Entwined Strangers (BBW Shifter Romance): Sorcery & Shifters Book 4

by Briar, Robin

  Kumi nods.

  “Trixie? Who’s Trixie?” Trent asks. “Another witch?”

  Right. I’m so busy hiding that I have visions from Trent that I forgot he might not know about Trixie. We’ve been dancing around her name for a while now. Kumi and I look at each other. It appears we’re trusting him, but there’s no reason to tell him everything.

  “A good friend. Somebody we protect from Felix. She’s not a witch and she doesn’t know I’m a witch, or Candice and Saffron. We’d like to keep it that way.”

  “You protect her from Felix? Is this friend of yours a redhead, by any chance?”

  Kumi and I both look at Trent. He knows something about our charge.

  “Why do you ask?” Kumi says sternly.

  “Well, if she is a redhead, then I’ve seen her before. There aren’t too many redheads in the world named Trixie that would need protecting from Felix. She used to work at The Vault. About five years ago. She used to accompany Felix down into the Vault.

  “The same place we ended up today. His private sanctum. I never went with him during those times, but Felix would tell me where he was going in case he needed to be found. I was only supposed to interrupt him in the direst circumstances.”

  “So today wasn’t your first time down there?” I ask Trent.

  “No. I’ve been down there many times in the past decade. Felix had me recreate the runic circle in that chamber to exacting specifications in any place where I lived for an extended period of time. That’s why I placed one in the house where I was living with Sylvia at the time.

  “If Felix summoned me, I was to use that circle and show up where we did today. He made it so that the magic is activated by my blood. Simple magic, provided I break the tattoo on my neck first.”

  “Could you do that again if we went back to Sylvia’s place?” I ask him.

  “We could try, but I doubt it. When somebody betrays Felix, he locks them out. I’m sure he’s already destroyed the teleportation link.”

  “So you really betrayed Felix because of your daughter?” Kumi asks him. “Why not sooner?”

  “He only started using Piper as leverage against me recently, after ten years of service, which means my loyalty counts for nothing. There are lots of ways he could have manipulated me. The one he picked was a mistake.”

  Kumi listens intently instead of challenging him on this point. I think she believes him, which is good. It’s important that Kumi has a reason to trust him. If she doesn’t, then she’ll always be looking for a way to kill him instead.

  “You let your guard down earlier,” Kumi says, “rushing upstairs to check on your daughter. You didn’t even smell the air. You might have sensed me if you did. All you cared about was her safety. If Candice and Saffron hadn’t told me that a red-eyed werewolf was working with Jess, then you would be dead right now. I respect your paternal instincts, but it makes your reckless. You need to watch that.”

  “Fair enough,” Trent says. “But it’s hard to think straight where Piper is concerned. I’ve been looking for a way out of Felix’s organization ever since he started holding my daughter hostage. Any plan I came up with had to protect Piper as well. Jessica offered me my first chance to do that.”

  This wasn’t an easy decision for him. I reach and put my hand on Trent’s shoulder to comfort him. He looks at me without pulling away, and even seems to appreciate the touch. I know it’s really just an excuse to touch his body again. So much for sincerity.

  “My betrayal will be a huge blow to Felix,” Trent continues. “He’s going to strike again, and soon, especially once those werewolves fail to report in after a reasonable amount of time. He can’t afford to let me live. To be honest, I’m surprised we made it this far.”

  “Saffron has some thoughts about that,” I say. “She thinks that Felix wants us alive. You and me specifically. That we… corrupted his private sanctum somehow. She thinks he needs us alive to properly cleanse the damage we inflicted. For that reason, you and I are actually better off sticking together right now. Separating us will only make his job easier.”

  I can’t really tell him that the closer we bond emotionally, the more difficult it will make Felix’s job, so I keep that to myself.

  “That being said, I’m concerned about Piper getting caught in the crossfire if Felix comes after us again. He may want us alive, but he couldn’t care less about Piper.”

  Trent sits with that information and contemplates what it means exactly. If we are staying together, then I would want him to travel with me.

  “What’s so special about this mountain? Where have you see it before?” he asks.

  It seems that all my secrets are getting trotted out today. Not even Mason knows. Well, if Trent and I are supposed to bond, one way of doing that is by sharing secrets.

