Witch Bound (Twilight of the Gods) (4 page)

Expression grim, Christian came to a stop before Raquel. “I have to go. There’s been a surge.”

“A surge? Now?” Audrey asked, shocked.

Christian kept his gaze fixed on Raquel. “It’s a small one. You can stay here and meet the rest of the town, enjoy your time with your family. I’ll see you in the morning.” He paused. “We’ll talk then.”

She caught the look in his eye, cautious but determined. Damn it, Fen
had
ratted her out. Somehow...somehow she’d thought he wouldn’t. Of course, his loyalty would be with Christian. She nodded. “Be safe.”

He smiled and it was like sunshine through the clouds. Beautiful, beautiful man. “Always.”

She watched him leave, turning to track his progress through the room. People pulled their chairs out of his way so he could pass. When he reached the metal door, he pushed through it without a backward glance and was gone. The other huntsmen filed out behind him. A gust of cold touched her even from across the room. She was still staring at the door when Lois and Grace approached, her mother only a step behind.

“How can there be a surge
now?
” her mother demanded. Loudly.

Grace looked unhappy about being left behind to explain, but it was Lois who answered first. “The portal is unstable.” Lois shot Grace a dirty look. “Maybe now your husband will let me have my apprentice before the ceremony.”

“The wedding is in three weeks,” Grace said, turning so that her body was between Raquel and Lois in a protective stance. Raquel had only spoken to Lois once, briefly, and she was beginning to suspect that was an intentional strategy on the part of clan Ragnarok. The way Fen had said Lois’s name suggested he didn’t care for her much. “Let them have this time.”

“It’s too soon for there to be another surge,” Raquel’s mother said, voice turning shrill. “Grace? If there’s something wrong here, then we deserve to know about it. Aiden never hinted that there was a problem. I won’t have my daughter placed at unnecessary risk.”

“Unnecessary risk?” Lois scoffed. “She’s the clan witch. Risk comes with the territory.”

“She’s not a member of your clan yet.”

Raquel could feel Lois gather power. Not much—it might have been an instinctive defensive reaction—but she didn’t know Lois well enough to be sure. She was also excruciatingly aware that everyone’s attention had turned toward them. A crowd of stranger’s faces—hostile, amused, sympathetic, all of them unfamiliar.

“Mom,” Raquel said quietly, touching her arm to get her attention. Her mother had a short temper during the best of times. The stress of the wedding hadn’t improved that trait and this... “Calm down, please. This isn’t Lois’s fault, not the problem or them keeping it a secret.
I
knew about it.”

“What?”

“I knew about the portal. It’s one of the reasons why they were so anxious to complete the ceremony now rather than wait for spring like we’d originally planned.”

“And you weren’t going to tell me?”

Raquel held up her hand. “Don’t look at me like that, I just learned of it myself. But this isn’t the time or place to discuss it. Maybe tomorrow we can all sit down and put our cards on the table before anyone starts making accusations about who should know what.”

Her mother’s pursed lips spoke volumes about how much she enjoyed having that cast in her face. She’d been the one to insist that Raquel not tell Christian about her little problem until after the ceremony. While Raquel had planned to tell him anyway, this...complicated things.

“The coven is meeting in my shop tomorrow at noon,” Lois said. “It would be good if you could take a few minutes away from your busy schedule to help us figure out a way to save the clan.”

Grace winced as Lois stomped toward the kitchen. She shook her head and then smiled at Raquel apologetically. “Lois might be difficult for a time until she adjusts to the idea of a more powerful witch in her territory. I’ll speak with her.”

Raquel couldn’t see how that would possibly help, but she nodded anyway. This fight would be between Lois and her. It had to be. Preferably, they’d be able to settle it without bloodshed.

“I’m sorry about all this.” Grace’s gaze swept the hall before returning to her. “We can have another party this weekend and—”

“No,” she said, too quickly judging by the way Grace’s eyes sharpened. Raquel softened her voice. “That won’t be necessary. This was lovely. Thank you for it.”

Grace gave her a wobbly smile. “Well then, welcome to Ragnarok. We are really happy to have you here.”

