by KB Anne
* * *
The last thing Scott remembered was Naisha saying “Veet!” three times, and then the hellhounds had broken loose. Well, the werewolves. Now he was so caught up with restraining Ryan without killing him that he’d lost track of Caer, Maddie, and Naisha.
“Where are they?” he called over to Granda as he maintained a choke hold on Ryan, who had just now reverted back to his human form. It wasn’t a full moon. There was no reason of this world that would have caused him to shift. It must have been the word Naisha had said. She’d triggered the werewolf curse and somehow released them from their cells.
When Granda didn’t answer, Scott spun himself over Ryan to make sure his last living, breathing human relative was still living and breathing. Granda was chanting over Lizzie, who had also turned back into a person. Her eyelids were pulsing as if she were entering into REM sleep, but Scott knew that whatever spell Granda was casting on her was the cause. Granda couldn’t break his train of thought or chaos would ensue.
Scott was torn between placing all his attention on Ryan or searching the skies for Caer, but one needed him and the other could take care of herself. She was a warrior. A sexy, powerful warrior who would sooner split open someone’s skull than shake their hand.
“Ryan,” he whispered, careful to keep his voice slow and lulling. Scott possessed magic too, but it was not a skill he’d spent much time with. He could masterfully break a table in half or chop an opponent’s head off—he and Caer were alike in that way—but he’d had little experience with the kind of magic Gigi wielded. He was, however, a master of compellation.
Ryan’s eyes flashed open. His pupils were the size of saucers.
“Come back to me, Ryan. Come back to your best friend.”
The black began to shrink, exposing his green eyes, which were all the more striking against his dark skin. They captured the attention of every girl who laid eyes on him, including the one currently being spelled by his grandfather. Scott knew there were many guys who would have happily fallen under Ryan’s eye spell too, if he hadn’t been in love with Lizzie, and if he was so inclined.
“There you are,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you.”
Ryan’s eyes widened in recognition.
Scott didn’t want Breas or Clayone or even Lizzie to try possessing his best friend again. Scott would keep talking to keep any evildoers out of Ryan’s head. “When Gigi mentioned—”
Ryan jerked at the name, and Scott changed direction.
“When I heard you were alive, I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy. We’ve been through so much together. All the classes, the football practices, the games . . . all the touchdowns. All the girls.”
Ryan’s eyes lasered in on him.
“There were a lot of them, weren’t there. But neither one of us ever fell for one for a long time.”
Ryan’s gaze fell on Lizzie lying on the ground not far from him.
“Lizzie fit, didn’t she. She crushed on you from the moment you set foot in school. You befriended someone, and she introduced you to Lizzie. Do you remember?”
Ryan blinked.
“It was Gigi. She accepted you into her inner circle the moment she met you. She’s the one who introduced you to me and Lizzie. Gigi’s my sister. I love her very much and will do everything in my power to protect her. You can understand that, can’t you? Loving someone so much you will do anything for them?”
Ryan’s eyes fell back on Lizzie.
“We’re trying to help her too. To bring her back to the light. You like it in the light, don’t you?”
Ryan blinked in agreement.
“You were always a good person. You always protected people. You always defended Gigi.”
Ryan stiffened again at the name but soon released the tension.
“I’ll help you. We don’t need to put you back in the cell if you don’t fight. You’re not going to fight, are you?”
Suddenly Gigi appeared before them. He didn’t know where she’d come from, and though he was relieved to see her, he was terrified that she would unknowingly undo all the work he’d just done with Ryan—the trust he was beginning to elicit and his good nature.
Gigi got down on the ground beside them. She touched Ryan’s forehead and lightly ran her hand down the side of his cheek. “He’s not going to fight against us, are you, Ryan.”
His eyes twitched, and the remaining film of darkness disappeared.
“Hi,” she said, bending her head in front of his face.
“Hi,” he whispered, tears now in his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”
His lips pursed as he tried to argue, but he was powerless against Gigi.
