Evan cleared his throat and decided it was time to change the subject while everyone laughed at his expense. “So, where is my lovely little Niece anyway?”
Mikael had already walked over to the bassinet and picked her up. “She’s right here. My little sleeping beauty…” Seeing Mikael melt every time he held our daughter would never get old. I just smiled over at them as Evan reached to take hold of her.
“She’s gorgeous! Thank the wolf spirits that she looks like her mother.” Evan announced amid laughter.
“I have to agree with you there,” Mikael started, “although if she was sporting my whiskers maybe I wouldn’t have trouble keeping the boys away later.”
“Mikael!” I yelled in mock-outrage. “You will not wish whiskers upon my child, unless she has completed the change and is in wolf form.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He bowed slightly towards me while Evan made the sound of a cracking whip. “Yeah, well, I’m okay with being whipped, brother.” After seeing Natalia walk up, and peer around his arm at the baby, Mikael added, “Looks like I’m not the only one.” Evan just shrugged his shoulders and grinned.
“I can’t believe how tiny she is.” He whispered to no one in particular. “It’s crazy, I feel like I might break her if I breathe too hard.”
“Well, do try not to do that. I’d hate to have to kill you today.” Mikael said through his laughter.
“May I?” Natalia asked, as she approached Evan and Willow.
“Of course.” I smiled at her as she took Willow in her arms.
“She truly is beautiful.” Natalia offered. Then she began to chant in an angelic voice.
“Lumina sa straluceasca in jos
Si sa binecuvanteze acest copil
Un viitor luminous, cu bucurie si rasete
Poate spiritele luminare uita mereu dupa
Si sa binecuveanteze acest copil frumos.”
By the time she got to the end of whatever she was chanting. There was a warm white light surrounding both her and my baby. I panicked, and snatched Willow from her immediately. “What the hell are you doing?” I looked Willow over to make certain she was still okay. “What the hell were you doing to my baby? What was that light?”
“Jess, calm down.” Evan stated.
“What the hell was that, Evan?” Mikael asked.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” I screamed at Natalia.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized in her thick Romanian accent. “It was a blessing. Nothing more.”
“Nothing more?” I questioned. “There was light around the both of you.” Natalia looked startled by what I said, and now she looked just as panicked as I felt. That did nothing to calm my nerves. I turned to Evan then and demanded that he explain this.
“Let’s all calm down a little bit, first.” Mikael offered, which surprised me. “Jess, she gave a typical lunar blessing to Willow. It’s one that is given to all the babies that are born to our people. At least, it’s the blessing our pack always gave to babies when they were born. I’ve said it to her myself since she was born.”
“I never heard you.”
“Probably because I say it to her when I’m up with her while I let you sleep. Really, the words were all the same. Roughly translated, it is: The light shine down and bless this babe. A future bright with joy and laughter. May the spirits always look after and bless this beautiful baby.”
Mikael turned from me to Evan and Natalia then. “Now, what we need explained is the light that actually shined out from Natalia to surround Willow.”
Natalia was no help. She simply mumbled, “I’m so sorry,” repeatedly.
Evan sighed before answering. “Can we all just sit down for a minute, calmly, while I explain? I promise, nothing bad happened here.” Suddenly, the dark circles under his eyes took on new meaning, as I gauged the fact that this was not a first time occurrence. He blew out a breath, getting ready to speak again, before I interrupted to make it clear that I didn’t want him to hold anything back at this point.
“Evan, my track record with your pack, your family in specific, hasn’t exactly been all roses. So, excuse me if I worry when one of your people starts glowing my baby up with mystical light.” I retorted hotly. “If you hold back at this point, and I find out later that there was something we needed to know, I promise you I will rip through heaven, hell, earth, and anyplace in-between to find you and dole out a justice I find befitting.” Natalia’s eyes grew wider as I let fly my promise for vengeance if her mate lied to me.
“I know, Jess. I promise you, Natalia meant no harm to you or Willow. Just listen, please.”
“Fine.”
“You know we left, after Malachai was killed and the girls were captured and put in the locks.” I nodded my head in agreement. We had been worried at the time that he would take Asriel with him, and that Ashley would have to make the choice to go or stay without him. I don’t know what sort of deal they worked out, but Asriel ended up staying behind with Ashley, and working for my father, while Evan and Natalia left town. “I took Natalia back to Romania when we went away. We went back there to see if we could find Natalia’s younger sister. When she was taken to be a part of the King’s harem her sister hadn’t gone through all the transitions yet, so we thought, maybe she had never gotten sucked into that life.” Evan shrugged and looked for Natalia now just stared at the floor. “We didn’t find her, but we did find their father who swore the King took both girls the night he came for Natalia.”
“That’s insane!” I noted before Evan continued.
“Yeah, well, we all know where my father and brother stood on the sanity scale. Anyway, we didn’t find Claire, but when we saw evidence that she’d been there all along, one room down from Natalia, she lost it.”
“When I was there, it was common knowledge that they did horrible things to the girls in that room. They were used in different ways than we were.” Natalia confirmed.
“How do you know she was there?”
