“It must have been hard when she left.” I couldn’t imagine, especially since she also took his daughter.
“It nearly broke me, but I knew in my heart she still loved me. I knew there had to be a reason, and now she has returned.”
“And you’ve gotten another daughter out of the deal.”
He laughed. “Indeed. I can’t wait to see Astrella, or Vera as she’s called now. I wonder if she remembers me at all.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.
“I understand none of this has been easy for her either. I hope I can help some.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate having some answers. Sometimes not knowing is the hardest part.”
“Wise words.” Gareth nodded. “What do you say we check on the women?”
“Sounds perfect.” I followed him back up the stairs.
***
Casey was dressed in a pale blue gown when I walked into the sitting area of Gareth’s house. It was the same room where we entered Casey’s subconscious. I had no clue what anyone else was wearing, because she was the only one I even noticed. I walked right over. “I love when you wear blue.”
“And that has nothing to do with it being your family color, does it?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe a little bit, but really it just looks good on you.”
“Don’t all colors look good on her?” Hailey decided to stir up trouble. I was beginning to see that she was really good at that.
“Of course, but blue brings out her eyes.”
“Oh, I see.” Hailey grinned. “Are you guys ready for the fun to start?”
“Of course,” I linked my arm with Casey before turning to Hailey. “Want my other arm, or is Eric coming?”
“I’m here.” Eric jogged into the room. I wondered what he’d been doing. He shot me a look that told me not to ask yet. That wasn’t good. That meant it was more likely trouble rather than him taking a long time to get ready.
“Gareth said to head over when you guys were ready. Did your mom already go?” I asked.
“Yeah. She seemed to be in a rush.” Casey leaned into me slightly. It was nice knowing she was doing it because she wanted to this time and not because she needed to. “Did Gareth say anything else to you?”
I considered how much to say. Keeping stuff from Casey was never a good idea, but I figured I could just stick to what was most important. “He said some guys might petition to be your mate.”
She grimaced. “Yeah, my mom warned me about that. I’m obviously not thrilled, but I assure you I won’t have to debate my answer.”
“Good, because I’d fight to the death for you.”
“You won’t have to.”
“But I would.”
“Ok, sappy alert.” Hailey rolled her eyes.
“I’m allowed to be sappy today. I’ve been through a lot.” Casey kissed my cheek.
“Okay, I’ll let you off the hook just this time.” Hailey smiled.
***
The ceremony was held outside in the space between the buildings. Strings of white lights were strung up through the trees creating an almost intimate feel despite the large numbers of people packed into the area. Someone was playing a guitar, but it was acoustic, and you could barely hear it over the chatter of the crowd.
Casey, Hailey, Eric, and I hung out together, but pretty much every male under the age of forty who didn’t have a woman with him was staring at Casey like she was meat. I sincerely hoped they didn’t all plan to petition her. That would make for a long night, and we didn’t have the time. We needed to get to New Orleans. Georgina was waiting for us, and we were all nervous about what was happening half-way across the world. Neither Jared nor Owen were picking up their phones, and as far as we knew Vera didn’t have one. Casey and Hailey were acting cool about things, but I could tell they were on edge. I was too, but I did my best to hide it. I still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Eric alone, but I assumed if it was really important he’d make sure it happened.
“Welcome everyone.” Gareth’s booming voice had everyone’s attention—including mine.
Cheering ensued until he started talking again. “Tonight is a wonderful night. It’s a night full of good news and celebration.”
I waited for more cheering, but there was none. It’s like everyone knew when it was appropriate to cheer and when it wasn’t.
“My mate, Taliana, has returned.”
The sounds that followed weren’t cheers, it was more like howling. Casey grabbed my hand, and I happily cradled hers in mine. It was all a little bit crazy, even by paranormal standards.
“Quiet.” One word out of Gareth had everyone silent. “Taliana did not return alone. She also brought home one of my daughters. I thought I only had one, but I have two.”
The yell-howls commenced again. This time we were ready for them. Hailey was grinning. I think she was getting a kick out of the whole thing.
“Both of my daughters of are of age and are not yet mated. As with tradition, anyone who would like to petition to be my daughter’s mate may do so, but the decision is hers and not mine to make.” He gestured to Casey. “Would you join me?”
Casey gave me a half smile before walking over to Gareth. She looked petrified.
“Yeah, Casey!” Hailey yelled. That had Casey laughing and relaxed.
“Go, Bates!” Eric yelled.
I figured it was my turn. “Make us all proud, baby!”
That comment got Gareth glaring at me. Oh well.
“Would anyone like to petition?”
A series of growls filled the night. I guess that was one way of showing interest. A crowd of men swarmed the area in front of Casey. Her face paled. Her nerves were back.
Gareth looked at Casey before whispering in her ear. She nodded.
“Because of the sheer number of interested men, Casey has asked me to screen you first. I will speak to each of you, and present her with the five most eligible.”
