Evalle shoved Adrianna ten feet away and fell backward to the ground with her hands up.
She flashed up a load of kinetic power seconds before that massive tree trunk crushed her. If not for keeping Adrianna safe, Evalle would have used her Belador speed to outrun the tree.
She hoped she hadn’t broken any witch bones, but injured was always better than dead.
Struggling to keep the tree far enough above her that what was left of a jagged, broken branch didn’t impale her, she strained even more when something caused the weight to bounce up and down.
Slapping branches, Adrianna complained, “Can you get this thing off us?”
“No, what about you?”
“I can do it, but with hitting something so close I might set the tree on fire. I’m pinned between two branches.”
Gritting her teeth and grunting, Evalle pushed her way up to a sitting position. The minute she did, the creature made a hideous roaring noise and stomped on the tree trunk again.
Evalle’s arms shook.
Misstag had been right.
That was no natural animal or she could have pushed it off by now.
She told Adrianna, “It’s standing on the tree. I’m going to give it a good push, which is probably going to piss it off, so be ready to move if I can get you clear.” Evalle pushed her power hard and shoved the invisible field up. Something crashed when she did that and the tree got lighter. “Can you get out now?”
For all her primping and put-together look, Adrianna was a solid combat partner. She twisted around and got on her knees then started pushing through the mass of branches surrounding them. Evalle was starting to get to her feet when the tree suddenly lifted up.
That would seem like a good thing, but she knew better.
“Look out, Adrianna, its ... ” Evalle shoved her hands back up as the tree crashed back down with more force. She fell to her knees, bent backward and straining every muscle.
Adrianna said, “I’m out. Hang on and I’ll ... umph.”
Evalle fought for air. “Adrianna?”
What had it done to the witch?
“What are you doing?” an angry female voice yelled.
That was not Adrianna.
The creature roared and stomped on the tree again. Dammit.
Evalle had to do something, because if that was a human she’d heard, the woman would end up dead. Sucking in one last chest full of air, Evalle yelled at the stranger, “Run! Get out of here!”
“Is someone under that tree?” the voice demanded again, and this time Evalle thought she’d heard it before.
The creature grunted something.
Misstag failed to mentioned an insane human out here.
The female voice said, “Move it. Now!”
The tree lifted another time and Evalle held her arms up. She might not be able to survive being hit with that tree again.
Thankfully, the thick trunk and all the branches still on it continued to lift away, then dropped to the side where the tree got caught between two others that were still standing.
That blocked Evalle’s view of the woman and the beast.
Since the creature had obeyed the woman, Evalle turned to check on Adrianna, who was out cold with blood seeping from her head.
“Adrianna?” Evalle scrambled over to her just as the witch opened her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“No. I got knocked over like a pin by a Fred Flintstone bowling ball.”
Evalle helped her sit up.
“What are you two doing here?”
Evalle and Adrianna turned to see Kit Nyght climbing over debris to reach them. Behind her stood a ten-foot-tall monster with claws curled from four fat fingers on each hand. Shaggy, gray-black hair covered its body below a slick head with jaws wide enough to snap off a human head.
At one time, Evalle had shifted into something just as hideous, but her eyes glowed green, where this monster had human eyes as dark as two coal pits.
Kit stormed up to them, face covered in worry lines. “You’re bleeding, Adrianna. Do you think you have a concussion?”
“If I do, I’ll live.”
Kit swung her harsh glare at Evalle. “What were you doing wandering around out here? He could have killed you.”
Why do I feel like I’m in trouble? Evalle explained, “We got a call to check out an unnatural threat in this area, which clearly there is ... wait a minute. Is that ... Jasper, the Rías?”
“Yes. He would not have hurt you, but you probably scared him.”
“We didn’t scare him,” Adrianna argued, then grimaced and held her head.
“You didn’t mean to, but I told him not to let any nonhuman get a jump on him.” Kit frowned. “Actually, it’s my fault he hurt you. I’m sorry. Let’s get you fixed up. He’ll apologize as soon as he shifts back. I know he feels bad about hurting you.” She offered Adrianna a hand, which she took.
