Chapter Nine
“You know someone who can help me find the Trident?” Shannon ducked out of his arms.
“Maybe.” He didn’t want to be involved in a quest that had to do with his absent father, but he also didn’t want Shannon running to California. You must protect her. Damn it, the gods are fucking around with us.
“What does maybe mean?” The hope blossoming on her face pushed him to help her.
“There’s someone. I don’t know if she can tell you anything new.”
“Is she a witch?”
“She’s something else, but at least she’s local. Well, not local to here, wherever we may be.”
“You’ll take me to see her when we get back?”
“Let me see if talking to her is the right way to go.” He pulled out the small black pouch of runes he’d stuffed into his pants earlier in the day. He’d taken them on his last trip to Europe weeks ago and intended to return them to the office.
Runes only worked if the user asked the right question. The questions dominating his brain revolved around his impending death in seventy-two hours, not her. This has to be about her and how to find the Trident. After a gentle shake of the bag he reached in with his left hand, pulled out four stones, mixed them in his hand, and placed them on the table with the symbol side up.
A yew came up. Oh, shit.
It doesn’t have to be negative.
“Runes? You hunt witches, hate them, and yet you use their magic?”
“Never said I hated witches.” Definitely not your type of witch. “This kind of benign magic can be useful.”
He tried to remember the question he’d asked before drawing stones. He should ask again and draw new stones, but that was bad luck. The last thought before he’d drawn had been about his judgment day.
She nodded to the stones. “What does it mean? Does it tell us what to do? I’ve never tried runes.”
“They don’t give exact answers, but they can give hints.” He pointed at the two stones on the right, which were the symbols of Ansuz and Othila. “These are past and present influences. They represent gods and genetics. No surprises there.” His finger hovered over the third stone, the symbol of Inguz, which stood for true love and harmony. Did it mean him with Shannon for the next three days? Or longevity with some woman beyond his judgment day?
His finger moved to the fourth stone, the yew, which was bad, although it could be a symbol of a departure from the past. He met her gaze. The only words he could force out were, “The last one tells of future influences.”
“What does it mean?” A frown creased her brow. “It’s not good, is it?”
Death. He’d asked the stones about himself instead of her, damn it. Now he’d confirmed he died. He grabbed up the stones. “Makes no sense.”
“I don’t believe you. It’s something bad. Tell me.” She scowled at him, waiting for an answer.
Finally, he said, “It suggests something not good may happen.”
“Not good as in death? Or does it mean don’t visit your witch friend?”
“I think this has nothing to do with seeking advice. It may have to do with the gods. We’re in the middle of one of their games. No matter what we may want to do, the scenario they designed has to be played out.”
“I hate deterministic crap,” she muttered. “What’s the bottom line on what the runes said?”
“Based on the runes something big is about to change. I don’t know more than that.” His shoulders lifted and dropped. “I gave up figuring out the gods’ plans the second time Poseidon’s right-hand man tried to kill me, even if he did claim he’d done it in the name of training.”
“You know his right hand guy? Maybe you could ask him about the Trident for me?”
“I have no idea when I’ll see him again. Maybe never. It’s not as if I can ask him to appear. He’s a god. A lower-level god, but still not something I can control.” Actually, he didn’t know if he could request Bythos’s presence. He’d never tried. However, he distrusted the god enough not to try it, even for her.
“Would you mind asking him, if you do see him soon?”
“Sure.” He was pretty sure the next time he saw Bythos he’d be about to die, and that might not be a moment conducive to a chitchat about her issues. Tell her about your death date. The words wouldn’t come out. Vocalizing it to her would confirm his impending death as reality. Even though he’d spent years knowing of it, judgment day seemed unreal. He functioned by avoiding it and focusing on the current day. If he didn’t speak of it, then the horror of it couldn’t own him.
“Since that guy isn’t a certainty swear to me you’ll take me to your witch person when we get back to the other dimension.”
He blew out a long sigh before he nodded. He’d help her. It’d be the last thing he’d do in this world, but he’d figure out her mess.
She motioned for him to follow her as she walked through the house, turning off lights and then out the front door. “How’d you end up as both the son of Poseidon and a hunter of those who use magic to kill people?”
God, she was full of questions. He didn’t answer.
“Why can’t the son of a god do whatever he wants? Why be forced into a dangerous job?”
“Seems not to be the case. Maybe it was a coincidence.”
“A coincidence? When gods are involved?” Skepticism dripped from her words.
“Probably not. I don’t know why I’m the son of Poseidon. I subjected myself to an eternity soul-binding ritual in the Dark Ages in exchange for help from a warlock to save my family who’d been captured by a coven of evil witches.”
“You remember back that far?”
“Yeah.” His family had died despite his vow.
“Can’t you undo your soul-binding ritual? It’s been hundreds of years. They’ve got to understand you’re ready to pass the duty on to someone else.”
