The Wizard King (15 page)

“I broke that curse too, Chris.” Zach stood and showed the candle to Gen, who nodded her approval. “I’ll save Annabelle, I swear it.”

“I know, Zach.” Lana was near tears. “I trust you.”

“Gen?” Gareth reached for his mate, soothed when she took his hand without hesitation. “Tell me how we can help.”

“Do you have any fresh peppermint or ginseng? Both promote wakefulness and clear thinking.”

“I’ll have to check in the kitchen.”

“I’ll do that, sire. I believe we might have some peppermint oil in the pantry.” Mac headed for the kitchen, his stride purposeful.

“Make some coffee too. Annabelle loves her coffee, and it’s part of her morning ritual. Anything that helps remind her to wake up would be a good thing.” Zach followed Mac into the kitchen, but first he handed the carved candle to Lana. “Rub this with the peppermint oil from the kitchen.”

“You’re more likely to find ginseng and coffee.” Gareth wasn’t a huge fan of mint. Mac seemed very aware of his likes and dislikes. He’d more than likely stocked the pantry accordingly.

“But I do like peppermint.” Gen smiled weakly. “I love mint chocolate chip ice cream, and if you make it homemade, you need peppermint oil. Thank goodness I asked him to pick some up.”

Gareth made a mental note to make sure they stocked up on Gen’s favorite ice cream, or at least the means to make it. “Zach?”

“What?” Zach peeked his head around the corner.

“Go get anything else you’ll need out of my workroom.”

“I’ll help.” Chris gestured for Zach to follow him.

Zach nodded and made his way to the workroom with Chris, Lana closely following the two men. She’d be able to give some advice to Zach, but ultimately it would be up to him how to remove the hex.

“I’ll get the circle set up. We should cast the full circle, keep the hex inside it. We don’t want this shit getting out into the court.” Daniel immediately began pulling out all of the things they’d just put away.

“Let me help.” Gen started to prepare the altar. Gareth still wasn’t thrilled that she’d be forced to cast so soon after the vision quest, but he knew his mate. She wouldn’t stop until Annabelle woke up.

So instead of interfering, he headed for the kitchen and the coffeemaker. He was going to brew the strongest damn cup of coffee he could, hoping the scent would work as well as incense.

They gathered the materials they needed, and before long Zach and Gen stood in the circle. This time, Daniel stood without and Annabelle rested within, the gurney she lay on smack dab in the middle of the circles they cast.

Zach and Gen did all three circles, calling the quarters and the gods just as they had earlier in the evening. But when Zach went to pick up the candle and remove the hex, Gen beat him to it. She snatched it up and chanted, much to Gareth’s horror. If she couldn’t contain the hex, she would fall under its spell as it escaped the candle and flowed into her body instead.

Gen’s voice was steady as her body began to glow with bright green light, a sure sign her powers as an Own had come to the fore.

“Hecate, Lady of the Night,

Help this warlock put things right.

What this harmful curse has done

Let it now be undone.”

She traced the Wheel with her fingers, clockwise.

“Lift from Annabelle this vicious curse.

Forever across this Wheel traverse.

An it harm none, by the Law of Three,

As I will, so mote it be!”

A dark green mist slowly swirled up from Annabelle’s prone body, like mist blown about on a lake. Gareth watched, horrified, as the mist dripped to the floor on all sides of the gurney, taking its sweet time leaving Annabelle’s body. When the last of the mist hit the floor Annabelle’s eyes snapped open. Sitting up with a gasp, the elder witch watched as the mist crept across the floor to Gen.

Gareth almost ran into the circle at that point. Only the knowledge that he’d leave himself vulnerable to the mist’s power kept him in place. But it was hard, so hard to watch that mist curl around his mate’s ankles and do nothing.

The mist crawled up Gen’s body, obscuring her light, covering her from head to toe. Gen’s voice echoed eerily out of that mist, as if she were lost somewhere in a damp, dead forest with nothing but this mist to keep her company.

