Authors: Rachel Carrington
“You know, you make me miss Andion,” Rane returned ever so
calmly.
He and his brother exchanged
looks and Rane knew Jaxon was reading his mind accurately.
Rane would only be pushed so far before he
would push back.
Nexon’s eyes narrowed.
“Andion served this guild well.
I
wish I could be so sure you would sacrifice your own life for the sake of your
family.”
Rane’s breath escaped through clenched teeth.
He battled back his temper, but his blood
pressure climbed with each passing second.
His hands itched to strike out, but he held himself in check.
“You would be wise to consider your words
carefully, Nexon.
I will not restrain
myself in the future.”
Nexon grinned slightly.
“As
your brother in times past, you would challenge one of your fellow wizards?”
Jensen intervened quickly.
“That is not important right now.”
“I believe that it is,” Nexon contradicted.
“As always, Rane comes in, stirs up trouble
and then leaves.
It is the story of this
entire family.”
Silence descended and Jaxon turned, slowly, methodically.
Rane saw the light of battle in his brother’s
eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Nexon only speaks his mind, Jaxon.
You cannot fault him for that.”
Jaxon shrugged off the hand.
“Perhaps not, but I will tell you, Nexon, that the next time you choose
to criticize my family, do it out of range of my hearing.”
Nexon mumbled something below his breath and dropped his eyes to the
ground.
Rane dismissed the wizard’s discontent quickly.
“I cannot stay here, Jaxon.”
“Are you that anxious to leave your family, son?”
Jensen stepped in between Nexon and Rane.
Rane sought to reassure his father.
“Anxious, no, but you must understand that Skye and Emily are my
responsibility.”
“Why?” Jensen quickly retorted.
“Have you claimed them as your family?
I was not aware that you had done so.”
Jaxon answered for Rane and for once, Rane was grateful.
“Father, Rane’s loyalty to Skye and Emily are
not of importance.
He is a wizard and
they are in trouble.
He can do no other
than to protect them, regardless of the depth of his commitment to them.”
Jensen seemed to accept the explanation.
“Perhaps it would be wise to keep a direct
link to the Assembly while you are away.”
“It was my intention to leave the channel of communication open,”
Rane reassured his father.
“In case the witch has other plans to kill you,” Nexon inserted a
bit nastily.
Jaxon shot the wizard a glare.
“You do not seem to be yourself, Nexon.
Perhaps you would like to return to your quarters and gain some
perspective.”
“What type of perspective?”
Nexon queried.
“Your place in this guild.”
Jaxon took a step forward.
“And
who is the leader.”
As Rane watched from the sidelines, Nexon’s face contorted and a
long, low hiss escaped from his lips.
Then the wizard’s shoulders sagged and Jaxon caught him before he could
collapse.
Immediately, Rane whipped around and began scanning the air
overhead.
His father joined him in the
search, but they both came up empty.
Nexon coughed and held his stomach.
“What happened?”
Rane came forward.
“I believe
you were inhabited.”
***
“Impossible.”
Jensen’s fist
thumped the sturdy, wooden table.
“No
mortal, wizard, or alien life form can penetrate the safety of these
walls.
It is absolutely impossible that
Nexon could have been possessed.”
Jaxon had called an immediate meeting of the Assembly, even
summoning Skye to join them.
He paced
the room, his robe flapping out behind him.
“Nevertheless, we all saw what happened.”
“And I felt it,” Nexon responded quietly.
Rane turned his attention toward the older wizard.
“How long was he with you?”
Nexon scratched his head.
“That I cannot tell you.
It seems
like it was forever.”
Jensen cursed below his breath and Charlemaine placed her hand on
his arm.
“We should gather the other
guilds to put them on notice.”
Jaxon held up one hand.
“We
should not create undue alarm.”
Rane looked at his brother.
“I do not believe the alarm would be undue, brother.”
Jaxon immediately corrected himself.
“My mistake.
I only meant to say
that gathering the guilds would sound an alarm and put this creature on
notice.”