Chapter Three

Humans called his kind wolves, the Æsir called them Odin’s hounds. They ran with the hunt, killing the demons that had destroyed their home and now chased them through cracks in the fault line between worlds. In oldentimes the hunt hadn’t bothered to hide themselves and if, occasionally, humans saw them and called them gods or ghosts or faeries, what of it? Legends arose wherever they settled. The Wild Hunt, Wilde Jagd, Woden’s Hunt, štvaní, Estantiga, Åsgårdsreia. Now they did their best to avoid notice, casting glamour over weapons and horses, armor and of course the riders themselves.

His mother had been a rider, a huntswoman. She’d had the poor judgment to wed a hound, bond him to her and give birth to a son. Hounds only sired sons, all of them cursed to assume the same role in the clan as their fathers. Fen wasn’t miserable enough to regret his birth, only the circumstances of it. And times like these when he was flying through the woods, a streak of shadow and legend, feet barely touching the earth and the wind cutting through his fur, he couldn’t even bring himself to regret that.

The half-moon was high and bright, casting stark shadows through the bare branches of the trees. The demon darting through the woods ahead of him was fast but poorly adapted to this world, blinded by moonlight and sliding on the dead leaves that covered the frozen earth. Fen stretched his body, pulled himself forward with his forepaws and launched himself onto the demon’s back, clamping his jaws around its neck and severing the main artery. He pulled away from the spurt of blood. Still it numbed his tongue, ice cold and bitter. He let saliva wash the taste from his mouth and swung his head wide looking for more prey.

This chase had brought him nearly to the lake, over a mile away from the breach and the rest of the pack. No one was here. He howled, one piercing cry to draw a huntsman to sever the thing’s neck to be sure it was truly dead and dispose of the body.

Hoofbeats sounded behind him and then Beth’s voice, “Got this one, Fen. You’re clear to go.”

He yipped an acknowledgment and turned, already feeling the pack closing the distance between them. It wasn’t a true psychic connection. He couldn’t read their minds but was always aware of location, and all of the hounds had a keen instinct for interpreting body posture. Brian had turned his rear foot and was limping. Fen could feel an echo of that pain through the pack bond. He swore under his breath. In this form, it came out as more of a growl.

No wonder Brian is still running on an injured leg.

Ben, the youngest member of the pack, was chasing a higher-level demon who’d headed directly for the nearest Æsir homestead.

Julia’s house.

Fen flew, covering the distance as fast as he could, ignoring the burn in his lungs and the ache in his limbs. His pack needed him. The knowledge was like a whip at his back. Launching himself over a boulder, he half skidded down the leaf-matted slope on the other side. Hagan fell into pace with him on his right flank. After another quarter mile, Garret covered his left.

Garret snarled at the same time Fen felt Ben attack the demon. His mind was partitioned, one part aware of the fight taking place in Julia’s backyard. Only forty fucking feet from the house. Another part was entirely focused on pushing his body to the limit, his paws hitting the earth, the obstacles in his path and the clearest route to Julia’s house.

It took less than five minutes but seemed like a lifetime. Two lifetimes when he tasted blood. Brian had joined the fight and was injured. Idiot. He should have known better than to run on a wrenched leg in the first place. Fen understood though. He understood all too well why Brian wasn’t sitting this one out.

Brian still considered Julia his mate. It didn’t matter that she’d broken up with Brian ten years ago after graduating from the community college. It didn’t matter that she’d met another man and married him. That she’d given that man three children and was evidently extremely happy. It didn’t matter that Julia probably didn’t spare Brian more than a few seconds of thought—hopefully regretful thought—every other month or so. Brian had slept with her when he was sixteen and stupid. He’d thought they’d spend the rest of their lives together.

For a hound, that was all it took. One fuck and you were screwed for the rest of your life, bonded to that woman. Over the years, Brian had come to hate Julia. Oh, he knew she hadn’t done it on purpose. She’d been young and stupid too. It wasn’t fair to make her pay for it for the rest of her life, right? Brian hated her anyway. Fen could feel that bitterness through the bond, even as Brian killed himself trying to save Julia’s husband and the three children that were not his.

When Fen and the others got there, the demon was tangled in the chains of the swing set and Brian was bleeding in the sandbox. Ben—young, scrawny Ben—crouched between the demon and the house, catching his breath and waiting for the rest of the pack to arrive. Kid was smart. He’d be the next pack leader if he survived long enough...and if Fen didn’t.

