“Start the coffee while I whip up some items.” Zoey closed her eyes, pictured the array of muffins, croissants, and cupcakes and let her fingers fly.
“Good morning, deputy,” Vilma said a little louder than necessary. Zoey opened her eyes and found trays upon trays of food on her prep tables. She grabbed two trays and hurried to the front.
“Good morning, Luke,” Zoey said cheerfully as she began to put the trays into the display case. “Would you like to try something new, or do you want your regular?”
Zoey wanted to laugh as Luke looked all around the shop and examined her, Vilma, and Agnes from head to toe. Luckily Agnes had worked a little magic on her hair since Luke had last seen her. Luke shook his head and let out a big breath. “I think I need everything with chocolate and a large coffee. I had the strangest dream last night.”
Grand Master Linus’s eyes were bugged out as he stared at Slade. In fact, all the masters were similarly staring at him in complete shock. Slade had arrived at their hidden archives and informed them of Edan’s and Victor’s deaths, Grand Mistress Lauren’s offer for Slade to act as an intermediary, and the possibility of the Claritase and Tenebris working together to stop Alexander.
“Why didn’t the Claritase send someone here?” Grand Master Linus finally asked.
“I offered for us all to meet, but she was a little concerned after the last time an offer like that was made.”
The masters looked thoughtfully at each other and then nodded. “I think we can all understand that. What does the Grand Mistress need?” Linus asked, getting down to business.
“We need everything on the prophecy. I’ll take copies of what we have and return with copies of what they have. And then I need access to the genealogy records.”
“Why?” Master Linus asked.
Slade knew this was the delicate part. Unfortunately he wasn’t known for being delicate. “I can’t tell you.” Grand Master Linus’s eyebrow rose in challenge. “I swore an oath to the Grand Mistress.”
The masters leaned in close and whispered for several minutes. “So, we will share information between each other through you with the purpose of earning each other’s trust.”
Slade was relieved Linus had figured it out. “Exactly.”
“Then inform the Claritase our records and our men are fully available to them. I pledge, on behalf of the true Tenebris, to ally ourselves with the Claritase. Whatever they need, they just have to ask, and it shall be theirs. Master Niles, get to work making a copy of everything we have on the prophecy, Alexander and his men, and the statistics of the men here.”
Young Niles was a mere four hundred fifty years old. He was a young child when the war began. His mother and father had been killed by Alexander when they were fleeing. He looked the same as a human in his mid-twenties. Lots of messy brown hair, a T-shirt from a small brewery with a few unidentifiable stains on it, and blue jeans. But Niles had an eye for details, which made him the perfect person to search the records.
“Cool,” Niles said. “Give me a couple days. I’ll text you when I have it.”
Niles strolled off toward the library as the room began to clear. Masters were talking excitedly about a possibility of reuniting with the Claritase. Past loves, family, and friends were discussed as they departed, leaving Slade alone with Linus.
Linus waited until the door closed before turning to Slade. “I take it your true love is safe?”
“She is.”
“I haven’t performed a Binding of Souls Ceremony in centuries,” he said wistfully of the marriage ceremony between two witches.
“I don’t think she’s ready for that,” Slade said as he realized he could be.
“Oh, how lovely. Still in the courting period. I remember that time well. Stolen kisses, feeding each other under the stars, making tools for each other . . . of course, times have changed. I’m sure wooing isn’t the same as it was back then.”
Slade smiled as he remembered Zoey’s face when he’d ordered her dinner. “I am trying to incorporate the old ways as much as I can.”
“I couldn’t be more excited if you were my own son.” Linus’s and Slade’s smiles dropped. “You know you should tell them about your parents.”
“Not today. Thank you for agreeing to their terms. I truly believe we can end this war if we work together.”
Linus nodded solemnly. “But not before many more lives are lost. Reports have come in that Alexander has never stopped fathering children with humans and has encouraged the others to do so. Their ranks have grown while ours have stayed the same.”
“Most halflings don’t even have powers or have very weakened powers, and most live shortened lives unless . . .” Slade stopped at the realization.
“Unless they’re given the powers of the Claritase they’ve killed. I believe it’s one of the reasons Alexander has increased his hunters. They need to steal more powers to grow their army.”
“May I tell the Claritase this information?”
“Yes. We need each other now more than ever if we plan to beat Alexander. The only thing that can sway the battle is if The One is found and the prophecy turns out to be true. Otherwise, I fear our days are numbered.”
Grand Master Linus stool and pressed a kiss to the top of Slade’s head. “You’re our strongest warrior. I have the faith of the Goddess in you. You’ve already taken a bold step to reconnect us. I will begin training the men, and when you return you can put them through their paces. Meanwhile, knowledge is just as powerful. We will find everything we can to help us and will pass it to the Claritase. I’m proud of you, son of my heart.”
Slade watched as Linus left the room. He’d thought they had centuries to prepare for the final battle, but now he worried it would be months. He could always move Zoey to someplace Alexander would never find her, but everything inside him told him that was not the right path. The time to attack had come, and that’s exactly what they would do.
