Chapter 14
Nervous energy bubbled up. A tattoo. Something she hadn’t ever considered. There was so much she never gave a single thought to.
“Hey, what is it, Jacinda?” Chatan asked as she drove into Edenton.
“Do you think your brothers will like me?”
He laughed. “You didn’t care about my father liking you, but you want to make sure my brothers do?”
“You’re not as close to him. You don’t talk about him the same way.”
“Yeah, but Dad likes you already.” Chatan ran his thumb over the back of her hand. “There, park right in front.”
She did and climbed out as he came around.
“My brothers will love you. I promise.” He slipped his fingers through hers and brought her inside.
A man who looked like the tattooed version of Chatan smiled. His hair was shorter, but still past his shoulders. Chatan’s reached past his waistband.
“Jacinda?” Tomahawk asked with arched brows and wide eyes.
A laugh escaped Chatan. “You could wait until I introduce her.”
“Well, get to it,” he said.
“This is my brother Tomahawk, and this is Adam. Guys, this is Jacinda.”
“I never would have expected someone who looks like you,” Tomahawk blurted out. He smiled at her then. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. Honest. You’re beautiful, but you seem so innocent.”
Jacinda shook her head. “Thanks, I guess.”
Chatan chuckled. “You should see Darla. His wife looks as innocent as they come.”
Jacinda smiled. “Looks can be deceiving.”
“Sure, they can,” Tomahawk agreed. “So, you want a tattoo? This your first?”
She nodded.
“They aren’t all that painful,” Tomahawk answered.
“Not worried about that. And you do beautiful work if Chatan’s are a good example.”
Tomahawk grinned. “I like her.”
Adam shook his head. “You’re still staying for that barbecue, right?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, we’ll be there,” Chatan answered.
“Well, I need to meet my brother. I’ll see you later.” Adam hopped up and started for the door.
Tomahawk nodded down the hall. “Come on back. And you can check out what I’ve been working on since you called.”
“Nothing big,” Jacinda said.
“Chatan said inner wrist, so I drew small pieces. Outlines mostly.” He entered a small room and grabbed a piece of paper. “If you don’t like any of these, I can come up with something else.”
She smiled, checking out the designs. One called to her. A flowing outline of a dove in flight. “I love this one.”
Tomahawk nodded. “Trust me, it won’t be bad.”
“I know,” she assured. She could block pain, so that wasn’t an issue.
Chatan picked up her hands and turned her inner wrists up. “Which one?”
“Right?” she said.
“Then I’ll do left,” he answered.
Tomahawk smiled. “I’ll do yours the opposite direction, so they’re matching, if you’re okay with that, Jacinda.”
“Sure.”
“You’re not worried you two may not last?” he asked, one brow cocked.
“I assume the bond we formed means it’s forever.”
“Yeah, usually. Though Chatan was worried he wouldn’t form one. He tell you why?”
“Mixed blood? But I’m far more mixed than he is.”
“Interesting. You going first?” Tomahawk asked.
Chatan looked at her.
“Sure.” Then maybe she could relax.
* * * *
Matoskah paced the living room of Robert’s house. Brent watched him with a steely gaze. Yeah, he couldn’t really blame him, considering the fact he’d kept secrets, knowing full well Brent would want to know.
He didn’t have a good excuse other than he thought he was doing the right thing. That the Branches had always kept secrets. As much as it sucked, at least things were changing.
Why the hell hadn’t Mina wanted Brent to know more? The man might have been able to find a way to stop Thanatos sooner, or at the very least prevent him from hunting more women until Jacinda was strong enough to stop him herself.
And now it may be too late to fix things with Chatan. All for damned promises he wished he had never made.
Brent squeezed his hands shut and released them. “So, Scathane, and we’re sure that’s who possessed Thanatos?”
Ceridwen took the book from Brent and sighed. “Yes. And I wish I had realized sooner.”
“Would you have been able to stop him?”
She shook her head. “Not without Dove’s help. And I fear Jacinda was the only one who could free her. But we could have done more to protect her family if I had any damned cue what we were dealing with.”
Brent pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you able to track him?”
“Unfortunately, no. I didn’t personally know him. I don’t believe I ever came into contact with him, and because I have never encountered Thanatos. If I had realized Scathane had warped Thanatos, I would have searched harder. He was the leader of the shadow mystics. The ones who have found their way here have been searching for him. Perhaps whatever bound Thanatos to the in between was a blessing.”
Savon shifted her weight. “So, let me get this straight. Jacinda is supposed to be Dove’s guardian, and Chatan, Hawk’s? Does that mean they’ll be carrying their spirits? They’d be possessed? We don’t want that, right?”
Ceridwen shook her head and smiled. “No, and they won’t be possessed. Dove and Hawk will pass on their magic, their memories, but what Jacinda and Chatan do with that is up to them. Dove and Hawk will move on from this world.”
“How can you be sure?” Savon asked.
“Their goal has always been to protect the world we live in from those who would destroy it. They wouldn’t become the enemy.”
