Chapter 3
Jacinda started her drive early in the morning. Onyx had refused to leave her side, except when she went into the store and gas station. In fact, he’d sat in her lap the entire trip. The cat was the only thing holding her together. The more she stroked his fur, the less she thought about what she would find.
Finally, she pulled into the driveway of her mother’s home. Over the years, she’d only stay a week, maybe two before they moved on. Still, it was as close to home as she’d felt, until Chatan.
She picked Onyx up and looked into his eyes. “You stay here. It may not be safe. I can’t reach my mother, and I’m worried. Don’t come inside, whatever you do. I’ll be back in a few.”
He nuzzled her face and she sighed. “I mean it. Stay here.”
Onyx meowed, but she shut him in the car and hurried to the front door that blew open with the wind.
No trail of blood, no laughing.
A small relief, which might have been bigger if not for the evil essence lingering in the air.
At least she couldn’t sense a living being.
Had her mother been there when Thanatos arrived? Or had she left in a hurry? Jacinda prayed she left in a hurry.
She took the stairs two at a time, trying to be quiet. The bedroom door was smashed to pieces. Blood splattered the walls while pooling on the duvet.
Mom lay curled into a ball on the bed, clinging to something. Jacinda moved closer and saw her father’s smile as he held her mother who held her.
Her knees gave out with the cry that tore loose. Pain throbbed through her chest.
She had to know what happened—she needed to see.
Pushing down the pain, she climbed to her feet and cast the spell to playback the events that led to her mother’s death. She went back to the evening her mother didn’t answer her scrying. The spell moved forward through time until a ghostly image of her mother entered the room with a package wrapped in brown paper. A dove was drawn on the top.
Mom entered the closet and came back without the box. Then she moved toward the bowl of water on her bedside table but turned away.
The door burst into shards, spraying across the room as Thanatos marched in, his wings flaring open once he cleared the doorframe.
Mom whispered, “I love you, Jacinda. Don’t give up. It’s my time.”
Shadows wove around Thanatos. Nine feet of black scaled muscle. Scarlet veins twisted through wings that spanned most of the room. His giant hand wrapped around her throat before he lifted her off the ground. The bastard tore her clothes away. The claws started to glow red, dripping something that smoked on contact. Mom writhed as he drew the symbols over her flesh.
Mom’s jaw clenched as tears slid down her face. She didn’t make a sound. Not even when he threw her onto the mattress.
Thanatos fell into a pile of shadows that flowed through the floor.
Her mother pulled the picture from under the pillow into her arms and gripped the frame tight as the light faded from her eyes.
A cry escaped Jacinda’s lips as she let the spell go. Swiping at her eyes, she moved to the closet and found the package in the far corner, under the hanging dresses.
Jacinda traced the dove and swallowed back the sob that wanted out. Then she moved back to her mother. “Why, Mom? You had time to leave. You could have fought. But you gave up.” After wiping the tears away, she closed her mother’s eyes and sank to her knees.
Someone scooped her up, and she twisted away, slamming a wall of force into the beast as she fell. She sprang to her feet and turned toward the monster.
Chatan hit the wall with a grunt.
He immediately held up his hands. “It’s me, Jace. It’s me. We got to go. Now!”
Jacinda’s heart pounded in her chest. Fear flooded every pore. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, well, I couldn’t let you do this on your own. And now I’m glad I didn’t.” He closed the distance and took her arms in his hands. “We need to go, Jace. I don’t know what happened here. I get that thing did this, but it’s not safe and I know someone who can help us figure out the rest.”
“She’s gone, and you just want me to leave?” Jacinda shook him off and turned to her mother. Her heart was breaking. Mom was gone, Chatan was there, in danger.
Jacinda wiped her eyes. “I love you, Mom. At least now you’re with Dad.”
Tears fell down her face as she moved back to Chatan. “You shouldn’t be here. I was going to come back.”
“Yeah, but would you be able to move if you came here and saw this without anyone here to lean on?”
