The Wizard King, page 10
part #3 of Heart's Desire Series
Chapter Eight
Shit. That had not gone well at all, and now Gen was avoiding even looking at him. She’d thrown herself into the spell work, ignoring everything he did to try and get her attention. And Lord, did he try. He needed her help in getting his big fat foot out of his mouth.
He shouldn’t have been doing his best to distract her, but damn it, she’d gotten the wrong impression. He’d have to work extra hard to get her to come to him now, all because Daniel couldn’t wait fifteen minutes while Gareth finished claiming his mate.
She would have said yes. Beyond any shadow of a doubt, she would have accepted him and all that he was.
But it was past time for that. Now, they had to catch Hugh before he could harm Annabelle or Kerry. Without having completed the mate ritual, Gareth couldn’t stand by Zach and Gen’s side. He was having a hard time forgiving Daniel for that as well. If Kerry wasn’t his brother’s mate, he was going to bite Daniel.
Let the spell casting begin.
Daniel, Zach and Gen stood in the middle of the living room, all furniture pushed out of the way. Each was dressed in robes, Zach pure white for his witch powers, Daniel in wizard purple, and Gen in purest warlock green. Each held their athame in their hands, and each would cast a portion of the triple circle.
Zach, of course, went first, casting the first protection circle.
“I lay down the circle white,
Symbol of purity and might.
May evil be blinded by the sight.”
White light gleamed along the tip of his athame, casting a gentle moon glow around the circle. The protections wrapped around the three of them.
Surprisingly, it was Gen who cast the second circle, the tip of her athame glowing with pure blue light. He’d thought she would be the one to cast the last circle, but in a strange way he almost understood it. Daniel was the one truly seeking justice, so he should be the one to cast that last circle.
“I lay down the circle blue,
For protection sound and true.
May evil not pass through.”
Blue light joined the white, moonlight on the ocean, and Gareth smiled despite his misery. Gods, they were beautiful together, his brother and his lover, their spell casting pure and strong.
Daniel lifted his athame, and even Gareth could see the strength in his magic. Pure black swirled around the tip of his blade as he began to chant.
“I lay down the circle black.
Justice comes to those who lack.
May evil intentions break and crack.”
The tip of the athame quivered as darkness poured from it, crafting the third and final circle.
But instead of the pure black light of Zach’s circle, Daniel’s swirled, mist-like, surrounding and weaving through the other two in a display that startled all of them.
“Whoa.” Zach eyed Daniel. “What the fuck, bro?”
Daniel shrugged, either unwilling or unable to explain the unusual nature of his magic. “Call the quarters.”
With one last look at Daniel, Zach moved to the north, and earth. He sheathed his athame, knelt and placed his hands on the geode.
“North and Earth I call on thee.
Join me in my circles three.
Grant me your stability.”
The floor rumbled under their feet, earth acknowledging the call. The scent of greenery filled the air, and Zach smiled. Earth always responded easily to Zach, even when he’d been trying to spell cast the wizard way and fucking everything up because of it.
Daniel walked to the incense burner. The element of air was Chris’s strongest ally, but for Daniel it could be difficult to work with. Why he’d chosen to call his least compatible element, Gareth wasn’t sure, but he had to trust the three knew what they were doing.
“East and Air I call on thee.
Join me in my circles three.
Grant me your creativity.”
Lavender incense blew by him on a gentle breeze. The element had answered Daniel’s call.
Zach knelt before the candle and lit the flame. This was Zach’s weakest element, and Gareth wondered why Gen hadn’t called for it instead. It was odd. Perhaps the brothers were calling the elements, each getting a strength and a weakness for balance? It made sense to his wizard half, but the brother half, not so much.
“South and Fire I call on thee.
Join me in my circles three.
Grant me your energy.”
Zach lit the red candle, the flame leaping higher than he’d ever seen before settling into a gentle blaze.
The spell was working.