“I found her bracelet. My mother gave each of us one when we young, and bid us never take them off.” Natalia saw me look to her wrists for the telltale bracelet, but there wasn’t one. “Antoine had a lady friend of his take mine off of me. She had to put some special sauce, um, not sauce, but special lotion maybe on my arm to make it fall off.”
I looked at Evan, oddly curious about the importance of these bracelets now, and making note to share this information with Serena. Perhaps she could make sense of it.
Evan nodded his head, and pulled Natalia in closer to him. “Nat lost it. She fell to the floor, crying, and when she did this glow erupted from her. All around us, the neglected dead plants just kind of blossomed and started coming back around. They held the same faint glow she did at first, and then it would fade away, but the healthy blossoming plants remained.”
“I don’t know what happened, or why I can do these things. You have to believe me.” Natalia’s eyes rose to meet my own and all I saw the fear there. “I didn’t try to hurt your baby, only bless her like our people always do.” Tears were streaming down the girl’s face as I went to her and put my arm around the side that wasn’t held tightly to Evan.
“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” I whispered to her. I know just the person to ask for help.
“We tried,” she told me. “There was a lady, Layla, she was like walking moonbeams to me, so beautiful. We tried to talk to her about what was happening to me, and she helped me get control of it, when it was obvious I couldn’t stop the light from coming.” Natalia looked over to where Mikael now held Willow. “I did not mean for the light to leak out around her, but I don’t think it will hurt her either.”
I spoke to Evan then, “this Layla, she was a witch?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know anything else about her, that might be useful?” Something about that name was niggling at the back of my mind for some reason. I just couldn’t pinpoint why.
“She told us she would much rather consult with one of her sisters, beca
use she wasn’t that great with creation and healing magic. She said the most she could do was teach Natalia to control it, so that it wouldn’t overwhelm her and show itself at inopportune times.”
“What did the other sister say, when this Layla consulted her?” I asked.
“She didn’t say anything. I wasn’t about to trust yet another witch after what I watched you go through with Sophia. I told her not to contact anyone else, and just to teach Nat how to control it. It was a good place to start anyway.” Evan’s cobalt eyes stared into mine pleadingly. “Jess you have to believe that she didn’t mean any harm.”
“I believe you both, but we still don’t know what the light means, or what it might lead to.” I shivered a little when I thought about all the possibilities. “I’m going to call Serena. If she’s still close by, maybe she can stop in and have a look at Willow, then take a peek at what’s going on with Natalia. You never know, she may be more forthcoming with an explanation, or know of a better way to help since what you’re doing isn’t working very well.”
“Thanks, Jess.”
“Yeah, just don’t be offended when I ask you to stay with someone else while you’re here. No one seems to know what the hell is going on with Natalia’s glowing abilities, and until we understand it, I can’t have her around my daughter.”
“I understand.” Natalia said quickly, as she grabbed my hand in an apologetic gesture. I didn’t mean to, but everywhere that her skin touched, my own began to tingle, so my initial reaction was to snatch my hand back immediately. Natalia looked hurt, but said nothing. Evan’s look was less forgiving.
“We’ll go see if Asi has room for us.” His curt announcement bespoke his irritation.
“No!” The word left my mouth before I could stop it. I knew the moment it came out that it would sound as though I was giving them a command, but there was no way I meant for it to come off like that. “I mean, I would really like it if you’d stay with my parents for now.”
“Why the hell would we do that, Jess? Are we prisoners of the pack now?” Evan’s anger was getting the better of him, and he wasn’t trying to keep it contained any longer.
“Guests, Evan. My mother’s skills…” I stopped short of telling him that I thought my mother could tamp down any overflowing magic that Natalia was putting off. I honestly didn’t want Natalia herself to know what my mother was capable of.
“Your mother’s skills, what? Could possibly keep us in check, keep us held hostage until your witch of a great-grandmother gets here to tell you if Nat is safe or not?”
“Stop right there, brother.” Mikael’s sharp tone caught everyone by surprise, as he had been mostly quiet during this exchange. “You are going to remember your place here. Jess is the White Wolf, the ruler of our people, whether you like it or not. She is trying to help.”
“Help? She just snatched her own hand away from Nat, like she was burning her.”
“Maybe she was,” Mikael noted. “Did you even think to ask?”
“What?” Evan’s shock couldn’t be hidden and neither could Natalia’s.
“Did you bother to ask Jess why she snatched her hand away?”
“There’s no need. It’s obvious why she did it. She’s afraid of what she doesn’t understand.” He sneered at me then, in disdain. “The one person I thought would understand when strange things started happening to another person.”
“It tingled,” I whispered. Everyone grew quiet, except Evan who was still railing about the injustice of me being afraid of the unknown. I hadn’t even realized I had been rubbing my hands together for warmth since I pulled away from Natalia’s hold.
“Evan, listen to her.” Natalia offered, and he shut his mouth and listened, finally.
“When she touched me, the skin on skin contact held a tingling sensation.” I stopped rubbing my hands together, and dropped them to my sides, not wanting to call any more attention to the weirdness.
“What?” Evan looked as puzzled as I felt.
