by Sasha Parker
Her grandmother approached her and said, "You look just like your mother did on her wedding day. The dress turned out beautiful.” The two women hugged as all the women wiped at the tears in their eyes.
Coni had given her their mother's wedding dress with her sisters' blessing and it had been slightly altered to look a little more modern. It was ivory with an allover beaded Irish lace trumpet gown with empire waist and cap sleeves that had originally been long. It also had a chapel train. Ari kept everything original except for shortening the sleeves, it was a simple change but made the dress modern. She looked exquisite.
As the seamstress got to work making sure the fit was perfect, one of her helpers brought out the bridesmaids’ dresses. They were done in a pale blue, like the sky in the glen, and were sleeveless, V-neck, cotton sateen dresses. They had pleating at the bodices and waists that helped to create a flattering silhouette while the full cotton sateen skirt added movement. It flowed over each sister, looking graceful and sexy. Ari told them that she had picked those particular dresses because they could be used for other occasions.
Everyone was fitted and happy with how everything had turned out. Coni had gotten a beautiful dress in peach that fit her perfectly with no alterations necessary. They all headed out of the shop as Erin called Myles as promised, letting him know they were on their way back. They just had to stop at the florist and he told her to call when they were heading to the castle. She rolled her eyes but promised she would.
The florist had several bouquets all set up for Ari to look over when they arrived at the shop. Ari loved Calla Lilies, so she had the florist make up a bouquet that had deep purple Calla Lilies, her favorite, with a mix of English lavender to symbolize love and devotion. The florist reminded Ari it was tradition for the bridesmaids to carry Myrtle to plant after the ceremony so they, too, would marry someday. Her sisters all had something to say about that, mostly protesting, and then they all laughed. They decided they would carry Blue Bells with Sweet Alyssum in small bouquets.
After everything was finally decided upon, the women left the little shop in town and headed back to the castle. Erin texted Myles this time as they were all discussing the arrangements for the wedding. As they piled into the SUV, Calli won the toss to drive with Kira in the passenger seat. No one would even consider Sheela to drive, as they were all terrified of her driving. Due to her profession, she tended to go fast and furious.
They were all in a debate about a bachelorette night when Calli suddenly swerved off the road and ran straight into a tree. They hit hard and Erin threw herself over her grandmother sitting next to her.
As the initial shock wore off, Ari yelled, "Is everyone okay?"
Erin said, "I'm good. Are you okay, Mamo?"
"Yes, child, just a little shaken,” their grandmother said.
"We're okay back here,” Sheela said, answering for her and Ari. "Kira?"
"I'm fine, bumped my head. Calli is out cold," Kira answered.
Erin grabbed her phone and called Myles, when he answered, she said, "We were in an accident."
"Are you hurt? Where are you?" Myles demanded.
Erin looked around. "Everyone seems fine. Next to Bannion Lake. Not far."
"Stay there. We are on our way,” Myles told her and hung up.
Erin opened the door and stepped out. She went around to the driver's door and saw that Calli was back against the seat, so she opened the door. She checked Calli's pulse and breathing, finding her just passed out with no visible injuries. By that time, all the other sisters got out, while their grandmother remained in the car with Calli.
The wind suddenly picked up speed, furiously knocking the sisters back a step. Erin glanced around quickly and saw Ari go on alert as well.
Kira pointed across the lake. "There. Who is that?"
As the sisters stood outside the SUV, they all gasped as their Blessed Five marks began to heat up at the same time. It only happened to them when there was power around them or they were using their own.
The four sisters all looked and saw a figure of a man standing across the lake. He was dressed all in black with a black hat pulled low on his face to cover his identity. The sisters all stood side by side facing him. He raised his hand and another blast of air came from him.
Erin shut the car doors telling Mamo to stay inside with Calli. Ari raised her hand and blasted the man back with a blast of air stronger than what he had sent over. Erin raised her hands and called down the rain. It began to storm over the man, raining harder and harder. With the combined rain and Ari's wind, he was being knocked off his feet time and again. Suddenly, he threw up his hand and it seemed that he had some sort of shield around him, which stopped the weather from getting to him.
Sheela stepped up and threw her hand at him like she was throwing a baseball. From the center of her hand came a ball of flame, which flew straight toward the man. The first one hit the shield then the second penetrated it, knocking the man off balance. He stumbled back into a group of trees and began to raise his hands at once toward the sisters.
Kira knelt down quickly and stuck her hand to the ground, closing her eyes. The large oak behind the man began to swing its large branches, slamming them down near the man, one knocked him onto his back on the ground. Sheela raised her hands again and a bolt of energy came out of the sky to strike him in the chest.
Just then, several men came out of the forest around the man, two dragging him out of sight. The others raised their hands and began to send balls of energy at the sisters. Ari held her hands up and sent a blast of air around her sisters and herself to block anything from hitting them.