Gen held her hand out over the bowl of water and began to chant, blowing his theory of who called the quarters and who would end up calling on the gods out of the…well, water.
“West and Water I call on thee.
Join me in my circles three.
Grant me your clarity.”
And now he knew why she had chosen to call to water. The element was clearly hers to command as the water in the bowl rippled, a green Hecate’s Wheel appearing in its depths.
Gen stepped toward the altar, ready to summon the God and the Goddess to watch over them, Zach standing by her side. Together they would act as priest and priestess, calling both the God and the Goddess to hear their cry for help.
Zach chanted first, the call to the God startling Gareth. He’d thought the two Own would call to the dark sides of the gods, the hunters and protectors. Instead, Zach eyed Gen for a moment before speaking.
“Lord of the Wild, sun’s delight,
Hear me now, know my plight.
Your faithful child cries out to Thee;
Join me in my circles three!”
Gen lit the golden candle and waited.
The sun’s warmth filled everyone in the room as in the darkness horns sounded faintly. The Lord had heard Zachary Beckett, and was watching over their ritual.
Gen lifted her arms and called upon the lighter side of the Goddess.
“Lady of Magic, beacon of might,
Hear me now, know my plight.
Your faithful child cries out to Thee;
Join me in my circles three!”
The cry of an owl on the hunt filled the room, and Gen smiled.
Gareth wasn’t surprised when Gen and Zach settled before the altar, their eyes closed and their faces naturally turning toward the night sky right outside the windows. The Own were communing with the Goddess, their minds seeking out the divinity that marked them.
What did surprise him was how Daniel tried to mimic them, as if he too could hear the voice of the Goddess. Daniel wasn’t an Own, and Gareth was grateful for that. His brother was far too volatile to be a hunter the way Zach and Gen were.
Once he would have sworn that Zach would blow himself to bits before he ever became a competent spell caster. If he’d dug a little deeper, maybe he would have figured out what Zach was before his brother suffered not only the curse the Godwins had put on him, but also the ridicule of the witch court. Daniel had mocked Zach relentlessly, and Gareth had done very little to stop it.
He really needed to step it up if he was going to protect his family. Hell, sometimes he needed to protect them from each other.
Daniel gasped at the same moment Gen swayed, her face pale as milk. A triangle of light formed between the three, one side white, one green, the last, purple.
But it was Gen who held his attention, Gen he wanted to rush through the protections to save. Her head was back, her face twisted in agony, her power pouring out of her and going somewhere Gareth couldn’t follow.
If this was the price his mate paid, Gareth wasn’t too happy about it.
But then, something strange happened that had him rethinking her link with the Goddess. The power seemed to come back, stronger, purer than when it left, but the agony didn’t lessen. If anything, it intensified, as if that beautiful light washing through his mate was purified by fire.
“Holy shit,” Chris breathed. “She’s filtering the power.”
“But in which direction?” Lana was watching closely, seeing something neither Chris nor he could decipher. “I think the Goddess is filtering Gen’s power, not the other way around. And that small touch of the divine burns, but without it, Gen’s gift would be smothered beneath her…humanity?”
The pain slowly left his mate’s face as Gareth pondered Lana’s words. “That makes no fucking sense whatsoever.”
“Think of it like a celestial air filter. The Goddess is taking the human impurities out of Gen’s magic and replacing it with pure power. But because it’s divine, it hurts to absorb it at first.”
Gareth was just happy Gen no longer looked tortured. “I’m still not sure I get it, but okay.” Celestial air filters, huh?
Lana shrugged. “I’m not a warlock Own. Ask Gen what’s going on if you don’t believe me.”
The serenity he’d come to associate with Gen once more blanketed her, but there was something else there now, a sense that she was other as well as his mate, and his wolf whined unhappily. Gareth wasn’t too thrilled either, but he tried to soothe both himself and his beast by reminding it that Gen’s relationship with the Goddess was much like Gareth’s own with his wolf. The two worked together to make a better whole, but there was always a price to pay. He should have thought of his wolf, of what the Becketts had overcome to live with the beast within them. Now that he’d seen his mate call upon Hecate, he understood far better than she probably thought.
