Chapter 20
Merova woke fully. The woman in the cave wasn’t the other. The one who cursed and ranted because she couldn’t reach the dagger. And the witch blamed Merova for her failing magic.
She’d tried to tell the girl that Zariha would continue to steal her magic each time she left the cave. Of course, the girl couldn’t fathom that she was stuck in a war between two people from different realms.
Didn’t change the fact that Merova was born in Faery, while Zariha was from another dimension entirely. One more bastard who wanted to use her power for himself.
Sooner or later she would have to face Zariha, the bastard who had tried to claim her body and power.
Her plan was to stay in the rift until one of her descendants proved their worth. She wanted to give her precious weapon to someone strong enough to help her defeat Zariha.
Merova had failed hundreds of times over the eons. Someday, she would succeed, with the right help.
The woman who most recently entered her cave was Evangeline. She knew the name because while she slept on the rocks at the bottom of the waterfall, she dreamed vividly, and even found her mate.
Oh, how Merova missed Halstien. But love was too important to give up, so she helped Evangeline claim Bran. Strange, Evangeline and Bran both werewolves. Merova’s one true love had been Halstien. And he could shift to a wolf, though he had possessed powerful magic unlike anything she had ever seen.
That was why Merova unlocked all the magic in Evangeline’s long bloodline. Without a doubt, she had picked the right woman to help her kill Zariha.
Merova chose Evangeline because she didn’t want the dagger or the power. She simply wanted to ensure her twin’s safety, and to get back to her man, something she knew all too well.
Merova had traced her memories back to learn more about the other girl. The one who came into the cave many times over the years. The twin’s name was Genevieve, and her desires were twisted by her father’s lies and schemes.
Olivier, a bastard with a penchant for things that weren’t his. He wanted to gather all manner of relics and use them to his advantage. And the only time the smart daughter helped was when he mentioned the sick one.
Things were starting to make sense. Olivier probably made a deal with Zariha. The fool didn’t realize he could never get what he wanted from the lying, cheating bastard. The shadow mystic would always look out for himself first and foremost.
However, without the dagger there to hold Zariha away and prevent the wrong people from getting in, her rift would close, and she would be thrust out onto the mountain Zariha had claimed.
She pulled on her magic and followed Evangeline’s dream to a lighthouse in France. She knew the place well. She’d once lived there with Halstien, before his passing.
Another reason to believe Evangeline was the one to help her.
She stepped through and closed the portal and felt for the rift magic.
Still there, and she hoped she could enter the tower. Until Evangeline was ready, she needed to stay out of Zariha’s reach.
* * * *
Ty drove Olivier to the property he helped Neil protect. The shaman wanted to prove Neil had left, though he didn’t have a clue how. No tracks left the property, though a lot of people had been on both sides of the spells at either side of Neil’s land, and Zariha had attacked someone because sticky shadows were left behind.
Olivier stared out the window, trying to ignore the bastard’s slow drawl and the way Ty continued to dodge even the most important question as he skirted the truth.
Finally, he came to a stop and stepped out of the vehicle. He chanted words, and the wards lit up. Then he stepped across the barrier, into the property.
Olivier hurried to catch up, following on Ty’s heels.
The shaman scratched his head. “They’re gone, and mages were here, with werewolves.”
“How many?” asked Olivier.
“Three mages and three werewolves. There aren’t any werewolves on this mountain. Why would mages and mongrels be here for Genevieve and Neil?”
He’d kept enough of an eye on Evangeline to know Killian’s pack never fully trusted her. And his son Nate had never mated her. In fact, he’d recently mated a sorceress among other things.
She had no one to turn to out there. She couldn’t. Too often, she wandered from place to place, busying herself with her businesses. She had no real roots.
And still, that’s where Evangeline always wound up. Back in Silvertail Ridge. Home to a huge werewolf pack. Genevieve couldn’t stand wereanimals any better than he could.
Except Neil.
Could Evangeline really bring Genevieve out to her home? Where else could she stash her? Nowhere. Perhaps the wolves there would help him find her.
It was time to make a trip out to demand answers from his daughter. Neither daughter would answer their phones. In fact, Evangeline had blocked his number. She didn’t want to hear from him, and he couldn’t quite blame her after tossing her into the cave, but she did make it out with the weapon, according to Zariha.
Why? That was what he wanted to know. Why not Genevieve, the witch who was meant for the blade?
Didn’t matter now. It was too late to concern himself with that. Olivier would find Evangeline and destroy her, then find Genevieve. Because he knew for a fact that Neil couldn’t have broken the wards. Somehow, Evangeline was involved in Genevieve’s stupidity.
Finally, he answered Ty’s question. “I don’t know, but I plan to find out.
* * * *
Evangeline and Bran sat in the back of his truck behind the airport, watching the planes come and go. It was natural to be with this man who had wiped out all the doubt, all the fear, all the uncertainty.