Five most eligible? Was this the bachelorette or something? I started to laugh but then saw Casey’s face and wiped it right off. She wasn’t enjoying herself at all. I wasn’t either, but at least I wasn’t the one being discussed by everyone.
Casey’s mom whispered something to her, and she smiled. She gave her mom a hug and walked over to me. “My mom says this could take a while and suggested we get out of here.”
“Really? Your mom is pretty cool.”
“She is, and I think she gets it.”
“Gets us?” I rested my hands on her waist.
“Yeah. She understands that this is all pretty silly. Gareth wanting to claim me as his daughter, whatever, been there done that.”
I laughed.
“But letting men petition to be my mate when I already know who I want?” She leaned in. “That’s a bit extreme.”
“So what should we do then?’ I was itching to get her alone, but I wanted her to be the one to suggest it.
“Mom suggested we walk down to the cove.”
“Sounds good to me.” I moved my hands from her waist, and instead took her hand in mine. There was so much going on, but for just one night I was ready to pretend things were calm.
“Have you seen Hailey?” She glanced around the crowd. “I’d feel bad ditching her.”
I would too, but not bad enough to give up my alone time with Casey. “Oh, I think she’s busy.” I smiled. She was surrounded by bears and by the way they were laughing she was clearly telling them a story.
Casey followed my gaze. “She’s literally the opposite of me.”
“Why? Because she’s so outgoing?”
“Outgoing, social, fearless.”
“Hey, you’re pretty fearless yourself.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“I assume Eric can take care of himself.” She bent down to fix her shoe. I’m sure she was ready to get out of the heels. Casey was definitely not the kind of girl who was into dressing up. I didn’t car
e because generally I was more concerned with getting her undressed. Besides, she looked gorgeous in everything and anything she wore.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about him. My guess is he feels right at home.”
“Right, because you feel right at home around different groups of Pterons.” She raised an eyebrow.
I laughed. “Ok, good point, but I bet he’s fine.” I did want to talk to him, but he’d made himself scarce. He’d find me if he really needed to talk.
She practically skipped as we moved down the dark path away from the buildings. She was lighter and freer than she’d been in ages, and I never wanted it to end. She needed to look and feel that way every day.
“Toby!” Eric’s loud voice had us both stopping in our tracks.
I turned around. “Yeah?”
“We need to talk.”
“You better not mean without me.” Casey put a hand on her hip.
“I want you to be here too.”
Casey relaxed. “Okay, say it.”
“We need to get Casey out of here.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“Why?” I asked immediately. “Have you heard something?”
He leaned in close to us. “Yes. There are Ursus and wolves on the way.”
“On their way here?” Casey’s voice went up real high the way it always did when she was nervous.
Eric nodded. “Like I said, we have to get you out of here. It makes sense that it’s Tiffany behind it. She has to know she’s not in control, right? I mean wouldn’t she sense it or something?”
“I was thinking the same thing, but I didn’t want to worry about it yet. Obviously I was wrong.” I figured it was time to come clean.
“Me too.” Casey looked down at the ground. “I just didn’t…” she trailed off as we noticed Gareth walking toward us on the path.
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.”
Couldn’t help it? He’d followed us into the woods.
“What do you think?” Casey was much more polite than I would have been. It was pretty creepy that he had followed us.
He seemed to think it over for a minute. “If Eric’s intel is to be trusted, and I assume it is.” He stared long and hard at Eric. “Then the only choice is to prepare a strong defense. This island is a fortress if it needs to be.”
“We can’t wait it out. We need to get Casey out of here.”
“Why?” Gareth set his gaze on me. “She’ll be as safe here as she’d be anywhere else.”
I shook my head. “There’s no place safer than The Society base in New Orleans. We need to get her there.”
“I don’t disagree that the base is safe, but what about on the way there? I know you are strong.” He looked between Eric and I. “Both of you, but that witch is strong too. We need to get this over with. We need to get rid of her. She’s angry. She’s going to be like a cornered animal, and there’s no way to predict her movements. She may be staging this attack just to lure Casey out.”
“I still don’t want to risk staying. We need to leave before Tiffany gets here.”
“You think she wants to get into my head again?” Casey asked nervously.
“Maybe, or maybe she’d kill you this time. Either way I can’t imagine she’d drop everything. Whatever her reasons are for this, she’s not going to go down without a fight.”
“Do you think she’s the same witch that hurt Mom?” Casey asked softly. “That she’s older than she looks?”
Gareth shrugged. “I do not know, but I do believe they are connected. Whoever used magic on your mom wanted you to be conceived. It is not surprising that she wants to use you now.”
“I don’t want anyone else to get hurt protecting me.”
Gareth closed the distance between us. “They will not only be protecting you, they will be protecting The Society. There is much at stake.”
“So what about the petitioning?” Eric asked.
I wanted to punch him.
Gareth smiled. “I think the men can wait. Besides, if she chooses her own mate before that, it might save us all time.”
“I’ll choose my own mate, but you made it sound pretty much required.” Casey looked anywhere but at Gareth.
“I can see how uncomfortable it made you. Your comfort and security come first.”