“Have you forgotten that I’m the boss? I’m pretty sure I pointed that out with a black dagger-like fingernail to your elbow in Principal Donahue’s office on your first day of school.”
Ryan’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Yes, you did.”
She stood up from the ground and brushed her knees off. “We can let him up. He’s not going anywhere, are you, Ryan?”
“No, I promise.”
Scott glanced at her. Are you sure?
A hundred and fifty million percent.
He trusted his sister but . . .
Now would be nice.
He climbed off of Ryan and stood up. Alaric appeared beside Gigi. His brow was spotted with sweat, and his clothing was ripped and dirty. Scott took in Gigi’s appearance. Her clothes were shredded and charred, and the parts that weren’t, were covered with dirt, straw, and building debris, almost if a building had collapsed on them.
A building did collapse on us.
“What?” he said, and Ryan jumped back from him.
Idiot, chill. We’ll talk later. Focus on Ryan.
“Sorry, man,” Scott said, putting out his hand for Ryan to shake.
Back at home, the two shook hands whenever they met. It was a very high-school-almost-man greeting. Ryan stared at Scott’s open palm, swallowing.
“Come on, man. Don’t leave me hanging.”
Ryan’s eyes brightened and he grasped Scott’s hand firmly. Scott gently pushed some calming energy into him.
Already done.
“It’s good to be back,” Ryan whispered.
Gigi tugged him into a hug. “It’s good to have you.”
Scott and Alaric hovered close in case anything went sour.
“You want to get in on the action too? I got you,” Ryan said and flung his arms around Scott and Alaric.
“Group hug!” Gigi cheered, her face happier than Scott had seen in a long time.
I told you both. Trust me.
Ryan was back, and that was all that mattered for the moment. Caer could take care of herself.
17
Time’s a Wastin’
I put my hands on my hips, assessing our surroundings with Ryan at my side. “So, apparently Alaric and I missed some excitement.”
“Though we did have some excitement of our own,” Alaric adds.
Scott reaches for the hilt of his sword, the red ruby glinting at us. “Don’t even go there, man, just don’t.”
“I was referring to the trap waiting for us at some barn in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, my mother did not want us returning with the rest of you. She misdirected us instead.”
I could tell that Mommy Dearest’s constant betrayal and attempts at killing him were really getting on his nerves. Mine too.
“Well, that was obvious the moment we approached Granda’s property line. She mumbled a single word three times.” Scott glances at Ryan. He purposely doesn’t say it aloud, just in case, but he doesn’t need to worry.
Trust me. Ryan is fine, I tell him.
“And Lizzie and Ryan broke out of their cells as werewolves.”
I interrupt. “Werewolves? But the full moon is past.” I turn to Ryan. “And why the heck did you guys take off the crystal necklaces?”
Ryan frowns. “Gi, di
d you think we were going to keep wearing them? We knew what they did. They also reeked of you.”
“Reeked?” I turn to Alaric and search his eyes.
He sidles up to me, pulling me into his chest. “‘Reek’ sounds like it’s a terrible smell. I find it intoxicating, alluring, absolutely captivating.”
“Okay, okay,” Scott says, stepping between us. “That’s close enough. We get the point. Alaric loves it, Lizzie and Ryan, not so much, and since Maddie never complained about it, he clearly finds it palatable. So, werewolves who want to resist the change like it, those who want to change or who blame Gigi for the whole full-moon curse thing can’t stomach it. Sound about right?”
We all nod our heads in agreement.
Scott then turns to Ryan and studies him.
Ryan backs away. “What?”
“I wonder what you’d think of the smell now. Alaric, may I?” Scott asks, pointing at the crystal hanging from Alaric’s neck.
Alaric hesitates. He doesn’t want to risk anything happening to him or me without the crystal on.
I rest my hand on him. “It’ll be okay. It’s only for a second.”