Evalle leaned past Kit to look at Jasper-the-monster, who stood with his head hanging. She got to her feet. “You’re lucky he didn’t hurt you, Kit.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it. I’ve been training him.”
“Now I really have a headache,” Adrianna muttered. “Have you forgotten how Isak freaked out when you and the twins were captured by those pseudo-Beladors?” Kit started to speak, but the normally reserved witch wouldn’t allow Isak’s mother to get a word in, and kept ranting. “Because I still remember Isak clearly saying he did not want his mother around any of our kind, as if we’re all a bunch of killers threatening humans. How can he be such a hypocrite to let you come out here with something that shifts into a ten-foot-tall ... danger?”
Kit had given up trying to talk and stood there with her arms crossed. Since she was just as short as Adrianna, they were having a glaring contest at eye level.
“Are you done, Adrianna?” Isak’s mom asked.
Evalle had never seen Adrianna lose her cool like that, but Isak had really hurt Adrianna when he’d said those words specifically to her. Until that moment when he warned all of them to stay away from his mother, Evalle had been pretty sure those two had been swapping spit, if not more.
Sounding chagrined, Adrianna held her head and said, “Sorry, Kit, but this blows my mind. I’m trying to figure out how he’s going along with this.”
“He’s not.”
Evalle and Adrianna gaped at her.
“Close your mouths.” After that order, Kit explained, “My son would pop a vein if he knew I was out here with Jasper, which is why he doesn’t.”
“Really?” Evalle questioned. “Isak has the largest human intel network I’ve ever known about. He probably knows more than Santa Claus.”
That pulled the start of a smile from Adrianna.
Kit’s eyes lost their worried-mother look and twinkled. “He’d like to think he is all-knowing, but I’ve been around a lot longer than he has and I’ve owned this property since before he was born. He doesn’t know about it.” Kit turned to Jasper. “Your clothes are where I always leave them. Want to go shift and change?”
He nodded and made a soft grunting sound.
“Good boy,” Kit praised.
When Jasper pounded away, Kit returned to their conversation. “We held Jasper in nice quarters after he shifted and attacked Evalle in the warehouse, but it’s still a jail cell when you have no freedom.”
“Jasper attacked you once before?” Adrianna said to Evalle. “When did that happen?”
“It was the first time I went to the Nyght headquarters. Jasper was working on a forklift and he had no idea he was a Rías until that moment. Remember when that funky energy cloud came over cities around the country and forced Alterants and Rías to shift, even if they’d never shifted before?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
“Jasper was just another unsuspecting soul during that time.” Evalle said to Kit, “I still don’t understand what you and Jasper are doing. How have you trained him not to attack?”
“I spent a lot of time talking to Jasper. He almost shifted once when he got upset talking about how he turns into a monster. That’s when he told me I should go ahead and hit him with one of our demon blasters, because he didn’t want to hurt anyone. I refused and he asked me to not come into his quarters again. He said the longer he stayed in there, the more upset he got and he might not be able to keep from attacking me the next time.”
“He sounds like a good guy,” Adrianna said.
“He is,” Kit confirmed. “A wonderful man, but Isak couldn’t get past the fear that Jasper would hurt me. I suggested asking Evalle about training him and that set my son off. So Jasper and I came up with a plan. The next time Isak was gone with his men, I helped Jasper escape and brought him here where he’d have plenty of room to move around when he shifted.”
Evalle brought up, “We could have been hunters or hikers who ignored the restricted area signs.”
“They would have been safe. Jasper won’t touch a human, but he fears nonhumans after Evalle blasted him.”
Kit did have a point. Evalle murmured, “Sorry.”
“He knows you were only protecting everyone, but it got his attention. He kept obsessing about a nonhuman finding him and attacking because he can’t communicate in that form. He didn’t want to shift until I agreed to carry one of our Nyght weapons set on heavy shock. The first time he lost control, I hit him with a blast that knocked the starch out of his shorts.”
“Poor guy,” Adrianna sympathized.
Kit sighed. “Yes, because it took about eight times for him to begin gaining control.”
“You used shock therapy and it worked?” Evalle couldn’t believe it, but more than that she was thrilled to think there would be a plan if they found more Rías. Getting shocked hurt, but in her beast form she could have handled it.