“I was not jerking back in fear as you suggested. I just didn’t know if that tingling was a good or bad thing. Not that it matters that I had a weird reaction to your mate’s touch, because we will get to the bottom of that and figure out why. Now, I am simply concerned about your nature, and the manner in which you feel justified to speak to me. I won’t be talked down to for erring on the side of caution, Evan. Clearly, something is going on with Natalia, and it affected me physically, which means it probably did with my daughter as well, only she can’t tell us about it yet.” This snapped him back to full attention.
In fact, I now had everyone’s attention with that statement, and Mikael finally started to look worried. “I don’t know what it means, or if it’s even anything to get all worked up over yet. The fact remains that none of us know what is going on, and until we do, it’s best that she stays with my mom. I am sending you to her, because she can calm people without having to touch them. You have no clue if Natalia’s gifts might also cause harm, as they seemingly did magic on the plants you described. If it looks or feels like something is off, my mom may be the only person here who can help control that. At least, until we can get a witch in here who might have seen this kind of thing before.”
“Okay, fine.” Evan relented, as he took one last look at Willow. “I get it.”
“Now, I just needed to warn my parents that you’re coming, so give me a moment to contact them, please.”
“Serena, I know you’re busy over there, but we could really use your input on this one.”
“It’s fine,” Serena’s voice came through warmly on the phone. “I believe Avery was already planning a trip to visit your pack and trade information on the disappearances and murders. I suppose it will be as good a time as any for him to do that, and for me to check into what’s going on with Natalia.” Serena paused for a moment before continuing. “You say you felt a tingling sensation when she touched you?”
“Yes, I did, but only where our skin came into direct contact.”
“And the glowing light coming from her, was it somewhat like what you saw when you mated with Mikael? Or was it something else altogether?”
“Hmm,” I thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it, I suppose it was a lot like that light.” When Serena said nothing I continued on, “does that mean something to you? She wasn’t doing some weird bonding thing with my daughter was she?”
“I don’t think her light has anything to do with bonding, Jess. No need to worry just yet, we’ll see what it all means when I get back there.”
~*~
A few hours after I spoke with Serena she was knocking on my front door with Avery Daniels in tow. I opened the door, looking from one to the other. I noticed how close they stood to one another before I moved out of the way and invited them inside. “Avery, I figured you would be doing business with my father while you were here.”
“I do plan to see your father, but I thought I would come and give my congratulations to you and Mikael first.” He fiddled with something he had behind his back then. When I glanced down quizzically, he grinned and handed me a beautiful pink gift bag. “Annalise sends her regards, and told me if I didn’t bring this, she’d never speak to me again.”
I laughed as I took the bag from Avery, and peeked inside. His youngest daughter was as thoughtful as they come. There were a myriad of baby supplies inside, as well as a mobile to hang above her crib. I took the mobile out and marveled at the detail that went into making it. This was clearly no store bought piece. It looked almost like a dream catcher, but dangling from the ends of each webbed circle were tiny little wolves. “Did she make this?”
“She did,” Avery beamed with pride as I continued to inspect each little wolf. The one at the bottom of the mobile was completely white.
“This is absolutely gorgeous.” My words were nothing more than a whisper as I continued to marvel at the workmanship that went into the piece.
“Annalise will be ecstatic to know how much you appreciated t
he work that went into it.” Serena offered as she brushed past me to go seat herself in the living room.
“I’m sorry, where are my manners? Please, come in.” I offered Avery. “Sierra is actually upstairs right now with Willow and baby Jack. I can have her bring them down though.”
“Actually, this is where I run off to join your father on all of our joint business matters, although I’m sure we will have to get together before I head back home later. I think, judging from what your father has mentioned that you should be in the loop on what is happening with our two packs.” He searched my face to see if I understood what he was talking about, so I nodded. I did, indeed. All the girls who were being abducted and drained were similar to me in appearance. Avery scanned behind me then, for Serena, before continuing. “Let me know when you’re done here, or if you need to stay longer, and I will try to coordinate my schedule with that.” His eyes lingered on her a little longer than they used to, and when I turned to see her reaction, I could have sworn I saw a blush flush out across her high cheekbones.
I saw Avery out and came to sit with Serena. “You know, if he’s headed to my family’s house, we should have gone with him. Evan and Natalia are staying there for now. I thought it best to have my mom keep watch on her, just in case.”
“That was smart. I wanted to be able to talk to you about everything you witnessed first before we speak to them. I’d rather not be taken by surprise.”
“Speaking of surprises…” I questioned, and when Serena didn’t bite, I added, “what’s going on with you and Avery?”
“There’s nothing going on with Avery and I.”
“Mhmm…”
Serena tossed a sharp look my way that meant I needed to drop the subject, but her cheeks did all the talking for her. The blush had grown as she said his name. She opted for a quick subject change instead of trying to persuade me though. “That mobile is a truly exquisite work of art, is it not?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life.” I admitted. I really do need to make the trip, with Willow, soon to go see Annalise and Andy.” I smiled at that. “I’m still getting used to the fact that they got together. I bet Avery totally blew his stack.”
The Ancients Series Page 69