He breathes in and out, then pulls the necklace over his head and hands it to Scott.
Scott puts it below Ryan’s nose. “Smell.”
We watch with bated breath as Ryan inhales and exhales.
“I no longer find Gigi’s smell repulsive.”
I burst out laughing. “Well, that is a relief. Now, can anyone tell me what happened to Maddie, Caer, and Mommy Dearest?”
Scott drops his head. “I don’t know. I was fighting Ryan, and when I had him under control they were gone.”
Granda grips Lizzie’s arm on the ground beside us. She’s apparently unconscious and under his command, at least for the time being. “The fallen faerie tried to fly away. Maddie wrapped his arms around her legs, but he was not successful in returning her to the ground. I asked Caer to send her back to where she belonged.”
Scott staggers backward, clutching his heart and staring wildly at the sky. “They’re back in the Faerie Realm? I need to go. I need to help her. Keep her safe.”
I place my hand on his shoulder and send calming energy into him. His green eyes fall to mine.
“Scott, Caer can take care of herself.”
Then my sight grows blurry, dizziness consumes my body, and it feels like Brigit steps inside of me. I see Maddie, Caer, and her people fighting. Balor is in the distance. Caer lifts an iron spear and launches it.
Scott grips my arms, pulling me out of the vision. “What did you see? Tell me.”
“She has her own destiny to fulfill.”
“What do you mean, her own destiny? Her destiny is to kill Balor at the Storm Moon. What do you know? What did you see?”
“Maddie is there to aid her, and so are her people. They will give her strength and the means by which to take destiny into her own hands.”
His fingers dig into me. “But what does that mean?”
“It means that she is following her own path, and so should we.”
He backs away from me. “She left without me.”
“Your paths will meet again. She’s got a thing for a hot reincarnated god. I can only assume that it’s you.”
His eyes light up as he smiles. “She thinks I’m hot?”
Ryan raises the back of his hand to Scott’s forehead. “I’m sure she means your temperature. Can’t possibly have anything to do with your appearance. I mean, she saw me, didn’t she?”
Granda groans. “Here we go. Is it purely an American thing to stand around and jest for hours?”
I glance at Ryan, then Scott. The three of us smile together. “No, I’d say it’s merely our thing.”
Scott pulls Ryan into a hug. “I’m so happy to have you back.”
They hold each other for several minutes. The two had a rough go of it. It’s heartwarming to see them back together.
I don’t want to rush them, but we don’t have a lot of time. When they finally break apart, I gesture for them all to follow me to Lizzie.
“If the man-hug fest is over, we need to discuss Lizzie. Scott, will you carry her over to the fire circle?”
Ryan studies Lizzie’s unconscious frame in his best friend’s arms. “Do you think you can help her?”
“We’ll see.”
I head over to the fire. The flames will further ground me to this plane. Scott places her down on the ground, then he and Alaric flank me, soon followed by Ryan.
“Three overprotective bodyguards is not what I had in mind when we brought Ryan back to our side.”
Ryan musses the top of my head. “I like to think of it as rejoining the rebel alliance. Me, taken in by the dark side. You, bringing me back to the light.”
Scott smiles. “My brother, how I’ve missed your socially relevant pop culture references.”
“Should we man-hug again?”
“Let’s wait on that until Gigi tries to return Lizzie to the light.”
Ryan tenses. “Right. Do you think it’ll work?”
Granda purses his lips as he closes his eyes to search inward. He inhales deeply, then as he exhales his gaze returns to us. “The Maleficium curse binding her is very powerful. A blood bond at a very young age.”
Now that Granda’s strength has returned after drinking from the Chalice of Healing, his mind is closed off to me. I’ve grown so used to reading everyone’s mind at will, I find it annoying.
“Birth actually.”
His gaze snaps to mine. “A blood bond at birth?”
“Is that bad?” Scott asks.
“It’s not good. It will prove a tremendous challenge. Every Maleficium touchpoint she’s connected to must be destroyed.”
