by Helen Scott
“Hecate had a full-blown cult back in the day and is being worshiped by those neo-pagans or whatever they call themselves now, and what do I get? According to the Internet, I’m a nymph or enchantress. A nymph?” Circe was starting to get hysterical; she was practically screaming at Alec. “No. I’m going to show all of you exactly what I am, and it sure as hell isn’t a damned nymph. I will bring the world to its knees as I expose all of you to the public for exactly what you are. I will bring the glory my love deserves to him and repay him for the kindness he has shown me.” Her voice was dripping with venom. “You will become the hunted and come begging to me for help and protection. Only those who have shown me reverence will receive it. And unfortunately, my dear Alec, that means you and that wonderful body of yours won’t. You can tell your brothers. Now stay out of my way, or I will make you my pets.”
“Why are you telling me this? Surely you realize it’s easier to stop you now?”
“Because I want you to see your failure coming, and I want you to know there is nothing you can do to stop it. I want you to regret everything that happened between us as I did. I want you to suffer while your family is hunted to extinction. But most of all, I want you to know I wanted power, and Hecate’s torches have given me that exact thing, which has also put me well above your ability to stop me.”
“Circe, you don’t need to do this. People do pay reverence to you!”
“The path has been set. Arrivederci amante.”
Alec stood frozen as Ellie collapsed. Circe had left her body. The fact that she could take it over at all was a dangerous, new development. He wondered how she accomplished it; normally Circe had to be in close physical proximity to her victim. He looked around for what Circe may have used to trigger it and realized Ellie wasn’t moving.
He knelt next to her and tried to wake her as gently as possible. Shaking her shoulder and tapping her face had no response. Alec was starting to panic. He didn’t want to be responsible for her death. He had to protect her from Circe, and the only place he knew would do that was the brothers’ island. The problem was they didn’t allow outsiders there. So did he risk Ellie’s life, or did he risk the wrath of his brothers?
He didn’t even have to think about the answer. He picked Ellie up; she was as light as a feather, so much smaller than she had seemed when her vibrant personality shone through. He mentally prepared himself for jumping two people. It wasn’t easy or encouraged in his family, but he didn’t really have a choice. Hal was the healer; Alec hoped he was home. Ellie would be better in no time. And if he wasn’t, well, he could jump his ass there pretty damn fast then couldn’t he?
Ellie lay limp in Alec’s arms as he breathed and focused on their two life forces and where they should be. He jumped, and they landed on the brothers’ island, although not in his house as he had hoped. The cold wind whipped around them as it came up off the ocean. He tried to jump them inside, only to short out. It had been too long since he had tried to jump anyone other than himself. He extended his wings and flew toward his house, kicking the back door open when he landed. Ellie was still just a sack of potatoes in his arms. If he hadn’t been able to feel her breathing, then he would have been even more worried.
Alec ran her upstairs and placed her on his bed before searching his pants for his phone. He texted Hal.
911 my place bedroom
Within seconds, Hal jumped in. The huge man took one look at Ellie unconscious on the bed and went to work.
“What happened? Wait. Get me a bowl of water first.”
Alec jumped to the kitchen and filled one of his largest mixing bowls with water, knowing Hal would need as much as he could get. He carefully maneuvered upstairs, trying not to spill any water.
“Thanks. Now tell me.”
“Circe happened. That crazy witch took over Ellie’s body and gave me—well, all of us—a warning to stop looking for the torches, or she would expose us—and by us, I’m pretty sure she meant all descendants of the gods and their creatures—to the public.”
“What?” Hal stopped channeling the water and looked at Alec. “You can’t be serious!”
“Oh, but I am.”
“But that would expose her too!”
“She thinks she has more power than anyone since she has Hecate’s torches. She believes she is untouchable, which may actually be true.”
Hal raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.
“She never had power like this when we were together. She was only ever able to use the herbs and potions, and she had to use that wand of hers to do anything.”
“She’s crazy. That was a bullet dodged, brother.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So is Ellie going to be okay?”
“We’ll see. She has no obvious injuries that I can detect. She seems to be in a deep sleep.”
“Can you bring her out of it?”
“Maybe.” Hal’s hands worked over Ellie’s temples and the crown of her head. The water he used hovered around her head like it was in zero gravity, almost making it look like she was wearing a helmet. They sat for over an hour before Hal released the water back into the bowl with a few flourishes of his hand.
“She’s okay, but I can’t wake her right now. I have the feeling she’ll wake up when she’s ready. She’s been through a lot of stress recently, with MacLeod dying and everything. This may just be her body giving her what she needs. I’m sure she will wake in time. The only thing I would say is, don’t move her just yet. Let her wake here, then take her home. I won’t tell Dimitri or Thad.”
“I can’t take her home. Not if Circe can possess her at will. If she’s here, then at least the wards here can protect her.”
“Good point.” Hal started pacing the bedroom. “Why don’t you get Anthony out here and give her a tattoo to prevent that?” Hal playfully punched Alec in the shoulder where his tattoos were. All the brothers had a set. Hal’s traveled down his thigh, Dem’s were on his back, and Thad’s were on his chest. The tattoos gave them all protection against certain magical aspects.