He shook his head. “I’ve consulted with everyone—magical experts, occult specialists, religious gurus, and even a few lower level gods.”
“How do you know who’s good or bad and who needs hunting?”
“I get visions. Intuition, I guess you could call it, on what’s going on.”
“You weren’t sure about me. Did you have some sort of vision?”
“No. But you met a black magic relic dealer to buy a dangerous piece.”
“True. Thanks for putting up with my questions. This is all a bit overwhelming.” She scanned the horizon over the ocean. “Sure is beautiful here. Even so, we should go back.”
“Is the return as nauseating as the journey here?”
“Yes.” She took his hand in hers.
“That sucks.” He took a deep breath and readied himself for the painful squeezing.
***
The world narrowed and compressed until there was no room for breathing, movement or thought. Seconds later it ended.
She squeezed Merck’s forearm, not to reassure him, but to confirm to herself he’d traveled too. One of his arms wrapped her waist and gently squeezed.
“Can’t see,” he muttered.
“Me either.” Hot, muggy air caught in Shannon’s nostrils. Humidity was good, but it didn’t mean this was South Carolina. A rainforest in South America would be humid. So would Jamaica.
Her ears strained to catch a familiar birds call, but all she heard was leaves rustling and crickets. They might be cicadas or frogs and not crickets.
Finally, her eyes agreed to work again. She recognized the massive oaks framing the gravel driveway in South Carolina. Merck’s SUV sat a few hundred yards away.
Thank, God. Perhaps she was getting better at the movement between dimensions.
Oh, no. Her stomach plummeted. Her father and six tough-guy druids, including Eli, marched up the driveway toward them. For a few moments she was reduced to a teenager about to get yelled at for making out with the tennis team captain in the driveway.
“Ah, a welcome home party. Fun, fun,” Merck murmured. No fear came from him. Considering the magical weirdoes he must encounter on a day-to-day basis, a couple of druids with miscellaneous skills probably didn’t register on his scale of scary. Even so…
“I won’t let them hurt you,” she said.
“It’s not me I’m worried about.” He chuckled and tilted her chin to meet his gaze. The confidence in his eyes melted into something more intense. “Darlin’, you concerned about me?”
She nodded, mesmerized by his penetrating blue eyes. No man had ever looked at her like this. Hot. Sexual. As if he couldn’t wait to lick her from head to toe. Okay, that might be her imagination reading into his look.
“I’m not worried.” His tone warmed her with assurance he could handle himself and he’d keep her safe. She’d never been a girl who thought she’d like being treated as a protected woman. Until right now. Well, until Merck.
She wished he’d crush his lips to hers again in a hard kiss. Something in his eyes said he wouldn’t go there. One glance at their rapidly approaching company reminded her why.
A wicked smile curved his lips. “You want me.”
She cleared her throat. “I want you to help me find the Trident.”
He whispered into her ear, “I’ll help you, if you admit since our first kiss you imagined us together so many times that the images of us haunt you at night and sour the touch of any other man.”
How’d he know? Sounded like he spoke from personal experience. To think he might’ve dreamed of her, might’ve even wanted her for years, made the girly girl who’d been in love with him for all of high school rear her giggly self. It wanted to wrap her arms around him, lean in, and let him possess her.
He warned, “If you don’t answer, I’m walking in five seconds because a shitfest train is storming our way.”
She released a shaky breath. “This, whatever it is, drives me nuts. It’s driven me crazy for years. Is that enough for you?”
“That works.” He turned to face their audience.
“Shannon Elaine Randolph. What the hell are you doing with him?” her father blasted at her. He’d lost more weight since the last time she’d seen him, making his tall frame thinner but no less intimidating. More gray highlighted the dark strands around his face. Grief wasn’t a good companion. Her heart ached for him.
Merck’s hand around her waist clenched tight. He’d turned glacial with his eyes fixated on her father.
She said, “He’s here to help.”
“He’ll never be able to help you.” Her father glared hostility at Merck, the two of them in some sort of silent pissing match.
“Why the hell are you back?” Eli’s gaze narrowed dangerously onto Merck.
Her father’s mouth settled into a severe line. “Jason Merck. I thought I made myself clear with regard to you and my daughter years ago. You stay on your side of the creek. We stay on ours. Step away from her.”
Seeing her father this worked up broke her heart. Even though bristling like a cornered hedgehog he appeared fragile to her. Perhaps only she could see the signs of him crumbling on the inside. Outwardly, he still appeared to be the warrior he’d always been. Even so, he didn’t get to bark at Merck. He wasn’t the enemy.
“Brian Randolph. It’s been a while, sir.” Merck’s jaw clenched. His entire body was ramrod stiff against her. The arm around her tightened. She’d bruise where his fingers curled into her waist, but he probably didn’t even realize he was doing it. Merck’s aura swirled with dark colors. Protective. Possessive. Dangerous.