I withdraw an object from my pocket. “Would an eyeball necklace count as a touchpoint?”
His eyes widen. “Yes. It’s good that you’ve wrapped it. Did you come in contact with it?”
I glance at Alaric. “No. I tried to destroy it with fire and other spells, but nothing worked.”
“No, it wouldn’t. A green magical object needs to destroy it.”
“Like a sword?” Scott says, withdrawing Moralltach.
“Possibly. I need to do some research.”
Granda seems wary. Now I’m glad my spells didn’t work on it. What if I had destroyed it and it had killed a part of Lizzie’s soul like a horcrux? If I had hastily destroyed all the Maleficium connections, I could have ended up killing her.
“Naisha, Lizzie’s mom, gave me insight into a coven of witches in Kilkenny who might have answers for returning Lizzie to us.”
“The same woman who misled us in Vernal Falls so she could reduce our numbers?” Alaric growls, his voice wrought with betrayal.
“Well, yes, but in my visions I also saw images of the coven in the spell book. It’s hard to explain, but it’s almost like I read the pages over her shoulder, and although many of the spells have been tainted with Maleficium, there are a lot in there that are good. I sensed there were even more positive spells that are invisible to the naked eye. Does that make sense?” I search everyone’s face for confirmation. They all stare at me blankly except for Granda.
“If you entered her mind, it does. Are you sure she didn’t layer the truth with deception?”
My gut hums to me with a definitive answer. “Her visions spoke the truth. It was her words that were lies. She let us assume she had the spell book, but it was a ruse—and I played right into it. I wanted it to be true because otherwise, I’d need to interact with Breas again.”
Alaric growls. Ryan joins in. And Scott does too, because, why not? Can anyone say testosterone overload?
I raise my hands and shoot calming magic into them. “Guys, chill out. This is good news. If we can get the spell book back from Breas and find out what the coven in Kilkenny know, we can possibly bring Lizzie back.”
Scott’s mind shifts to Caer. It’s not the first time, and it definitely won’t be the last. “If Caer
or Maddie were here, they could slip in and out without Breas or anyone noticing.”
I roll my eyes. “Scott, we’re not opening up a portal and traveling to another dimension. I’m not as gifted in portal making as your swan is.”
“You are gifted at being a pain in the ass,” he offers.
I chuckle. “Thanks, I appreciate that.”
Something rubs against my leg and I glance down. Sphinx meows and walks over to Scott. He bends down and scoops him up.
“Sphinx, how did you get here?”
Granda reaches over and scratches his head. “Hello, old friend.”
Scott looks from Granda to me. “Would someone mind telling me what Gigi’s pet cat is doing here?”
Sphinx presses his paw on Scott’s chest with his claws out.
“Ouch!”
I smile at Sphinx’s greeting. “He’s no pet. He’s our partner in catastrophe. He helped me and Alaric out in Vernal Falls, and now it looks like he’s dying to break into Breas’s compound.”
Sphinx blinks at Scott and meows.
Scott shakes his head back and forth, staring at Sphinx with newfound respect. “Nothing is as it seems, is it.”
“Nope, not at all,” I say.
Ryan rubs his hands together. “So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go steal the spell book. Alaric and I can cause a distraction while Sphinx morphs into a cat burglar.”
Sphinx leaps off Scott’s chest and prances around the fire. He puffs out his chest in a rather full-of-himself demonstration.
Scott flings a stick into the fire. “I hate leaving without Caer.”
“Scott, I understand your dilemma. You can sit around and wait for her, or you can go with us, but time’s a wasting, and we need to proceed.”
Granda stands up. “Before you go, there are a few provisions you need to take.”
“We’re just stealing a spell book, then we’ll return before heading to Kilkenny.”
“Best laid plans don’t always follow the straightest of paths.”
Alaric frowns. “You know something, we don’t?”
Granda studies him closely. “I know many things.”
