Dark Tide (A Mated by Magic Novel) (12 page)

Ingrid Svensen stood on a makeshift podium, her blond hair blowing in the wind. One of their own acting as minister, her words had been short, yet poignant.

Josh openly wept for the lost members of the clans. Some he knew well had been invited to his family’s beach house on the shore. Others, like Maya’s dad, he he’d just gotten to know. All had paid the ultimate sacrifice. Not only their way of life, but for the planet at large.

If it hadn’t been for Maya, he would’ve been among the lost.

Wearing dark suits, his brothers stood on either side of him. They wore the Clan Council’s red sash with a black one over the other shoulder for mourning. Their wives wore the similar colored attire. Tears laced their cheeks, black with mascara, but they stood straight and strong.

Maya held a spot at the front, with those who had lost a family member. Josh had waited for an invite to her side, but she’d not spoken more than a few words to him since she’d overheard his brutal confession in the infirmary.

He bowed his head at the pastor’s final blessing. Not much of a religious sort, he prayed to a spirit greater than his, hoping there was one. He prayed that Dan’s gentle nature would live on somewhere in peace, and that Maya would meet him there in another plane of existence. Perhaps it was a fairytale. But at times like this, he needed to believe.

People lined up to give their condolences.

His sister-in-law, Zoe, sent healing into Maya and the rest of the grieving witches. Then, he walked forward and greeted each by name and expressed his sympathies. He offered each his personal assistance and handed them his business card.

When he reached beautiful Maya, his mind went blank. All the things he wanted to say disappeared as his brain cells misfired. He tried to take her hand, but she escaped and busied her fingers by taking a wet tissue to her eyes.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” His words sounded foreign and stilted.

“Thank you.” She looked so sad, he wanted to hold her in his arms forever, but he’d ruined that. He ruined everything he touched.

“I know this isn’t the time, but perhaps later we could talk?”

She shook her head, no, turned to the next person in line, and his heart all but broke in two.

Sprinkles of rain fell as Josh’s brothers kissed their wives and sent them off on the last helicopter. After much arguing, the men had finally convinced their wives that the children needed to be attended to.

Josh sighed. Families. Life. All the things he had missed out on by being a master screw-up. Whenever a slim chance for happiness appeared in his life he’d shit on it. It was a pattern with him, he noted, and not for the first time. His two brothers were the successful ones. He was the fuck up. And damned if he wasn’t good at it.

When the dot faded out of view, Jack looked at him and said, “Ready?”

Josh nodded, “Let me get Maya. I’ll meet you and Josh in the council room.”

He climbed down the steps, through the long halls, past now empty living quarters and wondered what he could say to make it right between them. One part of him argued that he had only said the truth, the other part called him out.

What the hell? He couldn’t even think clearly any more. 

He knocked on her door. “Maya. It’s time.”

“You go ahead. I’ll be along shortly.”

For the love of God.
“We’re going to be together for some time. Best we figure out how to manage this before we get to the council room.”

She opened the door and his heart stopped. Even with puffy eyelids, she was beautiful. She regarded him warily.

“I really don’t want to talk to you.”

He was starting to get pissed off. Sure what he said was crass, but neither of them had agreed to more than just sex.

They walked in silence, then the infirmary door loomed to their right.

Shit.
Turning abruptly, he said, “Listen, I’m really sorry you overheard what I said.”

Her face turned crimson. “But not that you said it.”

“You don’t understand. I was just trying to get Jack to back off. My family can be...” He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “It’s hard to explain. They just get way too into the personal stuff. When my brother found Zoe, hell, my sister actually sat her down and taught her how to mate.”

“Well, we don’t have to worry about that now, do we?” Her green eyes narrowed over pursed lips.

“Damn it, Maya. I want to start over.” He tried to hold her hand.

She shot it behind her back. “That boat has sailed. Best you get used to it.”

Jack poked his head out of the council room, two doors down, and glowered. “In here. Both of you.”

With a sweep of his arm, he indicated they should enter the long room with over fifty now empty chairs. A projector sat in the middle of the table, cables coiled.

Jack paced in front of a four-foot white screen held by cables from the ceiling. His hand raked through his hair and across his exhausted features. “I can’t have you at odds. We need to be unified.”

What Josh said next sounded a bit churlish, even to his ears, “It’s not me.”