Given a choice between that or being caged or killed, she would get trained with a blaster.
Kit sounded sad. “It did work, but it was killing me to zap him.” She took a deep breath and let it out, sounding relieved to be at this point. “He hasn’t lost control since the last time and that was ten days ago.”
Scratching her head, which was covered in leaves and dirt, Evalle said, “Okay, I think that’s amazing, but why are you training him? You can’t keep him at Nyght headquarters around Isak, can you?”
“I’ll answer that,” Jasper said, walking up to them in a gray T-shirt and jeans, just as wet as everyone else. He had a friendly voice. “Sorry about attacking you two. As for the training, Kit wants to hire me as her personal nonhuman bodyguard.”
Kit grinned and gave Jasper a loving look that a mom would cast. That Kit took everyone under her wing, including the twin nineteen-year-old male witches living in Evalle and Storm’s building, was a testament to the strong woman she was, who called her own shots.
Isak’s mom was both a born nurturer and tough as nails.
Adrianna brushed dirt off her sodden clothes. “Why would you need a bodyguard when you’re not allowed to be around nonhumans anymore?” That had come out sounding disappointed.
“To quote a favorite line of mine, ‘Isak is not the boss of me’,” Kit replied. “But I understand his fear of losing both parents to nonhumans. A demon killed his father years ago and an Alterant killed his best friend. When Isak saw me captured by that crazy bunch of bad Beladors, he snapped. He’ll come to his senses, Adrianna.”
Kit’s comment about bad Beladors referenced the Laochra Fola, warriors that were part of the original force of Beladors created by a god called Belatucadros.
Evalle had picked up bits of Belador background from time to time after joining their warrior force as a teen, but she’d never been given the entire history. The goddess Macha, former ruler of the Beladors, had been tight-lipped about everything before Daegan showed up to boot her off of Treoir Island. She’d also been stingy when it came to giving aid when needed. Like when Kujoo warriors from thousands of years ago carried forward a grudge, traveling to Atlanta through a portal opened by a witch just to battle descendants of their Belador enemies. Macha and the Kujoo god Shiva had known each other. She could have helped when today’s Beladors battled the Kujoo, but the goddess showed up only when she had no other choice.
Daegan knew things, though. Evalle made a mental note to ask him about the Belador past and how Macha and other deities played into all of it. That information would have come in handy recently when someone gathered a small army of Laochra Fola warriors and secretly brought them into Atlanta.
They’d captured Kit and the twins.
Something clicked for Evalle. She read between the lines of what Kit had just said. Isak’s mother did not want Adrianna to give up on Isak.
Still probably too hurt to give an inch, Adrianna replied, “I seriously doubt Isak will back down from his stance against nonhumans, Kit, but for your sake I hope so.”
“I’d like to think it would be nice for you, too.”
Shaking her head, Adrianna said, “Whatever was going on between us in the past is over, and I’ve moved on.”
Kit arched an eyebrow at the witch that said she didn’t believe her.
Rain started coming down in earnest. Evalle made a decision. “I’m going to report that it was a demon and we disposed of him, but you’ve got a snitch out here.”
“Who?” Kit looked around like a general hunting for a private to ream.
“He’s a little guy who came over from Sweden with his family to hide from persecution. They evidently live somewhere on this property and he sent word through the trolls about a monster out here.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“Not sure that’s possible. We had a hard time having a conversation with him. He’s ornery as all get out, does not like to be called a troll and is unreasonable to deal with.”
“Am not!”
Everyone turned to look up at a tree limb fifteen feet off the ground where Misstag sat with his arms crossed.
“Who are you?” Kit asked.
“No name.”
Evalle groaned. “Can we not go through this again? This is Kit and Jasper.”
“Monster.”
Jasper said, “Troll.”
“Not troll.”
Jasper pointed at himself. “Not monster. I have not hurt you, and if you act right, I’ll keep your family safe.”
That shocked Misstag. “You protect us?”
“Depends on if you’re going to be nice to Kit or not. I’m her bodyguard and she owns the land you’re homesteading on.”
