Tempted by Darkness

by Avery Gale

  Trev’s growl was tempered by the smile tugging at the corners of his lips, “Pup, I think you and I need to have a chat about your timing because it certainly needs work.” Trev turned and pulled Kit against his side so they faced the room and she tried to bring her raging desire under control. She watched Cecil switch off his phone then close his eyes, as if he was gathering the strength to deliver bad news. Her knees started to sag, but Trev’s voice moved over her, “It isn’t as what you think, baby, hang on.”

  Sure, she’d moaned and groaned when she’d first mated the Wolf brothers about how intrusive their telepathic abilities had seemed—they’d looked to her like a major invasion of not only hers, but everyone else’s privacy as well. But, right now, in this very moment, it all seemed worth it.

  Chapter Two

  Ruby Stone was standing close enough to Cecil to hear the frustration in his voice as he’d spoken on the phone to various members of the Supreme Council. By the time he’d finally hung up she could have sworn she actually saw steam coming from his ears. Shazbat, he looks pissed. Catching the thought, Ruby sighed, damn it all, she was going to miss that kid. Robin always made her laugh and he never complained or asked her when she planned to stop calling him by his various character names. She’d often called him Mork just to get him to launch into the role anytime their paths crossed.

  Over her very long lifetime, Ruby had known many actors, but he had certainly been one of the most talented. Anyone who could bring that kind of joy to those around him had to be one of the bright lights from the other side. Even though her husband assured her he was still entertaining, just on the other side of the veil, it was still a shame the world lost him so soon.

  “I swear that council is made up of some the most unreasonable people to ever walk the face of this planet. They simply don’t understand all the long reaching implications of this young woman’s abduction. They will meet with us day after tomorrow, which works for travel with Trevlon, but by that time I have a feeling my esteemed colleagues are going need shields worthy of asteroids to protect them from Kit’s ire.” Cecil had closed his eyes and Ruby could feel him pulling energy from around him in order to face Kit and the other members of the Wolf Pack who had gathered in the large room.

  Ruby chuckled, “You know her well. That red hair should be a warning, but it’s not usually enough.” Ruby had seen Kit go from dead calm to full outrage in under five seconds, but it had always been in defense of others. The prophecy had described her spirited granddaughter perfectly, and everyone who knew Kit had been convinced years ago that she was the one they’d been waiting for. Kit was destined for greatness, Ruby simply hoped at the end of the looming battle, Kit emerged as a living legend rather than a hero who perished in battle.

  Jameson leaned over Ruby’s shoulder and whispered, “You and me both, Granny Good Witch. You and me both.”

  Jameson listened as Cecil explained the Council’s response. It was easy to see the wizard was at his wit’s end, but he was trying very hard to be diplomatic for Kit’s sake. It wasn’t working, but the old guy was giving it a valiant go anyway. Jameson was trying to divide his attention between Angie’s mates and his own, it was going to be a draw which of the three of them spiraled out of control first. Personally his money was on Kit.

  Tristan and Nick Michaels were good men, Jameson valued their opinions and contributions to the Wolf Pack, but he was also keenly aware of their one and only weakness—and that was his brilliant, but mouthy cousin, Angie. The three of them had been mated for several years and Jameson knew they were anxious to start a family but Angie’s intense work schedule always seemed to be throwing out roadblocks. Both men had reached the end of their tolerance and had recently talked to him about using his Alpha status to reassign her to the pack. Jameson and Trev had already reached the same conclusion, but they’d put off speaking with Angie until they could get things settled with Braden—and that delay was certainly a decision he regretted now.

  The truth was, he simply hadn’t seen this coming and he was usually very good at predicting behavior. They had all expected Damian to order that Kit be brought to him by any means necessary, so they’d been using all their resources to protect her and the twins. They hadn’t considered a collateral attack, and that’s what this seemed to be. Snatch Kit’s friend—a woman everyone knows she loves like a sister, and she’ll do whatever you ask to get her back. Jameson watched as Tristan’s attention was drawn down to the screen of the monitor in front of him. “Holy shit, Kit, come take a look at this.” As the Chief of Security for the Wolf Pack and its surrounding estate, Tristan was usually the epitome of professionalism, so whatever he’d seen had been worthy of interrupting Cecil, a man they all liked and respected.