Her turn to protect him. “Back off and leave him alone.”
The six druids halted several feet away from them.
She demanded of her father, “What exactly did you say to him years ago? When did this discussion happen?”
“Get away from him.” Her father took another step toward them. She knew his tactics well. He planned a stealth approach and grab.
She turned to Merck. “What did he say to you and when?”
“That night when I helped you back across the creek, I followed you. Thought I’d ask you out.”
Shock exploded inside her chest. It hurt so much she could barely move air. A decade ago she’d been a naïve girl believing she’d found Prince Charming after one kiss. Dead wrong assumption. Merck’s kiss had been no more than a tease, as if he’d been testing how much power he could wield over her with his magic sexual mojo before dumping her like a hot potato. He’d escorted her across the creek and never sought her out again.
Now to find out it might not be true? He’d come after her? He’d considered making them into something real? Their kiss hadn’t been fleeting to him—a forgettable, one-off kiss with a desperate girl.
Barely able to speak, she rasped out to Merck, “What did Dad say to you?”
“He told me you never wanted to see me again. That your whole family didn’t want to see me and to stay on my side of the creek.” Her father was notorious for blowing his top over boys who got near her. He’d probably gone off the deep end with a whole lot of expletives.
“I never said that.” She’d been confused and scared when a guy a year out of high school with far more life experience turned her world upside down. Who knows what she would’ve said to him, but it wouldn’t have been an outright no. From an experienced perspective, she saw her father’s point of view. Merck could’ve probably written the advanced sex playbook back then. That didn’t give her father the right to make decisions for her.
“It’s in the past.” Merck didn’t release her, no hint of forgiveness in his tone or scowl.
Her father reached in as if to yank her away. “Get away from him. He’s sucked you into his bullshit. You don’t even know what he is.”
She flinched away from her father’s grasp. “I know a hell of a lot more about him than you do, apparently.”
Her father straightened with the glower of a warrior mentally browsing weapons to determine which might best smother the enemy. “He hunts witches like you. And kills them.”
“Only bad witches. He hunts the ones who practice dark magic.”
Her father rolled his eyes. “The guy is slick as shit and a criminal. Don’t believe him.”
She glanced at Merck. A flash passed through his gaze. Hurt? Deception? She’d always relied on her father and the Sentry druids. Their whole existence was built around a life vow to protect her. They’d die for her. Her gut trusted both them and Merck. There’d been too many opportunities for Merck to kill her or harm her. He’d saved her, laughed with her, and kissed her. Nothing hurtful.
Her father was being overprotective around a guy he didn’t like for some reason. It wasn’t rational.
Her father signaled. One druid went left and the other right. Her father and Eli headed down the center. Instinct took over. She stepped in front of Merck. “Everyone back off.”
Her father jumped forward and grabbed her arm, yanking her away from Merck. He tucked her close to him. “Leave,” he ordered Merck. “Or I’ll kill you this time.”
“No.” Power poured from Merck. His aura swirled all kinds of vicious. “The last time you spoke for her, I let you intimidate me because I wasn’t thinking clearly. This time, you’re not her best bet. Shannon and I are caught in the middle of something. I’m not sure what yet. I know all about her being a Pleiades descendant. I probably know a lot more about the Greek gods than any of you. You can’t save her from this by keeping her holed up in a room.”
“I will keep her away from people who might kill her. Like you.”
“Brian…” Merck blew out a long sigh. “Think beyond your need to be the helicopter parent. She’s in deep shit.”
“Exactly. You’re no good to her right now, witch hunter.”
Merck cast his eyes heavenward. “The night before last a warlock’s minion drugged Shannon after she, in her desperation brought on by your confinement, tried to purchase an ancient scrying glass. If the warlock hadn’t killed her, then the scrying glass would’ve. I took care of the evil shit, confiscated the glass, and let her sleep off the drug in my office. When I confronted the master warlock, he was willing to risk death in order to get what everyone thinks she has. These guys don’t risk their lives over something that doesn’t promise supreme power. This tells me your muscle and diminutive powers are nothing against the creatures coming after her. Fighting black-magic users is what I do. Shannon’s a big girl. Let her decide who she trusts to help her.”
Brian scowled. “My daughter does not get involved with criminals.”
“You’ve got to let it go. I was a teenager on Halloween. I could’ve used spray paint or something worse on your car, but I didn’t.”
“You and your gang vandalized my car…a dozen cars. I’m sure it was the tip of the iceberg for what you’ve done over the years.”
“It was me and Chad. No gang.”
She wiggled away from her father and waved her hand. “Enough. I have news.” She forced a bright smile.
“What kind of news?” Her father asked.
