They drove almost a mile before he realized that what he was seeing ahead weren’t just abnormally large trees.
They were houses, one-story log houses clustered around a central clearing.
They looked like fairy houses. Honest-to-God fairyland houses. With the covering of snow, the scene looked like something out of a movie.
And when Sal, in all his goat-legged glory, stepped out of one of the houses and waved to him, he felt Mara practically vibrate with shock.
And in the backseat, Arin started to babble.
“Mara, look at me.”
She didn’t turn right away. It took her several seconds but when she finally did, she began to sign, so slowly he actually understood most of it.
“He’s exactly what you think he is. He’s
salbinelli
.”
Her hands moved again.
“Obviously they’re not extinct.” He smiled. “There’s actually another one living here.”
“Hey, it’s freaking cold out here, people,” Sal yelled from the doorway, making them both turn to look at him. “Get a move on.”
Typical Sal. Blunt and to the point. And maybe more than Mara could handle right now.
Mara grabbed his arm in a tight grip. If she wanted to leave, they were out of there.
But when he looked at her again, she wore a grin a mile wide.
“All right then. Let’s get inside before Sal comes out again. He doesn’t like getting his hooves cold.”
She shook her head when he said hooves and he hid a smile at her obvious astonishment. Damn, he liked when she smiled. He felt as if the world brightened around him.
Yep, he’d definitely gone sappy. If his brother could see him now, Lark would fall on the ground laughing. And Race wouldn’t care one damn bit.
Mara made him happy. And now that they’d moved their relationship to the next level, he wasn’t going to let her get away.
Hell, he was occasionally a wolf. If she tried to get away, he’d track her down.
“I’ll get the kid. Be careful getting out over there.”
There was more snow here, at least six inches. Mara didn’t seem to notice as she plowed through it to reach his side. With the baby in his portable carrier, they hurried to the cabin, barely taking time to knock the snow off their feet before Mara pushed through the door.
She stopped just inside, forcing him to crowd her and get her to move in a few more feet so he could close the door behind him.
When he looked up he realized why she’d stopped.
“Hello, Race.” A tall, dark-haired man with a wide smile and distinct Etruscan features walked toward them, his hand held out. Imposing was a good word for him and Race instinctively stepped in front of Mara. She didn’t handle meeting new men easily.
A split second later, he realized who this man was and bowed.
“Selvans. Greetings.”
Apparently his mother’s insistence that he learn some manners as a kid had stuck. At least enough to know what to do when he met an Etruscan god.
“Nice to meet you, son.”
Straightening, Race found himself looking into bright-green eyes. He took the god’s hand automatically and shook.
Then that startling gaze transferred over his shoulder.
“Hello, Mara.” His voice had softened and behind him, Mara shifted, moving to his side to take the God of the Woods’ hand.
“And this,” Selvans’ gaze dropped to the baby, who stared up at him without making a sound, “must be Arin. Nice to meet you too, little man.”
When Selvans held his hand out to the baby, Arin grabbed for it like babies did. Which made Selvans draw in a deep breath and his mouth curve in a bittersweet smile.
“Yes, I see. So the signs are correct. I had wondered…”
Selvans seemed to be speaking to himself, though he could be talking to the baby. Hell, Arin could talk to animals. Why not gods?
Selvans straightened and smiled at Mara again. “Well now, who’d like some hot chocolate? Sal makes a mean cocoa. I’m going to have mine with a shot of peppermint schnapps. Then we have some things to discuss.”
Mara began to sign but Selvans held up one hand with a wry smile. “I’m sorry I don’t understand sign language. But one of the things on the agenda today is breaking the rest of that spell. As a matter of fact, let’s see if we can get that taken care of right away. Mara, I’d like you to meet Scarlata.”
A woman Race hadn’t noticed came forward from the other side of the room, where Race realized another man stood as well. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen them, especially the gorgeous redhead. Then again, meeting a god and worrying about Mara consumed most of his concentration.
He’d have to watch that. Couldn’t afford to get sloppy.
“Nice to meet you, Mara.” The woman’s voice held a trace of an Italian accent, husky and deep. “I understand the
streghe
weren’t able to break the spell on your vocal cords. I believe I can do something about that, if you’ll let me.”
Race watched as Mara took a moment before nodding then turned to Race and lifted her hands.
“Oh crap,” he interrupted as he set the baby on the floor. “I forgot I had this.”
Reaching for the baby bag, he pulled out the whiteboard Dorian had left on the porch this morning. He swore Dorian could read minds.
As Mara gave him that smile that made his blood heat, she took it from him then began to write.
What makes you think you can break this spell?
Scarlata grinned. “Because I’ve got a few secrets up my sleeves that even the
streghe
don’t. And with Selvans and a few of my other friends, I think we have just a little more magic than even the
streghe
.”
What are you?
The redhead threw her head back and laughed and, from behind her, Race heard another baby gurgle.
“Well, there are some people who call me a b—”
“Scary, honey, no one calls you anything other than beautiful. Not if they want to continue breathing. Hi, I’m Justin.” The other man in the room walked forward, now holding a tiny, pink-blanket-wrapped bundle. “And this is our daughter, the eighth wonder of the universe.”