“He’s wanting to create dissension among us,” Skye put in such a
soft voice that she almost wasn’t heard, but once her words sank in, Jaxon
pinned her with a look.
“How would you know that?”
“Because he told me.”
***
Unger skipped around the fire, his beady eyes gleaming.
He’d gathered the remaining witches together
and they all sat in a circle, watching his glee.
He’d decide later which one he’d need to
regenerate his powers.
For now, let them
think their sisters were disappearing at the hands of the wizards.
He stopped his elated dance and clamped his hands on his hips.
“Why do you all look so mournful?
I now know how to rid us of the wizards and
your traitorous sister once and for all.”
No one spoke for fear of reprisal.
Unger leaped into the middle of the circle, startling them.
Shrieking, they pushed themselves to their
feet and ran a distance away.
Unger
laughed uproariously.
“It’s no wonder Sabrina was unable to lead you to victory.
You are all scared of your own shadows.
To best a wizard, you have to be invincible.”
“Sabrina was the only one among us who considered herself to be
invincible,” came a small voice from the back of the group.
Unger searched the crowd and easily found her.
Tilting his index finger, he propelled her
forward.
He released her from the spell
once she stood scant inches away from his face.
He watched the way she recoiled from the site of his face.
He considered killing her, but his need for
sustenance overruled his thirst for complete domination.
“Then you are a fool.”
He
lifted his head and stabbed each witch individually with his eyes.
“All of you are fools.
Do you realize how powerful you are as a
group?
How powerful you could be with
the right tools?
Don’t you know that I
can give you those powers?
You would
rule the world.
Under my command, of
course, but you would be a law unto yourselves.
Don’t any of you thirst for that kind of sovereignty?”
Realizing he was speaking to a group
,
which had
once again grown mute, Unger made a sound of disgust and sent the meek witch
back to her sisters.
“No matter.
Regardless of what you thirst for, you will
follow my orders.”
He peered at them
with his eyes squinted.
“As you know, my
powers require regeneration, at least, they will until Skye is dead and the
spell has been broken.
So unless any of
you desire to become my future meals, you will do as you are told when you are
told to do it?”
When no response came, he clapped his hands together and crowed,
“Excellent.
You are dismissed.”
***
Rane didn’t even realize he was holding Skye’s arm until she peeled
his fingers away.
Then, as she rubbed
the soft skin, he winced, but didn’t apologize.
“How did Unger talk to you, Skye?” he asked in a deceptively soft
voice.
Green eyes blinking up at him, Skye frowned.
“I’m not sure.
It was just inside my head.”
“What else did he say to you?”
Rane waved a hand behind his back to brush Jaxon away.
Skye reached out for his hands and gripped them tightly.
“He said he’s coming for me.”
A muscle jumped in Rane’s jaw and for a brief moment, he lost the
ability to reason.
His eyes narrowed.
His heart raced and his blood pumped in
furious rivers through his veins.
But he
cradled Skye in his arms, showing no outward sign of distress.
“He will not reach you, ma petite.
I will not allow him to take what is mine.”
Skye rested her head against his chest for a brief moment before
lifting her gaze to Rane’s face.
“We
really should go now.
The longer we
stay, the more in danger everyone else is.”
Rane cupped her face with his hands and the warmth of his skin made
his tingle.
“No one here is in danger.”
Skye cast a look toward the lone window.
“Not in here.
Out there.”
All eyes in the room focused on the length of her vision.
“What is out there?”
Rane came to stand behind her, his hands
resting on her shoulders.
“The Well-wishers.
The animals.
Everything that’s living and breathing.”
Skye’s breath shook out of her lungs.
“Rane, I saw darkness.
Emptiness.”
She shuddered.
“Death.”
Rane tried to reassure her, but he knew even as he spoke, he
couldn’t .
“This creature obviously has
the abilities to distort minds and images.”
He drew her back closer to his chest and rested his chin atop her
head.
Unger had reached her somehow,
touched her in a place Rane was not so sure he could reach.
“Do not let this trouble you.
We are well equipped to protect our
own.”
He pressed a kiss along her
temple.