Casey glanced up at him. “Thanks. For once it’s nice to hear about the importance of my security.”
“It will always be important to me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Jared
The silence didn’t mean anything. If Levi and Allie were safe the island would be just as silent as it would be if they were hurt. Still, the silence that met us when we landed had me panicked. I’d been ready for battle; I wasn’t sure how to deal with the empty, quiet beach.
“Do we want to split up and search the island, or go right over to where they’re staying?” Vera was being practical. That was a nice change to her taunting. She was taking the situation seriously which I appreciated.
I did a brief survey of the beach. “We stay together. We have no idea who’s here, and if things are fine, Levi is going to freak if he sees someone he doesn’t know.”
“He’s also going to freak if he sees someone he does know.” Owen laughed.
“Get serious.”
He scowled. “I am serious.”
“Okay, pissing contest over.” Vera stood up from where she’d been crouching. “Let’s get this mission over with.”
“Mission?” I raised an eyebrow. “Is that what you’re calling this?”
“What else would you call it?” She tightened the tie of her ponytail. “An outing?”
There was something so no nonsense about Vera that I liked. She didn’t beat around the bush, and at least most of the time she was a straight shooter. Those traits were rarer than you’d think.
“We need to stay low and quiet.”
“Are we doing those things in case of enemies or because you’re afraid of Levi catching you snooping?” Vera grinned.
Without thinking I returned her smile. “Both.”
We moved across the beach quickly without meeting anyone. I really hoped my biggest problem would be dealing with a pissed off Levi. He’d forgive me eventually. I could always blame it on Hailey, push it off on her bad feeling. I smiled to myself picturing her response when she found out I blamed her. She’d yell and scream until she realized it was really a joke. I didn’t make my decisions based on someone else, and certainly not based on their ‘feelings’. Just thinking about it made me feel dumb for confessing my fears to Vera.
“Fuck.” This time it was Owen using my new favorite word.
I followed his gaze. All I saw was the burnt remains of a house. “Owen, stay here with Vera.”
“No, I’m coming.” Vera’s protest sounded far away as I ran the rest of the way across the beach to what used to be a cottage. There was only one house on the island. Levi had seen to that himself.
I dug through the charred remains of the building. There was another explanation. There is no way Levi and Allie could have possibly been there when it burned. Levi would have saved Allie no matter what. His senses were strong. He would have seen the enemy coming. Unless he didn’t. Unless he was so wrapped up in his new wife that he couldn’t.
“They got out first.” Owen spoke so nonchalantly. “There’s no way Levi didn’t.”
“You’re right.” I agreed, I couldn’t even voice my doubts out loud. To do so would be admitting a lack of faith in Levi’s strength. He was king. He was stronger than anyone.
“Give me two minutes.” Vera called out. I turned around in time to watch her toss her clothes and transform into a bear. There was something graceful about the way she transformed. I’d never viewed shifting that way before, especially not the shifting of a bear.
I hung back and gave her room. She hadn’t spelled out what she was doing, but it became obvious as she moved through the splintered wood, burned fabric, and broken pie
ces. She was searching for evidence that Pterons had been there.
“Maybe she’ll find a clue to who did this.” Owen seemed determined to keep his rosy glasses on. I was going to knock them off.
“The only one who can distract Levi is Allie. What if he wasn’t concentrating on anything else?”
Owen looked up at the sky. “Not a chance. He’d stay alert enough for her. He’d make sure they were safe.”
“Then where are they? Where did they go?”
“It’s Levi. They could be anywhere.”
What Owen was suggesting made sense, and it was a lot easier to swallow than the thought that something had happened to them.
The hair on my neck stood up, and my wings tensed. Someone or something was around. Owen glanced at me. He’d noticed the same thing. One of us had to stay close. We needed to make sure Vera was safe. She may have been in her bear form, but that didn’t mean she was invincible.
I signaled for him to wait while I began to circle the area. I didn’t get far.
Loud laughter had me stuck in place. “Isn’t this amusing?”
I glared at the man in front of me. Murphy. Second only to Tiffany, he was one of my least favorite people in the world.
Vera growled and came to stand next to us.
“Oh now it’s even better. The little bear bitch protecting the Pteron.” He sneered.
“What do you want, Murphy?” I tried to play it cool. He wanted to rile me up, and I couldn’t let him. I also continued to survey the area. I highly doubted he was alone.
“What do I want? I already have half of it done.”
“And what half is that?’ Owen glowered at him. Owen didn’t look quite as intimidating as some Pterons, but make him mad and you had another thing coming.
“Your pathetic excuse for a leader and his little bitch are dead.” Murphy grinned.
I didn’t even think, I lunged for him. I punched him in the face in a fit of rage, and I knocked him down on the ground before he had time to shift. At that point even if he’d wanted to he couldn’t have. I’d done enough damage to make that impossible. Normally this was the point where Owen would be pulling me off him, making sure I didn’t take things too far, but he didn’t. I guess he agreed with the amount of force this time.
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