“That is why I love you, man. I totally forgot about Tony.”
“He’s a good dude. He’ll hook Ellie up.” They nodded at each other, and Hal jumped out.
Chapter 7
Ellie woke up to the sound of snoring. She cracked her eyes open and immediately wished she hadn’t. The pain in her head was immense, worse than the time she did all those tequila shots, worse than any headache she had ever had before. She groaned and closed her eyes. The snoring stopped.
“Ellie?” The voice was hoarse and croaky.
She tried to open her eyes to see who was speaking but only managed a flutter of her eyelids before the pain made her give up.
“Ellie, you’re awake!” The hoarseness was gone, and she recognized Alec’s voice but couldn’t remember what happened.
“Ow.”
“Let me get you something for your head.”
She heard the subtlest of pops, which she wouldn’t have even heard, except every noise felt a million times louder than normal right now.
“I got some water and some painkillers.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m going to put the them in your hand and lift your head so you can drink the water.”
“Okay.”
Ellie felt Alec’s cool skin place the pills in her hand, and she winced as she felt him move her head. What had been painful before was now even more so; it was a blinding pain that was almost disorienting and nauseating.
She tried not letting on how debilitating the pain was; she didn’t want Alec to feel bad. But getting the pills in her mouth was harder than she thought it would be. She had no sense of where her body was right now, and they fell down somewhere before ever reaching her mouth.
“Uh, I’m going to get the pills; they’re on your T-shirt, just below the neckline.”
“Okay.”
Alec’s fingers brushed the tops of her breasts as he extracted the pills, sending electrici
ty running over her skin, leaving her body completely confused.
“Do you want to try again? Or do you want me to put them in your mouth?”
“Can you?”
“Sure.” His touch was so gentle as his hand connected with her face. She opened her mouth and felt the pills fall in, the bitter taste making her want to spit them out immediately. It was the hope that they would lessen this pain in her skull that made her keep them in. Alec’s fingers brushed her lips as he moved his hand away, sending another round of electricity over her skin.
“Here’s the water.”
His fingers connected with the side of her face and pressed the cool glass to her lips. She didn’t realize she was so thirsty. She took a long pull from the glass and swallowed the pills, then took another.
“Do you want me to get you more water?”
“Yes, please.”
Alec gently removed his hand from behind her head, allowing her to lie back down on the pillows. They were soft and smelled strange. She was definitely not in the guest room or Granddad’s room. So where the hell was she?
Ellie took another deep breath and realized it all smelled like Alec. Even though he had gone to get more water, she was enveloped by the smell of him—salty and musky and something almost spicy. It was wonderful. Ellie breathed in and out, allowing her scattered thoughts to go wherever they wanted, giving in to the pain.
She was completely relaxed for what felt like the first time in years. Her anxiety, the clawing at her chest, was gone for the first time in forever. She took stock of her other aches and pains and realized she didn’t really have any. There was a twinge around her hip but nothing else. If it wasn’t for her head and the pain, then she would probably feel fantastic.
She tried cracking her eyes open again. There was less light now; she guessed Alec had turned some of the lights off or something. She glimpsed a giant window on the far wall. Thankfully, the curtains were drawn so there was no sunlight to blind her. The ceiling was made of wood panels with dimmed track lighting in rows. She closed her eyes again. Whatever Alec had given her was beginning to help but not enough since she still felt like she couldn’t think or keep her eyes open.
“Here we are.” Alec’s swift and sure footsteps let Ellie know where he was. The dip on the bed made her tingle a little. If her head wasn’t going through hell right now, then this could be a very enjoyable situation.
“Do you want me to sit you up a bit so you can drink?”
“That would be nice.” She tried a smile; it felt weird, smiling with her eyes closed, but the light hurt too much.
Ellie heard the sound of glass on glass as he set the water down. Alec’s warm, strong hands came behind Ellie’s head and back and shifted her up slightly. It was just enough to allow her to drink the water herself, but it also made her head ring with pain. She gasped involuntarily as her head swam.
“You okay?”
“Medication hasn’t kicked in yet.”
“It should have by now. You fell asleep after I went to get the water, so I let you sleep for a while. I figured you must need it.”
“Oh.” A cold panic settled over her.
“Let me get Hal to take another look at you.” She could hear the clicking on his phone as he tapped out a short message.
“Where is the pain?”
“My head mostly and my hip.” Her hand moved to cover the pain in her hip as though she was trying to protect it.
There was a slight breeze through the room and that small pop again. Then she could hear another set of feet.
“Hey, Ellie.” Concern dripped from Hal’s voice.
“Hey, Hal.”
“Still not better?”
“She woke up a while ago, and I gave her some aspirin for her head since she seemed to have the mother of all hangovers. She fell back to sleep after the meds, and I woke her up again just now since it had been a few hours, but she’s still in a lot of pain.”
Ellie heard Hal move closer.
“Is it okay if I sit with you?” Worry saturated his voice.
“Of course.” Ellie patted the bed on the side she had heard Hal’s voice.
