.
“Danger, high voltage tresses,” he growled the tease.
“Danger…high voltage witch.”
She scowled, a goddess on the warpath. An instant later, her expression changed to charmingly mischievous. With a naughty but captivating smile, she sparkly tingled his chest.
Carnal shocks of pleasure seized his torso, flashed like a tempest through his loins, then spiraled along the length of his saluting cock. Zol silently groaned his thanks to the gods.
“I’ve always wanted to try that,” she whispered. “I’m glad I found the right man—”
Zol swooped downward, possessing her lips hard in a ruthlessly passionate kiss. With his hand splayed on the back of her head, he ravished her mouth.
Her lips tangoed with his, and the fierce sweetness increased his aching need for her. Not carnally, but as his woman. His one witch.
His need raged, became explosive, and Zol knew what it was to adore a woman to the depths of being. To want her so fiercely it transcended everything he’d known, all he’d experienced.
Their tongues twisted around each other in a sultry dance, but only briefly. They eased their mouths apart, both of them knowing they needed to end their kiss.
Zol stroked his Kandy’s waist. “You are my enchantment,” he whispered. Drawing her hips closer, he rocked her to the upbeat, poignant melody.
“Ooooh, hellhound unleashed.” Sensually, she undulated against the tower his cock had become.
“Almost, love.” He growled low for her ears only. “There’s a zipper between us.”
“A twitch of my nose, and…voila,” she murmured.
Zol smiled, hearing the giggle in her voice. “Before you make a spectacle out of me, and before I make a complete spectacle out of myself, let’s dance, darling.”
Their gazes lingered, and Zol yielded to his inner Cary Grant. As they swayed, he crooned along with the Cole Porter song.
“I've got you under my skin. I've got you deep in the heart of me. So deep in my heart, that you're really a part of me. I've got you under my skin.”
Her hands slid around his neck, soft and dainty as a sylph’s touch. “And under your hellhound hide,” she whispered.
Several minutes later, as he and Kandy glided cheek to cheek, Zin telepathed, The anomaly in the timeline is expanding.
Chapter Fifty-Three:
The Fangs of Fate
Having found the Mitchells to be charming conversationalists, Zin bowed over Susan’s hand and pressed a light kiss. Even their knowledge on paranormal topics had been beyond the usual. He’d promised to remain in touch.
With the party atmosphere taking over once again, Zin urbanely strolled toward his table. Major Odarran had been relocated across the room, near a large hallway—his handlers making certain they had a backdoor exit.
Immobile, staring, the wolfman sat between Linda and Major Stiles. They gave the appearance of chatting amiably with another couple. Given the DOD’s remote psi-team remained on guard against any intrusion, Zin decided against employing his paranormal talents. For the moment.
Instead, he surreptitiously observed the DOD team. They kept their covert eyes on him in the old-fashioned way. Likely they’d been instructed as to the uselessness of their tech devices.
Zin’s amusement at their efforts would have been greater if his Kandy Apple’s welfare wasn’t his utmost concern. That, and his duty to contact the Underworld.
Retrieving his staff from the table, he spun it several times like a baton simply to enjoy the flash of the obsidian globe. After aiming it briefly at the nearest DOD agent, Zin snapped his heels together.
Jauntily, he strode toward the bar. Given most of the guests were dancing or sitting at their tables, Zin psi-downloaded what he’d learned about Major Odarran and his DOD keepers to Hades’ hellhound assistants.
After collecting fresh drinks, he took moments to scan the entire room with both his gaze and his psi-senses. In seconds, the anomalous pinpoint of light he’d seen earlier, while viewing the timeline, appeared before his mind’s eye.
Moving with the tray at a sedate pace, Zin honed in on the timeline. Alarmed because he didn’t understand the light’s presence, he halted, telepathing Zol.
We will meet you at the table, Zol answered.
Continuing forward, Zin watched Zol swing Kandy from the dance floor. Her lithe, fire-fairy beauty lassoed him as surely as if Aphrodite leashed him with her golden rope.