Her eyes closed. “I want you safe. I thought that would happen to you.”
“Yeah, and I want you safe.” He took her hand. “Give me the keys. We need to go.”
“Not back to Wanatoga,” she insisted. “If he follows me, he’ll go to your family. I can’t have that. I don’t want him near you or anyone you care about.”
“We’re headed to Washington. Trust me, Jace.”
She didn’t have a better plan, and he was right, she didn’t know what to do at the moment.
* * * *
Power rolled through Thanatos. He lay in the shadows, ready to fall back asleep. There was a time when the women he hunted populated the earth, and he could slaughter several of them, absorbing the souls before he returned to the shadow realm.
Now there were few left, and he could only take one, ensuring the line continued on. He needed to find the one who compared to his beautiful siren who cursed him as he cursed her line.
He peered through the tiny tear in the fabric of his plane to see the same red hair and crystalline green eyes. She replayed the last victim’s slaughter.
A man walked behind her as the spell ended. Tears flowed down her face. Colors radiated from the young woman, her essence glittering in the air, even stronger than the first of her kind.
Jacinda. He’d seen her through her father’s eyes when he sacrificed himself to protect her. She’d been small. Her magic hadn’t come to the forefront. And now, he saw the one who’d break the cycle, the one who had the power to sever Scathane from Thanatos.
As he reached into the real world, she flung her hand out, sending the man flying into the wall, while throwing Thanatos farther into shadow plane, until he couldn’t sense the girl at all.
Scathane murmured, “She’s the one. We will finally be free of this cursed realm, and I will finally be rid of you. If you hadn’t fallen so blindly in love with a siren, we wouldn’t be trapped for ages.”
“If you hadn’t latched onto me and found another, I wouldn’t have withered away until you finally showed me how to gain my magic back.”
“You were weak before you found me,” Scathane hissed.
He couldn’t remember if that was true, it had been so long. But that hardly mattered.
Thanatos needed the girl. He didn’t care about the man. He would die like all the rest who got in his way. And he didn’t need her cooperation, only her death as her essence flowed into his body.
He flew back for the tear between planes but couldn’t reach her in time. Her energy blinked out of existence as he stumbled through the darkness, searching out her energy.
* * * *
Stay in the car? Not a damned chance. Chatan waited until the door blew open and she stepped inside before he shifted and climbed out of the car. He followed her inside and his skin tried to crawl off.
Something purely evil had been there, and there was no telling if it would come back. He felt the residue left behind. An evil taint filled the home.
Jacinda staggered as she stepped into the bedroom. Bits of wood were scattered across the floor. A naked woman was curled on the bed with charred symbols in her flesh.
Mina, Jacinda’s mother.
Jacinda’s quick departure made a hell of a lot more sense. She told Onyx all about the nightmare that sent her running. She dreamed Chatan had died in a similar fashion in this home.
He couldn’t blame her.
And now he knew why Jacinda couldn’t reach her mother. She’d been dead at least two days.
Jacinda let out a cry. Before he could go to her she cast a spell that showed what had happened. Watching her mother’s death erased every doubt about why she had left. Didn’t mean he was going to let her go through the grief alone. There was no way in hell Chatan would let her run off without him again.
And he didn’t even care that she threw him against the wall. She thought he was that thing. At least she was able to protect herself, no matter how much she was hurting, and he knew she had to be hurting.
He’d managed to get her outside and put the picture and package in the car. She climbed in, searching for something, then she bolted toward the house.
Chatan was faster and caught her arm, turning her toward him. “Where the hell are you going? We have to go. Now!”
“Onyx. I need to get Onyx.” She tore away from him.
He pulled her back and caught her chin. “I’m Onyx.”
“No. The cat. A stray that wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Jace, I’m Onyx.”
“What?” She pushed him away. “You’re not a cat. You said your animal is the hawk. You’re not a cat.”