“Hecate, Lady of the Night,

Help this warlock put things right.

What this harmful curse has done

Let it now be undone.”

She reversed the flow of her fingers, tracing the wheel counter-clockwise.

“Lift from Annabelle this vicious curse.

Forever across this Wheel traverse.

An it harm none, by the Law of Three,

As I will, so mote it be!”

The mist twitched, almost as if it were alive. Gen repeated the chant a third time, and Gareth saw the mist recoil.

Damn, his mate was strong, stronger than even he’d given her credit for.

Zach’s voice joined Gen’s as she continued to repeat the chant, his white light burning away the mist, forcing it away from Gen and toward the candle. Together, the two Own battled the spell, forcing it into the Wheel and binding it to the candle, there to do no further harm.

When it was over, Gen was shaking, sweating, on the verge of collapse. Ignoring the triple circle and protocol, Gareth leapt toward her, catching her as she fell.

Zach swayed on his feet, barely better than Gen. “Shit. That was fucking powerful.”

“Hugh is stronger than Davis, that’s for sure.” Annabelle got to her feet, keeping one hand on the gurney. If Gareth were to hazard a guess, he’d say her knees weren’t any less shaky than Gen’s.

Gen smiled wanly at Annabelle, but made no move to step away from Gareth. Good. He had no intention of letting her go any time soon. “Hello, Mrs. Evans.”

Annabelle straightened, but her hand still rested on the gurney. “Hello, Gen.”

“Gimme.” Zach was holding out a white silk bag with golden ties. Where he’d gotten it from, Gareth didn’t know. Zach must have seen his confusion, though. “It was in your workroom. Dude, you have a
drawer
of these things. It’s like Mac expects you’ll be cursed on a regular basis.”

Gareth shot Mac a look, but the man only shrugged. “This is why we pay you the big bucks, sire.”

It was worth it to hear Gen laugh.

Annabelle sipped her coffee, her hands shaking. Her ordeal, though brief, had obviously shaken her more than she wanted to admit. The witch had always been so strong, but to find that she could be taken down so easily couldn’t have sat well with her.

Gen hoped Annabelle would recover quickly. Having your confidence in yourself and your abilities shaken so thoroughly was a tough burden to bear. She had no doubts Annabelle would be able to do so. Her will was greater than her fear.

But Gareth was right. They needed to know how Hugh got to Annabelle, and if she had any idea where Kerry might be. Time was of the essence, and Annabelle might not even realize she had information unless they questioned her.

Besides, Gen was exhausted. Rushing out the door to find Kerry wasn’t going to happen, not tonight anyway.

“Tell us what happened.” Lana wasn’t moving far from Annabelle’s side. The coven leader’s granddaughter was still distraught, the tracks of her tears still visible on her cheeks.

Chris sat next to his mate, his arm around her shoulders, giving her silent comfort. This had shaken her badly, and Gen figured he wouldn’t be leaving her side any time soon. Any thought of returning to his home in Pennsylvania with his mate was out of the question, at least while Hugh and Arthur were out there. If they could get to Annabelle, one of the most powerful coven leaders on the East Coast, they could get to Lana, and that was something Chris would give anything to prevent. Even his beloved, private home.

“I was heading to Kerry’s house to see if she’d heard from you, Genevieve.”

Gen winced at Annabelle’s bland tone. Damn it. She
should
have called Kerry, but she’d been so caught up in the queen drama she’d completely blown it off.

“I was walking up the steps when I felt something strike me from behind. I recognized dark magic and tried to deflect, but the curse had already begun to take effect.” Annabelle grimaced. “I think I bloodied him, but that’s it. I collapsed there on the steps.”

“Did you see or sense anything else out of the ordinary?” Gen leaned forward, focusing on matching Annabelle’s account to the visions she’d received earlier that evening. “When Zach, Daniel and I did a vision quest, we saw—”

“Wait. Did you say Daniel?” Annabelle turned her shocked gaze on Daniel. “You took part in this ritual?”

