This was not the first lost litter he had tracked. Nor would they be the last.
It was a favor to his brother Eiophon of the Lupoiux that had him remaining in the Gaian world. If he had his choice he would be resting somewhere in the world of Levia, where his brother’s Kind, the Lupoiux wolves, had relocated. Relaxing at his home, watching over his Levian world.
He had few who followed him, rogue shifters who were so solitary that they often never produced offspring. He liked it like that. Acylias would far rather be with his Lupoi blooded Solestru than with his younger brother’s Lupoiux. His brother’s Kind was so…needy at times. He didn’t want that for himself. He far preferred his Solestru warriors and waiting for the next foray into wars that were coming.
Having worshipers following you meant more responsibility. More pain.
And that was not something an ancient such as he would ever welcome.
His brother had made a fucked up mess of his own people thousands of years ago. Eiophon had engaged in a two hundred year war of curses with the Dardaptoan girl goddess Kennera. During that time they’d both made mistakes that had cursed their peoples in a myriad of ways.
The two fools had almost eradicated the girl goddess’s people completely. Less than two hundred and fifty thousand had remained when Eiophon and Kennera had been freed from the prison that had held them.
Now Eiophon and Kennera were scrambling to rebuild her Kind—and control his. Unfortunately for his brother, while Eiophon was imprisoned, his Lupoiux wolves—Eiophon preferred the wolf over any other animal—had become little better than common criminals.
Eiophon had been forced to judge his own Kind; and harshly.
Now Kennera and Eiophon were trying to combine their peoples, to protect both Kinds.
If the two had just stopped for a moment and realized they were meant to be together as mates, rather than cursing each other, their peoples might have had a brighter future.
As it was, Acylias did not figure either Kind to outlast the wars that were coming.
Still, he had cared for many of his brother’s peoples in his time. Searching the corners of Gaia for missing children of both Dardaptoan and Lupoiux Kinds was nothing he had not done before. This forsaken place called Arizona was just another corner to search.
He would track these girls and find their parents. Anyone else who was hiding in this barren land. And he would take them to Levia, where they would be counted. And protected from the wars.
It was his duty as a Lupoi. If Eiophon’s people died out, more Lupoi blood would be needed to replace the lost.
And that meant finding every drop of Lupoiux blood in every world.
The girls made it to the edge of the city, then they broke into a run.
Acylias dove down closer. The city gave way to desert roads. The girls could push themselves as fast as they could run.
But it didn’t matter. They would not escape him.
They left the road about three miles outside of the city, running through the sand and brush so fast it was very clear they weren’t human.
He circled them for a moment, searching for where they were headed.
They had to have a den or domicile somewhere. They wouldn’t be running through the desert without reason. And pups of that age had caretakers of some sort.
Caretakers who should have gotten the relocation orders over a year ago. Had they deliberately defied his brother’s orders?
Acylias spotted the girls’ target when they were about three miles short of it.
He flew ahead, wanting a closer look. The girls didn’t seem as frightened as they had earlier. They knew they were almost safe. To them, he was most likely just a curious bird circling overhead.
Acylias slowed down his flight; there was no hurry. He knew where the girls were going, and he would take his time evaluating the location.
He turned west, dipped his wing slightly to catch the undercurrent of wind. He would collect the Lupoiux and relocate them to Levia.
Then perhaps he would head to his mountain retreat while he waited out the celebrations of the winter reveries.
Some of those relocated to Levia had human origins. The Druids and Witches especially were a mingling of old human ways and other Kinds. They still celebrated the Winter Solstice or the human holiday of Christmas. Loudly and intrusively.
He had never understood the need for such silly celebrations.
There was movement near the back of the property. There were four outbuildings that he could see, plus the main house. All were made out of brick or adobe. Low to the ground. The place had a run-down, shabby feel to it.
There were others inside. He could sense them.
He dove lower. The property was fenced of sorts; old shipping pallets nailed two-high all around the property.
What were they trying to keep out? Wildlife…or human elements?
Interesting.
Lower still.
TWO
The bird’s shadow on the sparse ground caught Teagan’s attention first. She’d always found large birds of prey fascinating. Beautiful and compelling. She paused her work near the back greenhouse long enough to watch his path.
He was beautiful, his wingspan huge. She could not tell if it was an eagle or something else circling overhead. She didn’t think he was a buzzard or a vulture though she’d seen quite a few of those looking for food lately. So many animals seemed to be starving lately.
Half the time she knew what they felt. It seemed like she was always hungry anymore. That was the main reason she was trying to turn a back shed into a greenhouse that wouldn’t be too hot for the Arizona sun. They’d have to find a way to pump water to the shed, but she thought she had something figured out. Water was so sparse, though. In the last few months drought had set in worse than she’d ever seen. She didn’t understand it, but it didn’t feel natural to her. At all.
They’d have to gray water the greenhouse, somehow. If she could figure out a way to filter it.