Arm in arm, she and Zol wove their way toward the table. Reminding himself to focus, Zol set the drinks down and placed his staff on the chair.
He scented the air, mentally noting the positions of the DOD agents. To view Odarran, he swept his gaze in a casual manner.
The wolfman had awkwardly twisted in his chair. He stared at something in the dimly lit hallway.
Following his line of sight, Zin froze. A glimmering orb hovered. His inner hellhound leaped, ferocious to protect Kandy, even as he directed his psi-awareness toward the growing circle of light.
Once he surrounded the orb with his energy force, Zin realized it was a powerful form of magick that originated from off world. More staggering to him, it was ninth dimensional in nature.
Before the light enlarged, filling the hallway, he watched the soft brightness transmute, then lengthen, and he knew.
Bridge, Zin telepathed only to Zol.
The fangs of fate. Zol mind-spoke as he moved beside Zin.
He eased Kandy between them so they could keep her shielded.
Knowing it was necessary, he and Zol created a barrier that temporarily halted their Triad connection with their precious witch.
“It’s the bridge,” she whispered, her tone wondrous.
As the white pearlescent light continued to unfurl and form, none of them spoke. In the background, Fred Astaire crooned, “The way you wear your hat. The way you sip your tea. The memory of all that. No they can’t take that away from me.”
The brutal irony of the song caused Zin to shudder inside. No, not irony, he corrected himself, but the string-plucking hands of the Fates. The Moirae sent him and Zol a crucial message.
Soon, their one witch would be forced to choose. Zin didn’t know precisely how or why. Still, he felt the certainty to the marrow of his volcanically formed bones.
We must remain strong, brother. Or our Kandy Apple will be taken from us. We must not weaken and tell her, or our lives are likely forfeit by Hades’ decree.
Zol’s distress quaked through Zin despite his rallying words.
Yesss, the Moirae hissed, spinning their voices around Zin and Zol. Your one witch must choose you of her own free will.
“Remember the bridge,” his Kandy softly sang. “The message in my dream that wasn’t a dream.”
Oblivious to his and Zol’s trepidation, she linked her arm with his. Zin felt her fast excited breaths as she glanced around them.
“I think we’re the only ones seeing this happen.”
“Odarran noticed the light orb. He may be seeing it, as well, love.” Zin winced inside at the term of endearment.
Even though, he could not fall in love, his abiding adoration and devotion for his Kandy Apple seized him with savage jaws. It also blazed his heart.
“Oh, I can’t tell if he is, now.” Swivelling her gaze, she looked from top to bottom. “We’ve been bubbled. It’s like looking through layers of gauze.”
She paused, considering. “We’re in separate realities…I think. I can’t use my witchy senses, either. “
“I believe this bubble shield
allows for overlapping dimensions,” Zol gently growled, his ache hidden beneath his rumbled timbre.
“Oh, I know it. It’s a bridge to Enduoir. This is beyond wow-trippy.” She surged forward a few steps, but didn’t relinquish their arms.
Once again, the three of them stood motionless, held in thrall by the bridge’s apparent completion. Colossal in size, it arched upward, a gleaming river of snowy light.
Surrounded by a black void, the bridge narrowed to a point. The end appeared to hang in mid-space.
“I hope the bridge is for real…not some horrible magickal trickery.”
The soul-deep longing in Kandy’s voice jolted like a Zeusian thunderbolt through Zin. She needed to be with her mother and her father, to know them.
“I sense no trickery, darling.” Mentally easing his rigid muscles, Zin stroked Kandy’s arm.
“I don’t have a clear sense about what to do…exactly,” she murmured.
“You’ll know soon,” Zol assured.
“Oh, look! A golden star.” Kandy shimmied and nearly hopped up and down.
With his gaze on the brilliant orb, Zin felt the brush of Vresc’s body against his leg. Companionably, the guaruvyr sat next to him. After butting Zin’s hand, he offered the pen-like weapon he’d snatched. Since the device wasn’t activated, Zin pocketed it.