“Tell me what the pain is like.”
“It feels like someone scooped my brain out, and a death metal band has taken up residence. Their music is just echoing around my head. If I open my eyes, it’s like someone is driving needles into them.”
“Any other pains?”
“Just my hip.”
“Okay, you are going to feel a cool sensation. It might feel like it’s pressing on your skin, but it’s just me, okay?”
“Got it,” Ellie said, her voice barely above a whisper. She could hear water sloshing around, and then it was quiet.
The cold sensation was all around her hip, pressing on her skin like she wasn’t wearing any clothing, even though she was pretty sure she was. The pain became more and more focused until it was just a pinprick, and then it was gone.
“Your head is going to hurt while I do this. I wish there was a way around it, but there isn’t. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Ellie took a deep breath and readied herself.
The pain flared enough to make her whimper as the cold sensation pressed around her. If she didn’t know better, Ellie would swear there was someone hitting her head with a million little ice picks. She felt it condensing to behind her eyes and the back of her head. The pain was mercifully starting to recede everywhere else. Eventually the ice picks were replaced by just a stabbing sensation right behind her eyes.
Ellie didn’t know how long this had been going on, but she realized she had a death grip on the sheets around her, and sweat trickled down her back and temples. Little by little, the stabbing began to subside. The process was infuriatingly slow, but the mercy she had been begging for in her head finally came when the stabbing was gone completely.
Ellie sat frozen for a few moments before risking opening her eyes. It was amazing how the pain had vanished. She gingerly opened her eyes just a sliver, but what she saw made them pop open completely. Hal was sitting in front of her, sagging with exhaustion, manipulating a floating ball of water. In the center was an evil black blob, which seemed to be trying to escape the watery prison it was being held in. Alec appeared in the doorway, holding a large jar that clearly had contained something until a few moments ago, as the remnants of whatever had been inside still clung to the glass. Alec smiled at her as he walked toward Hal with the outstretched jar, and her heart melted.
She watched as Hal manipulated the floating ball of water into the jar. The black squirming middle was now safely secured with the rubber ring and swing-top lid sealed over it. That thing wasn’t going anywhere.
Hal turned to face her. “Feeling better?”
“Amazingly so, yes.”
“Good.” He beamed at her, seeming to swell with pride.
“How did you do that? What was that thing?”
“Well, our dad was blessed by Poseidon, so we have some control over water. We are each able to use the power in a different way. I can use mine to manipulate your body into healing faster than normal. As for what that was, we are going to have to talk to Circe about it. I think when she possessed you she left some of her magic behind, which is what that is, and what was causing your pain.”
All the memories of what happened snapped back into place at the mention of Circe’s name.
“She did this! She’s evil! And she thinks Alec is sexy.” Ellie’s face flamed at her outburst.
“Ah, well, it seems you do remember what happened. We weren’t sure you would.”
Alec sat on the other side of the bed from Hal. His serious eyes seemed to be searching for something in Ellie’s own. His were filled with an emotion she couldn’t name.
“So you two know each other?”
“We dated for a while, a long time ago.” Alec glanced around the room as a slight flush colored his neck. “I wasn’t exciting enough for her, and she was too neurotic for me,” he finishe
d and ran a hand through his hair.
“I see. Well, I got the impression she didn’t like you very much.”
“That’s probably true.”
Ellie glanced at Hal, who was struggling to suppress a smile at Alec trying to get out of an awkward situation.
“I’m sorry, can we just go back a moment? Poseidon is a real person?” Ellie looked at Alec again; she couldn’t keep her eyes off him.
“He would hate to be called that, but yes. He still considers himself a god even though he doesn’t really have any followers anymore. It makes him more than a little touchy. But the gods blessed our father and uncles and aunts, giving them all versions of their own powers, which were then passed down to their children, and so on. The trait only survives a few generations.”
Hal nodded along with Alec’s explanation as his body belied how exhausted he was. His shoulders sagged. He was slumped over a little more than she thought was probably normal for him. She reached out to him, taking his massive paw-like hand in her own.
“Thank you so much for helping me. I don’t know what I would have done if I wasn’t able to get rid of that pain.”
“My pleasure.” His smile reached his eyes. He was a genuine man through and through. “I am exhausted though; you take care of her now.” He nodded at Alec and jumped out.
Alec stared at Ellie; she was captivating. He hadn’t realized how much seeing her injured and vulnerable had impacted him. The relief he felt now she was awake and no longer in pain was as sweet as honey. She had been so frail, and the thought that had driven him the whole time was to protect her at all costs.
She was staring into his soul again, and all he could think about was her full, soft lips and how they fit against his own. His tongue darted out and licked his own lips; her pupils dilated as her eyes fixed on his mouth. He wanted to growl in satisfaction. She was just as interested in him as he was in her. She just didn’t express it.
He wondered what it would be like if she did express her desires to him freely. He imagined she would take what she wanted when she wanted it, and he would willingly give it every time. She could ask him to cut off one of his hands, and he would probably do it. He shouldn’t be feeling this way about a woman he had only just met. He needed to distance himself, gain perspective.
