eldritch files 07 - elemental blood (5 page)

But it worked. Everyone stopped in their tracks and all eyes went to him. Tas stepped away as the Nisse moved back with wide eyes. "Enough. This shop is neutral territory. That's the way Sam always worked it, and you're both going to respect it." He pointed at Yolyn. "Especially you. I think it's best if your people leave first. This isn't a pissing contest between the Risi and the Wolves, got it? There's no devaluing your…greatness by exiting first."

"We have to see the Witch."

"You saw a Witch." Crwys pointed to Kyle, who stood beside the large black wolf at his hip. "And he's got your request. But you've got to give him time."

"We don't have time," Yolyn said.

"I believe the man said to shut it," Tas said, no fear.

Crwys wasn't happy about the look Yolyn gave her. Some Nisse could actually kill with a look, such as the Jötunn.
Oh…speaking of
. "I'm pretty sure neither the Jötunn nor the Trolls know you're here, do they? Would they approve of you trespassing on this side?"

They didn't have to say a word. Crwys could see it in their eyes.

Yolyn made a hand signal in the air. The left wall of the shop folded and twisted until it became a spinning, howling abyss of gold and green. One by one, the Risi filed through until they were gone. When the portal closed, Crwys's ears popped.

"What the hell was that?" Ben said, his hands on his hips.

"The Risi," Crwys growled at him as he turned to the other Wolves. "They're gone. I know you came for your pack mate. He's fine, but he shifted."

The smallest girl with them stepped forward and opened the small door of the counter. She coaxed a very terrified Jack from behind, and all of them surrounded him as they left the shop, even the ones now in wolf form. Anyone this far down Bourbon was going to get a treat when they saw that coming their way.

"Crwys," Ben said behind him.

He turned and nodded. "The Risi—"

"Are a myth."

"'Fraid not. They've been invisible to this world for so long they do
seem
like a myth. But I'm assuming you know about them?" He looked at all four of the men flanking Ben. They were all perigee and had vowed to uphold the Alpha's wishes of having Ben lead.

They nodded.

Kyle moved to the door and watched as the others left with Jack. He stepped back inside and began a series of hand gestures. Beautiful lights, the colors of the rainbow, flickered and misted about as the Hedge Witch rebuilt the wards. Crwys had always been sensitive to Sam's warding before. He hadn't even noticed it was gone when he came in. Its absence might explain how the Nisse got inside.

"Kyle?" Crwys said.

It was obvious the young man was upset. It was evident in his body language. Crwys had spent a great deal of time with Kyle over the past few months, especially since introducing him to his Conjure teacher. Kyle didn't turn to face them until he was finished. "What?"

"You want to help them?"

"Do we have a choice? There's a Quest out there that's just going to keep killing people." He walked past Tas and Crwys between the counter opening and through the open door to the back.

Pursing his lips, Crwys looked at Dharma and Ivan. Ivan had that look on his face again, as if he were seeing or hearing something no one else could. And if he was on the web, that's exactly what he was doing.

Dharma stepped away from her boyfriend and approached Ben and the Wolves. "What's the argument between the Wolves and these Nisse?"

"That might be something our Shaman could explain better," Ben said. "If you and everyone would like to come to the den this evening, we can sit down with the others and discuss what—"

The door banged open and everyone turned to see Arden Vervain, Witch Queen of New Orleans, High Witch, Parliament Elder and general pain in everyone's side, come barreling through on red stiletto heels. She waved at Crwys and Tas to move out of her way and then went through the door to the break room.

Frowning, Crwys moved behind her and stepped in to see her heading to the right—where she abruptly ran into a wall.

Wait…a wall? He turned to Dharma as she came up behind him, with Ivan and the others following in. "Where did that wall come from? Where are the stairs to the basement?"

"Son of a bitch!" Arden said as she kicked and banged on the wall. "This can't be happening."

Kyle came out of Sam's office and snapped at Arden, who was also his aunt, "Stop it. Nothing's going to bring it back but Sam."

"Bring what back?" Levi moved up beside Crwys. "Whoa…where are the stairs to the basement? Did someone take it?”

Kyle ran his fingers through his short hair, the Elemental tattoo on the back of his hand visible. "You can’t take something that doesn’t really exist. But you can cut off access to it.” He glanced around. “Come on. How many houses in New Orleans, especially in the French Quarter, have full basements? Didn't you ever think it was odd we had one? With three rooms in it?"

Crwys blinked. Levi looked at him, and then looked at Ben. All the Wolves looked a bit surprised.

Tas was the one that approached the wall as Arden huffed out of the way. "She created the basement. That's why she stored things in it."

"Yeah," Kyle said. "Her magic kept it open and accessible."

Arden looked at all of them. "You mean because she freaked out and left, the basement's gone too?"

"Yeah." Kyle looked tired. "I've tried for two days to bring it back." Then he frowned at Arden. "Why do you want in there?"

All eyes turned to her. She blushed a bit and looked very,
very
guilty.

"Arden?" Crwys took a step forward. "Did you put something in there?"

"Well…" She smiled. "Not so much a something as a…someone."

Son of— "Arden—"

"Now, you keep your fiery temper intact. It's not my fault he showed up in my garden. He was bruised and beaten, and he'd been stabbed. He needed a place to hide"

"Who?"

"I didn't get his name," Arden said. "But he's about my height with a long white silvery braid and pointed ears. Looked like an Elf of some kind. Said he was being hunted…I thought this was the best place for him to hide… Why is everyone staring at me?"

Crwys sighed with his hands on his hips. "I think we just found the Risi King."

