by Vella Day
In regard to taking away this werewolf’s powers, Greer believed now more than ever that what they were planning would work. Anyone who could walk into a lake, stay under water for more than a minute, and step out dry had to be a goddess. She’d seen a lot of magic in her life, but this one was at the top of the charts.
The next leg of the trip took them farther into the woods. “Who lives here?” Blake asked.
“A man by the name of Zane Barons. He’s a bear shifter from Cargonia.”
Greer’s breath caught. “Cargonia? I can’t wait to meet him. I’ve never been to his realm.”
“A demon put a curse on him and tossed him through a portal where he landed in a cave. He didn’t wake up for one hundred years. I believe he will be able to help. Zane creates amazing works of art out of steel and wood. He’s even imbued some with magic!”
“That sounds fantastic,” Greer said.
Ophelia smiled and then pointed to a cabin. “That’s where he lives.”
“Do you think he’ll be home?” It was in the middle of the day.
“He works at the fire department, but I think he’ll be there.” She winked.
“Good enough.” Greer was learning not to question how this woman knew so much.
When they walked up to the door and knocked, a giant of a man answered. His brows pinched for a moment, and then his face softened. “Welcome. Come in.”
The next hour was like living in a dream. After explaining what they needed and why, Zane said he’d like to help.
“Come with me to my workshop,” he said.
Ophelia lifted a hand. “I think I’ll just wait here for you. I don’t do well with dust or a lot of noise. I know what a racket some of those machines make.”
Zane lowered his gaze. “Yes, ma’am. It can get pretty dirty and noisy in there. Help yourself to a drink while you wait. I’ll try not to take too long.”
“Thank you.”
Greer and Blake followed Zane to his amazing workshop. While the materials were mostly wood, some were metal. Everything was orderly, just the way she liked it. The man definitely loved to work with his hands.
“Let me see that pink quartz.” Zane held out his hand. “If it is to weaken a Changeling, I imagine you don’t need the blade to be too sharp, but just in case, I’ll put a silver edging on the side and sharpen it.”
“That would be great,” Blake said.
“I’ve not used this against a Changeling, but I’ve made a sword once that took down an evil goddess.”
Chelsea had told her that story. “You trained Ronan on how to defend against this demon goddess, but it was Blair Murdoch, Kalan’s sister, who ended its life.”
Zane grinned. “Yes. I wished I’d been able to watch that fight. The sword seemed to have taken on a life of its own.”
Pride beamed off of him. He walked over to what looked like a lathe and began to shape the quartz stone. In no time, he had made two knives. The last step was to cover part of the blade with silver.
While they waited, Blake picked up a giant sword that was lying on a table. “This is amazing. Did you make this?” Blake asked.
“Yes. Try it out,” Zane said.
Blake ran his fingers along the handle. “No, thanks. I’m more of a rapier kind of guy.”
Greer had to work to hold in a chuckle. “You fence?”
Blake did a mock pose. “Of course. It’s the job of every good rich boy to fence.”
She laughed. Blake was so good at making fun of himself. “I suppose you hunt too?”
“Absolutely not. Hunting is barbaric, unless you need to feed your family. My father abhorred the sport. Archery on the other hand is a very noble sport.”
“Good to know. Any other talents I should be aware of? Piano playing or ballroom dancing?” She hadn’t meant to tease him, but with all this talk of killing these evil Changelings, she needed some levity.
“I have many talents that I will unfold slowly over our lifetime.”
Greer smiled. “Fair enough.”
The noise from some machine Zane was using drowned out any further conversation, so Greer watched the giant work. She was fascinated with the ease with which Zane skillfully crafted the blade. In less than half an hour, he handed a knife to each of them.
“I can’t promise this will work on Tarradon like it does on Earth since the abilities of this Changeling seemed to have been enhanced in your realm, but it should slow him down.”
“We can’t thank you enough,” Blake said.
“Oh, and I put a little magic into it too.” He grinned.
“I don’t know what to say,” Blake said, as he ran his finger across the blade.
“I just want to hear that this evil Changeling isn’t coming back to Earth. He and his kind have caused enough trouble.”
Greer smiled. “We’ll do our best.”
Once they said goodbye, they gathered Ophelia and drove back to where they’d first seen her. Blake helped her out. “You’ve done so much for us. Can we do anything for you?” Greer asked.
She smiled. “Be there for my four granddaughters. They will all be getting a surprise next summer and might need help.”
Blake clasped her hand. “We will do whatever we can.”
Greer knew better than to ask her to be more specific. Poppy had mentioned that their grandmother loved to be mysterious.
After she and Blake left, they went back to Finn’s parents’ house to tell them they would be on their way back to Tarradon. As they knocked on the McKinnon’s front door, Greer realized how sad she was that they couldn’t stay.
She would have liked to spend a week going on hikes and taking pictures of the beautiful leaves that had turned every color of red, orange, yellow, and green, but she and Blake needed to take down that terrible man, Brother Richard.
“You’re just in time,” Finn said as he ushered them inside.
“For what?” Greer asked.
