The Bear and His Water Goddess [The Shifters of Freedom Springs 4] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Maia Dylan

  “Fuck off, Ryan,” Micah called from the right. “I was the one that threatened to kill him first!”

  “Look,” Ariana added with a tone of reason. “Obviously any one of us deserves the opportunity. Well, except for Fiona.”

  Fiona harrumphed loudly and slammed her hands on her hips. “Hey! Why not me?”

  “Because, babe,” Travis chimed in, “you’ve already had the pleasure of making Aeron scream like a little girl and go running back home with an ouchy. It has to someone else’s turn!”

  “Silence!” Aeron shouted, and when Neve turned to look at him, she couldn’t help but grin. Gone was the cool, calm and collected façade and in its place was the raging demonic asshole they all hated. Aeron was practically salivating. “I have had enough of this inane talk. In order for me to fulfill my destiny and step into this realm to rule it as it should be, you all need to die. And that is definitely a task I shall embrace!” Aeron pointed at Neve. “Starting with you, bitch.”

  Neve tensed, knowing that he was about to launch an attack, and was expecting it to be his demons first. When the strike came at her psychically she threw a shield up against the pain. When he didn’t see the reaction he had obviously thought he would he frowned.

  Neve couldn’t hold back a grin in response. “What’s up, Aeron? You think you’re the only one that can adjust? I think you’ll find your sneak psychic attack won’t work against us now.”

  “Neve, the answer is a hand-fasting. Join the Elements of Spirit and Water through the ceremony of a hand-fasting?” Olwen’s voice was whisper quiet in Neve’s mind. It was also filled with pain.

  “Did you get that?” Liam spoke to her down the communal link she had with the other Elementals. Neve nodded as a response.

  “Liam, Neve, we will have to hold Aeron’s army off while you two get to the Pagan stone,” Ariana said down the link. “We will give you as much time as we can, but you are going to have to get through this thing as fast as you can.”

  “Again, you have impressed me with your forethought.” Aeron crossed his arms and looked at the group. Where Neve had always hated the fact he liked to posture a little, right now she hoped he’d wax lyrical to them for as long as it took to understand what they needed to do. “I must admit I never gave you enough credit to have the psychic ability to shield your minds from me.”

  “Ariana, what do we have to do?” Neve sent back. She had heard of hand-fasting before, and knew that it had something to do with marriage, but wasn’t sure how the ceremony worked. She refused to think about this as her wedding day right now, especially if it coincided with the end of the world!

  “Get to the Pagan Stone,” Ariana answered. “Olwen will talk you through it. Since Casey claimed the portal in her name, that is where she is strongest. Get ready to run.”

  Neve tensed as she waited. She was going to ask how she would know when the time to run was, but figured it would be obvious as Aeron’s army would begin to charge across the rift and in their direction. Hard to miss that.

  “You’ve underestimated us from the very beginning.” There was no missing the anger and censor in Ariana’s tone. “It’s not our naivety or vanity that is going to play a role here today. But the size of your ego, and your inability to see that we have an inner strength and determination that you will never understand, will be your downfall. We all want to have the opportunity to kick your ass. So stop with the fucking talk fest, and come get some!”

  There was silence for a moment, as Aeron’s face turned an interesting eggplant color, and Agnes’s face became more pinched than normal. Then, Aeron screamed a word in a language Neve had never heard before, and if all went well today, she would never hear again. As his voice echoed around them, his demons screamed their crazed demonic battle cries and began to move swiftly in their direction. It would appear Armageddon had begun.

  Chapter 9

  “Neve, run!” Liam yelled as he grabbed her hand and ran for the Pagan Stone. Behind him he heard the snarling cries of the wolves finally free of their human confines, heading in to battle Aeron’s Army.

  “Tama tu! Tama ora! Tama moe! Tama mate!” Kingi’s battle cry filled the air and echoed around them as he too leapt in to do battle. It took everything Liam had to run in the opposite direction of the battle, leaving his friends to fight. The only positive was the fact that his mate, his true Fated mate, was running with him and wouldn’t be in the path of danger.