“I’m half druid, Jace. I can shift into whatever I want. It’s one of the few things I’m good at. You don’t like dogs. Hawks don’t make great pets. And I needed to be with you, so I shifted into a cat, because I hoped you would let a cat tag along.”
A strangled sound escaped. “I fed you jerky. I fed you cat food.”
A smile crept across his lips. “I was a cat, and at least you were taking care of me, as freaked out as you were.”
She shoved him again. “Why didn’t you tell me you were with me?”
He caught her wrists. “Because you weren’t ready to accept the fact you’re stuck with me. You thought you needed to protect me. Just like I wanted to protect you from Josephine. And you came anyway.”
“You’re Onyx? You heard everything I said?”
Caressing her face, he nodded. “Yeah, and I understand. Just don’t try to leave without me again, and you’re forgiven.”
She blinked. “How can you want to stay? You saw what he did to her.”
“I won’t let that happen to you. We need to work together, and we need to get help.”
She pulled away again. “Help? Help? Chatan, who the hell can help me with this?
“My father was helping yours to figure out Thanatos. That thing had a hand in my mother’s death. Plus, your grandfather can probably figure out what to do about him.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded.
He glanced over. The neighbors were on the porch, watching. “Jace, we have to go.” He pulled her toward the car. “Your cat is right here. Let’s go.”
“Fine.” She didn’t move.
He held out his hand. “Keys, please. You’re in no condition to drive.”
She handed them over and he helped her into the car. Then he reached in to buckle her in. She sat there, staring out the windshield, so he went around to climb into the driver seat.
“Why do you think we need help?” she asked.
“Because I think Thanatos had a hand in my mother’s curse, too. We need to go. We can get the answers. There are a lot of people who can help us figure this out. I just need you to trust me.”
“Okay.” She curled up and laid her head against the glass. Then she asked, “You realize you want to go to a man who has never met me. What if he doesn’t believe I’m his grandchild?”
“Brent will. You said your father shut him out. Give him a chance.” Chatan pulled his phone and charger out of a pocket and plugged it the cell phone.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“We’re headed to Seattle first. GPS will be faster than trying to figure out a map. He plugged in an address and started the car.
Shaking her head, she pointed at the charger. “You always planned to follow me, didn’t you?” The words were coated with ire.
Cutting his gaze to her, he snorted. “Yeah, once I realized we would bond and you kept saying you were going to leave. I kept the secret about shifting to make sure I could follow. I couldn’t let you walk away without at least understanding why.”
She gripped his leg as flames flickered in her green eyes. “Now do you get it?”
“Yeah, I get why, but I can’t let you do that again.” He had been pissed but needed to understand her decision to leave. And now he got it, but that didn’t change anything.
“I can handle myself,” she snapped, tears flowing again. “I just couldn’t save her.” Her voice broke and so did his heart.
He took her hand and softened his tone. “I hate to tell you this, but she’s been dead a couple days. You couldn’t have done a damned thing.”
She blinked, and a tear fell. “Yeah, but why did I dream you were dead?”
He dried her face with a gentle sweep of his thumbs. “I don’t know, but I’m here, and alive. And I’m not letting you go through this alone,” he promised.
Catching his hands, she leaned into his touch. “I wish I hadn’t left. I didn’t know what else to do.”
He squeezed her hands, his tone soft. “Swear you won’t ditch me again, and all is forgiven.”
“I don’t think I could again. I’m sorry I left.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
She pulled his hands away, her gaze narrowing. “Wait, what did you mean we’re bound?”
He almost laughed, but it wasn’t funny. Dropping his gaze, he shrugged. “Shaman have something like a mate bond. We find our soulmate, and it’s more than humans talk about. I should have told you, but I needed the bond to make sure I could follow.”
The heat in her voice almost blistered. “You don’t understand. I need you safe, Chatan. I don’t ever want you to sacrifice yourself to protect me. That’s what my father did. Now my mother. She knew. Our last conversation was a goodbye, but I was too happy with you to realize how wrong it all was.”