“Mom just baked some of her famous chocolate chip cookies.”
Greer smiled. “Sounds divine.”
They headed into the kitchen where Kaleena was chatting with Finn’s mom.
Kaleena looked up and smiled. “How did it go?”
“Ophelia knew just what to do.”
They showed them the special quartz knives that Zane had fashioned for them. For some reason, Greer had the sense that Ophelia would have wanted them to keep her secret about her ability to walk into the lake, and how after retrieving the pink quartz from the bottom, she’d emerged dry. For all Greer knew though, Ophelia put a spell on them, and they just thought she’d walked into the water.
“You look like you’re ready to leave,” Kaleena said with longing in her voice.
Because of Kaleena’s condition, Finn said they would be staying put for a while—at least until the Changeling had been dealt with.
“We had intended to take a small vacation, but I feel guilty being here when that maniac is on the loose,” Greer said. “If we didn’t have a good chance of taking him down, we would remain here.”
Finn wrapped an arm around Kaleena’s shoulder. “I would say to leave it to the cops, but they don’t have the skills. Those knives are the best chance we have of ridding Tarradon of that Changeling. If it works, Kalan might want to have Zane make more for him and his men.”
Greer smiled. “Sounds great.”
Kaleena placed her hands on her stomach. “We will return if our little dragon acts up, which he or she is right now.”
“Let me help.” Greer placed her hands on Kaleena’s stomach and sent her calming thoughts to the baby.
Kaleena sighed. “Much better. Thank you.”
Greer didn’t want to leave, but her Guardian honor told her it was the right thing to do. They said their goodbyes, thanked Mrs. McKinnon for her hospitality, and then left. They drove back to Finn’s house where they left the car keys and his phone on the dining room table before stepping into the back yard, away from prying eyes.
Greer he
ld out a scale. “Do you want to try to make a portal?”
Blake’s eyes widened. “Me?”
“You are one of us now. It’s easy—three times to the right and then two to the left. We’ll both picture your rooftop. It will give us some leeway in case our aim is off.”
“You mean in case my aim is off.”
She smiled. “We’ll hold hands to make sure we land in the same spot.”
“Okay, here goes.”
Blake followed the instructions exactly, and to both of their delights, the portal formed. One step later, they were on the bank’s roof.
“That is so cool,” Blake said. “Can I go anywhere I can imagine?”
“Yes, but we try not to abuse the system. You remember Mange, right?”
Blake laughed. “Of course.”
“It’s possible he snuck in through the portal when Angelique came to Tarradon.”
Blake spun around. “Could anyone else be here now?”
Greer slipped her arm through his. “I doubt it, but we can never be too sure when we Guardians create a portal for ourselves.”
“I’ll be sure to keep you by my side then.”
She smiled. “Perfect.” They had just entered Blake’s apartment when her cell rang. “So much for having any downtime.” Greer checked the caller ID. “It’s Declan.”
“Are you back?” he asked.
“Blake and I just returned. What’s up?”
“We had an attempted break in at the mines.”
Declan wouldn’t have called unless it involved the Changeling. “I’m going to put you on speaker so Blake can hear.” She pressed the button. “Did you catch him?”
“No, but I think you and Blake might like to see the footage.”
“Are you at the Caspian mine office right now?”
“Yes.”
Blake’s brows furrowed. “We’ll be right over,” he said. “Do you think it’s the Changeling?” Blake asked once she disconnected.
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Declan replayed the video of the wolf sniffing around. “It’s almost comical,” Greer’s cousin said. “I’m guessing he was trying to find some sardonyx.”
“That would be my guess too,” Blake said. “My favorite part, and maybe the scariest, is when the wolf looks right into the camera and we can see his eyes glowing red.”
“And the worst is when he shifts, since he’s naked. I can’t unsee that,” Greer responded. Both men laughed. “Could you see his essence trail?” she asked Blake.
“No. I need to be there in person for that.”
She reached out and clasped his hand. “Your talents are still wonderful.”
Declan cleared his throat, possibly embarrassed by the flirty exchange that had just passed between them. “Here comes the good part. Our security guard charges in. The Changeling takes one look at him, shifts, and races off.”
“Why didn’t your man shoot?” Blake asked.
Declan shook his head. “He told me that when he saw a naked man, he was so taken aback that he kind of froze. Then the man ran off. To be honest, we often get people in here hoping to find some gems lying on the ground. I don’t think they have any idea that we need to process and polish them first.”
“I bet. When was this feed taken,” Blake asked.
“About eight hours ago,” Declan said.
Crap. “He could be anywhere by now,” Greer said.
“We know he’s still on Tarradon, right?” Blake had such hope in his voice.
“Yes. We could do a sweep of the area, but if he is in his wolf form, from high in the sky we won’t be able to tell if it’s an ordinary wolf or a Changeling,” Declan said.
“We have his driver’s license photo,” Greer said. “I’ll ask Anderson to circulate his picture. We might find him that way.”
“Give it to me and I’ll let everyone know,” Declan said. “You can take to the skies.”