The bird’s shadow passed directly over where she worked. Teagan grabbed an old pair of binoculars from the shed. Just to take a look. While he was beautiful, something about him made her uneasy. And her kids were all inside.
She peered through the glass. It wasn’t an eagle. At least not one she had ever seen before. And he was far larger than she had expected. The bird had talons the size of her arm and she could see the powerful muscles that kept him in the air.
But it was his eyes that had terror filling her.
Those were not the eyes of a bird. At all.
She ran for the house and into the back kitchen. Four of her children were at the table, their schoolwork spread out in front of them.
Wyatt, the youngest at five and extremely empathetic, looked up at her. “Mama? What’s wrong?”
She looked at the oldest. Mason was almost seventeen, large and strong. Able to defend, even though he was more a plant lover like Teagan. “Mason, take everyone into the basement. Stay there until I return. If I don’t…you know what to do.” Take them and run. Until they were grown enough to protect themselves.
“Be careful. Do you need me to go with you?”
“No. The children need you more. And I’m not sure what kind of threat it is. Go to the basement, have the kids work on their Christmas ornaments. After dinner, we’ll bring down that old tree. Ok?” Many of the children had never had a traditional Christmas until they had found her. Or she had found them—however it had happened. She had always tried to make life as normal for them as possible—and what kid didn’t love Christmas and presents? Especially those kids that didn’t get presents as often as they did?
She had nine children inside, ranging from the age of two to Mason’s sixteen. They were all hers, though she hadn’t birthed any of them. She loved them and there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for them.
Including kill whatever demon circled overhead if he threatened their safety.
They weren’t supposed to be on this abandoned far
m. She’d found it two years earlier after the fourth of her children had shown up on the doorstep of the travel trailer she and the others had been living in. Darrius had been barely eleven and half starved.
And his powers or gifts had been about to consume him.
He’d never truly explained how he had found her and the others, but the moment she’d touched the little boy she’d known he belonged to her family.
And they needed to run and quickly.
She’d hitched the travel trailer to the old van that was barely big enough for her, the four kids, and the dog they’d found along the highway a few months earlier.
And they’d driven out of Las Vegas as fast as they could. And when they were safe she’d held that little boy in her arms day and night for four days until he could breathe without hurting from the powers within him.
Her ability to resist the wildly erratic magics of the children had kept him safe, kept him from being consumed by his very soul.
And he had become her child, just like the others.
Fayden, who’d been only eight at the time, had the gift of foresight. He’d led them to this place. Where they’d been happy and safe, for the most part.
Five more children had found their way to Teagan. More mouths to feed, but they’d somehow managed. And any threat that had come their way she had dealt with, using her own particular gifts. This wasn’t the first demonic entity that had threatened her family.
She doubted it would be the last.
Teagan had a closet that was loaded with everything she’d need to protect the children. She grabbed the longbow and a dozen arrows.
A gun wouldn’t do a bit of a good against a demon, though she had a few of those stocked away for non-paranormal attacks.
She grabbed one, just in case.
Teagan ran back outside. The raptor was still there. Circling closer and closer. She took aim.
An arrow flew through the air.
Better to kill him before he got too close to her family.
THREE
Acylias hadn’t expected something as simple as a wooden arrow to bring him catapulting him to the ground. Surprise, more than anything, was responsible for his heedless crash toward the earth.
It was only at the last moment that Acylias was able to pull himself out of the dive. There was still an arrow going through his shoulder.
In air, he wouldn’t be able to grasp it and pull it free.
He had no choice but to land.
It wouldn’t kill him—almost nothing would—but the arrow was damned painful.
When he found the archer—who he had to admit was either seriously lucky or very skilled—there would be Hells for them to pay. He would torture the bastard slowly.
Just for fun. He wasn’t the patron god of retribution for nothing. There would always be justice.
And he would be the one to bring it.
He landed on his feet and shifted into his bipedal form. He took on the shape as a Gaian human though he was taller, broader and stronger than any human could ever hope to be.
He was also buck-ass naked.
Acylias attributed the fall and the pain from the arrow for that little gaffe. With a single thought, he clothed himself in dark trousers and dark tunic.
The archer was around nearby. He could smell her.
That was the biggest surprise of all. He never would have expected a female to be as skilled as this one was. Unless she had gotten lucky?
“Show yourself, girl.”
“Fuck off, demon.”
Her attitude had him smirking. She would pay for her temerity later. People always did. “I am not a demon.”
“Sure you’re not.” She shot at him. Acylias stopped for a moment. When was the last time someone had tried to attack him with so ineffective a weapon as a gun?
“Come forth, girl. I won’t kill you today. But let me see the woman who attacked me. I’ll let all in your house live if you do.” Empty threat, of course, but she had shot him. Acylias, eldest heir of the very sun that heated this world. Heated every world.
Brought low by what smelled like a Druid or Nellana Witch. “Come on. I can compel you. It would take so little thought.”
It amused him. She refused to come around the tiny shed. Her answer was a round of bullets that just amused him more.