“It was the oddest thing, Grammy.” Lana made a triangle with her fingers. “There were these lines of light that led from one to the other, each one the color of their magic. And I know for a fact Daniel saw something, because his face looked just like Gen and Zach’s.”

Gen shot Daniel a startled look, but if he truly had seen something he wasn’t sharing.

Daniel still had a scowl on his face, and his eyes still held that feral, golden light that said his wolf was close to breaking free of Daniel’s control. “Did you see what happened to Kerry? She’s missing.”

Annabelle sighed. “I wish I could say I did, but I think I was out before he took her.”

“Any idea why he didn’t finish you off?” Daniel was watching Annabelle. His scowl would have put anyone else off, but Gen was learning to read him. He was worried, terrified for Kerry, and the only way he could show it was through anger. “Why curse you and leave you behind?”

“Bait, I think.” Annabelle calmly took a sip of her coffee.

“What?” Jo, who hadn’t spoken much, looked confused only for a moment before her expression turned grim. “Shit. That son of a bitch.”

Annabelle nodded. “It’s simple, really. You’d have two choices. Rescue me, or go after Kerry.”

Chris winced. “And you’re family, so of course we’d rescue you first.”

“Leaving Kerry to the tender mercies of Hugh.” Gen stood, ignoring Gareth’s outstretched hand. Like Daniel, she felt the need to pace as the urgency to rescue Kerry filled her once more.

“We need to figure out where he’s taken her.” Daniel’s voice was gravelly. Things were worse than she thought if that low, growling tone was anything to go by.

“What did you see when you did the vision quest?” Annabelle placed her cup back on the coffee table and sat back. Despite having been unconscious for more than a day, she had dark circles around both eyes. The curse had taken more out of her than she seemed willing to admit.

“We saw you lying in a hospital bed, and Jane Doe on your record.” Gen mentally sifted through the images she’d received from the Goddess. “We saw Kerry being taken, but I couldn’t determine where.”

“It wasn’t familiar to me, but I smelled water.” Daniel was staring out the huge windows, his expression pensive. “I think she’s somewhere near the river.”

“You mean here, in New York?” Gen exchanged a quick glance with Gareth. “It makes a sick, twisted sense.”

Gareth’s expression was grim. “He’d want to be near me, force me out into the open.”

“Make you come to him so he can use that damned knife and tie himself to the power of the court.”

“I want to go with you when you hunt his ass down.” Daniel turned away from the window and glared at Gen. “I want a piece of him.”

Gen needed to make Daniel see reason. “You’ll be putting yourself in harm’s way. What do you think your brother would do if you got captured?”

“I’m going.” There was that Beckett stubbornness she both loved and feared.

“Bro, you can’t.” Zach tried to put his hand on Daniel’s arm, but Daniel shrugged him off. “Gareth would give almost anything to get you back, and you know it.”

“I have to be the one who saves her.”

“Because she’s your mate?”

Daniel immediately shook his head. “No. Because…” He sighed roughly. “Just never mind. I need to be there, and that’s all I’m saying on the subject.”

“She’s your mate, bro. Admit it.”

“She’s human, Zach. Mundane. Our world will eat her alive, especially now that I’ve been appointed chancellor. Could you imagine what those bitches bothering Gen would do to someone like Kerry? She’d be nothing but fresh meat.” By Daniel’s tone, not even he believed what he was saying. “It’s our fault she’s been dragged into this, and I’ll be damned if I don’t get her back out alive.”

Gen exchanged a glance with Gareth. He wasn’t buying Daniel’s denials any more than she was, but until he was ready to admit he needed to cast the Beckett mate spell there was nothing they could do.

“All right, bro.” Zach shocked them all by agreeing with Daniel. “But you let Gen and me do the heavy lifting, you got me?”

Daniel’s grim expression melted to one of gratitude. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Zach grinned. “Besides, you would have just followed us anyway.”

Daniel’s laugh was reluctant. “Yup. You got me. I would have grabbed my fedora and trench coat and totally Dick Tracy’d you.”