by Bianca D'Arc
“Which direction?” he barked, though she knew his harsh tone wasn’t directed at her.
“He’s coming in from the front. The ward is about to come down across the drive, and I sense him just waiting to drive down it. He’s got a motor running of some sort. Maybe a car. Or maybe a motorcycle. I can’t be sure.”
Josh paused a second, his ear tilted toward the front of the house. “Motorbike,” he told her. “Though there’s noise out on the road, too, so I can’t be certain that’s all he has, but there is one dirt bike type engine idling in the area next to your mailbox.”
“Nice.” She took a moment to compliment his superior hearing.
“I’m going to go out and scout. If he makes it down the drive, either stay in the house or go out the back. You’ll be stronger in the standing stones, right?”
Josh was really taking charge, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. He wasn’t asking her opinion, except on the small matter of the circle, but now was not the time to argue. The wards were about to go. She could feel it.
But he was right about the stones protecting her. “I’ll go for the stone circle,” she told him. “Nothing can touch me there. But you should come with me.”
“I’ll meet you there,” he promised, but she sensed he wouldn’t seek the safety of the stones until the danger was dealt with. He was planning to face the enemy alone, which didn’t sit right with her. Not at all.
She was about to argue with him when she felt the wards fall. Her knees almost went out from under her, but she clutched the back of a chair to steady herself. She caught Josh’s concerned gaze.
“What just happened? Was that the ward?” he asked. He must have felt something when the magical barrier dissipated, but he didn’t know enough about the subject yet to know for sure.
“The wards are down,” she confirmed.
“Then, we’re out of time. Go for the circle. I’ll be right behind you.”
Again, she wanted to argue with him, but the roar of an engine coming down to drive stopped her. He gave her one last long look, filled with meaning, and things they had not yet said out loud, and then, he was out the door. He was going to face danger in her stead. That just irked the crap out of her, but at the same time, it was kind of romantic too.
Still, she wasn’t about to let him fight her battles for her. If anything, they had probably attracted this danger together. Their lovemaking had set off sparks that had somehow captured the attention of exactly the wrong person, and he would have to be dealt with. By both of them. Together. Just as it had started.
Josh was already out the door, but she followed him. She was cautious, peering out before she committed herself to moving beyond the imagined safety of the doorway, but Josh was already out of sight. His natural shifter stealth made him impossible to see unless he wanted to be seen, she was sure.
The motorbike raced up the driveway, the tinny sound of its engine assaulting her ears. It skidded to a stop, throwing dirt and gravel in a destructive wave before it, and even before the bike came to a halt, the man on its back was lobbing a dangerous ball of malevolent energy toward her with one hand.
“What? You don’t even introduce yourself? You just break down my wards and start throwing your shit around like you own the place?” She screamed her insults at the man, even as she blocked his magical attack with a domed shield of pure energy that held his power at bay about ten feet from her.
“Forgive me,” he said, his obnoxious tone sarcastic in the extreme. “I’m Reginald Park of the Venifucus, and now, your power will be mine.” He threw his other hand up into the air and renewed his attack, but Deena was ready. Her shield bowed out, drawing a little closer to her body, but easily deflecting the man’s magical energy around her, dissipating it into the earth and sky.
“Fat chance, Reggie!” she called back, taunting him into another attack. Better to drain off some of his energy in these first moves of the fight while she studied both his technique and his level of ability.
She didn’t like the way he’d claimed to be part of the Venifucus. That ancient order of evil doers had been active in recent years, but she’d managed to stay under their radar for the most part. Still, she knew they were bad business.
Deena heard a growling sound off to her right a split second before Josh launched himself at Reggie. He took the evil bastard totally by surprise, which would have been great, if Reggie hadn’t had a friend.
A trampy-looking woman hit Deena from behind with a blast of smoky magic that made Deena skid down the path to the barn on her butt. Deena recovered quickly, coughing a few times to clear her lungs of the woman’s foul energy before she could change her shield’s direction to fend off the girlfriend’s attack.
The woman wore riding leathers in black with red piping. On anyone else, Deena might’ve admired the way they fit, but the clothing had two strikes against it. First, it was leather—which was something she didn’t like anywhere near her sanctuary farm—and second, it was worn by a woman who had clearly chosen the wrong side in the fight of good versus evil.
That didn’t change the fact that this strange woman had knocked Deena flat on her ass. She was still trying to regroup when an unexpected cavalry charge nearly made her cry. All of her animals—every last one—flew, clopped or otherwise ran out of the barn to get between the leather-clad female and Deena.
Her rescued animals were putting themselves in the line of fire for her. She had known they liked her, of course, but she hadn’t quite realized the depth of their caring and love.
Deena could do nothing other than extend her shield to encompass her animals, drawing on the power of the Goddess and the bonds Deena had forged with each and every one of the animal spirits that had lovingly rushed to her defense. And there was a new energy available to her too. A wild, wolfen energy. A fey-tinged sexual energy that she had come to know intimately the night before.
Josh.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The man who’d identified himself as Reginald Park hadn’t come alone, and Josh had sensed it almost too late. As it was, he saw Deena go flying at the hands of the female mage, but he thought Deena would be okay for a few moments while he neutralized what his wolf recognized as the more dangerous of the two—the male.