“We’re fine.” Maya plopped down next to him and scowled.

His brother exhaled. He loomed over them with palms flat at the head of the table.

“I expect to see some pleasantries exchanged before we take off, or you”–Jack pointed at Maya–“are not going.”

With eyebrows raised, she actually screeched, “Me? You can’t deny me? I’m head of–”

Shit. They were in for it.

His normally patient brother shouted, “I don’t get care. This is my show. If you two can’t get along, then you put the entire operation at risk.” He gave both of them a disgusted look. “I’m giving you an hour. Here. Alone. I better see a miraculous change when I get back. Put a lid on your emotions until we get the girl or I’ll find others to take on the task. Understood?”

They both nodded.

Jack swiveled on his heel and slammed the door behind him.

Studying the antique nautical prints on the wall, Josh stood and paced. “Listen, I want to explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain. I’m an adult. I get it. And now
you
need to understand. It’s over. I’m clan leader now. I have an obligation to my family and to my clan to mate with someone of equal power.”

She’d meant to insult him but she had no idea. If they mated during solstice, her water power would unite with his. He might not be as powerful as Jace and Jack, but he was damned close.

The thought of someone else lying with her made his blood boil. He needed a second chance, and for once in his life, wasn’t going to blow it.

He tried a softer tact. “Maya. I could be that for you and more if you’d just give me a chance.”

Why couldn’t she just forget what he’d said and move on?

He knew the answer.

Pride.

He’d hurt her.

And he’d also told her numerous times that he wasn’t interested in a mate. What a fucking fool he’d been.

He cleared his throat. “I know I screwed up. I didn’t mean for you to overhear what I said to my brother.”

She snorted. “If this is an apology, you really suck at it.”

God almighty.
The woman was merciless
.

“I know I do. But I don’t know how to do it any better, except to ask you to forgive me. Can we start over? As friends? My brothers will know if we don’t mean it. I really do like you, Maya. You’re strong, beautiful, capable, and…” He almost said fuckable, but replaced it quickly with, “Finished.”

“Finished?” Her brows drew down and her frown deepened.

Damn, he was messing this up even more.

“Unlike me, you’ve got it all together. I admire that. Hell, I’m jealous of it, I suppose. I’ve fucked up so many times in my life. Too many to count. What I said to Jack...” He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “I’m just so, so damn sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know.” She stood up, touched his arm, and said, “I also know without you I never could’ve done what I did on the deck. You were the one that gave me the strength when I needed it most.”

He shivered at her touch and kissed her on the forehead. This time he would go slowly. Treat her right. Make her come to care for him. The way it should be.

When Jack returned with Jace an hour later, Josh exchanged a quick nod with his brothers to let them know everything was all right. He knew he still had a lot to make up for, but at least they were headed in the right direction.

Jack plugged in his laptop and a Google-map popped up on the projector.

“This is my home in Romania.” He moused-over a tiny village, then zoomed out. “And this is where we think Gregor has taken the girl.”

Jace shook his head. “That’s not going to work. We need more than a close approximation.”

“Agreed. I have all my resources on it.”

Josh’s eyebrow raised and he squeezed Maya’s hand. That meant millions of dollars.

His brother nodded. “We need to put Uragan out of business, for good. Once we know for certain where he took the girl, we’ll use a small strike force. I know him. Egomaniac. He’ll be expecting a clan army to come for him. He’ll set up a perimeter, thinking we won’t be able to get close.”

The three of them nodded when he searched their faces.

“We lack the element of surprise. Wherever he is, he’s expecting us. Overnight, I’ve checked with the best psychoanalysts and strategists that money can buy. Our best success lies with how low key we can appear. I’ll have makeup artists standing by in Romania. As soon as we have his location, we’ll move by car over the border. Our Italian allies will facilitate passports. Any questions?”

Maya bit her lower lip, but said nothing.

Josh was pretty sure she had a plan of her own in mind.

Gregor Uragan paced the basement of what used to be an ancient church. A gold-haloed Madonna stared down sadly from a faded mural. A Christ child, with the face of an old man, lay in her arms. Twenty chipped and broken statues of the alleged savior lay stacked in the corner of the room. All remnants of a lost religion.