Gareth tilted his head as he watched Gen, Zach and Daniel caught up in the triad of light. He just wished the price wasn’t so painful for her.
The triangle faded, leaving all three magics to collapse to the floor. Zach was the first to rise to his feet, his brother’s strength amazing as he thanked both the gods and the elements, dismissing the circles by himself.
Daniel was next, his expression…odd. “Daniel?”
For a brief moment, it was as if Daniel couldn’t hear them. “Yeah?”
“You okay?”
He took a breath, held it, then let it out as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know how. “Maybe?” He shook himself, that strangely lost expression disappearing. “Annabelle will be all right. She’s in the hospital.” Lana gasped. “Some sort of curse is keeping her out of it, and the staff from checking her records. She’s in under a Jane Doe admittance, which is why we haven’t been notified.”
Zach helped Gen stagger to her feet, his arm wrapping around her waist when she stumbled. Zach, his expression turning fierce, his body glowing with power, stared straight at Daniel. “Kerry’s being held by Hugh.”
“You’re not ready yet.”
Gen gritted her teeth and continued to arm herself.
“Purple rainbows fly out my butt every Tuesday.”
She paused, the gun she’d been sliding into her pocket forgotten. “What?”
Gareth shrugged. “Just making sure you’re paying attention.”
She rolled her eyes and continued to pack the essentials. “I’m as prepared as I can be, Gareth.”
“I saw what that ritual did to you.” His displeasure was clear. His arms were crossed over his chest, his feet braced as if he expected her to fly at him with fists raised. He was ready for a fight, one she had no intention of giving him. “You need to rest before you go after Hugh.”
“Kerry can’t afford for me to rest.”
Gareth winced, some of the aggression leaching out of his stance. “I understand that, but—”
“No, Gareth. Please, don’t do this.” She had to make him see, or it would haunt the rest of their lives together. “This is who I am, and if you can’t accept that, you can’t accept me.”
He flinched, his arms falling to his sides. “That’s not fair.”
“Neither is trying to keep me from fulfilling my duties and saving your brother’s mate.” If she didn’t put her foot down now he’d run roughshod over her. “Now. Let me go do what needs to be done.”
He snarled, his wolf close to the surface as his fangs popped out. “Rest, then go. That’s all I’m asking of you.”
“We don’t have that luxury.” She took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm the certainty that if she didn’t go now Kerry would suffer. “You didn’t see what I saw.”
Kerry, splayed out on an altar, her soul slowly draining into the dagger Hugh held as he chanted, feeding his demon in exchange for power. Power he intended to use to go after Gareth and the wizard court.
If he got hold of Gareth’s soul now that he’d been crowned, the power of the court itself would flow through the demon and into Hugh. He would be forever linked to every single wizard, the tie of the king granting him that small sliver necessary to perform sympathetic magic and steal steadily from all of them. No other king would be crowned, as the king’s soul would reside in Hugh’s blade, still aware of its surroundings even as the body decayed. Until Gareth moved on to the side of the Goddess, the court would be in turmoil, bound by the warlock’s demon, a feast for both.
Hugh had to be aware of how Zach had stopped their father. He would take precautions to make sure that Zachary Beckett couldn’t stop him. Only Gen, through her blood ties with Hugh, would be able to slip past the defenses he had in place and destroy the dagger.
“If you’re so certain you’re ready to fight him magic to magic, why are you taking a gun?”
He sounded so smug with that one she almost hated to burst his bubble. “Because of your reaction.” His brows rose. “No one expects an Own to fight with mundane weapons. You all expect us to ride in, wands blazing, and decimate the enemy with superior spell work.” She shrugged. “Sometimes it works better to simply shoot them in the head.”
He was startled into a laugh. “Is your brother aware of your gun?”