  Kit moved behind him as Jameson and Trev stepped up to flank her. “Watch this. What you’re seeing is from the hospital’s security feed—no, don’t even ask how I got it.” And then, just as a woman walked through the sliding glass doors of the lobby, Tristan pointed to the screen, “Isn’t that your mom?”

  He and Trev both leaned in for a closer look, but Kit just laughed. “No, it isn’t.” When they all turned to stare at her, she smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “My mother is a photo-phobe or whatever you call a person who refuses to have their picture taken. If that had been Carla Harris, we wouldn’t be looking at this because she would have put out a huge pulse of electromagnetic energy as the outside doors slid open, instantly sending all the cameras into a tailspin that would have made them look as if they’d gone haywire. You’d have found nothing but static on any of the feeds until she’d cleared the building…guaranteed.”

  Ruby’s wiry little body squeezed between them all until she was front and center. “Run it back please, Tristan.” When he nodded, she laid her hand on his shoulder and whispered, “Such a nice young man.” Jameson wanted to laugh, the older witch had done the same thing to him one afternoon when he’d been about to burst a vessel over something Kit had pulled. He wasn’t sure what the spell was, but just the touch of her hand to his shoulder had calmed all the raging waters. Jameson watched as Tristan visibly relaxed and took what Jameson assumed was his first deep breath in hours.

  “Kit is right, Carla never allows herself to be photographed. It isn’t vanity as many assume.” Looking from Jameson to Trev, she added, “She was always cautious, because putting your image out there for all to see when you are fighting the forces of evil is like handing your enemies a loaded weapon, but ever since the night your parents were killed, she has been meticulous—practically obsessive, about never being captured on film. She always feared being taken from Kit before her darling daughter was ready.” Jameson saw Kit’s eyes widen in surprise, he knew his lovely mate wasn’t particularly close to her mother because his mother-in-law seemed to have impossibly high standards for her daughter. But now, he couldn’t help but wonder if it hadn’t all been about keeping Kit safe until she was ready to learn everything she’d need to fulfill her destiny. Ruby had talked to both he and Trev about the prophecy, so he knew the expectations others had for Kit were extremely high. Since Ruby had begun training Kit, Carla seemed to have mellowed, and now he had to wonder if he hadn’t just been given a clue to that mystery.

  “Well, someone wanted us to think it was your mother. But it seems odd that someone who knows her well enough to impersonate her isn’t aware of her aversion to having her photograph taken.” Jameson knew Tristan was essentially thinking out loud, it was the way his friend processed information, so he simply waited, then held his hand up when he thought Ruby was going to respond. “Unless, she’s been seen at some of your witchy-woo parties and one of her peers has switched teams.”

  “Witchy-woo parties? What the hell is that about? Good Lord, no wonder your wife swears you live under a rock, Tristan. For Goddess sake, read something besides a tech manual, hell, watch a sit-com or two. You bore the teens of the pack by overriding the television’s remote control and playing the damned science crap all day
long anyway.”

  “Kitten, might want to tone it down a bit, his ears are turning crimson and starting to sizzle.” Jameson gave her a little swat and smiled when she frowned up at him. “That’s one, my love.” He would give her a pass for sassing Tristan—once, but his little witch knew better than to frown at her Dom.

  “Well, I didn’t say his reasoning wasn’t spot on. I simply took exception to the witchey woo comment, that was just plain sexist and insulting. I’ll have you know, those witch gatherings are full-blown orgies with food served on naked bodies and drinks poured from floating goblets of gem-encrusted gold. Non-magicals beg to be included, and just last month I agreed to take Angie and Julie along next time.” Jameson really was worried Tristan’s head was going to spin around atop his shoulders.