Slade thought of Zoey’s Sweet Treats and was there instantly. The front was filled with lunchtime customers. The back of the building held the woman he was looking for. Even if she were licking her paw.
“Grand Mistress,” Slade said as he bowed his head in respect.
“What do you have to report?” she asked as she jumped onto Chance’s back and bounded up onto the prep table.
“Grand Master Linus swears his allegiance and is compiling all the records we have not only on the prophecy, but also on Alexander and his men. Further, I fear I have bad news. Alexander has been fathering halfling children and giving them the powers stolen from the Claritase to make them whole.”
He saw the cat take a deep breath as her teal eyes flashed with anger. “Then the time has come. Linus”—her features softened—“I remember him. He was such a sweet man. His wife—”
“Was killed by Alexander.”
Tears filled her teal eyes as Lauren looked away briefly. “I understand. I lost my true love and the sister of my heart during that battle as well. Thank you for confiding in me the identity of one of your elders. I will take this news to my sisters. If I may give you some advice with the future so uncertain, I would tell Zoey of your feelings. You may have precious little time together, and there’s no better way to spend it than with your true love.”
Slade was going to respond, but the Grand Mistress was gone. He looked around the kitchen and his eyes fell on the wooden spoons kept in a container. Two were cracked, and he thought about what Linus had said of the old traditions. In a blink of an eye, Slade returned to the kitchen with a solid piece of beautiful cherry wood as he took a seat and began to carve.
16
Slade opened Zoey’s door for her as she and Chance walked into the house. Slade carried a grocery bag as Zoey collapsed on the couch. Her energy hadn’t returned all the way, but she’d made it through the day. “Are you sure you don’t want me to help you?” she asked as he bent over and kissed her. Energy warmed their lips and Slade’s heart sped up.
“No. You rest while I make you dinner.”
“I don’t know if a man has ever cooked for me before,” Zoey called out as Slade got to work in the kitchen.
“Well, that’s about to change.” Protective and loving instincts Slade had never felt before flooded him. He knew without a doubt that she was the woman for him. As he cooked dinner, he thought of all the things he wanted to do to show her how he felt.
“This smells delicious,” Zoey said, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist as he filled the plates with food. “While you were cooking I got the most amazing feeling. It was pure happiness.”
“That was me. It’s what I was feeling.” He tried to hide his pleasure of knowing Zoey could feel him. There was no question they were destined for each other now. Maybe she would realize it.
“Do you believe in the prophecy?”
“Yes,” Slade answered instantly as he turned and wrapped Zoey in his embrace. “And I believe in you and in us. I have something for you.” Slade reached into a bag and pulled out the wooden spoon he’d finished carving for her. “For baking.”
“Did you make this?” Zoey asked with wonder as she ran her hand over the spoon.
“I did. Do you like it?”
“I love it. I’m having trouble reconciling the tough badass from the club to this romantic man in front of me,” Zoey said with a little laugh.
“I’ve never been romantic before. You bring it out in me.”
“Will Alexander exploit it?”
“Yes. But I’ll teach you how to handle it. I’ll teach you everything you need to know,” Slade swore as he tightened his hold on her.
“Is that all you’ll teach me?” Zoey asked and Slade’s body reacted to her feelings as they coursed through him as well.
He leaned down and energy sparked when their lips met. A light purplish pink color surrounded them as they became lost in each other. The energy swirled between and around them as he deepened the kiss.
“Dinner can wait,” Zoey said when she broke the kiss and tugged his arm. Slade followed as she led him away from the kitchen. “Your eyes, they’re different.”
“So are yours,” he said, looking into her lavender eyes. When you found your true love and your powers connected, your eyes changed to represent the combining of powers. It was why Mistress Lauren had teal eyes. She was Water and her husband had been Earth. Combined, they made teal. It was now truly a short matter of time before they found out the truth of him. For lavender wasn’t a color that had ever been seen before for the simple reason that Slade wasn’t what anybody had ever seen before.
“I thought it was sexy when your blue eyes could change from a clear blue to a dark, almost black blue, but this color is even sexier with your black hair.”
Zoey fell back against her bed and looked up at him. Slade almost lost his breath as the energy swirled around them. This was what the war was for—to be able to love again. It would be worth his life if it meant he could be with Zoey even if it was only for a short time.
“What?” Alexander screamed as his fist slammed down on the ancient table of the Grand Master. The Grand Master was supposed to be elected, but he’d taken it. No other master had dared to do so, and for four hundred years he’d grown his army and grown his power. And right when he was ready to take it all, he got the news.
“I’m sorry. Victor is still missing and Edan has also gone missing,” Ian, his second-in-command, informed him.
Alexander looked at one of his most promising children and lashed out with a violent hit. “Well, find them!”
Ian absorbed the hit, which only irritated Alexander. “We’ve looked everywhere. They’re gone. I believe they must have encountered a mistress and lost the battle.”