“Merck has agreed to help me. As he just said, he knows a lot more about black magic and magical items in general than any of us. Quite a resource.” She feared her father would interpret this as a declaration of independence and shift in loyalty, although she hoped not. She moved next to Merck again, nervous about her father’s impending explosion.
Her father’s face tightened. “That’s not happening.”
Eli’s said, “I don’t even know what he is. This is insane.”
Her father pointed at Merck. “He’s sucked you into his bullshit, maybe hexed you or something. Snap out of it.”
Shannon faced Merck. “Between fighting Ericthonians, almost dying, and breakfast, did you hex me?”
Merck pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t do this kind of fucking drama. It’s been a long morning. Way too long. Shannon and I have somewhere to be.”
Eli pierced her with a glare. “You’re not going anywhere with him. I don’t trust him.”
She snorted out a frustrated breath, rolled out of Merck’s tight grasp on her waist, and advanced on Eli. Wind picked up in the trees, and she detected a power flare around her.
Eli stepped backward, glancing around.
She said, “How can you not trust me and my choice? Seriously, Eli? We’ve known each other since we were old enough to talk. Sure, we fight. But I’ve covered for you so many times over the years, especially to your father when you were in high school. Remember when you guys were visiting back then and you wanted to sneak out every night to see Melissa Calvin in town for a…”
Eli held up a finger, warning her not to finish that.
“Melissa, huh?” Merck chuckled. “She still lives off Southside.”
“Enough.” Eli’s cheeks flushed. “We don’t know this guy, Shannon. This is me telling you I’m worried.”
Her father chimed in. “How do you know you and Eli aren’t destined? Why’re you running all over with this guy when Eli may be it for you?”
“Did I ever say Merck and I were destined? No. This isn’t about finding my soul mate right now. It’s about all of us surviving.” Her father’s stubborn look said he wasn’t giving this up. “Eli and I? We’re not.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms.
Shannon purposely licked her lower lip and gazed up at Eli, giving him her best sultry half-mast eyelid gaze. Eli’s gaze didn’t deviate from hers, not even to watch her tongue. He stared at her like an annoyed older brother, a look she knew well, having had two of them.
“Eli, do you lose your mind every time I’m nearby, with need to…you know.” Her eyes darted to her father. The graphic word she needed to use got tangled in her throat when she caught her father’s pinched look. She focused on Eli again. “Or is there only a need to protect me, like a big brother?” She poked Eli’s chest with a solitary finger, feeling none of the heat that drove her nuts around Merck. One finger into Merck’s chest like this and he’d have her pressed against the side of the car, taking her challenge and one-upping it, no doubt. She’d be fully into it, hoping Merck would finish it this time.
But Eli? No. She glanced at her father. “You want me to kiss Eli and prove this isn’t ever going to work with him?”
She’d puke if she had to kiss him. When a druid wasn’t destined for a Pleiades, there was some sort of cosmic deter spell that made anything with the man disgusting.
Eli leaned away. She could tell by Eli’s wary gaze it was a no-way.
“Don’t do it.” Merck’s words froze her.
He’d moved directly behind her. The godlike power he kept under wraps poured off him. His aura swirled with threat.
“We’re leaving. Don’t follow us,” Merck said, striding toward his parked car with one hand on her back, gently pushing. He helped her into the passenger side and closed the door.
Eli yanked open the passenger door seconds after it’d shut. “Get out of the bloody car. Don’t make me force you.”
Merck climbed into the driver’s seat and cranked the SUV.
“I need to go with Merck right now.”
Eli shot her a wounded gaze.
She leaned out of the seat to touch Eli’s cheek and said softly enough her father couldn’t hear, but Merck could, “I meant what I said before. I love you like a brother. Would I kill for you, if I had to? Yes. Would I do what I needed to protect you? Yes. I understand where this attitude is coming from, but you need to trust me. I’m going right now to do something about my problem. I’ll come back. I promise.”
“Everything’s trying to kill you. You’re running all over with this guy who we know nothing about who hunts witches. Be reasonable.”
“Get out of the car, Shannon,” her father thundered.
“Shut the door. Now.” Merck levied a feral gaze on both men. Her father’s eyes widened. Eli backed up a step. Nothing that she’d ever seen scared Eli or her father until now.
“What the hell are you?” To Shannon Eli asked, “Do you really trust him?”
Doubt plagued her. She couldn’t control Merck like she could other guys. That meant she had to trust in him. Did she? You have to trust someone right now. “He’s faced off with some dangerous creatures attacking me and… Yes, I trust him. I’ll be back in a few hours. We can discuss whatever plan you guys came up with then.”
Eli closed her door.
“Sorry about all that,” she said as he pulled away.
“You can avoid, but you can’t run away from your father. That’s something you’ll have to deal with.”
“I know. First I’ll let him cool off. Where does this witch live?”
“West of Savannah. She’s a voodoo mambo, not a witch.”