“I hope you’re right,” Brent snapped.
Matoskah held up his hands. “There’s a prophecy, or rather a promise, made by Dove and Hawk, that once they found someone to take on the mantle, they would move on to the afterlife, whatever that might be.”
“You don’t know what the afterlife is?” Brent asked.
“It’s different for everyone,” Ceridwen answered.
“But you’re sure Hawk and Dove won’t take them over?” Brent demanded.
“Positive,” Ceridwen answered. “And if they did, you and Savon could fix that. That won’t be necessary, though.”
“I hope you’re right. They need to know the risks, though,” Brent added.
“They do. And I fully expect you to tell them both everything. And whatever you can’t explain, we will. I swear to you.”
“You’ve been silent this whole time, Draecyn. What do you think?” Brent asked.
“That there isn’t enough left of Dove and Hawk in that pendant to take over anyone. They’re slipping from the world and they need to find someone to pass their knowledge to. Chatan and Jacinda both have a capacity for magic I have only seen a few times. Now is not the time for secrets. They need to know the truth, so they aren’t led down the darker path.”
“Whose truth?” Brent asked.
Robert nodded. “Haven’t we asked that a hundred times?”
Liz finally spoke up, “They haven’t done anything to force any of us into decisions. They have helped, even when we couldn’t commit. They are trying to present enough information for us to make our own decisions. Give them a chance. And really, if this creature has the taint of something that wants to bring the Crimson Dawn or something like it, is it worth letting the thing live? We can kill it, but we need Jacinda and Chatan to do that, right?”
“Exactly,” Ceridwen answered.
“Let’s hope I didn’t screw everything up by waiting so long to tell Chatan the truth about his mother and his magic,” Matoskah muttered.
Brent clapped his shoulder. “It might take your son a little time, but he’ll come around. He tends to be as stubborn as Eddie when he doesn’t want to accept something. But once they do, and it sinks in, they handle things well.”
* * * *
A walk? No, Lars had somehow been off the reserve. Though one of the other people there had already reported he hadn’t left when he tried. That he went for a walk, but that idiot should have kept following instead of reporting back.
Olivier wanted to know what the fool was doing. Lars always wanted to play with things he couldn’t control. And the spells surrounding Pine Vale Reserve blocked most of the spirits from lingering, which was why he wanted him there, so he would be protected from those who would destroy him.
But maybe that would be for the best. He only knew about the journal Thanatos’ brother kept because of his brother’s obsession with it. And after looking through the pages, he began to wonder if he was meant to play the same role as the brother, and Lars to play Thanatos’ role.
What a damned mess. All because he felt an obligation to his brother.
“Why didn’t you come by sooner? Like, when you arrived?”
“Because you were asleep when I got here. I decided to wait to come back after I met with a group of people.”
He nodded. “Matoskah’s son and his girlfriend?”
That’s what Olivier was afraid of. What did he know, and what was he planning to do? And why the hell did he smell like a damned cavern?
“How do you know about them?”
“Mat talks about little else these days. He’s become obsessed with old legends. Don’t have to listen hard to hear the conversations. What does he think a bunch of mages can do?”
Was that all he saw? There were mages there, but also two sorcerers who could teach his brother a thing or two about control. Of course, this place managed to keep most of the spirits out, but there were still a few. None of them malicious or looking to enter the world fully.
“Did you meet either of them?” Olivier asked.
He shook his head. “Wasn’t invited. I saw the gathering on my walk. Sorry I wasn’t awake sooner. I suppose I was up too late last night.”
“Why?” Olivier asked. He already knew the answer. And he’d already removed the book Lars was so obsessed with.
“I’m restless here. I’m doing better. Let me leave.”
“Not today, Lars. I have a case I’m working on that requires too much. Let’s eat. You can tell me about what’s going on here.”
“Same old shit.” He pushed his door open and motioned for the table. “Why do you bother coming if you plan to keep me prisoner?”
“You’re not a prisoner.”
“Yeah, I am. I can’t leave. That makes me a prisoner.” He dropped into a chair at the dining room table.
Olivier plastered a smile on his face and placed the bag on the table, then went to kitchen to gather silverware and plates.
The afternoon would suck. Some days Lars acted like any other guy. Now, he was acting like an emo teenager. Talk about frustrating.
“Look, I get it. I do. But someone needs to be with you out in the world, and I can’t do it right this moment. But I’m planning a vacation for the both of us. Can you wait that long?”
“Yeah, sure,” Lars muttered.
“What have you been up to?” Olivier asked.
“Sitting on my ass, going on walks, and being generally miserable because no one wants me here. No one wants me anywhere.”
“We do, and maybe I’ll take you on a cruise. Just let me get through this case. It’s a doozy.”
Hope lit his eyes. “A cruise?”
Olivier smiled. “Sure. You pick a place, we’ll go.” As long as Lars didn’t get himself killed trying to take on Thanatos. He had taken care of his brother too long to want to see him die for something stupid.