“Eight hours is a long time for an essence trail to still be around, but if there is any of it there, I’ll know.” Blake then turned to Greer. “Want to join me?”
“Absolutely.”
They left the Caspian mining office and headed out to the back mine where this intruder had been spotted. They landed and shifted.
“Anything?” she asked.
“I see a wisp of light here and there, but I can’t get a read on which way he went. It would have been better if he’d been in one area for a longer period of time.”
That was a bit disappointing. “Maybe it will be stronger where he tried to get into the building. I can’t believe that guy would actually think we’d leave the place unsecured though.”
“Desperate people do desperate things.” Blake held out his hand. “I see something. Wait here.”
“No problem.” Greer didn’t want to be the one to mess things up.
Blake shifted into his dragon form again and soared upward. Greer watched him rise and then dive, searching the area in what looked like a grid pattern.
“I found something,” he telepathed, sounding excited. “Join me.”
Greer shifted and was by his side a few seconds later. “What did you see?”
“I can tell that the trail is heading west. Care to see where it leads?”
“Of course.” Both of them had their pink quartz knives just in case they ran into Richard Donovan in the flesh.
She couldn’t wait to tell the Changeling that she knew his name. Greer was equally anxious to see just how much their knives would affect the werewolf’s abilities. After they took care of this intruder, they would give one of the knives to Anderson so that he could keep the Changeling under control. The other knife they would give to Kalan Murdoch to protect him against the rest of the Changeling Clan back on Earth. While he could have another knife made, it might not contain the level of magic hers had been imbued with.
“This way,” Blake telepathed, sounding excited.
They flew toward the forest, though she wasn’t sure if Blake planned to go in on foot. Surely, Richard Donovan wouldn’t be in the same campsite as before. After the failed attempt at getting more sardonyx from the Caspian mines, she would have thought he’d want to head back to Earth. Too bad, he’d never succeed.
Greer flew side by side with Blake, refraining from conversation. She understood his need to concentrate. When they reached the forest edge, Blake slowed down.
“I’ve lost the trail in the foliage. I want to take a swing over the outer edge just in case he exited somewhere.”
“Should we split up?” Even though they had mated, it didn’t appear as if she’d inherited his ability to sense a person’s essence trail. Hopefully with some practice, she might learn how.
“How about if you take that open space over there and I’ll do another pass over the forest? Even if you only think you see something, let me know right away. I don’t want you to try to take down that scum by yourself.”
Greer bit back a retort. She could take down that ass of a Changeling even when not in her dragon form—assuming the knife would keep his powers at bay. “Sounds good.”
Clearly on a mission, Blake took off toward the forested area, flying just above the treetops. She wondered if he could see a trail of light in between all the dense foliage. Greer shot eastward toward the castle grounds, though just being near the Royals made her sick. Cloaking herself, she flew close to the ground, keeping a keen eye out for any werewolves. If—and that was a big if—Richard Donovan hadn’t changed into someone else, she might be able to identify him from this vantage point.
Greer had surveyed the fields in front and in back of the castle and was about to return to where Blake was when a black Royal dragon rounded the corner with a naked human in its claws. Aha!
The dragon landed and dropped the sought-after Changeling onto the grass close to the castle entrance. The guard shifted. When Greer hovered next to them, the man had the face of Richard Donovan. Bingo!
�
��Blake, I found him. I’m at the north end of the grassy area close to the castle.”
“Great. I’ll be right there.”
Greer landed, but remained cloaked in her dragon form. The werewolf approached the guard. “Why did you nab me?” Donovan crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin.
“You know why. You violated your promise to Prince Omar.”
“Fuck Prince Omar. I set up Kaleena Sinclair just as he’d asked. I even planned to deliver her cousin to him, but another dragon found us.”
Okay, that was interesting. Her ass of a cousin Prince Omar was behind all of this. Her own capture however, seemed to be something Donovan thought up himself.
“I don’t care about your excuses. Walk.”
The werewolf didn’t move. “I’m not going back to that cell.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He’d been imprisoned? Nothing was making much sense. While the Royals might keep this Changeling behind bars, she didn’t trust the werewolf not to touch a guard and pretend to be him. It was time for a little intervention.
Right before she revealed herself, the werewolf shifted into his animal form and took off toward the woods. Crap.
“I’ve got this,” Blake telepathed, as she sensed him overhead.
“Be careful.”
A second castle guard appeared, landed, and then shifted.
“Go after him,” the first guard commanded the newcomer.
Greer shifted and appeared. “Stop!”
They froze, probably trying to figure out why they hadn’t even sensed her. “We’ll take care of Richard Donovan,” she announced.
“We?”
“My mate is in the woods as we speak, ready to take him down.” She hoped that was the truth.
“We have our orders, ma’am.”
She liked the title, but she sensed he had no idea who she was. Greer and her whole family disliked and distrusted the royal family. Sure, the queen, who was merely a pawn in the royal game, was her aunt, but the rest of the family was evil. “I’ll speak with my aunt, the queen.”
“Your aunt?”
