by Leela Ash
“It is Joseph, isn’t it?” Derek demanded.
“The Archstones wouldn’t have caught him, you know?” Bo whispered, revealing something he had told no one for years. “He couldn’t live with himself after Mala died. He started sending his Whisperer to the Archstones, telling them where he was. He wanted to be caught and killed. He wanted to die. He just didn’t have the courage or desire to do it himself.”
Derek straightened. “What are you saying, Bo?”
Bo shrugged and tried to smile as though it didn’t matter. But it did matter and his smile was wan at best. “The day they caught him, he went to the forest, laid beneath a maple tree and sent his Whisperer to the camp of the Archstones. He was practically begging for death. He wanted them to end his misery.”
“My God.”
“I found him again and tried to abort his plans as I had countless other times. But I was too late. This time the Archstones moved fast. They caught us both and then they granted his wish. They used him for target practice and shot a thousand poisoned arrows into his body,” Bo finished. He was staring off into the distance, his eyes bleak.
Derek felt renewed sympathy course through him. How could he make things right? But now was not the time or place.
“You’re not Joseph, Bo. And Jeanine isn’t —”
“She could be,” Bo interrupted, his eyes shining with an emotion so raw and naked Derek felt as though he were seeing his brother for the very first time. He felt almost as though he were intruding on something very private. “One wrong touch and I— I —I could lose her forever.”
Bo felt as though he had just unburdened himself in confession.
Derek felt pity course through him. Kelly was his life. He couldn’t imagine his life without her. Bo needed love more than most people and he had found it and yet he was afraid to reach for it because he thought he would hurt her.
“Bo? Why don’t you trust yourself a little? I have every faith in you. Trust yourself and trust Jeanine. I found Kelly, didn’t I?”
“Kelly is sweet and calm and bends over backwards to please you. Jeanine is raw fire. She’s not above wanting a roll in the hay or a snow-fight or something just as silly. She’s exuberant and she can express anger by hitting. What if one day she gets hurt?”
“Bo—” Derek tried again.
“No! She’s not Kelly. And I’m not you. I’m something else… I’m one step away from being… a monster.”
Derek started to rush into denials but Drake and Jack appeared that moment, grinning in triumph, their faces glistening with sweat.
Bo and Derek’s faces snapped towards the other two men; their conversation abandoned as they rushed forward to examine the tiny row of cowries knit into a plain silver wire.
“Is that it?” they demanded in unison.
“Must be,” Bo said handing it over to Derek.
Derek examined it. This damn thing had cost them a lot and had cost some others their lives.
“You did good,” he praised shoving it into one of the pockets on his combat trousers and zipping that pocket. “Now, let’s get out of here,” he snapped, turning to lead the way.
“Not so fast boys,” Nabradia trilled, appearing right in front of them flanked by Alcacia, Luferia, and Palma.
20.
“Nabradia,” Jack breathed.
“In the flesh,” she agreed, sketching him a mock bow.
“Now boys, if you would be so good as to hand over that Tiara, we’ll let you live.”
Derek glared at her, “Guess again.”
“Oh Derek, Derek,” she cooed. “You’re Joshua’s firstborn, aren’t you? How would you like to go home, minus the three men beside you, to tell Joshua how you traded their lives for a little bit of trinket?”
Derek’s jaw hardened into pure granite, “Remember our Salem-Weirna covenant? It’s the reason we have co-existed so peacefully for years Nabradia. You can’t harm us even if you wanted to.”
Nabradia started to laugh, a full belly-laugh, as though he had told the funniest joke ever. She actually threw back her head as she laughed like she was enjoying a joke no one else knew, not even her followers, because they stayed silent.
“Can’t I? Guess again,” she threw back his words at him. “Rekana!” she yelled pointing at Derek.
A bright light flew from her wand, hit Derek in the chest and ricocheted harmlessly off him.
Nabradia looked furious but her followers seemed dazed. What could have resisted her magic? Nabradia was the most powerful witch alive outside of the Council of Seven and the Coven Assembly.