“That’s not possible. Victor, maybe, but not Edan. He is too strong unless he faced the Grand Mistress herself, and we both know she’s not at full power.”
Alexander began to pace. He was slowly rooting out the Claritase and taking their power. He estimated he’d taken out almost half of them over the centuries. Next he would find the rebels who called themselves True Tenebris. And find them he would.
“Did Edan say anything when you met him in Moonshine Hollow?” Ian asked.
Alexander growled with displeasure at being questioned. “He believed he had felt a new kind of power and thought it was The One.” No, it couldn’t be. That was just a stupid prophecy, a myth. A curse Grand Mistress Helena had shouted as he took her life.
“The One? It can’t be,” Ian said with disbelief. “But it has to be,” he muttered a minute later.
“Why does it have to be?” Alexander snapped.
“Because who else could kill Edan?”
Alexander’s hands clenched into fists. Who indeed? There was only one other who could best Edan, but no one had heard from him in a hundred and fifty years. And what would he be doing in Moonshine? No, it had to be The One or a group of mistresses. He didn’t believe in the prophecy so that left a group. Alone they wouldn’t have a chance, but in a group . . .
“No, it’s not The One. That’s a tale used to scare young masters. There must be a group of mistresses in Moonshine. We have found their hideout and maybe their headquarters. Gather the men and prepare for battle. We’ll raze the town to the ground—witches and humans both.”
Alexander smiled with pleasure. War. He thrived during it, and now he was going to go into battle once again after all these years. “Send someone to watch the town while we prepare.”
“Yes, sir.” Ian ran from the room and Alexander pulled up a map. So, they’d gone to the United States. Edan had been right. When Edan had requested Alexander to meet him in Moonshine, he hadn’t believed anyone would live in such a secluded place. It was so small and dull. No women to serve him. No luxuries. No adventure. All the things he’d come to crave over the years with being in power. He hadn’t thought Edan had actually found something when he was in Moonshine. After being interrupted by that little brat he’d had Edan kill, Alexander had left town, thinking Edan was on a wild goose chase. But now he grinned as he felt immense power racing through his body in anticipation of battle. Now he’d destroy them once and for all.
Zoey lay in bed with her head resting on Slade’s bare chest. He’d only left bed long enough to bring their dinner back. He’d fed her and the lavender mist swirled many more times that night. Slade had explained the change in her eyes, and Zoey knew deep down to the core of her soul that Slade was hers and she was his.
All of a sudden, a shiver ran through her. It was as if someone had reached from the grave and raked his fingernails down her spine. Slade’s eyes popped open as he pulled her tightly against him.
“What is it?” Slade asked. “I feel your fear.”
“I don’t know,” Zoey said as her body began to shake. “Something evil is coming for me. I can feel it.”
“Alexander,” Slade whispered as if a curse. “Who are you, Zoey?”
“Why?” she asked as she shivered again and clung to Slade, seeking the warmth of his body.
“Because you can feel what others cannot. You can see what others cannot. You have powers that others do not have,” Slade said slowly as if he didn’t understand it either.
“I snorted Victor. Maybe he had that power?”
Slade shook his head as his eyes seem to be searching for answers in hers. “No. Victor wasn’t nearly as powerful. I haven’t stopped thinking of you since LA and you weren’t a witch then. But I wouldn’t . . . oh my goddess.”
“What?” Zoey asked as she leaned up to look down in his face.
“You always had powers, they just weren’t active,” Slade said as if pieces were falling into place.
“I don’t understand,” Zoey said as she began to feel frustrated.
“You’re a halfling—half witch, half human. When you took in Victor’s powers, your dormant powers came to life. So, I ask again, who are you?”
Zoey felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. H
ad she really been a witch the whole time? “I don’t know, Slade. I don’t know who I am.”
“We’ll find out,” Slade swore as he pulled her to his chest. He ran his hand over her hair and down her back. What were the chances of two people with hidden pasts meeting in a strip club in LA and becoming true loves?
Someone very powerful must be pulling the strings of fate; that was the only answer. Zoey had been placed in his life for a reason. Could the Goddess be forgiving him? Surely it was the only answer for The One being his true love. As Zoey fell to sleep, he swore he’d correct the sins of the past once and for all. Slade only hoped that when the time came, Zoey would understand that his actions were out of love and forgive him for not telling her the truth.
* * *
THE END
Bluegrass Series
Bluegrass State of Mind
Risky Shot
Dead Heat
* * *
Bluegrass Brothers
Bluegrass Undercover
Rising Storm
Secret Santa: A Bluegrass Series Novella
Acquiring Trouble
Relentless Pursuit
Secrets Collide
Final Vow
* * *
Bluegrass Singles
All Hung Up
Bluegrass Dawn
The Perfect Gift
The Keeneston Roses
* * *
Forever Bluegrass Series
Forever Entangled
Forever Hidden
Forever Betrayed
Forever Driven
Forever Secret
Forever Surprised
Forever Concealed
Forever Devoted
Forever Hunted
Forever Guarded
Forever Notorious
Moonshine & Malice Page 8