Misstag leaped to the ground, landing lightly on his feet. He walked over to Jasper and lifted his hand. “Friends.”
Jasper smiled and using three fingers, shook hands with the not-troll.
Then Misstag extended his hand to Kit. “Friends.”
Kit didn’t accept his offer right away. “I’m your landlord.”
Misstag lowered his hand. “No money to pay.”
“I don’t want money. I want you to keep an eye out for anyone trespassing and alert Jasper when he’s here. When he’s not, I’ll set up a communication where you can reach me. Agreed?”
“Yes. Yes, I can do,” Misstag said, looking as relieved as he sounded.
Smiling now, Kit extended her hand. “Friends.”
The little guy wrapped his fingers around three of Kit’s to shake.
Evalle asked Adrianna, “You ready to get some ice on that?”
“Absolutely. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Kit said. When Evalle turned back, Kit swallowed and asked, “Are the twins okay?”
Offering an understanding smile, Evalle told her, “They’re doing just fine, but they do miss you.”
“Tell them I’ll see them soon. They can take that to the bank.”
“I will.” Evalle had seen Kit in action and not even Isak could stop her when she had her mind made up. The woman had taken it upon herself to train a Rías. Evalle wanted to be her when she grew up.
A great idea hit Evalle. She would check with Daegan about Jasper visiting Treoir to train with the other two Rías.
Once Evalle and Adrianna left, they found a gas station where Adrianna fashioned an ice pack from a scarf. The witch would heal quickly just from possessing the Witchlock power, and she could probably do it in seconds if she didn’t have reservations about experimenting with the power so close to humans.
Evalle got a text from Storm that he’d tried calling and was worried about her.
Adrianna spouted off. “You’ve got that stupid-in-love look on your face.”
“You’re just jealous,” Evalle quipped, and regretted the joke when Adrianna said nothing. Seeing Kit had obviously brought up all those hurt feelings about Isak again.
“Anything important?” Adrianna asked, clearly shifting the topic as she leaned against the front fender of her car.
Evalle perched on her motorcycle seat. “Got the text ten minutes ago. He was worried because he couldn’t reach me by phone. Wanted me to know he was heading out to track a suspicious being that was last seen around Woodruff Park. Quinn asked him to look into it. That’s like five minutes from our place if you walk slowly. Said he should be home when I get there. I sent him a text ... ”
Pausing to check her phone, Evalle said, “Huh. The text hasn’t sent yet. Stupid cell service.” She looked at her calls and muttered, “No missed call. I must have been in an internet black hole.”
“It’s nice he lets you know. I’m glad you two worked out,” Adrianna said with sincerity.
“Thanks.”
“You still got the tracking stone on your chest?”
Evalle laughed, touching her shirt where the smooth stone rested beneath it. “The emerald chakra stone? Yes, but not for much longer.”
“Are you saying Mr. Overprotective is giving up that connection to you?”
“Yep. He explained that although we’re mated, we’ve never gone through the bonding ceremony of his father’s people. I’m okay either way, but he’s determined to do the ceremony. He said he should have handled the mating better.”
“Like telling you he’d taken you as a mate,” Adrianna said with a teasing smile then frowned when water from the melting ice leaked down her face. She swiped it off and adjusted her makeshift ice pack.
Evalle agreed, “I think it still bothers him that he didn’t ask me before he claimed me, but let’s just say he was ... distracted at the moment it happened.” Her face heated at the memory of their first time making love.
“I get the picture,” Adrianna muttered, trying to sound annoyed, but failing miserably when she sighed and chuckled. “How much more can you two be bonded than you are now?”
“Storm said it would make more sense when he could show me how this works, but he told me a little for now. He said he doesn’t want me obsessing about it, which we both know I will.” She laughed. “What we have now is sort of like level-one mating. Once we do some ceremony, we’ll have a much deeper connection where we can actually find each other. I’m not sure how that works or if I will be able to find him the way he’s always been able to find me, but once we bond I won’t need the emerald to give him a sense of comfort.”
Adrianna shifted the ice pack. “When are you planning to do all this?”
“As soon as Brina and Tzader have their wedding at the end of this week.”