  “Really? When is the next one?” Braden’s eyes were bright with anticipation and Jameson almost hated to watch as Kit burst his bubble. He had to give the kid credit, this time his timing was perfect. Braden’s interest had distracted Tristan from playing right into Kit’s hands.

  “Of course not. Geez, Braden, think, my friend—would I have just told both of my mates that if it were true? Hell, they’d never let me go to one of the large coven conventions.” Kit had emphasized her point by smacking the young wizard upside the head and shaking her head as if he were dim-witted.

  “Unless of course you might be playing them by saying you were only playing them.” This time Jameson was the one who smacked him, damned kid just didn’t know when to quit.

  “Knock it off you two. My mate is missing and you two are doing some sort of ‘Who’s on first’ comedy routine. Focus, people.” It was unusual for Nick Michaels to take a hard stance and everyone in the room froze for a couple of heartbeats before nodding. Tristan was ordinarily the more serious of the two brothers, so Nick’s intensity spoke volumes about the level of anxiety permeating the room.

  Jameson straightened to his full height and cleared his throat to re-center the attention to the front of the room. “Let’s remember why we’re here and why we’re a good team. We all want to find Angie and we will because we’ll use all available means to do so. But we’re a strong team because we analyze information thoroughly. We each see the problem from a unique perspective and we approach things differently so we don’t miss anything. And above all we remember safety is our number one priority.”

  Kit slipped her small hand inside his and squeezed in silent thanks before she stepped to the side where Nick stood. Giving him a quick hug, she said, “I’m sorry. We weren’t trying to be disrespectful. I think it was just a release valve for some of our worry, but you were right to call it to a halt.”

  “My brother and I appreciate your help more than you know.” He gave her a quick squeeze before turning her back to the screen, “Now, we need to figure out who might have been impersonating your mom so we can find our mate.”

  Ruby was already speaking on the phone and then turned the device toward the screen. When Jameson gave her a questioning look, she merely shrugged, “FaceTime. Braden helped me set it up. I’m witch-techy now, damn I wish Webster had lived long enough to know I made up a new word. He was a real stick in the mud you know.”

  Carla’s exasperated voice sounded from the small screen, “For God’s sake, mother, spare us the history lesson and run the tape.” Everyone in the room laughed as Ruby shrugged and turned her phone back to the security monitor and Tristan restarted the short clip. Jameson couldn’t help but smile when he heard his father-in-law’s low whistle. Richard Harris was a powerful wizard but that fact was often overlooked because his personality was usually eclipsed by his much more out-going wife. Jameson respected Richard’s quiet but methodical approach to problems and was anxious to hear his take of the video.

  Carla’s sharp tone brought Jameson’s thoughts back to the problem at hand, “Oh my stars and garters, that does look like me. But you already know that, so let’s get right to it. This sort of imitation requires a lot of concentration and focus, or perhaps help. Run it back a ways, I want to see who proceeds her and who follows.”

  After several minutes of expanding their search Carla’s excited voice sounded, “Stop there. See? There she is.”

  This time it was Richard who answered, “Is that Twila? The young witch the Council asked you to mentor?”

  “Yes it is. I don’t know who was pretending to be me, but I know who was helping her and it gives us a starting point. Cecil, I’d say you have a serious mole problem.”

  “It would appear so, I do believe I’ll give my fellow council members another call. And if they have time-zone issues—well, frankly Scarlet, I don’t give a damn.” Jameson laughed because he’d never met a group of people who could quote movie trivia like the magicals he’d encountered. When he’d asked Richard about it one evening over coffee, he’d explained that because they often lived for more than two hundred years witches and wizards had a lot more spare time. Richard had laughed as he’d recounted a rather colorful discussion he’d shared with Ivan Pavlov and Sigmund Freud where the two psychologists heatedly debated the reasons for, but not the fact that, creative minds are more open to mystical beliefs.