  As they ran right up to the stone, Liam felt the inner wrenching feeling that accompanied the transition through a force field. As soon as they passed through it, Liam was hit with the strong smell of lilies and knew that Olwen was there to help them.

  “Come, quickly my warriors,” Olwen’s voice came to them again, and this strong and free of pain. “You must perform the ritual quickly. I am so sorry that it has to be so rushed and that Aeron robbed you both of the chance of mating in the true way of shifters, but a hand-fasting is just as permanent and binding. It is literally a ceremony that asks for the blessings of the Gods.”

  Liam didn’t really care. He wanted Neve bound to him in every which way possible. The sounds of battle escalating and shouts of warnings from their friends and families had them both looking behind them. Aeron’s army seemed to have grown in numbers. And more still were coming from the rift. Aeron and Agnes stood watching, bloodthirsty grins locked on their faces. A feminine scream drew their eyes to Fiona. She was still sending a constant stream of fire into the rift, and Ariana was using the wind to level it across those monsters coming from it, but one had slipped behind her, and now she bled from a wound to her side.

  Travis and Cole both leapt at the abomination, and soon had it disappearing in a cloud of dust. Neve knew from experience that the smell of sulfur would be sharp in the air.

  “What do we do?” Neve asked quickly.

  “Go to the stone, climb on top of it and kneel to face each other.” They moved quickly to do what Olwen directed. “Then grip each other’s hands. Left to left and right to right. You need to secure your left hands together. From above this is the double circle. It is the mark for infinity and it also symbolizes that the hand-fasting is a commitment. Call to all gods to witness your union. Call to the elements to bind you together and then seal your commitment.”

  Liam tore off his belt and strapped his left wrist to hers. Then he gripped her right hand with his and everything around them stopped. Liam turned to look back at the battle, and could everyone, and everything that had been battling there was frozen in place. Micah had just torn the head of one of Aeron’s demons who looked to be half buried in the earth. Casey stood to the side, her face a mask of concentration.

  Further to their right and Liam’s breath caught at the sight of one of the demons holding Maggie by the throat. Maggie was hanging limply in the things hands, and Liam feared the worst. Kingi was stuck in mid jump about to strike with that taiaha of his.

  Fiona stood still, flames still being laid across the rift. There was a lot of blood on her shirt and jeans and Liam had no idea how she was even still standing. Travis and Cole were right by her side still. Both snarling and they looked to be pressing in against her. Liam remembered when he had seen them do something similar during Fiona’s portion of the prophecy. Fiona had been near death at the time, and they few strength to her through their mating bond. If they had to do that now, then that could only mean that Fiona was hurt more than he’d realized.

  “Oh, god, Ryan,” Neve sobbed and he scanned quickly looking for his boss and friend. When he found him his heart stuttered. Ryan lay in human form, naked but covered in blood. There was a hole ripped open in his chest and Ariana sat behind him. She had her knees under his shoulders and his head clutched to her chest. Liam had seen enough of death to know what it looked like, and he saw that same look mirrored on his friend. Ariana’s entire face was a mask of pure grief, her mouth was open and it looked as if she were screaming her pain to the world. “Liam, what do we do?”

 
Liam pushed his grief and fear down inside him as far as he could, then turned to the woman that he loved more than anything in the world. “We make it so that their sacrifice was not in vain. We put everything we have into solving this fucking prophecy, send Aeron to a fiery hell, and we save the world.”

  Neve took a deep breath and nodded. God, she was so strong, his mate. So damn beautiful and so damn strong, she humbled him. Liam panicked for a moment as he struggled to think of how to complete the ceremony, but he needn’t have worried. As soon as he locked gazes with his Neve, the words came as if he had said them before. And perhaps he had. The love he had for Neve would last beyond this life time, who’s to say that this was the first life time they had been together? Liam highly doubted that it was.

  “Upon this day, our hands we bind,

  A symbol of our hearts entwined

  Gods witness this and we ask of thee

  Our union forever, blessed be.”