“So, you were banking on that precious Weirna-Salem covenant, were you? Well, you have something I want Derek Cavanaugh. Either you hand it over right now or all bets are off,” she spat.
Derek grinned, pleased to see that just as he had thought, the Tiara protected the bearer.
“Come on guys, let’s leave. She’s powerless,” he added for good measure.
Nabradia’s roar of rage almost gave Drake an orgasm, he was so pleased. Dragons and witches had a special hatred for each other from time immemorial, so he had never liked the witch; not even when she had been pretending to be Joshua’s friend.
“Bo Kent,” Alcacia called, stepping forward. “I have scores to settle with you,” she announced.
The men all looked at her, then at each other. Only Bo seemed unperturbed. “Later, honey… after we’ve stashed this here Tiara in a place where your mother’s greedy fingers can’t get to it.”
Alcacia’s face went putrid just like her mother’s. She started to raise her wand but Nabradia stopped her.
“Final offer boys. Give us the Tiara. Or I tell the witches surrounding your house to start collecting trophies. And by trophies, I mean heads. Joshua, the wolf and two humans, huh?”
Bo swore viciously. She knew exactly who was in the house. How had she known? Of course, he might have suspected that she had surveillance on the house. Or was it some witchcraft hocus pocus she had done to help her monitor the house?
He turned to Drake, his eyes full of meaning. “We gotta go. Now!”
Nabradia laughed again, “Your dragon will never get there in time.”
She was still laughing as Drake morphed into his dragon form and the men started to scramble onto his back.
Bo was the last one up and he was preoccupied with climbing. He didn’t see Alcacia start forward. Jack yelled a warning, but it was too late.
Her sword sliced through the air with a wicked whoosh and imbedded itself in Bo’s chest, piercing straight through his heart. He screamed in pain and toppled off Drake’s back to land on the ground, his hand clutching at the sword point visible through his chest.
“That’s for letting me kiss you when you knew your stupid blood covenant was going to harm me. Marauding bastard!”
Then with raucous laughter, the witches vanished.
The brother rushed to Bo’s side, their faces ashen. The sword was still embedded in his chest and had obviously been spelled which was why it had pierced so easily.
Bo started to shake as blood gushed out of his wound in frightening clots. Bo could see his whole life flashing before his eyes in seconds and then everything stilled and centered on Jeanine’s face. Her lovely eyes swam before his eyes and his heart twisted with a pain more severe than the physical pain he was feeling. He would never hold her, never tell her he loved her, he would never listen to her breathing after his lovemaking had tired her out.
“Bo, listen to me. I can heal you,” Drake said urgently. “But we need to get to the house fast and if I heal you right away it will take me days to recover from this injury. So just hold on for a few minutes okay? I’ll try my damnedest to fly as fast as I can and once we’re home, I’ll heal you.”
“Yes, he’s right man. You’re gonna be fine. Just hold on,” Jack said.
“Let’s get out of here,” Derek spat. He was furious.
Drake moved away and changed back into his dragon form, twisting his head to
watch as Jack and Derek helped Bo to his feet and half-dragged, half-carried him to the dragon. They were being careful not to dislodge the sword still in his chest because doing so might worsen the bleeding.
As the finally managed to wrestle him onto Drake’s back, Bo lifted drained eyes to Derek’s and whispered, “I would want her to know I loved her as I’ve never loved even myself. I would tell her she’s my life and I would… a-a-ask her to m-m-marry me.”
He passed out at once. Derek said nothing. He had gotten the message. This was Bo’s response to his earlier question about what he would want Jeanine to know if anything happened to him.
But Bo would live to give her that message himself, he vowed silently as Drake rose into the air and began a very rapid flight home to Weirna.
Something was very wrong, she could feel it. Her palms were cold and yet sweaty, her breath kept hitching as though she were barely holding back sobs, her entire being was convulsed in anxiety. Something was very wrong.
She turned to Joshua, “Can we call them?”