  Richard had eventually lost Jameson in the discussion, but the bottom line had been clear—highly intelligent people were far more likely to accept the reality of things unseen. They understood and accepted there were powers at work around them that simply couldn’t be explained away as coincidence. Jameson had seen the same phenomena play out himself when Kit’s friend, Libby. The woman was quickly making a name for herself in both chemistry and neuroscience. She was currently a professor at NYU but Jameson and Trev hoped to change that in the near future. Libby’s easy acceptance of what she’d found at the Wolf estate was a prime example of what Richard had been trying to point out. Libby was also another young professional woman who was burning the candle at both ends. For just a moment Jameson wondered if Charlie had made any progress with her, vowing to check in with him about it later, Jameson returned his attention to the conversation around him.

  Jameson had always prided himself on being the type of leader who surrounded himself with good people and then stepped back, letting them do their jobs with as little interference as possible. As he watched those around him working together to make plans, he was grateful his fathers had consistently been incredible role models. They’d always explained their reasoning to both he and Trevlon so they understood all the minutia of leadership, not just how to boss people around. By the time the room began clearing out, everyone knew what they were supposed to do and they all seemed set on their tasks.

  When Jameson shifted his attention to Kit, she was looking up at him expectantly. Shaking his head at her unasked question, he said, “Nothing for you just yet, kitten. Well, nothing aside from spending some quality time with your mates before you go.” Running his fingers slowly down the side of her face until they slid under her hair to wrap around the back of her neck so he could pull her closer, he leaned down to speak softly against her ear, “Playroom. Strip. Kneel. Wait.” Before he’d even released her Jameson could feel her trembling beneath his touch—and he knew his sweet mate well enough to know the reaction didn’t have anything to do with fear. Perfect.

  Chapter Three

  Kit paced the long marble hallway listening to the sharp echo as the heels of her black leather boots collided with smooth stones that had welcomed visitors for several centuries. She marveled at the way the sound seemed to bounce between the polished rock walls, floor, and ceiling as if it was a calling card announcing her arrival. Of course the ancients built their meeting place here, what better protection from outside evil than a crystal cave you lined with marble? Granted the place was also truly spectacular—beautiful, ornate, and rich with history. The entire room was nearly luminescent despite the dim wall sconces providing limited amounts of light, but damn it was noisy. She was mentally reviewing what she planned to say and the best way for her to think was to keep moving. But the flipping
noise was even starting to annoy her and she was the one causing it. When she looked up at her granny, Trev, and Braden, they all grinned at her. Trev walked to her and pulled her close, “Yes, it’s quite annoying, baby, but if it helps you settle down we’ll all just cope. We may be deaf or bat-shit crazy in the end, but we’ll just have to wait and see about that part.”

  She appreciated his efforts to lighten her mood, and tried to smile in return but knew she’d failed miserably when he folded her into his arms and just held her against his chest. “You’re going to do fine, baby. Surely they’ll listen to reason and as long as you don’t plan anything too outlandish, I can’t imagine them arguing. After all, they seem keen on keeping Braden safe and Angie has been instrumental in his healing and happiness.”

  Trev hit upon a key point without even knowing it and Kit was struggling to block her thoughts from him. Blocking wasn’t a skill she’d mastered yet, she doubted it would ever be something she managed easily. Trev’s mentioning not doing anything outlandish was point-on because that was exactly what she had planned. The only way to resolve this quickly was to hit the enemy fast and hard, and the best way to do that was skate along the fine line between light and dark magic. What some might feel was colluding with the enemy, Kit viewed as using all of the resources available to her.

  When Kit felt the muscles of Trev’s chest stiffen against her cheek, she knew she hadn’t been successful in blocking him, but just as he pulled back to speak the enormous door beside her opened and she was summoned inside. Stepping through massive wooden doors that hung on pounded iron hinges was like stepping back in time, and just before the door closed Trev’s voice filled her mind and his fear for her filled her heart. “Don’t. Baby. Please.” Kit knew both of her mates were worried she would take unnecessary risks with her safety, but they were wrong. Oh, she intended to take a lot of chances if it became necessary, but necessary was the operative word.