“Your guardian has joined us, darling.”
“Vresc kitty. Oh, forgive me. I haven’t even thanked you. What a brave fierce guardian you are.”
“Meowsssh, I am your guaruvyr. It pleases me to protect you.”
As they watched, the orb expanded in a sudden blast of light. Now a cauldron of boiling gold, it gradually morphed.
Glowing above one side of the bridge, the magickal orb resembled a full moon. Orange gold in color, the appearance seemed to be in honor of Halloween.
“An autumn moon lights the way.” His Kandy’s voice was like gossamer.
She tugged on their arms, moving them to the start of the bridge. Halting, she obviously consulted her inner wisdom.
Zin dreaded the moment he and Zol would have to tell her they couldn’t stay by her side. Unless Hades altered their physiology, they couldn’t leave Earth.
An ephemeral carpet of gold rolled down the bridge, and she gasped in awe. “Groovy, just like a supernatural movie.”
“Supernatural, indeed,” he and Zol uttered.
Kandy placed her foot on the golden surface as if she tested the water. “Solid…oooh, this is too magickally amazing.”
She whipped around to each one of them in turn. “Try it,” she encouraged, her tone sheer elation.
“Kandy,” they spoke together. “We are unable to depart Earth.”
Zin disengaged his arm from her, and took a few steps back, as did Zol. Her stricken look stabbed him in the heart.
“I don’t understand. What about when you opened a portal to Enduoir? What about all the time-dimension stuff you do?”
He and Zol locked gazes, communing on the precise words to use.
“While we have the power to open portals,” Zin answered, “earthly dimensions and energies are the only realms we are able to inhabit. Hellhounds are created to serve only on planet Earth, and in her various vibrational fields.”
“You can’t go to Enduoir with me.”
Zin knew she’d spoken the words to hear herself say them, to let the reality sink inside.
Still, he and Zol answered as one, “No, darling.”
She stepped toward them, and reaching for their hands, she held them lovingly. “There has to be way.”
“In the future, perhaps.” Zol lifted her wrist, and pressed a devoted kiss.
Zin followed suit, then tenderly nuzzled the delicate skin of her inner wrist, before releasing her hand.
Kandy spun around. “Did you hear that?” Utterly still, she listened.
“My daughter.” The woman’s exquisite voice, so similar to their Kandy’s, flowed around him and Zol, a beautiful enchantment.
“My beloved daughter, I may now speak your name. The name your father and I gave you at your birth. Kalushia, my Kalushia, the bridge to me is complete.”
Chapter Fifty-Four:
You Must Choose, My Beloved
Her name. Her birth name. Kalushia, the name melodically embraced Kandace.
She whizzed inside with euphoria and trepidation, and in that moment, her emotions threatened to drown her.
A freaking flood of biblical proportions, she thought.
Kandace couldn’t move, even as she yearned to race like the wind up the golden-bathed bridge. Goddess, it felt like the stairway to heaven.
Before she knew it, she’d hiked her gown. Kandace ran as she had when she’d been a carefree child, her feet flying over the mystic shining surface.
Mother!
I await you, my beloved daughter. Your father is here.
Father! Kandace mind-shouted. A silent wail poured from her heart.
I am here. My arms wait to hold you.
Kandace raced faster. The closer she came to the shimmering figures, standing at the top of the bridge, the more she floated, each footfall a soaring softness.
Around her, a sheen of wavering prismatic colors formed. With her body becoming less dense, she quickened her speed and felt as if she flew.
You are adjusting to Enduoir, Pharrilya, her mother, explained.
Seeing her mother and father somewhat more clearly, Kandace slowed. For several moments, the wonder of the structures behind them filled her gaze.
Fantasy-stunning alabaster domes and spires were tinted by various colors. Taller domes atop graceful pillars spiraled toward a pale sky, washed by wisteria and sapphire. I’m in a watercolor painting.
A huge breath rushed from Kandace. Once she halted, harmony reigned, so it felt. She flung herself into her mother’s open arms.