It was Luke that replied, “Try to calm down, Jeanine. Bo will come home to you.”
The words were calm, measured but she realized he was saying more than those words. There had been a slight softening in his attitude towards her, but she didn’t know why. She blinked back tears as she asked, “Do you promise?”
He cursed softly and crossed the room to gather her against his chest. She broke down in tears, clinging to him and weeping softly. “I promise, Jeanine. He will be fine. He’ll come back alive to you even if it means I have to storm Alabad myself to get him back.”
Jeanine released a watery chuckle. “I thought only witches went to Alabad.”
“Yeah, but it would be wicked of him to die on you. It would make him the wicked witch and send him straight to Alabad. So that’s where I’d go, and we already know Nabradia will help me.”
It was too much. She hadn’t expected such silliness from him and her laughter gurgled happily as she clung to him.
A whoosh sounded outside followed by a light thud and the immediate tension in Luke’s body told her that the rest of the Pack were back. She jumped backwards and started towards the door with a glad cry. So did Kelly and Joshua and Luke.
They all poured out of the door screaming and laughing. Their jubilation ended at once when they saw the brother bearing Bo up with a sword jutting out of his chest. Drake changed back into his human form at once.
“Beaufort!” Jeanine screamed, running towards them, already in tears.
“Hold on, he’s gonna be fine,” Luke yelled grabbing her and holding her back. “Let’s go inside.”
Jeanine was trembling as she was hustled into the house. Her hands were shaking as she rushed to Bo’s side as they carried him in. There was blood everywhere and his eyes were closed. Was he dead?
No, her whole being rejected the thought. “Don’t you dare die on me Beaufort Kent! Do you hear me? Beaufort!”
His lip canted in a small smile and amazingly, he whispered, “Yes ma’am.”
Jeanine started to laugh. He was alive. As soon as he was laid onto the seat, she bent and pressed a feather light kiss to his mouth. Then she whispered in his ears, “If you dare die, I’ll kiss every man I see for as long as I live and you’ll be very jealous and unable to say a thing about it.”
He smiled again and then he drifted off into unconsciousness.
“It’s a good thing he’s passed out,” Derek said, as he moved her out of the way with care and flipped Bo to his back. He grabbed the handle of the sword and gave a swift pull. It came clean and blood began to gush in earnest.
Drake came forward at once and placed both hands onto the gaping wound in Bo’s chest. Jeanine heard him gasp and then a bright golden light began to pour from his hands into the wound. Warmth filled the entire room and she felt safe and protected all of a sudden. She watched, mouth agape, as Bo’s wound began to close up and in mere seconds his skin was unbroken and completely healed.
“Oh my God,” she gasped, one hand flying to her mouth as relief poured through her. “Beaufort.”
Once the healing was done, Drake rose to his feed, weaved a little and to her horror, collapsed into a heap.
“Drake!” she screamed, running to him.
Luke and Derek were already hauling him up and placing him on a chaise. “What happened to him?” she demanded.
“Whenever he heals someone he takes on the injury on himself. Bo’s wounds were extensive and almost fatal so he’s in that level of pain.”
“Oh my goodness. Is he gonna be alright?” she sobbed.
“He’ll be good as new once we get him some herbs and let him rest,” Kelly answered her.
Jeanine looked at Bo. He was healed but sleeping. “And Bo?”
“Healed. As though nothing ever happened,” Jack said.
She stood wringing her hands. Drake had practically given his life to save Bo and she didn’t know how she felt about that. She wanted to hug him and at the same time she wanted to weep all over his prone body.
Joshua’s wise eyes scanned her face and he picked a bowl and said, “Here. Go pick some herbs for Drake from the garden.”
She grabbed the bowl, eager to do anything to help the man who had almost given his life to save Bo. She was already at the front door when she slowed and turned to ask, “What herbs though?”
“They grow by the well in the garden. They have pink and blue flowers.”
Jeanine nodded and exited the house happily.