Good question. She holstered the gun anyway. Whether Hugh was aware of it or not, the knowledge that it was there made her feel better about going after him. Hugh was particularly frightening, and he wouldn’t have the leash their father had placed on him to hold him back any longer. “I have no idea.”
Gareth nodded. “Then if you’re insisting on doing this, let us give you some protections.” He held up his hand when she wanted to protest. “You’re the motherfucking wizard queen, and my mate. If he gets his hands on you, I’ll come after him. He has to know that, just like he has to know you’ll be the one hunting him.”
Gareth had a good point. “Fine. What is it you want to do?”
“This.” He grabbed her, yanked her close and held her tightly to his chest as he took a deep breath. “I swear, you get hurt and I’m going after him.”
“Gareth—”
“You don’t get to argue with me on this one.” She was startled to realize he was trembling. Big, strong Gareth, and he shook at the thought of her hurt. “He hurts you, I fuck him up.”
Then she’d just have to make sure she took Hugh out before he could lay a hand on her. “I give you my word I will do everything in my power to come home safely.”
“You called this home.”
If he were a cat he’d be purring. “I haven’t forgotten that Daniel was the one who wanted you to complete the mate spell.”
All of the tension that had poured out of him when she’d called this place home came roaring back. His shoulders tightened and growls shook him. “That wasn’t what I meant, Gen.”
Perhaps she should have let it go, but she couldn’t. Gareth meant far too much to accept that. “Then explain it to me, because that’s what it felt like.”
He cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look up at him. What she saw there had her drawing in a breath.
Pain. He was hurting already, the cry of his wolf clear in his increasingly haunted golden eyes. “I didn’t mean for you to ever think I had to be forced to claim you, Genevieve Godwin. Nothing could be further from the truth.” He stroked her cheek, his gaze following the movement of his hand. “I touched your soul, and you turned everything I’d ever believed in upside down.” Gareth smiled as he caressed her lips with his thumb. “I didn’t care that you were a warlock, or an Own. All I saw was this bright, shining goodness inside you, and I wanted it for myself.” His expression turned grim. “I’m not a good man, Gen. I’ll destroy anyone who tries to hurt my family, and it won’t be pretty. I will go after them with everything I am, and drag the entire court with me if I have to. I will use every power at my disposal to obliterate them. And that’s just what I’d do for my brothers.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Now picture what I’ll do if someone hurts my mate.”
She probably shouldn’t be quite as turned on as she was, but damn. She whined. “I don’t have time!”
He chuckled darkly, but she could still see the fine edge of his temper riding him. He was not happy at all, but there was little she could do about it. “Do you accept me as your mate?”
She studied his expression, trying to see why he’d ask that. “I thought you had to accept me.”
He closed his eyes, the growl that continued to shake him so low she barely heard it. “I accepted you the moment our souls joined, Gen. I just needed to figure out the right way to apologize to you.”
Her jaw literally dropped. The man continually surprised her. “Wait…what?”
His eyes opened. “I was embarrassed at how badly I’d misjudged you. I treated you like shit, Gen, and I know it. I never hated you, but I was worried your ties to your family would cloud your judgment and you might choose to save them rather than Jo or Kerry.” He cupped her cheek again. “I wished I’d treated you the way you deserved from the moment you showed up, ready to help Zach. You knew you were going to face a lot of hostility, but you showed up anyway, just because Zach needed you.”
“It was worth it, Gareth. I would do it again.”
The smile that crossed his face made her heart skip a beat. “And that’s why I—”
The pounding on the door interrupted him again. Gareth growled loudly enough to shock her. “Go. Away.”
“I can’t, bro.” Zach’s voice was sorry, but firm.
“Why not?” Gareth’s wolf was in his tone, snarling and snapping. Whatever he’d planned on saying must have been important if it had brought his wolf so near to appearing that his claws came forth. Gen could feel them, hard and cold against her cheek.