Adrianna moved the pack from her head to reveal a nasty gash that was swelling. “They’re finally going to get married before she pops out a baby Treoir heir?”
“Yep. Tzader is trying to be cool, but he stays in our world as little time as possible, then gets teleported back to Treoir Island. He’s always there if Daegan is gone.” Evalle snapped her fingers. “That reminds me. Brina wants me to ask you to attend the wedding. It’ll be at Treoir Castle. She said she won’t be able to send out actual invitations since no one except the inner circle knows what’s going on as a precaution against attack.”
Adrianna looked a little pleasantly surprised to be invited. “Please tell her I said yes and thank you for inviting me. I’m flattered to be included.”
“Seriously, Adrianna? Brina and Tzader both appreciate your friendship with me, Storm, the Beladors and Daegan. You’re either family with them or not.” Evalle added, “Daegan would be disappointed, too, if you weren’t there.”
She arched an eyebrow at that. “That dragon? We tolerate each other. Nothing more.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Evalle rolled her eyes and laughed. “Okay, back to what I was saying about my plans with Storm. Once those two get married, I’m asking for a week off so we can go to the Navajo home of Storm’s father.”
“Why does it have to be there? I didn’t think he had anything to do with his father’s people.”
Evalle shoved her phone into her back pocket. Probably not a good idea since her jeans were soaked, but it would be a good test of its durability around her. “Storm told me he’s been in touch with his uncle. His father didn’t hate his brother or anything like that, he was just disappointed when Storm’s uncle built a casino and had bigger plans. As to the reason we’re going there, Storm said the power he inherited from his father would be strongest on his people’s land, which would allow him to form a bond that will last through eternity.”
“Wow. That’s ... ” Adrianna murmured, then looked off into the distance. “That’s amazing. You’re very lucky.”
“I am. I don’t know how I got this lucky, but he is all I could ever want. I want this bond.” To ease the sad look on Adrianna’s face, Evalle quipped, “Besides, I’m so over having a rock majik-glued to my chest.”
Adrianna grinned at that even though they both knew Evalle would happily wear that emerald for the rest of her life and beyond.
Adrianna’s phone dinged at the same time as Evalle’s, which meant an all-agent alert. Evalle waited for the witch to read her message. No point in pulling out her phone when they were both getting the same message.
The witch put her icepack down and said, “Something is going down at Five Points.”
Alarmed, Evalle said, “That’s where Storm was headed. Who sent the message? What’d they say?”
She shouldn’t worry, since Storm shifted into a massive black jaguar and had majik to boot, but this sounded like more than checking out a suspicious character.
“It’s an all-agent blast from VIPER headquarters.” Adrianna scrolled as she shared the information. “All they know is two nonhumans are dead, five more seriously injured and they’re battling to keep it shielded from the humans.” Standing away from the car, Adrianna grabbed the icepack. “Sounds like chaos. I’ll try to reach someone on the way and get more information.”
Evalle’s heart clenched.
Which nonhumans were dead?
Something odd hit Evalle. “Why hasn’t Trey contacted me by telepathy?” As a Belador telepathic powerhouse, Trey could probably contact her in outer space.
“They said no telepathy. They think that’s how someone in the preternatural world set up those early responders and were able to kill the nonhumans.” Adrianna paused. “Evalle, Storm is fine. You know he’s powerful and smart. He isn’t going to fall into anyone’s trap.”
“I know.” The problem was her heart wouldn’t buy what her head was trying to sell. She started to call Storm, then realized he was very likely either in animal form or fighting. She would not distract him. She sent a quick text she knew wouldn’t interfere, then put her phone away.
Opening the door to her car, Adrianna tossed in the icepack. “They’re looking for anyone and everyone. I’ll put my text on speaker in case I get another update.”
“Good. I’ll follow you then,” Evalle called over her shoulder, already mounting her bike. She had no way to access her texts or phone calls while on the motorcycle. That had never been an issue, but after this she might consider outfitting her bike helmet with the voice-operated technology.
Storm would be fine.
She kept telling herself that, but the words wouldn’t slow the panicked beating of her heart.