Josh couldn’t allow himself to be distracted, but he was momentarily stunned when he saw the animals race to Deena’s defense. Good souls, he thought, as he squared off against the man.
“You won’t succeed,” Josh taunted the man while using every bit of knowledge and instinct about magic he had.
“What? You think you and the girl can stand against me and Felicia? We have decades of training and scores of magical duels to our credit individually and as a pair.” He tilted his head to one side and smiled. “Though I will confess, I had planned to take the priestess on my own, but when I realized she had a new farmhand…” Reginald’s tone was insulting, but Josh let it wash over him. Anger wouldn’t help him control his magic. “I called in Felicia, just to even the numbers, though we still have the advantage of you magically, newbie.”
Even as the man spoke, he launched more magical fireballs at Josh, but his shielding was as good as he could make it. Now, he was glad of the time Deena had spent teaching him the finer points of a strong shield. He hadn’t really appreciated that lesson until just now.
“I may be new, but I’m stronger than you, Reggie. And I’m like nothing you’ve ever encountered before.” With those words, Josh let just a little of his wolf nature out, shifting to a quasi-battle form. He was gratified when the mage’s eyes widened.
Most strong werewolves spent a lot of time practicing what was known as the battle form. It was the stage in transformation between human and wolf that had inspired the nightmare visions and mythology surrounding werewolves. Though most of the legends were wrong in many respects, the image of an upright creature walking on two legs with massive claws, furry muscled arms and legs, and the dangerous snout of a wolf with sharp pointy teeth was p
retty accurate.
Josh, though, wasn’t just any normal werewolf. He could hold the shift at any point in his transformation. He’d perfected what he thought of as a quarter shift, where he still looked mostly human, but was slightly larger than his usual six-foot-two frame, maybe a little hairier, but with claws and fangs. He knew he looked like something out of a nightmare—even to most shifters—and the quarter shift had helped him win many a fight.
He took that quarter-form now and saw the familiar glint of fear in Reginald’s eyes. Good. Josh would take any advantage in what he knew would be a battle to the death.
This was no polite duel to first blood. No. Reggie and Felicia had come here intent on capturing Deena and stealing her power. They’d probably intended to just eliminate Josh, since it was pretty clear that Reggie have already discounted him…until just a few short moments ago.
“What the hell are you?” Reggie asked, his voice rising as he realized he had taken on more than he’d bargained for, and quite possibly more than he could chew.
“I’m your worst nightmare, Reg,” Josh growled, launching an attack both physical and magical.
He closed in on Reggie, and the evil mage had to give ground. Satisfaction pulsed through Josh. He didn’t like being prey—as he had been since the new magic showed up. For the first time in months, Josh felt like he should. Like the predator that shared his soul. A protector of his people. An aggressor, when needed. And a defender of innocence—which was a task he had appointed himself.
Hearing a growl as Josh launched himself at Reggie, Deena looked over to see that Josh was holding his own, but Deena dared not take any of Josh’s magical energy to fight Reggie’s girlfriend. She could feel him doing the same, leaving her magic untouched.
Another round of evil smoke came Deena’s way, distracting her from the problem of whether they should use each other’s magic or not. She had bigger fish to fry.
“Hey, Smokey,” she called. “Is that all you got?” Maybe insulting the bad guys wasn’t the greatest strategy, but it made Deena feel good to get a few verbal jibes in, no matter how childish.
“Deena Half-Fey, I’ve been looking for you all over the place. Don’t you recognize me? I’m Felicia, the one who will bring you before the Mater Priori and gift her with your power. I am your doom.” A cackling laugh joined another round of oily smoke, which seemed to be the way this witch delivered her power.
“Funny, you look more like a tramp than somebody’s doom. Of course, I can’t really see you clearly through all this nasty smoke.” Deena waved her hand and pushed the evil vapors aside, shooing them away, into the atmosphere where they could harm none. “Oh, that’s better,” Deena said, smiling brightly at the woman who faced her.
The animals were still in the line of fire, though they were as safe as she could make them behind Deena’s shield. Slowly, she became aware of each of them lending a little part of their earthly energy to hers. They weren’t magical in the same way shifters were, but every living thing on the planet had some sort of spark within them. The wild beasts were closer to their natures than most, and they were trying to help her.
Oddly enough, it was working. Their earthen magic blended with her unique mix of fey and human, making her stronger. Which gave her an idea…
Deena turned her attention back to Josh. He was still fighting Reggie, but the action had moved a little closer to her and the animals. Good. If her theory proved correct, they’d be much better off fighting side by side—or back to back.
First, to test the theory. With silent apology, Deena reached for a small tendril of Josh’s shifter-fey magic. It came more readily to her than she had expected, and she used it to bind her own magic into a tight ball of blazing white light that she lobbed at her foe.
The trampy girlfriend who thought she was doom winced and fell on her tush. Deena wanted to crow, but the battle wasn’t nearly over yet. Still, she had a plan, and she had proof of concept. Mixing their energies worked better than standing apart. Now, she had to figure out how to alert Josh to the phenomenon.