She felt a pull and turned to him with a frown. “Someone is pulling me into another dream. Will you come?”
“Don’t have to ask. I’ll follow you anywhere.”
She giggled. “You are a very charming man.” She gripped his arm and let the pull suck her into another place.
She blinked and found herself at the top of a tower, her lighthouse. The woman standing before them looked so much like Evangeline.
Her French was thick, a dialect she had never heard except in the cave. “Evangeline, my savior.”
She gulped. “Who are you?”
“You know, don’t you?”
“Merova?” she whispered.
Nodding, she looked over at Bran, her brow quirked. “Interesting pair. I hadn’t realized the Sylvan made it to Earth. I believed all preferred to stay deep in their forests.”
Bran’s brow pinched as he looked at Evangeline and back at Merova. “I don’t know why my mother came to Earth. But I was born and raised in Oregon.”
“Interesting, and where is your mother now?”
“The Sylvan Forest, last I heard.” One corner of his mouth tipped up. “What are you?”
“A similar type of Fae. Though my magic has little to do with animals and more to do with the earth and all it provides.”
“You’re one of the ones who helped create witches?”
She smiled. “Indeed. And there was a time that witches kept their magic when changed to a wolf, or any other creature. However, that magic faded as the witches intermingled more with humans.”
“So many witches will only marry another witch.”
“Now, but the damage was done to the bloodlines. Then again, if we hadn’t introduced our blood, perhaps that wouldn’t have changed.” She laughed softly, looking up with a smirk. “Don’t worry about that. Right now, we need to find a way to kill Zariha before he finds what I hid here. Though I can no longer reach my token.”
“What does the token do?” she asked, her brow pinched.
“Allows me to travel back into your world. But it’s lost between realms in such a way I can’t reach it. Perhaps a Sylvan can manage. That or I need to find a Rift Bender.”
“Rift Bender?” Bran asked. “What is that?”
“Part mage, part druid. There aren’t many of them left. Most mages fear them, will hunt them down to kill. Other factions try to use them. That rarely goes well.”
“Why would a Sylvan Fae be able to retrieve the token?”
“Many of your kind can create portals to other realms. Others can create pockets not here or there. And if you can create one, you may be able to reach the token.
Evangeline shook her head. “And will it help us stop Zariha?”
Merova shook her head. “I don’t know how to stop the Shadow Mystic. He’s not from this world or mine. He wants my power.”
“We’ll find a way to stop him.”
“I believe you will. I don’t know why, but I’ve known you since before you were born. Visions maybe, dreams. I don’t know, but I remember your essence. And you always were there to stop Zariha in the past.”
“What?” A shiver traveled down Evangeline’s spine.
Bran pulled her closer, rubbing his hand up and down her back.
“Some call it reincarnation. I don’t know if you were alive, or just your spirit came to help. I have no idea how it works or if it was always imagination. Perhaps a prior incarnation is who saw me through some of the darker times. Nothing makes much sense to me anymore. Except, I knew to trust you.”
“Why not my sister?” Evangeline asked.
“She wanted the dagger for all the wrong reasons. First, she wanted to change your father’s mind about your mother. Then she wanted to bring you back into the house you grew up in, but I already knew you weren’t happy there, and that you needed distance to find your strength. Then she wanted to change you back to a witch, but you adapted quickly and grew stronger, and the more I learned about you, the more I realized you needed to make your own way.”
Evangeline nodded.
Merova continued, “You’ve finally found your man, and though I saw him, I couldn’t discern what he was. Though now, it is starting to make sense. Together, your magic will strengthen, alter, and become something magnificent.”
“How do we help?” Awe brightened Bran’s voice
“Have to come to the lighthouse,” Merova answered. “Somewhere in the tower, I hid a piece of me, but without it, I’m trapped just out of sync with this world, which means I can’t quite leave. I can hide in rifts that are neither here, nor there, but I can never reenter this world without that piece of my soul.”
“We don’t even know what to look for,” Evangeline whispered.
“Looks like a coin.”
With that, the scenery changed. Evangeline stood tucked under Bran’s arm, beside the truck.
Evangeline shook her head. “Do we help her?”
He nodded slowly. “Merova gave you a way out of that cave. She gave you the dagger. We should talk to Tremaine first, maybe Ceridwen. Then we can figure out what to do. If you’re up for it, I am.”
“Don’t you have work?”
“I have a couple weeks off. More if I need it. No one is going to argue with that. We need to do what’s right for you, and if that’s helping Merova, then that’s what we do.”
“You mean it, don’t you?”
“I told you, anything you need, you have it.”
“I love you,” she whispered, admitting what she’d known for too long.
Bran pulled her closer and kissed her deep. “Love you, Evangeline.”