Acylias held up a hand and had the gun—which he could not see—melting in her hands.
The girl cried out. “Need we continue? Come, little Witchling, show yourself to me.”
FOUR
The flesh of her palm was seared and hurting. Teagan fought the urge to flee. This was the most powerful creature she had ever seen, wasn’t it? And he was very, very angry with her right at that moment.
She looked over her shoulder toward the house. Where her children waited for her to get out their Christmas tree and tinsel and those ridiculously annoying Christmas lights that never seemed to work right. Mason, so strong but so fearful. Sara and Sayla, werewolves she’d loved since they were only ten. Harper and Darrius, just now entering their teenaged years and starting to question who they were. Fayden, Harper, and Jacob, so young she was the only mother they had ever known.
No. There would be no running for her.
The shed fractured and disappeared like a tornado had ripped through it.
Shards of wood embedded in the greenhouse fifty feet away. She screamed, the sound escaping before she could stop it.
Teagan fell to the ground and covered her head.
He stood over her, and she got her first real look at what the bird had shifted into.
She wasn’t unfamiliar with shifters, by any means. Claire and Deena, two of her children, were wolves when they shifted. But she had never heard of a raptor. And his human form didn’t look real. It was far too perfect, too beautiful.
Where was her bow? She searched around for it. Or at least an arrow or two. Not that it would make any difference—he’d melted her gun like it was a Hershey’s Kiss. Teagan scrambled over the ground, searching for anything to use as a weapon. The knife she normally carried was inside, too far away to do her any good.
He stepped closer. Cold shot at her.
Teagan looked back toward the house where her children hid.
If—when—he killed her, what would happen to her children? No. No she would not just give up. Not with them inside and defenseless.
— — —
Acylias took a moment to study the Witch. She was terrified and young. She was definitely of the ancient line Nellana, in touch with the simple yet powerful magics of the earliest Witches.
This one didn’t look like the others. Nor was she full-blooded. He smelled some human in her blood. No Lupoi blood at all. He could walk away from her, if he wanted, couldn’t he?
But he didn’t want that.
Her eyes were shaped like a Witch female’s though they were of the purest green in color. Most Nellana had eyes of varying shades of blue like their makers. Her hair was dark brown with only hints of red, of the sun. She had it clipped at the back of her neck.
She was quite beautiful though the clothes she wore were extremely shabby and old.
“Your name, female.”
“Fuck you.”
“Maybe later we shall.” He wasn’t a celibate, by any means. Gods were notoriously sexual at times. But he had never stooped to fucking with a half-human, half-Witch girl. No matter how beautiful she was. She was a Witch, but a young one. Perhaps under thirty in Gaian years. Witchlings were so rare these days. “Stand.”
A Witchling, how intriguing.
He easily sensed that she wanted to deny him. Strong-willed, this one.
Acylias would not let her.
FIVE
Teagan didn’t think he was a demon, but he definitely wasn’t a human. His skin color was deep gold, his hair was dark blond with sun-tipped ends. He almost seemed to glow. To burn when she looked directly at him. She felt pulled to him after only one real look at him. A power of his? Strange, when she
had been able to resist powerful creatures for most of her life.
His eyes were as blue as the sky behind him, but they were cold and empty. He looked at her like she was snot on the pavement he’d almost stepped in. “Who are you?”
“I’m a damned god, who are you? Witchling, of that I have no doubt. Who are your people, and why are you not with them?” His hands rested on his hips, as he stared down at her.
“The only people I have left me a long time ago.” She would never mention the children; she’d die before she led him to her babies.
“Typical Witch.” He stepped closer on bare feet; Teagan fought every instinct inside her that told her to run. To hide from this whatever he was. But she knew instinctively he would not let her escape. Unless he wanted her to. “The children inside? They are not of your Kind.”
“What children?”
Something she couldn’t see seized her throat as soon as the words left her mouth. Teagan wrapped her hands around her neck as she struggled to breathe. She was already on the ground. His foot landed on her chest and he held her there. She could not breathe.
She stared a long way up, at the thing above her. When was he going to do it? Would it hurt when he killed her? Would he simply burn her into nothing?
What would happen to the kids inside? Her kids. Her very heart. With her very last breath, she would defend them.
She dropped her hands from around her neck and clawed at the hot, dry dirt around her.
Teagan wouldn’t give up yet. She grabbed handfuls of dirt and tossed it as hard as she could, right at his face.
— — —
Her stubbornness surprised him enough to have him reacting a bit slower than usual. Not that it mattered; Gaian dirt would never stop a god. He reached down and grabbed the female by her shirt. Acylias lifted her right off the ground.
The Witchling didn’t weigh much; beneath the baggy faded shirt she was rather thin. Too thin, even for a Nellana Witch. Except for her breasts. The girl had damned nice breasts for a shabby, pitiful little Witch.
Sugar, Spice, and Shifters: A Touch of Holiday Magic Page 29