God did not exist.
There was no heaven and no hell, he consoled himself. He spit on the worn linoleum, made an ancient curse with his fingers, and paced between the wooden pews.

The Council was coming for him, and when they did, he’d be ready. It was time true power was restored to his clan. The treaty with Fialko had turned them all into
slabakov
. Wimps.

Atop the hill in the heart of the medieval village, bells sounded, indicating the end of mass. Soon the women and old men would walk down the cobblestones and gather in the piazza in front of the butcher, closed on Sunday. All the locals would sit in benches and share their drab lives.

Strangers would stand out like a pimple on a baby’s ass.

He glanced out the basement window, where practical shoes strolled by and pondered his finances. Would he kill the American girl or sell her? She was pretty enough, but too thin. The men in the North of Africa preferred them with more meat. They lasted longer that way.

Suddenly, he wondered how she was faring. He walked to the back of the hall, switched on a weak bare bulb, and descended to the floor below. There, his wife sat glued to an Italian daytime TV show. His American merchandise sat curled in a corner, eyes wide.

He growled, “Feed her, for fuck’s sake.”

The mother of his good-for-nothing sons narrowed her gaze and said nothing. She’d not spoken to him since he’d found a powerful mate. After twenty years of her whining, he actually preferred it that way. She’d no real reason to be angry with him. After all, he did not divorce her and did not kill her. What more could she ask?

Shaking his head, he left after ensuring his skinny hostage ate a cheese sandwich.

Upstairs, his pregnant mate sat at a small table playing a game of solitary.

Her face contorted into a sneer when he approached, making her wide features uglier than normal. “I want to go home.”

Fat cow.
“Soon, my little Pereche. I told you, dearest. I need you.”

She played her last card, pushed back from the table, and stretched. “You’ll never beat the others.”

But for her swollen belly, he’d beat her within an inch of her life for that insolence. Fuming, he glared.

As always, the bitch ignored him. She laid down the ace of hearts, shuffled and said, “Best we make a hasty retreat. My family will find a better plan. They have brains, not shit for gray matter.”

Never looking up, she raised her left arm and flicked a wrist. Cold, musty air hit his face as her magic swirled about the room. She laughed when it curled into a spinning dervish and knocked him off his feet.

He sent an equal wind in her direction and scattered her game.

They glared.

Would that he could have mated with anyone else. But, like him, she was from an ancient family. Her heritage could be traced back for hundreds of years. And while not a perfect match, their connection had increased his own power exponentially.

The Council had no idea what they were up against.

She stood and stomped across the dimly lit room and jabbed a finger into his chest. “Admit it. You failed, Gregor.”

His heart pounded at his mate’s tone and he pictured all the ways he would make her pay after the birth of their child.

“I weakened them.” He towered over her five foot form.

She crossed her arms over her chest and wrinkled her wide nose. “But not enough.”

“One battle is not the totality of a war. You are only a woman. What do you know of such things?”

Her hand snapped back without warning and his face stung from her sharp slap.

He grabbed her wrist hard, and twisted it behind her back. “You go too far, Elena.”

“You bastard. My father will kill you.” She struggled with a wind power that equaled his own.  Pews overturned, and a six foot lantern hanging by a chain crashed to the linoleum.

“Careful, dear. Do not injure our child,” he hissed in her ear, tightening his grip. “If you are good, after the birth, I may let you live.”

She struggled and he smiled at her furious tone. “I should never have mated with you. You are nothing but a blow hard. All talk. No talent.”

“But you did. And now we both are stronger.” He held her upright and backhanded her.

She wriggled out of his grasp and spit blood into his face. “But not strong enough to beat the Fialko brothers. Let me take the human girl, sell her, and be gone. We will lick our wounds from Romania.”

He shouted, “Enough! They ruined my plans. My storm. What do you think buys you all the pretty things you like? Your jet? Your diamonds? Jack Fialko must die.”

“Don’t blame me for
your
endless greed. Fialko will come with his brothers and more. He defeated you in the ocean, and he will again. Right here.” She inched toward the door.  “You are an idiot, Gregor. I will not stay and fight with you.”

He sent a whirling wind to catch her, but she turned and hissed with palms toward him. A larger orange gust streaked across the room, through his power, and knocked him flat. “Next time I will dry you out and watch you eat your tiny balls.”