They heard a screech of tires and then the Guardians surrounded them, calling upon their swords and sending arcs of electricity toward the men across the lake. The men began to take off, running in retreat into the woods. The Guardians were taking no chances as Reilly gently moved Calli into the back seat with Coni while Lachlan hurried the sisters into the SUV. Then Reilly got into the driver's seat with Lachlan in the passenger side. Aedan and Myles took Erin with them in the other SUV and they all shot off back toward the castle.
Chapter Eighteen
They arrived at the castle in a flurry of activity. Reilly carried Calli inside to her room where he laid her down on her bed, still passed out. Coni went to her greenhouse and got her healing crystals that she placed all around Calli on the bed. All four sisters were standing at the foot of the bed looking anxious. The crystals began to glow when their grandmother placed the last one on the bed. When they stopped, Calli slowly opened her eyes.
"What's going on? What happened?" Calli asked.
"We had an accident and you were knocked out,” their grandmother explained gently to her.
Calli quickly tried to sit up. "Is everyone alright?"
Erin put a hand on her shoulder to keep her down. "We are all fine. You need to rest. I am going to go down and start dinner."
"Yeah, listen to Erin. You rest and we will bring something up to you," Kira said.
"But—" Calli began.
"Not one word. Stay," Ari said firmly. No one argued with her.
"Okay. My head does hurt a little," Calli admitted.
"I will get you some aspirin and sit with you," their grandmother said.
Coni ushered everyone out into the hall and said quietly, "I am concerned. She woke up when the crystals healed her. That means magick was involved."
"What can we do?" Ari asked.
"Well first, go make dinner. I will get her some aspirin and then after dinner we will discuss what to do next,” their grandmother told them.
They nodded their head and then they all headed to the kitchen to start dinner while the men headed to take care of the castle and to inform the Council.
****
Reilly and Lachlan went out to set the wards early and to secure the vehicles in the garage while Myles and Aedan went to the office and contacted the Council to inform them of the attack.
"Kai, this sit
uation has become too serious. The women were attacked by an unknown sorcerer and several goons out by the lake. No one was seriously injured, except for the sorcerer. He had to be dragged off by his men," Aedan said. "Although, Calli was knocked out and we are still confused as to why. There is something going on here because he knew when they would be alone. It was the one time we weren't with them. Ari was trying on her dress and insisted with all of them together they would be okay. We failed and we offer our humblest apologies."
Kai looked furious as he said, "You Guardians are not to leave the women alone ever again regardless of the situation or how much the women bitch at you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Councilor," the two men said formally.
"I sense a strong evil is amongst us, stronger than what we thought. We have underestimated him. We will not do so again. We are working to find out more answers for you. In the meantime, there are more Guardians headed your way. They should be there by the wedding," Kai informed them.
"That is good news," Myles said.
"For now, never alone," Kai said again.
"We understand. We will keep you informed," Aedan said to Kai.
"As I will you," Kai said and the screen went black.
Aedan looked at Myles. "We had better go fill in Reilly and Lachlan. It's good more are coming. I think this is going to be a shit storm."
Myles put his hand on Aedan's shoulder as they walked out and said, "I agree, brother, but goddess help anyone who tries to fuck with Ari's wedding."
They both laughed as they went to find the other Guardians.
There was a long conversation between the Guardians on locking down the women in the castle.
****
At dinner, the women were informed that they were on lockdown and the fight was on. Ari began the protests. "What about all the wedding errands?"
Reilly put a calming hand on her. "Honey, we can run most of the errands for you now that you have everything picked out. Your final fitting was today, right? So, we can cover it from here."
“Your safety is our upmost concern right now. We need you to all stay together,” Lachlan put in from her other side.
Ari sighed. "I guess we can handle everything from here."
"Of course we can,” Kira added with confidence.
"Not going to be a problem,” Sheela interjected.
"It will be fun to have the guys as our slaves,” Erin said with a twinkle in her eye.
Ari laughed. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate the support. Okay. We can do this."
They finished the meal and they were cleaning up when their grandmother came down from Calli's room. "I think we should all talk now. Shall we go into the living room?"
They all joined her and Lachlan said, "How is Calli doing, Coni?"
"She's better. She has no memory of why we crashed or what happened after. This is what has me concerned. I want her to get checked by a doctor soon,” their grandmother said.
"One of us can take her into Tullamore for some tests,” Lachlan said.
Coni nodded. "I will make the arrangements.” She hesitated for a moment and then went on. "I also think we need to bring a little more magick into the mix. There is a spell that will bind all five of you together so that you will be able to know where the others are and if anything happens."
"I like that idea. Let's do that,” Ari said.
All of the sisters agreed, as did the men. Coni left to make the preparations and to get some herbs from her greenhouse. Kira went upstairs to get Calli and fill her in, she also agreed it was for the best.
They all gathered again in the living room where Coni was setting up candles and crystals. Then she had the sisters each put a drop of their blood into the bowl she set in the middle of the room and then join hands. She added some herbs to the bowl and then began to chant.
"Mother Earth, God of Sun, protect these sisters as if they are one. Merge their spirits through time and space, keep them safe no matter the place. Knowing as one, let them have care. Join the Five, with them all be aware.” She threw a match into the bowl, which burst into a single flame, and the sisters all let out gasps at the same time.