He nudged her chin up. “She saw you happy and close to stopping Thanatos. She didn’t need to fight anymore. She didn’t need to keep running. Ever think she was tired of it all?”
Jacinda turned away. “If you understood you would leave. You wouldn’t look back.” The hope had drained from her.
“Is that what you want?” he demanded in a soft tone.
“I just want you to live, to be happy.”
“Well, I’m not going to be happy without you, so we’re going to figure out how we both live. Together.”
Glaring out the window, she crossed her arms over her chest. “I should be pissed you didn’t bother to tell me what would happen with us.”
He barely held back the snark. “Yeah, and then you’d be all alone in this mess, missing me, and mourning your mother, while trying to figure out what to do now that you have Hawk and Dove with you.”
“And how do you know what I need to do?”
“I admit, I don’t. But my father might. He was working on something with your father.”
“Tyrell Lavelle?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I was a kid when I met Tyrell. I only saw him a couple times.” He glanced over, one corner of his mouth tipped up. “I held you when you were a couple years old. You wanted to show me everything in the park. You wrapped your tiny hand around my finger and led me to every tree and flower.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, her eyes wide.
A smile crept onto his lips. “Dad took me to your birthday party at a park. It was just my family and yours. I don’t know why I didn’t remember that sooner.”
She was silent for a long moment. Then she sat up straighter. “Can you call your father? I should talk to him.”
He pulled over, connected the call, and put the phone on speaker. “I’m going to put some distance between us and the house, then I need to make a few calls. I’ll find a restaurant somewhere, and we’ll eat.”
She nodded.
The phone rang several times. A man came on. “Where are you, Chatan? Loretta said you left without warning. Is everything okay?”
“No, things aren’t good.” He glanced over at Jacinda. “Where did you drive?”
Jacinda sighed. “Menfro, Missouri.”
“You went home. Is Mina all right?” Dad demanded.
Tears filled Jacinda’s eyes.
Chatan took her hand before answering, “She’s dead. And we’re heading to Washington, but it will take a couple days.”
“Mina is gone?” Dad asked like the wind went out of him.
“Yes,” Jacinda answered with a sniffle.
Chatan blew out a breath. “Dad helped your father when I was a kid. He wants to see it through.”
“Anything to end that monster,” Dad answered with bite.
“What do you know?” Jacinda asked.
“That your father put you on the right track, and that you found Dove, that you found the bracelet, that you have what you need to stop Thanatos for good.”
A cry escaped her lips and Chatan took her hand.
“I’m sorry, Jacinda. She was a good friend.” Dad had genuine sorrow in his voice. “I’m looking forward to meeting you in person, but I understand how hard this is. I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”
“I don’t have a clue what to do,” she admitted.
“No, but I have one of Tyrell’s journals. Your mother had the other. And I know he insisted you keep the first. The answers are in the three.”
“You should open that package,” Chatan said.
“I will,” she answered.
“Keep me posted as you near Seattle. I’ll make sure your cabin is ready, Chatan.”
“Yeah, thanks.” He hung up and squeezed Jacinda’s hand. “We’ll likely stay at Eddie’s instead.”
“Why?” Jacinda asked.
“I’d rather not stay with him and my stepmother.”
“Don’t like her?”
Chatan blew out a breath. “She’s nice enough.”
“But not your mother?”
He shook his head. “No, and maybe that’s not fair. She’s not a bad person.”
She slipped her fingers through his and held on. “I wish my mother had found a man after my father. Not to replace my father, but so she wasn’t so lonely.”
“It was weeks after my mother’s death. I wasn’t ready.” He sighed. “Maybe if it was later, but it felt like he didn’t give a damn he just lost my mother.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Chatan. We don’t have to go to him.”
“We do. He knows something. At the very least, he has your father’s journal.”
She leaned against the door, hugging herself. “And what if it takes me years to decipher it like the first? What good will that do me?”
He refused to be pessimistic. She needed hope and something to keep her mind off her loss. “Open the box your mom left. Maybe you have another of his journals.”