Josh wanted to cheer when he saw the witch fall. He’d been aware of Deena’s small power draw, and the unexpected multiplication of energy had a fantastic payoff. He had gone on the offensive with Reggie, but the man was strong. Very strong. And it wasn’t as easy to really hurt him as some of the other mages Josh had fought in the recent past. Josh did his best to work his way over to Deena, knowing that if they were going to merge their energies, it would be much better to present a united front.
But getting to her side was easier thought than accomplished. Reginald was doing his best to keep Josh busy, and even though Josh had been studying hard and had spent the last few months defending himself against this guy’s friends, Josh still wasn’t an expert at wielding magical energy. Not as a weapon. He could defend himself well enough, but his best attacks were still mostly physical, not magical. And even in his quarter-shifted form, he couldn’t get close enough to Reggie to do any real damage.
He was feeling the pain of the hits Reggie had managed to score. Josh was scorched in a few places, and his jeans were definitely singed. Dammit. He’d just gotten these jeans worn in the way he liked. Another reason to curse Reggie and the dirt bike he rode in on.
Pissed off and in pain, Josh fought his way over to Deena. He didn’t dare take any of her magical energy away until he was close enough to guard her back. He refused to leave her with less power. She had enough of a fight on her hands with that leather-clad bimbo, Felicia. Although, Josh had to admit, when he had a moment to glance over at Deena’s progress, she was more than holding her own, and now, she was even scoring points off the other woman, knocking her down and making her bleed.
What a woman. Deena was everything he could want in a mate…and more.
With that thought in mind and a smile of anticipation on his face, Josh doubled down. He had to get to her. And then, they could end all this bullshit and get to the good part.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, Josh got his wish. He approached from the side, keeping Reggie in front of him as Josh backed into Deena’s presence. He knew she was well aware of him, and when they touched—his back meeting hers—sparks of welcome greeted him.
“It’s about time,” she groused, but he could hear the laugh in her voice. “Are you ready to end this debacle?”
“Your wish is my command, sweetheart,” he replied, for the first time, actually having fun while fighting for his life.
Oh, this situation was serious, but how could Josh not smile when he was with the woman he loved?
And yeah, he’d thought the L-word. There it was. The truth that had become clear in the middle of the night as they lay together. He loved her. And he suspected she returned the sentiment, though she hadn’t yet said anything. That would come, he was fairly certain, given time. Now, he just had to make sure they had the time together—a bright future where they could share so much.
This fight had to end, and it had to end now.
“Shall we?” he asked her, touching the place deep in their souls where they’d connected the night before. The place that was forevermore joined, one to the other.
Seeking and finding that well of immeasurable strength, they both let loose, simultaneously, at their opponents. Josh followed Deena’s lead as she formed the magical energy into tight balls that flew with uncaring accuracy, taking Reggie and his gal pal down to the ground.
Knock out. Game over. Thanks for playing.
When the white sparks died down enough for them to see again, both Reggie and the woman were flat on their backs on the ground, either unconscious or dead. Josh didn’t much care which at the moment. Just that they were no longer fighting.
He sagged against Deena’s back as she sagged against him. They sort of wobbled down to the ground, each supporting the other so that they ended up sitting on the grass, back to back, weary to their bones. The fight had taken a lot out of them, but Josh felt the satisfaction of victory. Together, the
y’d defeated their opponents and lived to tell the tale.
“What now?” she asked when she finally found the strength to speak. “I don’t think they’re dead, so what do we do with them?” She gestured weakly toward the fallen enemy.
“I’m not a fan of outright murder, but we need to figure out something that will both prevent them from coming at us again, and from telling any of their friends where to find us,” he replied, thinking aloud.
“There is something my grandmother taught me…” Deena said in a quiet tone, as if mulling her thoughts over. “We’d probably have to get them to the stone circle, though.”
“Do you think your animal friends will consent to carry them there for you?” Josh gestured toward the animals, which had decided on their own, apparently, to form a protective ring around them. He’d never seen the like, except on this crazy, wonderful sanctuary farm.
Deena straightened up, seeming to regain some strength, and turned to look at him. “That’s a good idea.”
“I’d offer to carry them one at a time, but my muscles feel kind of weird right now, and I’m not too proud to admit it. I’ve never had such an intense magic duel before. The adversaries I’ve faced up to now weren’t nearly as powerful as these two.”
“They were Venifucus,” Deena said quietly as she worked her way slowly to her feet.
She seemed to be in better shape than he was, which made sense considering she was the one with all the magical experience. Still, it stung his pride a bit. The wolf prodded him to help her and protect her, but his two-legged side knew she was a capable woman who would be his equal, not his dependent. The wolf was just going to have to figure that out.
“I’ve heard the term, but I’m afraid I don’t know much about it,” he said, trying hard to stand up himself.
“They are an ancient order, dating back to first appearance of Elspeth, the Destroyer. They were her servants and her allies, devoted wholly to her evil. It was thought they had been defeated when she was banished to the farthest realms centuries ago, but in recent years, they’ve made a comeback. As, some fear, has she.” Deena spoke as she walked over to a tan horse.