"Holy shit, did you guys feel that?” Kira asked.
"Yeah, it felt like I was moving but inside,” Sheela said.
Ari giggled. "I felt like I was plunging on a roller coaster for a second."
"Exactly,” Erin said.
Kira pinched Ari and Calli said, "Ow. I felt that!"
Erin rubbed her arm. "We all did."
"Wait," Kira said, turning to their grandmother. "I am so not going to 'feel' when they," she pointed to Ari and Erin, "goobers are having sex, am I? I have to draw the line there."
"Eww...that's so gross," Sheela said.
Their grandmother laughed. "No, you won't. Only when you feel physical pain or something bad happens, you will know."
"Good. Cause that would have sucked," Calli said.
"For more than just you, I think I speak for all of us," Lachlan said as the other men nodded.
They all laughed and then helped clean up the living room. Their grandmother took some more herbs and made them all some special shakes, which she said would help fortify their spirits from the power they used earlier. The sisters had all felt drained but hadn't wanted to say anything. They now sat around filling Calli in on all of the details.
"I can't believe I missed all of that,” Calli said.
"Well, I will say that we did kick ass," Sheela told her.
Kira laughed. "My tree trick did it. Did you see him go flying?"
Erin piped in with, "It was all of us. We did it together."
"We are very proud of you,” Lachlan said as he kissed the top of Ari's head.
"That we are. You did well," Myles said as he kissed Erin on her lips.
"See? Now I'm jealous," Kira said.
Reilly laughed and went over to blow a raspberry on Kira's cheek. "There, is that better?"
She shoved at him and laughed. "Ass."
"Well, children, I'm off to bed. I will see you all in the morning. Blessed be," their grandmother said as she stood to leave the room.
They all said good night and then discussed plans for the next day. The women were going to gather into the dining room the next morning to have a wedding meeting. They would determine what the men could do and what they could do from home. They also discussed the situation of the attack.
"Who is this that is after us?" Kira asked. "I mean, what the fuck does he want?"
"That is the sixty-four thousand dollar question," Sheela said.
"You guys got any ideas?" Calli asked the Guardians.
Lachlan shook his head. "The Council is looking into it, but there are no leads."
"No one is speaking about it or bragging, as the case may be," Myles said.
"Well, he, whoever he is, is screwed," Erin said.
Ari laughed aloud and they all looked at her like she had lost her mind. "I was thinking it was like Harry Potter.” They all looked at her with blank looks. "You know, 'he who must not be named'."
"Ah, I get it.” Kira laughed. "You're right. That is cute."
"You're a riot," Sheela said.
"So what, we call him Voldemort?" Calli asked.
"No, we don't give him a name. He's evil," Erin said.
Reilly added, "He is and he seems to have a lot of help."
"Yeah, we need to look into that. Who was that guy in the woods? Was that him?" Aedan asked.
"These are all good questions, we need to find answers. We have more Guardians that should be here by the wedding," Lachlan said.
"Tomorrow we will speak with the Council again and see if we can find some answers," Myles said determinedly.
They all said good night and went to their rooms after watching a movie in the living room together. It was nice to just be like a family, doing normal things, Erin thought as she walked up the stairs and looked in her room. The room she'd had since she was a child. They belonged there, wi
th her, until her grandmother finished the renovations, then they would have their own suite of rooms. While the men were downstairs, checking the perimeter once more, Erin moved all of their stuff into her room.
Chapter Nineteen
The men finished the perimeter check and headed to Erin's room. When they reached the doorway they stopped and their eyes searched the bedroom. That's when Myles and Aedan noticed their things around the room and looked at her questioningly.
She shrugged. “You belong in here, with me.” Then she held out her hands to both of them. The men walked to her and took what she offered, allowing them to be pulled into the room.
“I can’t wait to get you naked.” Myles picked her up and brought her to the bed. She didn’t care where he took her, as long as she got to be with both men forever.
Aedan grabbed something out of his things and turned with three scarves in his hand. She looked up at Myles. “What are those for?” Okay, she could guess, but she wanted to see what they had planned this time.
“We know that as soon as we get naked, you’ll have your hands all over us, and my cock is hard as a fucking rock. You touch him, and, kitten, he won’t last long enough to make you happy,” Myles said.
Aedan laid the bright scarves out on the bed. “I promise you will love this, honey. We want this to be the best thing you have ever experienced. If we use the scarves, then you won't be confused about who you are supposed to touch.”
She was okay with that. “In some way, do I get a say in all this?”
They both said NO together.
She trusted them enough to know if she didn’t like it, they would remove the scarves. “Can I undress you two first?”
“No.” Well that sucked, she looked forward to exploring their bodies, but apparently they were going to focus only on her.
As Myles lifted her sundress off her quickly, Aedan stepped behind her and unhooked her bra, but he didn’t take it off. From the way Myles’s gaze never left her face, she was in for a long night of passionate lovemaking, and she couldn’t wait.