Clinging to each other, they hugged with no thought of letting go. Relief and euphoria whirled inside Kandace. “Mother. Oh, mother.”
“Kalushia, my soul sings once again.” Her mother stroked Kandace’s head several times, then caressed the length of her hair.
“Home. I feel like I’m home.”
“This will always be your home, my daughter.”
Gently releasing her mother, Kandace turned to gaze upon the man who was her birth father. His eyes were glints of diamond and slate, and sorcery itself.
As he held out his hand to her, Kandace saw both kindness and power in his gaze. Although, the magickal vibes emanating from him nearly rocked her back on her heels, and she hesitated.
The structure of his face also unnerved her because he resembled her stepfather. Any other similarity ended with his taller physique, and his shoulder-length, silver and platinum colored hair.
The elaborate robe he wore, similar to her mother’s, only enhanced his mage-impressive appearance. As Kandace continued to stare, she thought he looked like a warrior magician.
“Yes, Kalushia, I share an ancestor with your Earth father. Before the time of Merlin, in the land now called Spain, your great-great grandmother lived in the city of rings. It was constructed as a refuge before the deluge occurred.”
“Father.” Kandace placed her palm on top of his, and as he clasped her hand she trembled with happiness inside. “You and my dad are related?”
“Yes, Phydre bore three sons, one of them on Earth. He is your Earth father’s ancestor.”
Kandace absorbed his words, utterly intrigued. “Father, what’s your name?”
His smile encompassed her being. “To your ears, my daughter, I am Theophis.”
Overcome at finally being with him, Kandace threw herself into her father’s arms. He embraced her close, and tears slipped down her cheeks.
Like a tidal force, his love poured inside her. Kandace quivered, unprepared for the strength of his feeling for her.
Her tears slid faster, even as a new happiness overwhelmed her heart. When her mother wrapped her arms around Kandace, the feeling of emptiness tha
t had plagued her throughout her life disappeared.
The sheer joy of being with her birth mother and father caused Kandace to weep harder. Yet, as if on cue, her tears ceased.
Time ceased, and the odd sensation of living another lifetime surged like an entire ocean through her. Kandace mentally grabbed the dreamlike epic, then raised her head, her gaze questioning.
Smiling warmly, Pharrilya brushed her hair from her cheek. “It is a shadow of what would have been, if we had been together as a family.”
Her father tipped up her chin, his gaze piercing, yet so tender Kandace could have wept again. “It will live inside you, inside all of us, an ever-present gift. As you desire, you will be able to visit this shadow dream. My daughter. My beloved daughter.”
He lovingly stroked his fingertip from her chin, and Kandace felt her mother lift her hand, pressing it between hers. “Time resumes, my Kalushia. You must make a choice.”
“Choice?” Kandace took a step toward the entrancing splendor of Enduoir.
“Stop.”
Her mother’s warning coiled in the pit of her stomach, and Kandace halted. “What is it?”
“The battle between good and evil escalates on Earth, and has become a danger to us. Enduoir has been shielded by our combined powers.”
“Shielded?” Kandace felt her hopes drop all too fast.
Her mother hesitated, feathering her fingertips on Kandace’s cheek. “We constructed this bridge because it was the only way to bring you to us, daughter. If you cross into Enduoir now, you cannot return to Earth.”
Struck by emotions that felt like daggers, Kandace murmured, “Cannot return to Earth.” Zol, Zin, my hellhounds. Oh, Goddess, they cannot come to Enduoir.
“What about the other Enduoir witches?” She thought to ask an instant later.
“Even now they are being given the choice to stay, or return.” Her father placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “The new quantum technologies of Earth are being used by those with warped minds and lost souls. Like the Nordic berserkers of old, they would rape, pillage, and plunder Enduoir.”
Kandace shuddered. It felt like an icy hand reached inside her and ruthlessly shook. With the tsunami of evil she’d already battled and witnessed, she owned not one doubt Enduoir would be seen as a world to exploit and to destroy.
Kougar, Savanna - Kandy Apple and Her Hellhounds (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 30