“And those we love.”
Skye brought his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles.
“He scares me, Rane.”
The quiet words sent a chill down Rane’s
spine.
It was an unnatural feeling.
As a wizard, Rane rarely, if ever, felt the
anxiety ordinary mortals faced when in a crisis.
He simply dealt with the problem and moved on
to the next one, but something, or maybe it was someone, was telling him this
problem would not be solved so simply.
Rane shook his head slightly, wishing to shake away the doubts
starting to crowd his mind.
He had no
time for worries and regardless of the difficulty involved in resolving the
issue at hand, he would meet the challenge.
He was a wizard, ancient and powerful.
He would not accept defeat.
Inside his body, rationale struggled to keep ahead of Rane’s own,
natural thirst for domination.
He craved
retribution, the power soaring through his veins promised another battle with
the creature, and only one would leave the battlefield alive.
Fear dissipated.
Determination excelled.
He would win against this thing, this Unger.
He had no choice.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The green hills stretched out as far as the eye could see and with
each breath, Skye felt her nerves undulate.
They’d arrived in
the back garden, eager to feel the crisp air on her face and the dew-damp grass
beneath her bare feet.
For the first
time in a long time, she felt safe.
Protected.
She knew she wasn’t being reasonable.
If Unger could reach her inside the
protection provided by Mystique, he could reach her here, though Rane had taken
great pains to ensure the spells were securely in place before they’d settled
in for the evening.
She’d thought he’d make love to her last night once they’d climbed
into his big four-poster bed, but instead, he’d taken her in his arms and with
a remarkable tenor voice, had sung her to sleep.
Skye couldn’t remember the last time she’d
slept so soundly.
Wrapping her arms around her waist, she traversed the grounds,
taking in the scents, the sights, the sounds as if caught in a dreamland, which
would disappear if she blinked.
Through the open garden gate, an inquisitive goat poked his head,
bleating a welcome.
Skye laughed softly
and lowered her head, encouraging the animal to come closer.
With its snowy white head and stubby horns,
the goat came forward on wobbly legs.
Skye dropped to her knees and the goat took another step forward, nuzzling
her palm with his wet nose.
Skye
produced some oats and the goat didn’t seem to think that was strange at
all.
He began to eat noisily while Skye
chuckled at his gusty appetite.
She pulled him into her lap, sitting down on the damp grass.
Feeling free and alive, she rocked the animal
gently while it blinked sleepily.
“I thought I might find you out here,” came Rane’s voice from behind
her.
Skye didn’t turn around.
She’d sensed his presence.
Rane dropped down beside her.
“I see you’ve met Jake.”
From the corner of her eye, Skye caught a glimpse of Rane and
thoughts of the goat disappeared.
Shirtless and bare-footed, with his hair tumbling around his face and a
morning shadow gracing his chin, he looked dark, dangerous and ready for
sex.
Skye let Jake go.
The goat stumbled to his feet and lurched his way toward
the opening while Skye turned to face Rane.
“What are you doing out here?”
Unable to resist the temptation, she lifted her hand and caressed his
cheek.
The hairs rasped against her palm.
She swallowed hard while she waited for his
answer.
Rane’s eyes darkened as they swept over her face.
Like tiny onyxes, they reached into her soul
and begged to know every inch of her mind, body, and soul.
They demanded her secrets and promised sheer
pleasure if she complied.
They held
her.
Captivated her.
Skye didn’t give him any more time to answer her question.
She leaned in for a kiss, moving her lips
over his softly at first, then with much more fervor, demanding.
She climbed to her knees and pushed Rane back
against the grass.
She straddled him and
looked down into his face.
His hands settled on her hips.
“What do you want?”
His voice was
still husky with sleep or perhaps it was anticipation which coated his words
with such luster.
Skye grabbed the hem of her cotton t-shirt and tugged it over her
head.
“You know exactly what I
want.”
Beneath her bottom, she felt him
surge to life.
“You feel it,” she added.
Rane’s breath hitched in his throat as his hands climbed their way
up her sides.
“You want it here then?”