  Neve smiled at his words and Liam felt his heart fill to overflowing with love for this woman. She was everything he had ever wanted in a woman and never knew he was looking for.

  “I call to the Powers of Earth, Fire and Air

  I turn East, North and South, all feelings laid bare

  From Water I hail and water is me,

  Bind us in love, as is my will, make it be”

  Again Liam was struck with the words that came next in this ritual that was as old as time itself, and was already cementing a spiritual connection with his mate that he hadn’t expected.

  “I beg of thee goddess, please answer my prayer

  Water is mine, to love, cherish and care

  From Spirit I’m forged, and Spirit is me

  Unite us forever, as is my will, make it be.”

  For the final part of their vows, Neve’s voice joined his.

  “Our hands we bound, our hearts united

  Our lives entwined, our desires ignited

  We are one, for all to see

  As is our will, so mote it be!”

  Liam arched back with a roar as a connection snapped into place within him. He had lived the whole of his life incomplete, until this very moment. Neve was his other half and she tethered him to this world and made him whole. When he was able to focus on the world around him he noticed that those beyond the Pagan Stone were still frozen and still, but within the force-field that encompassed the stone itself, it was like a tornado had just touched down.

  He turned his head to look to the right, and saw a swirling mass of air, and he knew immediately it was the portal to the Otherworld that Casey had claimed in Olwen’s name almost nine months ago. Jesus, had they failed? If they hadn’t completed the ceremony right then this could very well be the moment the world ended. And the reign of chaos and carnage began.

  * * * *

  Neve stared into the swirling silver vortex, completely mesmerized by it. She had heard Casey and Fiona talking about it, but she didn’t think their descriptions did it justice. It was beautiful.

  “The ritual was completed. Aeron is now mortal in that realm, and can be killed. His way back into the Otherworld is now closed.” Olwen’s voice sounded elated.

  Neve looked at Liam and from the bloodthirsty look in his eyes as he turned to stare at the god still frozen at the edge of the battlefield, she took that to men he heard Olwen, too.

  “So we can kill him? How long will he remain frozen?” Neve asked. If they only had moments then they needed to get this done now. Liam began to unwind the belt that connected their left hands.

  Olwen’s silence made Neve nervous. “What? He’s frozen? Is he the only one, or are the other Elementals frozen also?”

  Liam and Neve both shared a concerned look. “Everyone.” Neve answered, dread starting to seep through her.

  “Wait! Don’t remove the bindings!” Olwen said urgently and Liam removed his hand from the belt. “As soon as you do that, the hand-fasting is completed and the force field will collapse. That will no doubt trigger the outside world to start again.”

  At any other time Neve might have thought it strange to have a conversation about the world having to restart, but after what she had seen in the past five months, she didn’t even bat an eyelid.

  “Aeron was not the only one that played a card at the beginning of this prophecy to ensure success,” Olwen continued. “If they are all frozen then there are must be some who have fought for me that have fallen. At least one of them must have slipped beyond your world.”

  Liam’s eyes went bleak, and he glanced sadly toward the battle. “Yes, Ryan has most certainly been killed. From the looks of things I believe Fiona is only holding on because her mates are feeding her their life force, and I’m not sure, but perhaps Maggie as well.”

  Neve bit her lip as her tears fell unchecked. She swallowed her cry of grief, knowing that now was not the time to mourn their loss. Right now, this moment called for vengeance.

  “Damn, okay, all is not lost.” Olwen spoke quickly and Neve and Liam shared a confused but hopeful glance. “Neve, I must ask you to risk yourself one last time, in order to save everyone.” Neve felt Liam tense in front of her, and his face turned to granite.

  Neve stared at Liam, trying to convey her need to do this. But she would not do it without his approval, so she stood silently waiting until he nodded his ascent. “What do you need me to do?”

  “I need you to step through the portal. You will come straight to me. I need you to use your power to get me out, and then take me back through the portal. I-I was going to stay, because—no, never mind. That is not important now.”