Scarlata snorted and rolled her eyes at Justin but the look she gave the baby said she totally believed his boast. “Also known as Celestina. And I’m
folletta
. And
fata
magic works differently than
enu
magic.”
Folletta.
Holy shit.
Race felt his mouth drop open as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that Scarlata was an actual
folletta
. He’d thought they were extinct. Obviously not.
As he shook his head, Mara turned to him with a puzzled look.
“
Enu
are the human branch of the Etruscan magical race.
Fata
are the—”
He’d been about to say creature-based but that wasn’t right. Some of the
fata
resembled humans almost completely, except for their pointed ears. Or wings.
“We’re the non-human branch,” Scarlata finished for him. And then turned to show them her back. Just as pink wings fluttered through slits in her shirt.
Race tried to hold back his gasp but didn’t quite manage. Holy shit.
“Now,” Scarlata turned, her wings disappearing once again, “let’s see if we can fix you.”
Mara took the
folletta
’s outstretched hand automatically, still trying to process the fact that this woman had wings.
Amazingly beautiful pink wings that made Mara want to smile. She vaguely remembered reading stories as a child about the
enu
and the
fata
.
“Have a seat, Mara. Sal and I are going to do a little preliminary examination and then we’ll see if we can break that spell.”
“Nothing to worry about.” The little half-goat man jumped onto the seat next to hers. “Those damn
Mal
won’t get the best of us.”
Realizing she still held the whiteboard, she looked behind her for Race, who was undoing Arin from his carrier while Selvans watched. The god had a strange look on his face, almost sad.
Are you sure this will work?
She wasn’t sure how much more disappointment she could take. If this didn’t work, she would have to accept that nothing would. That she’d be without her voice forever.
Tears began to well, but Scarlata scowled down at her and she blinked them back.
“None of that now,” the woman said with enough steel in her voice that Mara’s back straightened in response. “I have no doubt this will work. And neither will you.”
Mara felt as if she should say
yes ma’am
and snap out a salute. And marveled that she still had a sense of humor.
“All right then,” the little goat-legged man said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Mara frowned and Sal patted her hand. “Just a figure of speech. Although you might want to hold on to the table. This could sting a little.”
With a quick motion, Sal slapped one hand around her neck and Mara’s vision went black as pain rushed through her.
From somewhere far away, she heard Race shout, calling her name. He sounded frantic but she couldn’t open her eyes and there was no way she could call out to him.
She lost all sense of time in the dark void that enveloped her so when Sal finally removed his hand and she could see again, it took her several seconds to regain her bearings.
As she blinked her vision back into focus, the first thing she saw was Race’s face directly in front of her, wearing an expression she’d never seen on him before.
Fear.
She reached for him automatically but he’d already grabbed her and pulled her against him.
“What the fuck was that?”
His voice had dropped to a growl that would’ve made anyone else cower on the ground. Sal barely paid any attention to Race as he turned to Scarlata. Mara followed Sal’s gaze and registered the woman’s extremely pissed-off expression.
“That bastard.” Scarlata sounded just as furious as Race. “Selvans, he’s been fucking around with the
Mal
again.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Race demanded.
Still holding the baby, Selvans walked over to join the little group. “I was afraid of that.” The god turned to her and gave another one of those apologetic smiles. “It seems Veive is working with the
Mal
.”
Mara shook her head. The name didn’t ring a bell but Race stiffened against her. “He laid the spell?”
Sal gave a disgusted sigh. “He had a hand in it. Shit. I was hoping the rumors were wrong.”
As if he’d read her mind, Race asked, “What rumors?”
“That there are lines being drawn.”
Race went silent, as if he understood what Selvans had said. Since she didn’t, she raised her hands.
“What lines?”
No one answered her right away and she wasn’t sure if it was because they didn’t understand her or they didn’t have an answer.
Finally, after everyone had exchanged glances, Sal looked her straight in the eyes. “Sweetheart, the bastard who helped cast that spell on you was Veive, God of Revenge. And the bastard apparently has aligned himself with the
Mal
for the upcoming power struggle. Otherwise known as war.
Shit.
” Sal turned to shake his head at Selvans. “Who else do you think they’ve got?”
Selvans sighed. “I have no idea. But,” he gave Mara a weary-looking smile, “that’s a conversation for another day. Right now, we need to make good on our promise to Mara. Race, take Arin into the front room.”
Race wanted to argue. She could tell by the way he held so still and the stiffness of his jaw.
Lifting her hand to stroke her fingers against his cheek, she waited until he looked at her. Then she signed, “I’ll be okay.”
It took him at least thirty seconds to comply and the look he shot Sal could have sliced through wood. But when he took Arin from Selvans, he kept his gaze downcast.
Selvans didn’t say anything, just patted his shoulder as he walked out. “You too, Justin. Take Tina. And don’t let him come back in here until I tell you.”
As soon as the other man nodded and left, Selvans sat at the table next to Mara.
“Now, sweetheart, I’m not going to lie to you. This is probably going to hurt like hell. And there’s a good possibility Veive is going to know we broke his spell. He may even be able to trace you, at least until the spell dissipates. I’ve got this place pretty well shielded but there’s always a possibility.”
She reached for the whiteboard.
Do you think I should?
“I think if you’re going to do it, now’s the time, this is the place and we’re your best shot.”
Then let’s do it.