FIVE

I couldn't sleep. Not just because my Arcane had skipped town, but also because Bastien hadn't come back from wherever it was he went. The town was small, just a spot in the road. And the motel backed up to a national forest. I assumed he'd gone out for a run. He'd barely let his wolf run since he came on this…this
whatever
it was with me. I didn't know if not letting the wolf roam free was like bottling up emotions for a human. You just keep denying them and then BAM. Insta-bitch.

I should know. I'd become the queen of
insta
these past months. But I was accustomed to Bastien being beside me. Not that we'd been romantic or had sex—I just couldn't do that. My heart, no matter how hard I tried to suppress it, belonged to Crwys. He permeated my dreams, my waking thoughts, my daydreams. I saw him no matter where I went. On the street, in a café, in the window of a store, looking back at me.

The nightmares had lessened when Bastien slept beside me, always in wolf form. Lessened, but never went away. They became dreams of fire. These were new, and they terrified me. I hadn't dreamt of Crwys like that since the Faeries took him. After that first nightmare, I'd called the station in New Orleans just to check and make sure he wasn't missing.

It was cowardly. The proper thing to do would be to call him. Talk to
him
. Explain myself.

And yet, I couldn't silence that other voice that'd started nagging me. The one that showed up after he asked me to marry him. The one that grew even louder when I learned about the Dragon's
Sleep
. A deep sleep that could last two hundred to three hundred years. The Dragons hopped through time this way…the ones that survived.

Always, my thoughts returned to Lethe and my mother dying in my arms. I tried not to hate Crwys for that because it wasn't his fault. Logically, I knew there wasn't anything he could have done to prevent it. Emotionally…I wasn't in control of that part of things yet.

I craved Crwys during those cold nights, even with an overly-warm Wolf at my side. Bastien had so many opportunities to betray my trust in him, but he never did. He was kind, respectful, and very protective. I still worried about that poor guy we left in Idaho last week, the one whose nose Bastien had happily rearranged after the guy insulted my chastity.

Crwys was immortal. Or at least, he would live a very, very long time. And he would always look the way he looked now. Beautiful, rugged, sexy. And me? Well, Witches don't age well in the movies. And age I would. There wasn't a damn thing I could do about that. And I didn't want to die in front of Crwys or be consumed by my own insecurities when other women flirted with him. I didn't doubt his heart. I just doubted me.

After tossing around, I got up and looked out the window. Waxing moon. Yeah…I was pretty sure Bastien was out running down prey, enjoying the woods while I swam in my misery.

I queried my Elementals, who all agreed I needed fresh air. But I wanted a shower first. The hot water woke me up instead of making me sleepy, so I put on clothing, summoned a protection shield and stepped out into the night, sending
feels
around to make sure I was alone and wouldn’t become the target of some idiot drunk with a hard on for taking lone women.

This is America, you know. Land of the free. And the missing.

The brisk mountain air made me wish I'd brought a thicker jacket, but Belenos sparked some heat and within seconds, I was warmer. I actually had to ask him to turn it down. They moved with me, invisible as we passed the trees. There was something very interesting about this particular wood. And after a good half hour of walking, I figured out what it was.

I could actually hear the forest. The swamps and the nature preserves back home were okay, but there was always so much industrial noise nearby that made it almost impossible to really hear everything around us. I stood in a clearing, looking up at the half moon. Its light illuminated the whole area, and I spotted a few deer moving fast from my right to my left as they jumped into the shadows. I inhaled deep and closed my eyes. There was something very calming, very Zen about this spot. I inhaled again and let the breath out slow. Everything stilled, including me, and I sighed. Here, I believed I could actually hear my own voice.

And it was telling me…

I wasn't alone.

I didn't move immediately as my
feels
moved like water along the ground in four directions. Whatever it was had tripped one of them, and they all converged on a spot to my left, maybe fifty feet away. Whatever it was, it was quiet. I hadn't heard it make a sound. And as I stilled my own breathing, thinking and moving, I strained to identify it.

Nothing. Yet, my
feels
said it was there. I shoved my hands into my pockets and acted as if I were still just enjoying the night. I walked further into the illuminated glen and felt it shift position. I moved my right hand, making a pentagram in the air, and conjured my
dex
, a spell I used to identify
what
a possible friend or foe was. Many times a creature's actions depended on what they were and what types of alliances they adhered to.

Five pentagrams in Elemental colors popped into the air at the five points of the pentagram. Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit. Green, Yellow, Red, Blue, and Indigo. They spun in unison as the spell worked on its own Ethereal database, pulling from the Akashic Records until it said—

Nisse.

I stared at the word as it floated in the air in front of me. Any hunters or passersby wouldn't see the light show. That was reserved for only the magic sensitive.

What the hell is a Nisse?

I dismissed it as my
feels
alerted me to this Nisse's movement as it came around on my left side. I have to admit I didn't see it. Whatever
it
was. Maybe it had an invisibility cloak. And that's about the moment my imagination went wild—that moment when you realize you're a woman. Alone. In the woods. And you suddenly don't know which way is back to the motel.

Lady Darksome!

I summoned my Elementals, who appeared around me, battle-ready. Whatever its purpose for following me, it was time to get some answers. I gave a nod to each of them just before all hell broke loose in the direction of where my
feels
said the Nisse was. And when I say all hell, I mean a serious light show. Flashes of yellow, bright purple, then a few blues, all of it accompanied by a very,
very
familiar growl.

"Bastien!"

I took off at a run toward the commotion under the trees, my hands out, ready to send my Elementals into action. I might not have the added boost of Arcane, but I'd been a good fighter before I'd become infected. I still had it where it counted.