  “Wait! Goddess, can I come through for you? I’m sure in my bear form I can release you from whatever cage Aeron has you in.” There was no missing the desperation in Liam’s tone. Neve knew he asked out of concern for her. Now that they were bound together, Neve didn’t really want to let him go either.

  “I understand your reluctance, but no. It has to be Neve, because you have the strength we will need to pull us both out. You must remain bound together, at all times. Or at least keep in contact with whatever material you used to bind you together,” Olwen replied.

  “Liam, I can do this.” Neve knelt up, yelling to be heard over the sound of the wind and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Trust me, please.”

  “Baby girl,” Liam’s voice was tortured. “It has nothing to do with trust. And everything to do with keeping you safe.”

  Neve smiled then helped him to unwind the belt from their wrist, but both of them careful to keep a hold of an end. They climbed down from the stone and approached the vortex.

  Neve turned to the man who held her heart and grinned. “Don’t let go.”

  Liam winked then pressed the sweetest kiss a man had ever given a woman in the history of the world to her lips. Despite it not being as passionate or as desperate as some of the kisses they had shared, it was one she would remember forever. “Never. You are mine, Neve Hale, always have been and always will be. I will never let you go. In fact, I like the fact that we are tied together, and I think that’s something you should get used to.”

  Neve’s grin widened. “I never knew you had this bondage streak in you. I think we should definitely explore this.”

  Liam’s eyes widened. “Really? Well in that case, get your beautifully sweet ass into that vortex, bring our goddess home so she can do whatever she’s going to do to help our friends, and then we’ll put our binding belt to work in a completely different way.”

  Neve laughed, and then turned to face the vortex. Taking a deep breath she moved toward it, gripping the belt in her hand as hard as she could. On a scale of one to ten her fear was sitting around one hundred and three, but she was not going to let her newfound family down. She was going into the Otherworld, and bringing back the one person who could save them.

  She stepped into the vortex. She wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting to happen. Because of the wind buffeting them within the force field, she thought perhaps she would be
blown around within it. But it was calm. She simply passed through it, felt the wrenching within her much like she felt every time they walked through the rift Aeron created around the Pagan Stone, and then stepped into the Otherworld.

  Neve took a breath and had to forcibly stop herself from retching. The stench of sulfur was so thick in the air it was almost hard to breathe. The room she stepped into had no windows, and it was extremely dark. She waited until her eyes adjusted slightly and she was able to make out the walls of the cavernous space, and the thick bars of a cell wall just in front of her. Once her eyes adjusted she realized there was in fact a window, but it must have been night time in this realm.

  “Olwen,” she whispered, afraid of who would answer.

  “I am here,” her voice came from her left and Neve turned in that direction, she took two steps closer, and peered into the darkness. She could barely make out the shape of a woman leaning against the far wall. “What do I need to do?”

  “In this place, your powers are stronger and the elements in the Otherworld are more malleable. I need you to call the lightening. Aim it into the lock.” Neve didn’t like the sound of Olwen’s voice. It was strained and sounded weak. Pulling on the belt as much as she dared, she reached with her right hand and began to draw the patterns to call the lightening to her.

  When Neve would do this in the Earth realm, she would feel a tingle of raw power brush over her skin. Here, it was a throb, a physical surge that radiated through her like an electrical current. The lightening came faster than she had ever been able to call it before. Breathing through the rush that came with it, Neve concentrated and threw the lightening into the lock of the cage door. She watched as the lock and then the door seemed to absorb it into the door itself.

  Growling, she pulled as much power as she could, waiting until she almost lost control of the surge, and then fired it again into the lock on the door. This time she kept the stream steady and strong. The entire wall started to glow. Just as the power of what she had managed to pull to her was about to wane, the entire wall shattered. Neve was thrown backward, and her shoulder was nearly wrenched from its socket as she held tight to the belt. When she managed to scramble back to her feet, and face the wreckage of the wall, she saw Olwen stumbling out of the cell that had held her prisoner.