The demon ripped the chains from his chest and stepped toward the house. Fen signaled Ben to fall back and then launched himself at the demon, clawing a deep gash in the creature’s flank even as he was swatted aside. Hagan surged forward immediately after, baiting the creature to the left while Garret darted in low from the right. Garret’s jaws clamped just above the demon’s knee and ripped away, tearing muscle and shredding the tendon. Blood splattered across the grass, lighting it up like a miniature lava flow. The blood glowed molten but wasn’t actually hot to touch. Instead it crackled faintly as it touched the frost-covered grass and dulled within seconds.

When the demon’s leg gave out, he howled. An eerily high-pitched scream filled with rage and pain but no sign of surrender. The creature knew he was surrounded in an alien world. He knew he couldn’t make it back to the fault, that there would be no mercy from the Æsir.

Someone inside the house flicked on a light and, like a beacon, it drew every eye. The silhouette of a girl peeking through the curtains. Tara. She was eight and should surely know better. The demon’s head swiveled around, and Fen rushed to intercept him.

The light flicked off, but the demon was already moving. So fast. Even after all these years, it still surprised him just how quickly the higher-level demons could move when they wanted to. The thing plowed right through Hagan and hooked his claws into the aluminum siding. Fen landed on the demon’s back, sinking his teeth into the shoulder joint and using his weight to drive them both to the ground. The sound of rending metal split the night as the demon’s claws ripped free. Hagen made the killing blow, tearing out the jugular and dragging the corpse away from the house.

Ben howled to alert the huntsmen to their location. Fen padded over to check on Brian. He was alive, panting and still trying to get back to his feet to fight. He had a long but shallow gash in his side, and his leg hung limp and useless beneath him. That leg was more of a concern than the cut. Joint injuries could be tricky to mend even for Alan, the clan’s healer. Fen lay beside Brian, using his weight to keep him down. Still, Brian didn’t go limp until Fen growled a warning and wedged him against the wooden wall of the sandbox.

They settled in to wait for the rest of the hunt to catch up. Aiden could carry Brian back to the house. Hell, maybe Julia could ride him over in the Jeep. Fen looked toward the house when he heard the front door open. It was Dan, calling to see if anyone needed help. His five-year-old son had his little hand fisted in his father’s sweatpants and Tara was a step behind.
Fuck.

Brian lifted his head and started trying to get up all over again. Fen thought about changing so he could yell at Dan to get back in the house, but all of the kids were up now. They’d been traumatized enough without having to witness Fen’s change too...or the fact that he’d be nude after he did it. Instead, he gave a warning growl when Dan tried to step off the porch and nipped Brian in the shoulder to warn him to stay the fuck down.

Brian and Dan didn’t get along well during the best of times. With Brian hurt and anxious, well...enough blood had been spilled for one night.

Dan squinted into the dark and then turned to usher the kids back inside. Julia would be here soon. The hunt should be aware of their location by now. Fen could hear the horses moving through the woods, felt the tremor in the earth beneath his belly.

Julia was the first in, taking in the scene with one look and choking back a sob as she slid from her horse. She ran across the yard, ignoring the twitching mound of demon flesh, the hounds, everything. Tara saw her first from the door and shouted, “Mom.”

Julia leaped onto the porch and immediately dropped to her knees to gather up the little ones. The five-year-old boy was crying but the youngest, barely two, was wide-eyed and silent as his mother clutched him to her chest. Tara pointed toward the demon and began to excitedly relate the story to her shaken mother. A born huntswoman, that one.

Fen felt Brian’s body stiffen as Dan bent to kiss the top of Julia’s head. He wrapped his arms around his wife’s trembling shoulders and drew her up with him, ordering the kids back inside. Tara paused as if she might argue, but one look from her dad and she turned around, taking the youngest by the hand and dragging him along behind her.

Christian and Aiden had both arrived by then. Christian had already dismounted and was walking toward the demon, sword drawn. Aiden rode up to the porch and spoke briefly with Julia. A moment later, she and Dan entered the house and closed the door behind them.

Brian whimpered and lowered his head to his paws. With a sigh, Fen dropped his chin to his friend’s back. Not worth it. Whatever Brian had gained in those few months of pleasure, it sure as hell wasn’t worth this.