  “I saw it in a vision. A very clear, very lucid vision, like all the visions I’ve had about you, long before we met. Which is why I knew exactly what you looked like before we crossed paths at Sylvia’s place. Which is why I known that you and Sylvia were nestled together in a Norwegian cave during her trip overseas.”

  That causes Trent’s crimson eyes to widen.

  “Well, I recently had another vision, except it was about this mountaintop. It came to me right after the last orgasm you gave me downstairs.”

  There, full disclosure. It actually feels really good to say it all out loud. I feel a bit saner already.

  Trent blinks, but says nothing for a second.

  “I see,” he replies, largely keeping his thoughts to himself.

  “Yes,” I say, holding his stare.

  Trent looks away, suddenly in thought.

  Telling him about my visions was a calculated risk, but a good one in my opinion. He’s a lot more integral to events than I think he realizes. It’s about time he knew it.

  I look at Kumi, who crosses her arms and shrugs at me. Trent taps on the atlas we’ve been poring over.

  “So you had a vision about a mountaintop, matching these coordinates, which you memorized from a door in Felix’s private sanctum?”

  “Correct.”

  “A vision that came to you even before you knew these numbers were coordinates?”

  “Also correct.”

  “Okay, let’s assume for the moment that there’s something important about this place. Maybe even something that lets us strike at Felix before he strikes at us. If I travel to this mountain with you and climb to this peak, I would need to know that I’m leaving my daughter in safe hands.”

  “What about her mother?” I suggest. “Mason is on his way here right now with Sylvia.”

  “Not enough. She is only one wolf. Not even a pack of werewolves would be enough.”

  “What if Candice or Kumi or Saffron stayed behind to protect them both?”

  “Saffron,” Trent says without hesitation. “Much as I don’t like being beat down by anybody, she soundly defeated me back at Sylvia’s. She did it without even breaking a sweat. That’s who I want protecting my daughter.”

  Despite everything I thought about Trent feeling more offended after getting defeated by a woman instead of a man, it appears he’s either capable of change or I was wrong about him. He respects his enemy, regardless of their sex.

  “I’ll ask,” I say, “but that’s no guarantee.”

  Now to figure out what to do next.

  I pick up the piece of paper scrawled with coordinates.

  “I’m willing to bet that each one of those slabs entranceways in Felix’s sanctum opens to a unique teleportation circle. They were all etched with numbers that looked like this one, but I only memorized one set. If the teleportation circle that I’m sure exists behind that door leads to this mountaintop, then it must be important to Felix for some reason. It’s too isolated and remote otherwise.”

  “Agreed,” Trent says.

  “Still, here’s a question for you. Let’s say Felix locked you out of using the teleportation circle back at Sylvia’s place—could your b
lood activate a different teleportation circle into his private sanctum?”

  “No. Felix would have to bind me to each individual circle first. That’s what he did with this one, and that’s no simple matter.”

  “Makes sense. Nothing is ever easy. Still, I can’t let that stop me from going forward with this hunch. I could be chasing my own tail, but something tells me that if I go there, locate this other circle, I’ll find a weakness in Felix’s armor.”

  “Then we need to get out of the city without being detected. That’s going to take a little bit of work,” Trent says.

  I look over at Trent, his red eyes already fixated on me.

  “Fair enough, but it won’t just be you and me. We need to bring Erik and Trixie as well, and two other people.”

  Once you make a concrete plan, it doesn’t take long for the details to fall into place. It feels like I’ve been guided by events for a while now, but it’s time for me to take control of them.

  Saffron agrees to the plan. Trixie’s friend Erik is the mountain climber we need, but getting Trixie out of the city is a good idea while Felix is on the move.

  The wards we cast on her will prevent the warlock from coming within a mile of her location. So long as Trixie stays with us at all times, that will actually safeguard us from the warlock as we approach the mountain.

  Candice arrives shortly thereafter, flying high over the city. She descends on my brownstone under the cover of night and gets to work immediately.

  First she cleans off he telltale scorch marks Kumi left behind in the aqueduct and repairs the wall Piper broke down with her tiny little fists. She then magically fabricates a reinforced entrance so that we can come and go as we please using the tunnels. When she’s done, the wall looks like any other section of the aqueduct.

  Next, Candice teaches me three spells. The mending spell she just used, the bulletproof spell Saffron was telling me about, and, most importantly, a spell that lets me heal somebody other than myself.