She didn’t see the two witches standing at the edge of the property, but they saw her. They shared an amused glance and started forward towards their quarry.
21.
“Jeanine’s been gone for a while,” Kelly murmured looking up for the umpteenth time. She hoped Jeanine had not done something foolish like fall into the well. She had been gone for thirty minutes at least.
“I have no way of knowing how long she’s been gone. I only have eyes for you,” Derek teased.
Kelly grinned. She had been so pleased to see him whole she had forgotten their spat and melted into his arms at once, kissing his face all over until he chuckled from self-consciousness.
“You won’t have any eyes left whatsoever if Bo comes through and finds out you’ve misplaced Jeanine.”
Derek chuckled. “You’re right. I’ll go see.”
As though on cue. Bo stirred, “Jeanine?”
“I’m going to get her,” Derek told him. He headed to the garden and looked over by the well. He didn’t see her. His heart jolted with alarm. Had she gotten curious to peer into the well and fallen in? He sped towards the well and that was when he saw the bowl of picked herbs strew on the ground.
The smell hit his nostrils and he started to curse rapidly; he would know that scent anywhere: witches. They had been here.
He looked at the well and saw the writing in blood on its side.
We have her. Come, along with the Tiara.
Dear Lord! How had they gotten that much blood? Had they hurt her already? He looked at the ground around but there were no droplets on the floor. He raced back inside, stooping to carry the herbs for Drake.
“She’s been taken,” he announced as soon as he stepped inside.
Every face snapped to his with identical expressions of shock and horror, including Bo’s. Only Drake was still passed out.
“Jeanine? By whom?” Bo demanded springing off the bed. He moved too fast and he had to clutch the nearest sofa as the world tilted crazily.
“The witches. They wrote it on the well. They want the Tiara.”
“Of course they do,” Joshua said with a grin.
Everyone gawked at him. Why was he so happy?
“What’s wrong with you?” Derek demanded.
Joshua shrugged, “We’re going to give her the Tiara.”
“Have you gone mad? She would enslave everyone,” Jack cried.
“No, she won’t,” Joshua said.
“What aren’t y
ou telling us?” Bo demanded.
Joshua didn’t answer. He just stared expectantly at the door. As though on cue, a knock sounded and everyone swiveled in that direction, as Dolly Lourdes and Nana Lourdes came in.
“Oh shit,” Bo breathed as soon as he saw Jeanine’s mother. The woman had never liked him. If she heard now how he had misplaced her daughter, she would surely hate him forever.
Joshua chuckled. “You really did a number on my boy,” he said with twinkling eyes aimed at Dolly Lourdes.
She shrugged. “Just being a mother.”
“Mrs. Lourdes,” Bo said striding forward to take his medicine like a man. “You can hit me, cuss at me, anything that makes you feel better. But I swear I’ll help you get your daughter back. I was passed out, else I would never have let her go alone.”
Dolly looked at the man she had detested until her mother read him like a book and told her he was willing to lay down his life for her daughter if need be. She placed a tender hand on his cheek, “I know that, Bo. We’ll get her back. This is my mum. She’ll help.”
“Nana Lourdes is —” Joshua began.
“A witch!” Jack breathed. “Well, how’s that for a fucking twist!”
“And not just that. She’s one of the Council of Seven,” Joshua added.
A hushed, reverent silence fell.
“You’re shitting me. Jeanine never said,” Bo said.
“She only found out recently. How do you think she got to know about you and your little secret?” Nana laughed.
“We have to give them the Tiara to get Jeanine back,” Dolly said bringing the discussion back to a topic of far more interest to her.
Everyone looked at her.
“Nana is powerful enough to help me remove the special crystal inside that Tiara,” Joshua told them. “Once it’s removed, the Tiara becomes useless.”
“But Nabradia will sense that the power is removed,” Bo protested.
“Not when I replace it with another crystal less powerful,” Nana chortled.
“And why should we trust you?” Luke queried.
Nana stared at him long and hard until the tips of his ears went red with embarrassment.