  It could have easily saved two lives today. It’s high time I learned how to do that.

  As usual, I’m a quick study and pick up the basics immediately. It’s like the magic wants to be cast and is waiting for me at my fingertips.

  That’s when Candice heads out again. She has to intercept Mason and Sylvia as they approach the city and guide them into town away from the brownstone.

  Kumi calls Trixie in the meantime. Tells her about a spontaneous trip she’s planning. A mountain-climbing excursion.

  Trixie has been trying to get Candice, Kumi, Saffron, and I to go jogging, or kayaking, or even mountain climbing for ages. We always bow out. It’s easier to protect her against potential threats from afar, so our young charge doesn’t suspect she needs protecting in the first place.

  That means more work for us, but we’ve been doing it for five years now. Ever since freeing her from Felix’s clutches.

  Trixie predictably jumps at the mountain-climbing plan and insists that Erik come along too, which is perfect. All according to plan. We are definitely going to need a seasoned climber who already owns his own equipment.

  Candice calls ahead on the magically networked phone to let us know that Mason and Sylvia are in the city. It feels like I haven’t seen Mason for ages, but it’s only been a day. I’m sure Candice told them some version of what’s been happening, but not everything.

  No, she left the everything part for me to decide.

  Candice takes them to an old SoHo warehouse that Trent tells them about with access to the city aqueducts.

  Following his directions, Trent navigates Candice over the magically networked phone through the tunnels to the secret reinforced entranceway that she just installed before leaving. When she announces that they’ve arrived, Trent hangs up and hands me the phone.

  The two of us are waiting for them in the meditation room. I’ve been practicing the mending spell over and over in the meantime, cleaning the room obsessively, eliminating any trace of cum or sweat that Trent and I spilled here a few hours ago.

  I hope it’s enough to fool Mason’s and Sylvia’s noses.

  Mason comes through the door first, looks at me with his warm brown eyes, and smiles. It's awkward, but sincere. Then he looks at Trent and says nothing.

  He reaches through the door and helps Sylvia squeeze past the apothecary that has already been moved aside. She sees Trent and looks down immediately. Still deferential to him.

  Candice enters the room last, no doubt after securing the reinforced entranceway. She looks back and forth between both sets of people, nobody saying a word, and then walks over to me. He eye contact is filled with sympathy.

  “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me, Jess, making dinner for everybody. We’re going to need our strength. Show up when you’re ready.”

  Candice pats me on the shoulder and walks upstairs.

  Trent and I don’t move. Neither do Mason and Sylvia. The space between us feels impossibly wide.

  Finally, Mason breaks the silence, addressing Trent directly.

  “Sylvia told me about your history. It appears my niece has a living father after all.”

  He says the words with disdain, but acceptance. He doesn’t like Trent and probably never will. This effort is strictly being made for his twin sister and Piper.

  The words speak volumes. They mean that Sylvia spent much, if not all of the drive here trying to explain Trent’s presence in her life. It means that Sylvia still has feelings for Trent, despite attempting to manipulate her brother and his girlfriend—me—into working for him.

  The words mean that Mason has decided to give his sister the benefit of the doubt, against his own better judgment. They mean he’s willing to bury the hatchet, which is extremely generous of Mason considering what was done to him earlier today by Trent’s men.

  And I now I’m going to dig that hatchet up and make a new brand new wound with it.

  “Trent and I had sex.”

  Which really only scratches the surface of what happened, but the words have been said now. It's too late to take them back. I’m committed. I just wish Mason and I didn't feel like such strangers as I was saying them.

  ENTWINED STRANGERS

  Sorcery & Shifters

  Book 4

  You've just finished reading Sorcery & Shifters Book 4, ENTWINED STRANGERS. The story continues in Book 5, ENTWINED HEARTS.

  Sorcery & Shifters Book 5

  Entwined Hearts

  by Robin Briar

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  Thank you for reading!

  Love, Robin.

  About the Author

  Robin Briar, a slave to the paranormal genre, is already writing more about Jess the witch maiden and her supporting cast of werewolves in the Sorcery & Shifters series.

  Robin is assisted by a fussy feline familiar who insists on a tight schedule, so less daylight for the author means more stories for you. Who knew a black & white rescue cat could be so demanding?

  You can connect with Robin online here: robinbriar.blogspot.com